11 minute read
PROGRAMS
UNC School of Education programs
Doctoral Degree Programs Doctor of Education in Educational Leadership (Ed.D.) Doctor of Philosophy in Education (Ph.D.) Concentrations: Applied Developmental Science and Special Education Culture, Curriculum, and Teacher Education Learning Sciences and Psychological Studies Policy, Leadership, and School Improvement Doctor of Philosophy in School Psychology (Ph.D.)
Advertisement
Master’s Degree Programs Master of Arts in Educational Innovation, Technology, and Entrepreneurship (M.A.) Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) Master of Education for Experienced Teachers (M.Ed.) Early Childhood Intervention and Family Support Master of Education in School Counseling (M.Ed.) Master of School Administration (M.S.A.) Undergraduate Degree Programs Bachelor of Arts in Human Development and Family Science (B.A.Ed.) Bachelor of Arts in Human and Organizational Leadership Development (B.A.) Bachelor of Music in Music Education (B.M.Ed.) UNC Baccalaureate Education in Science and Teaching (B.A. or B.S.)
Licensure Programs Birth-Kindergarten, Pre-Kindergarten Licensure Pathway to Practice NC School Administration Licensure
Bringing students from across North Carolina into Peabody Hall
Higher education already includes in-person residential, online or non-residential, synchronous, and asynchronous courses for students. In 2021, the UNC School of Education unveiled two new, forward-thinking classrooms that aim to dissolve those lines, enabling students, particularly professional students, from anywhere in North Carolina — and the world — to join classes happening in Chapel Hill. The classrooms, equipped with eight screens and a technology-advancing audio system, allows for multiple Zoom breakout rooms. Students joining the class remotely can participate in these breakout groups with fellow in-person students as the in-person instructor visits each group. Already, the School’s hyflex Master of School Administration program welcomes students from across the state into these classrooms, providing unique and varied professional perspectives in the preparation of school leaders.
Carolina collaborates with Person County to launch K-2 community academy
Beginning in the 2022-23 school year, the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will partner with Person County Schools to launch the Carolina Community Academy, an innovative school for K-2 students at North Elementary in Roxboro, N.C.
The University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill will function as the school district for the academy, and the UNC School of Education will lead the initiative while forming a cross-campus coalition to best serve the students, families, and community in Person County. The inaugural class of students start at Carolina Community Academy on Aug. 29 and include two kindergarten classrooms with 15 to 19 students per class. The school will expand to include first and second grades in future academic years.
“Carolina Community Academy, and our partnership with Person County Schools, will bring the knowledge and expertise of our faculty, staff, and students to serve the people of our state,” Chancellor Kevin M. Guskiewicz said. “This is what it means to be passionately public. Through long-term investment and coordination with community partners, we can make a difference in the lives of so many students and their families.”
The North Carolina General Assembly passed a law in 2016 that directed the UNC System to create nine laboratory schools in partnership with public school districts. Carolina Community Academy will be the ninth to open across the state.
“We are partnering with Person County and other University units to build exceptional teaching, learning, development, and engagement experiences for academy students, educators, families, and community members. To this end, the partnership will bring the full bandwidth of Carolina’s expertise and opportunities to our students so they can reach their fullest potential,” said School of Education Dean Fouad Abd-El-Khalick.
The academy was designed as a “school within a school” to provide a seamless transition for students at North Elementary. After finishing second grade at the academy, students will simply move down the hall to begin third grade with the same classmates at North Elementary. The academy will function as a classroom setting similar to many others found throughout the state while working to integrate evidence-based classroom practices and innovative approaches, improved and integrated curriculum, social-emotional learning, and robust wraparound services to best support the students.
Guskiewicz will serve as the superintendent of the academy, and an advisory board will include Abd-El-Khalick, Person County Superintendent Rodney Peterson, UNC Board of Trustees member Ramsey White, School faculty members Martinette Horner and Chris Scott, and Person County community member Brittany West.
“The premise of the Carolina Community Academy is to care for the whole child. In addition to great teaching, learning, and educational leadership within the school, we will bolster community engagement and wraparound services,” Abd-El-Khalick said. “Schools exist in social, economic, and cultural realities, and we need to attend to and support all dimensions that impact the learning, development, and well-being of students.”
Abd-El-Khalick said other Carolina units also expressed great interest in joining the coalition. Those units include the School of Social Work, Adams School of Dentistry, Gillings School of Global Public Health, School of Library and Information Science, School of Medicine — particularly, allied health and pediatrics — Morehead Planetarium and Science Center, Sonja Haynes Stone Center, and Carolina Athletics. Abd-El-Khalick added that this coalition continues to grow.
“We are extremely excited about the partnership with the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill and the School of Education. As we prepare students for success in an ever-changing society, it is important for public education to ensure we offer experiences for our students that will prepare them for opportunities of their choice,” said Peterson. “This partnership not only allows us to collaborate with higher education partners to achieve this goal but to also tap into resources we would otherwise not be afforded in our community.”
Abd-El-Khalick says Carolina and Person County are unified by the values of a whole education, caring for the child, engaging the community, and providing exceptional teaching and learning, as well as wraparound services.
“Carolina and the School of Education stand to learn much from our partners as we deepen our understanding and engagement with educators, schools, and the community in Person County,” said Abd-El-Khalick.
“We want to take the best care of students who have been entrusted to UNC-Chapel Hill. This partnership resonates with the four guiding pillars of the School of Education: collaborating for the greater good, educating the whole, empowering the leaders of tomorrow, and driving innovation. The Carolina Community Academy is a great opportunity for the School of Education and Carolina to put these pillars into action as we continue to expand our engagement with communities across the state,” he said.
