Education
Teaching and Learning
Urban education serves as the focal point for faculty instruction in the School. All departments and centers have developed a program of studies attentive to teaching and learning in city schools and communities.
- The Educational Leadership program received the Indiana Department of Education’s endorsement and support for the development of a new Urban Principal Preparation program that leads to a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership. The program is structured through two intensive summer experiences of five weeks each, with additional online courses augmented by seminars during the school year. A practicum is undertaken by students during the entire program, supporting greater interaction with school-based problems and issues. Emphasizing skills principals need for success in this era of accountability, the intense preparation includes data analysis, systems thinking, action research, collaboration, and curriculum development. Twenty-eight students are in this year’s cohort.
- Transition to Teaching Program (T2T) is the fastest route to teacher licensing for potential candidates who have a bachelor’s degree. Two programs preparing teachers for elementary and secondary teaching were created at IUPUI in response to state legislation and teacher shortages. IUPUI T2T programs now have an urban school focus with candidates working with mentor teachers and students in local Indianapolis schools. One site, Indianapolis Public School’s Northwest High School, serves not only as a placement site for T2T students, but also offers intensive support for inservice teachers through professional development activities.
- Advancing health and life sciences as well as teaching and learning in mathematics and sciences, the School of Education led the campus-wide initiative to develop a formal partnership with Indianapolis Public School’s Crispus Attucks Medical Magnet High School. The Memorandum of Understanding, was signed in the spring,
Research
The Center for Urban and Multicultural Education (CUME) serves as the central hub for translational research in the School of Education. The Center links community interests and questions with faculty scholars and student researchers. CUME supports several interrelated research networks, each comprised of faculty and community stakeholders who design research and study issues affecting city schools and communities.
- “Looking in the Mirror to Improve Practice: A Study of Administrative Licensure and Master’s Degree Programs in the State of Indiana” was a study commissioned by the Indiana Department of Education Center for School Improvement to examine building-level administrator preparation. The study was the first to comprehensively describe the state of educational leadership preparation in the state of Indiana. It was developed through the collaborative efforts of the 17 state-approved programs and examined building level licensure by gender, race, geographical location and position.
- Indianapolis Public Schools, Anderson Community Schools, and the Anderson Center of Character Education received a three-year grant to implement Character Education programs in the two districts. The Center for Urban and Multicultural Education (CUME) faculty are evaluating the effectiveness of the program. Evaluators will examine fidelity of implementation of character education principles. The evaluation will also examine the extent to which 450 IPS students and 100 ACS students in targeted alternative education programs experiencing Character Education perform academically and behaviorally, compared to 450 and 100 matched students enrolled in traditional alternative education settings.
- Working with CUME faculty, Washington and Pike Townships conducted a study of the Similarities and Differences in Stakeholder Perceptions of the Transition to High School. The study examines and compares 8th-grade students’ and caregivers’ perceptions of the academic, social, and organizational changes in high school. Caregivers were more concerned about students’ social challenges in high school, such as peer pressure, while students reported being concerned about organizational issues, such as getting lost in the large school building. The study demonstrated the importance of examining areas of discrepancy in light of the objectives and outcomes of transition programming offered at the middle school.
Diversity
A critical analysis of issues surrounding diversity in culture, language, religion, class and gender raises concerns for social justice in this society, as well as for equity and inclusion. These concepts are purposefully included in the School of Education programs of study as areas that affect all teaching and learning environments. Charged with preparing future teachers, counselors, principals, and central office administrators, we have both the opportunity and responsibility to address issues of culture and gender in ways that strengthen or critique existing educational institutions.
- The youth dialogue program, an Indianapolis Interfaith initiative of the Peace Learning Center (PLC), supported youth discussions from Christian, Muslim and Jewish religions. The initiative is being researched by an AmeriCorps member serving at PLC, through a partnership with the Center for Urban and Multicultural Education at the School of Education. Over the course of the year, middle school students from Congregation Beth-El Zedeck, St. Thomas Aquinas School, The Oaks Academy, Madrassa Tul-Ilm and Rousseau McClellan IPS #91 met, shared ideas and concerns and culminated the experience with a celebration on the IUPUI campus.
- In partnership with the Indianapolis Public School Office of Multicultural Education, faculty developed cultural audit and instrumentation that can be used by principals, teachers and parents to assess issues of diversity. The audit was launched at School 46 and involved focus groups, observations, and surveys.
- A study by the Center for Urban and Multicultural Education is examining the Student African American Brotherhood(SAAB) at IUPUI. The Student African American Brotherhood (SAAB) is an affiliate chapter of the National SAAB Program. Through the collaboration of University College and Campus & Community Life, the SAAB was established as a primary intervention to support the academic achievement and persistence of African-American male students on campus. The mission of SAAB is to “assist SAAB participants to excel academically, socially, culturally, professionally, and in the community.” The evaluation will examine the extent to which participation in SAAB is associated with positive social and academic outcomes for African-American males at IUPUI.
Best Practices
Best practices in the School of Education include collaboration with cross-campus and community partners; use of carefully acquired data to improve practice; ongoing professional development; reflective thinking; and effective communication.
- Supported by a $206,800 grant from the Indiana Commission on Higher Education, faculty are“Creating High Achievement Pipelines in Writing” by collaborating with three Indianapolis Public Schools. The project calls for two years of professional development with middle school classroom teachers and creation of an assessment instrument for tracking student progress.
- Faculty collaborated with mathematics educators and students of the Indianapolis Metropolitan Career Academy, a Big Picture school, as the teachers implemented curriculum and programmatic changes in the teaching of mathematics.
Civic Engagement
Giving back to the community is a school-wide commitment.
- A new Young Scholars SMARTS (Science Mathematics and Arts) Camp sponsored by the School of Education gave scholarships to more than sixty students, grades 1 through 9, from Community Centers of Indianapolis. The campers on the IUPUI campus discovered underwater creatures through water experiments and technology; explored the world of robots and controlled a robot via the Internet; learned to write computer programs for the robots using ROBOLAB; and discovered new talents by creating art through painting, sculpture, music, rhythm, and dancing. Classes were taught by experienced teachers, including IUPUI faculty from Informatics, Nursing, Engineering, Computer Technology, and Dentistry, and other practicing professionals.
