Georgia State University



World Language Teacher Graduate Certificate Program Department / College / InstitutionWorld Languages and Cultures/ Arts and Sciences/ Georgia State UniversityContact name and email/phonePaula Garrett-Rucks, prucks@gsu.edu/ Date of submissionFall 2018Implementation termFall 2019Certificate program titleWorld Language Teacher Graduate Certificate CIP code ?Certificate acronym (i.e., CERO: undergraduate certificate of less than 30 hours; CER1: undergraduate certificate greater than 30 hours; CERG: post-bachelor’s/graduate certificate; CERM: post-master’s certificate; CERP: post-first professional certificate).CERG: post-bachelor’s/graduate certificateProgram description and objectivesThe World Language Teacher Graduate Certificate is intended for individuals already holding a university undergraduate or graduate degree (with a GPA higher than 2.50) to return for the training and support required to be recommended for certification to the Ga Performance Standards Commission (GaPSC). Specifically, this certificate is primarily intended for teachers currently working on a GaPSC provisional certificate who are required to convert to a renewable certificate and to afford our WLC M.A. students the opportunity to pursue certification during (FORL coursework—FORL 6125, 6126, 6128) and after (practicum and internship) their M.A. studies. For students who are the teacher of record of their own class, they would take the internship FORL 4060 (3 credits) instead of the student teaching sequence FORL 4061/4062/4063 (12 credits). The problem with the current “Certification Only” practice is that it is considered a 2nd B.A. This inefficient practice requires students with undergraduate and graduate degrees to apply as an undergraduate transfer student to GSU Admissions. This current practice is problematic in that: 1) GSU general Admissions needs to admit the student as an undergraduate transfer student into the foreign language—creating a lengthy, unnecessary review of all of the H.S. transcripts and transfer credits for students who already have a university degree creating a strain on Admissions and holding up the students’ acceptance to GSU; 2) Applying to an undergraduate program is often insulting and demeaning to our candidates who have graduate degrees, as it feels like “a step backwards” in their educational pursuit; and 3) Teaching candidates on provisional certification often cannot find information about our “Certification Only” program, because it is listed under “Undergraduate” options on our WLC website, which is counterintuitive to those who have already received their degree. Our FLED group has been advised that until we are a “Graduate Certificate Program” we cannot change the website to be fair across the programs offered in our department. The Graduate Certificate for World Language Teaching Program provides students with appropriate skills and preparation to be recommended for certification to the Ga Performance Standards Commission, following the guidelines outlined in GaPSC Rule 505-3-.48 Foreign Language Education Program and the Mother Rule (Rule 505-3-.01) for Ga Educator Preparatory Programs. This graduate certificate can be earned by post baccalaureate students who speak French, Spanish, German, or Chinese who complete the following six courses for 18-24 credits: (1) FORL 6022/6128, (2) FORL 8125, (3) FORL 8126, (4) EXC 4020, (5) FORL 6030 and (6) FORL 6060 (internship-3 credits) OR FORL 6061/6062/6063 (student teaching—12 credits, and a seventh “0 credit course” called FORL 6650 Opening School Experience. Per the GaPSC Rule 505-3-.48 Foreign Language Education Program rule, candidates must provide evidence of the equivalent of 21 credits in the target language, but students, particularly native speakers of the language, may be exempted from this requirement by taking a departmental exam and providing evidence of the study of language and culture in countries where the target language is spoken. FORL 6022/6128 is the first course in the series, but may be taken in conjunction with FORL 8125 and FORL 8126. FORL 4060 (internship) or FORL 6061/6062/6063 (student teaching) should be the last course taken, and FORL 6030, the 10 hours per week for 14 weeks in an elementary school or Middle School AND a High School is the required prerequisite. Additionally, students must maintain a GPA of no less than 2.50 and pass the WLC proficiency exam to apply to the program prior to the request of a Pre-Service Certificate (if candidate does not already hold a Provisional Certificate) to start their field placement (1. FORL 6650—Opening School Experience, 2. FORL 6030--Practicum AND 3. FORL 6060-- internship or FORL 6061/6062/6063—student teaching), meaning that students must provide evidence of the following information required by the COEHD found on our Teacher Education Website (Appendix A): . Teacher Education Application 2. Tort Liability Insurance3. GACE Program Admissions passed [Combined Test