Pathway to Practice NC Putting passion into practice
When Asha Patel was a junior at the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill, a major in business seemed like a path to success.
But it was during a Maymester course focused on experiential education that Patel “saw the value of” what she was learning and experiencing, she said. Soon after, she declared a minor in education.
As graduation neared, Patel (’19 B.S.B.A.) went a route expected of a new business school grad: She applied for consulting jobs.
“And then through those interview processes, I realized, ‘I have a much higher degree of interest in teaching and education,’ so I applied to become a teacher.
“At that point, I didn’t have a degree in education, but the mission [of the School of Education] was something that resonated with me.”
Patel’s job search led her to a lateral entry teaching position — or a residency — at an elementary school in Union County, not far from her hometown of Charlotte. As a residency license teacher, she was hired to teach second grade, but had not yet obtained her full teaching license. To continue teaching, she had to earn that license within her first three years in the classroom.
As she began her first year teaching during the 2020-21 school year, Patel also began Pathway to Practice NC — a 100% online Educator Preparation Program offered by North Carolina State University and UNC-Chapel Hill specifically designed to help residency license teachers earn a full teaching license.
By the end of Patel’s first year of teaching, she had completed her Pathway to Practice NC coursework and submitted her edTPA materials. She earned initial full teaching licensure not long after.
A flexible program with working educators in mind
When Pathway to Practice NC launched in 2017, the program’s visionaries — UNC School of Education and the NC State College of Education faculty members, renowned researchers, and subject matter experts from the state’s top public universities — had residency license teachers like Patel in mind.
In 2015, the State Board of Education reported more than 4,300 lateral entry teachers, now designated as residency license teachers. It also reported that lateral entry teachers leave the profession at a rate 79% greater than other teachers. In 2018, the board reported more than 5,900 lateral entry teachers, an increase of more than 32% since the program was first conceived, and the attrition rate of lateral entry teachers had grown — lateral entry teachers were leaving the profession at a rate 91.5% higher than their non-lateral entry colleagues.
helped Patel succeed in the classroom and persist in the profession. Pathway to Practice NC provided her that instruction, support, and flexibility on her way to licensure.
Living and working in Union County would have meant a two-hour drive to Chapel Hill for Patel to participate in in-person classes. And online classes would have meant blocking out set times in the busy schedule of a new teacher.
“We recognize that first-year teachers face enormous demands and stress,” said Alison Winzeler, director of Pathway to Practice NC. “It is no small feat to also pursue a licensure program while teaching.”
Pathway to Practice NC provides online, asynchronous modules that Patel could complete when her schedule allowed. Each module was designed for her to embed within her own classroom.
“You’re given the autonomy to figure out how this could work in your classroom,” Patel said. “And then you implement it, reflect on it to figure out what could have gone better, change your approach, and do it again.
“You’re learning the content that they’re presenting to you, but you’re also learning about yourself as an educator and your students.”
Those modules range in topic and, ultimately, provide an invaluable set of skills in pedagogy, classroom management, content application, differentiation and strategies for engaging students based upon their age, development, and latest educational research.
Some modules Patel mastered quickly and moved on to the next. For other modules, she took more time to complete.
And along the way, particularly if she needed help mastering one of the modules, she received individual support from her assigned facilitator, Aimee Fraulo. All Pathway to Practice NC facilitators are doctoral candidates at either NC State or UNC-Chapel Hill and are former classroom teachers themselves.
“Aimee was such a huge support system for me,” Patel said. “Having that relationship with her was so influential in getting me through that year.
“Aimee was so consistent in her feedback and whenever I needed Navigating edTPA
For any new teacher on their way to licensure, the edTPA can be a daunting step in the process.
One of the final modules of Pathway to Practice NC is totally devoted to that performance assessment.
“The module focused exclusively on edTPA really sets Pathway to Practice NC apart,” said Diana Lys, assistant dean for accreditation and educator preparation at the UNC School of Education. “We build edTPA into activities throughout the modules, so there is a foundation in place when it comes time to focus on edTPA.”
Patel said the program prepared her for it, even before that module.
“I didn’t realize this at first, but the way we wrote our lesson plans, no matter what module, were in the edTPA format,” she said. “So by the time you get to the edTPA, you’re like, ‘Oh, I know what I’m doing,’ because you’ve been practicing some of the pieces all along.”
Patel passed on her first edTPA attempt. To date, 100% of Pathway to Practice NC completers have passed edTPA; 90% have passed on their first attempt.
“When I turned it in, I felt confident that I did well,” she said. “I did do well, and I think that Pathway to Practice was a big reason as to why.”
To date, Patel is one of more than 400 residency license teachers — from more than 80 of North Carolina’s 115 districts — to enroll in Pathway to Practice NC. Each month, residency license teachers can apply and quickly begin work toward full licensure.
“Pathway to Practice NC really grounded me in why I chose to be a teacher,” Patel said. “And my relationship with Aimee gave me so much confidence, support, and encouragement.
“The program has definitely made me a better educator. That’s what our kids need right now.”
Pathway to Practice NC is residency license teachers’ most flexible path to licensure in North Carolina.
In a unique collaboration between the NC State College of Education and the UNC School of Education, Pathway to Practice draws upon the expertise of leading scholars and highly effective educators at North Carolina’s top public Educator Preparation Programs to deliver the highest quality online, competency-based education (CBE) to residency license teachers.
Since 2017, Pathway to Practice has enabled more than 400 residency license teachers — working full-time in more than 80 of the state’s 115 school districts — to work toward licensure at a pace that works for them.
