In 1993, the College received approval from the State of New York to offer a degree of Master of Science in Urban and Multicultural Education in the area of Middle Level Education, Multicultural Studies and Instructional Technology and Global Perspectives. This degree option is given collaboratively with the

United Federation of Teachers [UFT] partially at an off-campus UFT site for members of the UFT who work in public and non-public schools in New York City. Completion of this degree provides teachers in the Grade 1-6 and 1-6 + 7-9 Ext. with the academic requirements needed for Professional certification.

The Teacher Education Program has five full-time faculty members and 37 part-time faculty members, who characterize their approach to teacher education as highly collaborative with the arts and science faculty and the public schools and as emphasizing the students’ reflection on their educational experiences. The 37 part – time adjuncts do not all teach at the same time. For example, in the fall, 2005, semester there were 25 adjuncts teaching.

The program leads to a New York State license in any of the following areas:

• Early Childhood (Birth-Grade 2)
• Childhood (Grades 1-6)
• Childhood (Grades 1-6) plus Grades 7-9 Extension
• Adolescence (Grades 7-12)
• Adolescence (Grades 7-12) plus Grades 5-6 Extension
• Dual – Special Education (Grades 1-6) and Childhood Education (Grades 1-6)
• Dual– Special Education (Grades 7-12 and Adolescence Education Grades (7-12)
• Physical Education (K-12) [offered at Manhattan College as part of the Cooperative Program]

Claims for Student Learning
The faculty members make the following four claims about their students:

• Knowledge: Graduates demonstrate subject matter knowledge and pedagogical knowledge.
• Instructional Application: Graduates demonstrate the ability to teach all students in an effective and caring manner.
• Ethics and Values: Graduates demonstrate positive values and ethical practice.
• Professional Development: Graduates demonstrate reflective practice and seek opportunities for professional growth.

Evidence Supporting the Claims
The program faculty support their claims with evidence from the following sources:

• New York State Teacher Certification Exams LAST; ATS-W
• Cooperating teacher evaluations
• Cumulative Grade Point Averages and grades in selected courses
• Employer evaluations (principals/supervisors)
• Student teaching and practicum grades
• Survey of school personnel
• Survey of alumni
• Comprehensive examination scores

Results
On all the measures, the mean scores are of sufficient magnitude and pattern to support the claims. Pass rates on the license examinations were between 85% and 100% during 2000 to 2004 with the most recent year showing rates of 98% to 100%. Mean scores on the state tests exceeded the state standard of 220 and generally exceeded the state mean each year. Grades and other college measures (rating forms & survey results) exceeded 75% of the maximum potential score on any measure. The grades of program students were equivalent to the grades of non-program students in the arts and science core courses taken in common. Program students also earned a disproportionately high share of honors based on GPA’s over 3.5. In addition, compared to Darling-Hammond’s national data, more than an expected percentage of program students enter teaching and remain more than three years.

Internal Audit

The program’s quality was audited by selecting a sample of five students who are now recent graduates; three from the four-year undergraduate option and two from the graduate options.

While the faculty concluded that their findings supported their claims about quality control, there were a number of issues that led to revisions in the instruments used by the cooperating teachers and faculty to improve the alignment with the CMSV claims. The faculty also revised their teaching portfolio assessment to bring it into better alignment with the four program claims. The newly revised portfolio rubrics allow for more analytical scoring and enable faculty to assess student performance in response to each CMSV claim.

The internal audit also revealed an inequity between the on-campus and off-campus course offerings in regard to easy access to course syllabi and course evaluations, which the faculty is addressing.

Institutional Commitment
The faculty undertook an extensive analysis of commitment (parity) for both the four-year curricula and the graduate curricula. With regard to the four-year undergraduate curricula the faculty found the program was above the institutional norm in seven instances, at the norm in 16 instances, and below parity in four instances. There was one additional instance where the data was not available from the institution.

With regard to the graduate curricula, the faculty found the program was above the institutional norm in five instances, at the norm in 14 instances, and below parity in four instances. There was one additional instance where the data was not available from the institution.

The faculty concluded, on the bases of this analysis, that the College of Mount Saint Vincent is fully committed to the program and that it has the capacity to offer a quality program.

Audit visit
The audit was conducted at the College of Mt. Saint Vincent, in Riverdale, New York on October 11 - 12, 2005. The Summary of the case, prepared by the auditors, is cited above. There were a few minor changes made to the summary by the authors of the IB; but overall it was accepted as accurate on October 25.

Overview of the audit opinion and commitment finding
Overall, because only one of the targets could not be verified, the Inquiry Brief was awarded a clean audit opinion. The auditors also concluded that the evidence of College of Mount Saint Vincent’s commitment to the teacher education program was sufficient to meet TEAC’s expectations that the college was committed to the program.