I, II, and III (700)] or been exempted from the GACE Program Admission Assessment.4. Completed?the Georgia Educator Ethics – Program Entry (350) Assessment5. Department target language proficiency exam 1. Pre-Service Certificate:?Upon admission to a teacher education program, students will be contacted by the college advisement/admissions office and provided with?instructions to claim enrollment in their program and submit a GaPSC Pre-Service Certificate Application. The pre-service certificate is required for placement in required field experiences or clinical practice.2. Tort Liability Insurance: This insurance covers expenses related to civil suits brought against education students for acts or omissions that occur during any type of field experience. Although no amount of vigilance or professionalism can prevent some accidents, lawsuits that incur expenses can be brought against a person, even if it is groundless.3. Program Admission and Content Assessments:?Program Admission Assessment [Combined Test I, II, and III (700)] is an admission requirement (unless candidate meets qualifications for exemption) 4. Georgia Assessments for the Certification of Educators (GACE):?The state of Georgia requires teacher candidates to take various GACE and Educator Ethics assessments as part of the educator certification process. These computer-delivered assessments have been developed by the Georgia Professional Standards Commission (GaPSC) and are delivered by the Education Testing Service (ETS). Completion of this assessment is required for admission, though there is no “Pass/Fail” grade assignedTo be recommended for certification, students must additionally: (1) pass the edTPA with a passing score of 32 (mandated in the 2017 GaPSC ruling), (2) pass the GACE content exam for their language, and (3) pass the Ga GACE Ethics assessments.1. edTPA:?edTPA is a preservice assessment process designed by educators to answer the essential question: “Is a new teacher ready for the job?” edTPA includes a review of a teacher candidate’s authentic teaching materials as the culmination of a teaching and learning process that documents and demonstrates each candidate’s ability to effectively teach his/her subject matter to all students. edTPA is a program completion and teacher certification requirement. 2. GACE Content Assessment (different content assessments for each program) tests your content knowledge of the language you will teach and is taken after enrollment and prior to program completion. 3. Georgia Educator Ethics Assessment:?Georgia Educator Ethics – Program Exit Assessment Number of credit hours of core curriculum courses (if applicable) and total credit hours for certificate completion (18-21 credit hours).(1) FORL 6022/6128 (3 credits) (2) FORL 8125 (3 credits)(3) FORL 8126 (3 credits)(4) EXC 4020 (3 credits) (5) FORL 6030 (3 credits)(6) FORL 6060 (internship-3 credits) OR FORL 4061/4062/4063 (student teaching—12 credits, (7) FORL 6650 Opening School Experience (0 credits)Evidence that the program was designed to meet local market needs; or, for online programs, that the program was designed to meet regional or national market needs. Include projected enrollments.As noted in a 2018 article on the World Language Teacher Shorter (Swanson and Mason), enrollment in teacher education programs is down significantly—“falling 35% nationwide in the last five years” (Long, 2016, p. 1). School districts are scrambling to find certified teachers, especially in world languages (Hanford, 2017; Koerting, 2017; Motoko, 2015). The problem this brings is that districts are forced to turn to hiring people on emergency credentials, called provisional certificates in GA. These provisional teachers have had no training and are forced to test ideas in teaching languages by “trial and error, one day at a time” (Gonser, 2016, p. 1).Compounding the dire issue of untrained teachers presiding language classrooms is the new state required certification exam called edTPA. The edTPA exam requires teachers to show evidence of Second Language Acquisition theory in their lesson planning and video recorded evidence of research-supported, best teaching practices that are taught in university programs. Few new teachers instinctively know how to scaffold their target language instruction in a way that makes it comprehensible to beginning learners, nor how to create meaningful language tasks situated in target culture contexts that require students to use the language. Evidence of these skills needs to be provided to the external, national reviewers for teachers on Provisional certification to pass edTPA in 40 states, including GA. With the increasing cost of tuition and credit hours required for university teacher certification, alternative route credentialing programs, such as GA-TAPP, have currently taken on a large role in certifying teachers. GA-TAPP programs vary from district to district, however we have heard from several students who have left their programs for ours