Newswise — University of North Carolina Wilmington has been named a 2006 recipient of the 2006 Christa McAuliffe Award for Excellence in Teacher Education by the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU).
UNCW and Northwest Missouri State University are the two public universities being honored for leadership and innovation in teacher education. The award recognizes excellence in teacher education programs and advances teacher education by identifying promising practices and critical issues related to measuring the impact of programs on teacher candidate knowledge and the impact of these teachers on pupil learning.
In announcing the awards, AASCU President Constantine W. (Deno) Curris said, "Many of our teacher education programs are doing outstanding jobs. We want to recognize the best among those programs."
UNCW is being recognized for its Learning-Centered Cognitive Coaching Model. This program provides an environment for teachers or teacher candidates to learn from other teachers and university supervisors who document and facilitate a dialogue based on the candidates classroom planning, reflection and decision making and then synthesizing the information.
"UNCW's Watson School of Education has long been nationally recognized for its excellent education programs," said Chancellor Rosemary DePaolo. "I am especially proud that the 2006 Christa McAuliffe Award for Excellence in Teacher Education recognizes its outstanding model partnership program that connects university faculty and student educators with more than 100 P-12 schools in Southeastern North Carolina to improve student learning. This award highlights an innovative program designed by UNCW that gives teachers a different way to work with students that is not 'sit and get.' Rather, it focuses on exploration, inquiry, and teachers' adjusting delivery based on student capabilities. What sets this learning-centered program apart from others is that the Watson School has developed methods to document and measure teacher effectiveness and consequently student success. Through documentation with our partner schools, we have evidence that the cognitive coaching model improves student learning."
George L. Mehaffy, AASCU's vice president for Academic Leadership and Change, and whose division oversees the award process, said, "The Christa McAuliffe Award challenges teacher education programs to demonstrate the effectiveness of their programs, an incredibly difficult task. Yet these two award winners have made striking progress in demonstrating the impact of their program on graduates and the impact of those graduates on K-12 students.
"Through this award, these nationally-selected programs offer innovative leadership in the continuing redesign and improvement of teacher education," he said. "The proposals we received demonstrate that AASCU institutions are committed to placing highly trained and fully qualified teachers in America's classrooms."'AASCU's Christa McAuliffe award, named in honor of the teacher who died in the 1986 Challenger disaster, was first presented in the 1980s. McAuliffe was a graduate of Bowie State University (Md.), an AASCU member. In 2001 the AASCU Board of Directors authorized a change in focus for the award-an emphasis on honoring programs that could document the success of their graduates and their impact on the pupils that they teach.
AASCU institutions prepare more than 50 percent of all new teachers in the United States. Curris noted, "AASCU members are working to increase both the quantity and quality of teachers for America's classrooms."AASCU will present the award at its 2006 Annual Meeting scheduled for November 19-21 in Palm Beach, Florida.
A comprehensive university offering programs at the baccalaureate, master's, and doctoral levels, UNCW maintains an intimate learning environment for undergraduates, integrating teaching and mentoring with research and service. Undergraduate students are afforded opportunities to learn through collaborative research and scholarly activities with world-class faculty at a level that rivals exclusive research institutions of similar size. Instructional programs are organized into a college of arts and sciences and three professional schools (business, education, and nursing). For the ninth consecutive year, UNCW ranked among the top 10 public master's universities in the South in U.S.News & World Report. UNCW's fall 2006 enrollment is over 10,550 undergraduates and 879 graduate students.
Members of the American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU) work to extend higher education to all citizens, including those who have been traditionally underrepresented on college campuses. By Delivering America's Promise, these institutions fulfill the expectations of a public university by working for the public good through education and engagement, thereby improving the lives of people in their community, their region and their state. The American Association of State Colleges and Universities represents more than 400 public colleges, universities and systems of higher education throughout the United States and its territories.
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