Curriculum MA program dovetails with NBC process

   Recent revisions to the University of Wyoming's Master of Arts program in Curriculum and Instruction allow graduate students to work simultaneously on meeting requirements for National Board Certification.
   "National Board Certification has become a very popular professional development process, nationally but especially so in Wyoming," Allen Trent, chairperson of the UW Department of Educational Studies, says. "There's a lot of interest and a lot of teachers participating in the process. We began to think that it would be nice for students to be able to do both of these processes simultaneously (National Board Certification and master's degree) to do it in a way that was complementary and where it was doable."
   Students interested in pursuing both professional goals take the same core curriculum that others in the program take. When the time comes to select electives, they have the opportunity to fulfill seminar requirements by completing workshops offered to National Board Certification participants.
   The other major program adjustment is consideration of work on the portfolio created for the certification process in lieu of more traditional capstone experiences.
   "It would probably be difficult if not impossible to be pursuing a Plan B paper or a thesis at the same time that they're assembling all of the materials for certification," according to Trent.
   The National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS) defines specifically the contents of portfolios.
   "It is the job of the student's graduate committee to review the portfolio, to see if it documents the kind of learning and professional growth that we would expect at the graduate level," according to Trent.
   Completing the master's degree does not automatically translate into Board certification. But Trent says it does streamline the process and enhance one's potential to fulfill both goals.
   Tyson Emborg, a social studies teacher at Sheridan High School, is one of the first to graduate from the revised program. As he wraps up requirements for National Board Certification, he reflects on the fit between that process and his graduate degree program.
   "My C&I degree focused on the philosophy of education," Emborg explains. "The NBC takes the philosophy and applies it. The two are deeply connected, the C&I leading into the NBC. Many of the action research plans that I did with my C&I (program) fit into the NBC."
   UW's early experiences with combining processes have drawn national interest as a potential model for others to follow.
   "The NBPTS asked if we would be willing to share the agreement we have in place and how we've configured this combination program," Trent says, "because there are other universities that are interested in doing the same."
   Dovetailing graduate work with national board certification was just one motivating scenario driving the decision to revise the C&I master's degree program and phase out an older teaching and learning option.
   "Because so many of our students are pursuing something alongside a master's degree perhaps an endorsement in ESL (English as a second language) or early childhood many more were selecting the straight C&I option because it allowed for more elective credits," Trent says. "For many of these students, those elective credits came in the form of an endorsement."
   The revised program accommodates the professional development goals of these students as well as those pursuing certification.

Posted on Monday, December 03, 2007