that Ga-TAPP typically does not provide the content-specific methods provisional teachers need to pass edTPA and to provide their students with optimal instruction. However, for our programs to truly compete against Ga-TAPP, we need to reduce the cost of our program (reducing the credit hours) and the challenging undergraduate admission process for individuals who already have a degree, especially those who come with international degrees.As evidenced in the emails from the language Coordinators from neighboring districts, offering a graduate certificate program with the minimal number of credit hours needed to achieve the credentialing requirements outlined in GaPSC rule 505-3-.48 will help break this vicious circle. We have heard from APS and Gwinnett counties alone that they currently have X number of world language teachers on provisional credentials. We anticipate the certificate option will bring at least 5-10 new candidates to our existing program in the beginning, with the number increasing as word gets out that we have a high edTPA pass rate (currently at 100% over the past 3 years) which is higher than the state average.Role played in the development of the proposed program by external advisory groups or prospective employers of program graduates.the state Program Specialist for World Languages and Global Work Initiatives (Patrick Wallace) (Appendix B) local District Supervisors (Atlanta Public Schools (Margaret McKenzie), Cobb County (German Suarez), Dekalb County (Rhonda Wells), Fulton County (Jaime Patterson), Gwinnett Count (John Valentine), Henry County (Rocio Morrison). (Appendix C)Anticipated impact on other programs within the offering department, the college, or the universityNoneAdditional resource requirements, if any, and budget implications (e.g., personnel costs, library acquisitions, computing/equipment costs, facilities and other operating costs, graduate student support). Intended method of funding additional costs if any.NoneAdministration of the program.The current World Language Teacher Coordinator will continue this responsibility Process for admitting students to the program.Per Lita Malveaux, from the Central Graduate Admissions Office, students apply to the graduate school () with a due date of approximately 6 weeks prior to Fall and Spring semesters. In addition to the required transcripts and language requirements (for students with foreign degrees), we will have a Statement of Purpose to learn about prospective students’ current certification and self-reported language abilities and immersion experiences in target cultures. The WLC Teacher Program Coordinator, Dr. Paula Garrett-Rucks, will serve as the point of contact for Graduate Admissions.Advisement process and resources for students in the program.The current World Language Teacher Coordinator will continue this responsibility Deb Loden will remain the point of contact in the WLC Office with official records (GACE scores, proficiency testing, ethics tests, content credits, placement requests). Measures that will be used to assess the effectiveness of the program, including:Student learning outcomes and other program outcomes (e.g., job placements, examination pass rates, etc.)—The GaPSC provides a Preparation Program Effectiveness Measure (PPEM Score) that takes into consideration 50% Outcome Measures (employees perceptions of preparation 10%, inductees perceptions of their program after their first year out 10%, teacher observation data (TAPSsummative) 30%) and 50% Program Measures (Assessment of Knowledge/GACE 20%, and Assessment of Teaching Skills/edTPA 30%). Plans for assessing these outcomes- we will be using the PPEM scores and comments of School District Coordinators to assess our program. Offices, departments, committees, and individuals consulted during the development of the proposal.COEHD: Joyce Many, Shea Allman, Carla Tangua, Basja TibbsAdmissions: Scott Burke, Lita MalveauAdvising: Linda King, Marsha Bruard the GA Program Specialist for World Languages and Global Work Initiatives (Patrick Wallace)the local District Supervisors (Atlanta Public Schools (Margaret McKenzie),?Cobb?County (German Suarez), Dekalb?County (Rhonda Wells),?Fulton?County (Jaime Patterson), Gwinnett?Count (JohnValentine), Henry?County (Rocio Morrison).World Language and Cultures: Chair (Dr. William Nichols), former Graduate Director (Dr. Leslie Marsh), Applied Linguists (Dr. Victoria Rodrigo, Dr. Carmen Schlig, Dr. Raul Llorente, Dr. Oscar Moreno), FLED field specialist (Dr. Elizabeth Goulette), and Administrative Assistant (Deb Loden)Approval path for program proposal, noting all formal department- or college-level votes. (Appendix D)(1) Approved by Dr. Joyce Many from the COEHD on 8/29/2018(2) Approved by the World Languages and Cultures Department Chair, Dr. Bill Nichols on 9/6/2018Appendix A: WLC Website with instructions to Apply to the ProgramAppendix BAppendix CAppendix D ................
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