GSTEP at Valdosta State University

The GSTEP initiative at VSU has had an active, productive, and professionally rewarding year. Our seven sub-committees worked diligently to address the GSTEP goals and objectives for Year 5 and have significantly improved the quality of teacher candidates in our region as well as the academic achievement of the students they serve. The subcommittees addressed: the Framework for Accomplished Teaching, content discipline, technology, induction, National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), recruitment, and service learning.

A major accomplishment of our Framework committee, headed by Dr. Lynn Minor, was the field testing and implementation of the GSTEP observation instrument into the VSU teacher education curriculum. Based on observable indicators of the GSTEP Framework for Accomplished Teaching, this observation instrument is now utilized by all school and university based mentors to provide feedback to teacher candidates during school based field experiences. This summer the Framework Committee plans to develop training modules to use with the observation instrument to ensure inter-rater reliability. The data gleaned from the observation instrument are important because they help teacher candidates systematically reflect on their teaching and discover areas where their professional practice could be improved.

Our content discipline committee, led by Dr. Barbara Stanley, also made major accomplishments this year. Comprised of four sub-committees in the areas of mathematics, science, social studies, and language arts, members aligned previously developed content standards for teachers to the new Georgia Performance Standards (GPS) and designed a program that leads to an endorsement in mathematics for early childhood education teachers. Furthermore, this committee studied program options for secondary education majors and made recommendations to the Education Unit leadership at VSU to strengthen the content component of secondary education programs. Based upon this work, secondary education majors will receive B.A. or B.S. degrees in their major content area in the near future in lieu of a B.S.Ed. degree.

Dr. Diane Judd has lead GSTEP technology endeavors at VSU. Recently selected as the outstanding teacher educator in the College of Education, Dr. Judd assists faculty and students to integrate technology into their teaching and learning. One exciting project she developed is our asynchronous chats that we call “Ask the Experts.” Teacher candidates and beginning teachers post questions they have regarding professional practices that are then answered by a panel of “experts”; i.e., National Board Certified Teachers (NBCT) and university faculty members. These questions and answers have been archived and are available for continuous review at www.teacherresourcebank.com, where you will also find other support materials for teachers developed by Dr. Judd including job announcements, an electronic teacher work sample template, and assistive technology materials.

Induction support is also a key part of the work of GSTEP at Valdosta State University with Dr. Shirley Andrews leading this effort. The group expanded induction support to 14 school districts within VSU’s service area, published a quarterly newsletter for beginning teachers entitled “The Tipster” (www.teacherresourcebank.com), sponsored an induction conference, developed a model induction handbook for use by school districts, and trained teachers to redeliver TSS mentor training to teachers from their district selected to mentor beginning teachers.

Support for experienced teachers seeking certification by the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards has been another important aspect of our work. This year Dr. Heather Brasell, a NBCT in science and faculty member in Middle Grades and Secondary Education at VSU, led our efforts and promoted the National Board process in several ways. Scholarships were awarded to assist with registration fees, “The Knowledgeable Teacher” class required by teachers seeking state financial assistance for fees was provided, and candidate mentoring by an NBCT was made available free of cost. The results of these endeavors were extremely satisfying, for we now have over 50 expert teachers from our region certified by NBPTS.

GSTEP at VSU has also made significant strides in recruitment. Our efforts began at the middle school level, continued through high school, and culminated with recruitment of second career adults. Our “If I Had a Hammer” project brought approximately 1200 fourth and fifth grade students to campus where they built a house under the supervision of VSU teacher candidates. This experience required the middle school students to apply mathematics and science concepts, while also learning to work as a team. We added another dimension to recruitment at the high school level this year by sponsoring a minor in education for students attending the Governor’s Honors Program (GHP). Our theme was “What you Know Must Make a Difference.” GHP students who selected the education minor explored teaching as a career and also worked in the local Boys and Girl Club. Pictures from last summer’s class can be viewed at www.teacherresourcebank.com. The GHP minor in education will be sponsored again this summer, and we will again encourage Georgia’s most talented students to enter the teaching profession through this exciting program.

Last but not least is our work in the area of service learning. The emphasis of this committee was to strengthen the connection between academic achievement and service learning methodology. Leading efforts in this area were VSU faculty member, Dr. David Monetti, and former Associate Superintendent of Valdosta City Schools, Vickie Burt. These individuals collaborated with Dr. Myra Tolbert of Georgia Learn and Serve on several statewide projects including leadership training, resource development, and conference sponsorship. This collaboration resulted in an infusion of approximately $100,000 of additional external grant funds that were utilized to support teaching and learning in our region. The most recent statewide service learning conference hosted by this committee was held on January 14, 2005, and had over 300 participants. The theme of this conference was “A Blast from the Past” and highlighted local and international students learning about the history of the South Georgia region. The conference featured students and teachers from Colne Community School, in Colne, England, who were participating in the 2005 International Service Learning Exchange with Valdosta City Schools. Next month a team of middle and high school students and teachers from Valdosta City Schools will visit the Colne community in England and will be involved in service learning activities there. You can find out more about this conference and international partnership at http://www.teacherresourcebank.com/EarlyFieldExperience/Index.htm.

The GSTEP grant has afforded VSU a wealth of opportunities to work with colleagues from across the state in shared activities to support teacher development. As a result, we are significantly advancing the support we give to educators at all points in their careers to help them best meet the needs of learners and their families.

—Pam Hertzog