UCA COLLEGE OF EDUCATION
NOTEWORTHY ACHIEVEMENTS AND DISTINCTIONS
SEPTEMBER 2010

UCA’s College of Education promotes a strong emphasis on preparing educators to work effectively with low-achieving student populations to improve student learning outcomes.  The College is also interested in attracting more diverse educator candidates to its programs.

UCA continues to be one of the top two producers of licensed school educators in the state.  Currently, more than 5,000 UCA graduates work as educators in Arkansas k-12 schools, with the highest concentration of its graduates working in central Arkansas or northwest Arkansas.  Additionally, the quality of UCA educator graduates is strong, as evidenced by the standardized content knowledge, pedagogical knowledge, and classroom performance skill assessments.  UCA educator graduates consistently pass these various assessments at or above the state average.  For example, one hundred percent of all College of Education graduates have passed the Praxis III assessment, with each performance area scored above the state average.

The Mashburn Center for Learning continues to be one of three state-endorsed intervention and professional development programs in Arkansas, as identified by the Arkansas Department of Education.  The Mashburn Center provides intervention strategies and professional development support for participating schools to improve outcomes of low-performing students.

UCA’s College of Education hosts an annual Leadership Institute, bringing in nationally renowned leadership researchers or policy-makers.  The 2010 Leadership Institute included Keynote Speaker, Dr. Ellen Goldring of Vanderbilt University, who spoke on key behaviors principals can utilize to improve student performance outcomes.  Approximately 150 participants from across the state of Arkansas attended the Leadership Institute, the largest participant audience since the inception of the Leadership Institute.

The College of Education continues to bring in consistently strong external funding.  Specifically, the Arkansas Research Center brings in several hundred thousand each year to support education data management and state policy research.  Additionally, the Mashburn Institute brings in several hundred thousand dollars each year from the state and/or foundations for systematic professional development and school improvement in Arkansas.

UCA’s graduate programs for educators are recognized statewide and nationally for program excellence and all programs meet national accreditation standards.  Additionally, UCA’s Graduate Study Incentive Program (GSIP) offers qualified graduate students a reduced tuition rate for their degree program coursework. 

• Master of Arts in Teaching:  UCA’s Masters of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program won a national award for excellence in 2010, the Association of Teacher Education Distinguished Program Award.  The MAT program continues to enroll approximately 300 post-baccalaureate teacher candidates annually who are working in teaching positions in the schools while earning their Arkansas teaching license.  Additionally, the MAT program's first graduates (2008) performed, on average, above the state mean on the PRAXIS III assessment.  Thus, these graduates are achieving outstanding classroom performance results, demonstrating that this program not only attracts high numbers of students, but also yields high quality novice teachers to the profession. 
  
• Educational Leadership:  UCA’s masters degree and educational specialist degree programs in educational leadership were recently recognized as affiliate members of the prestigious University Council for Educational Administration (UCEA), a national organization of leading educational administration programs in the nation.  UCA will be launching its Leadership Studies PhD program effective Fall 2011. 
  
• Teacher Leadership:  To develop effective teacher leaders and Nationally Board Certified Teachers, the Advanced Studies in Teacher Leadership (ASTL) program has been recently revised.  The program includes core coursework aligned with National Board Certification Standards and also allows enrollees their choice of multiple specialization options, including the content discipline of their choice, an instructional facilitator endorsement, English as Second Language endorsement, early childhood emphasis, or middle level emphasis.   
  
• Library Media and Instructional Technology Programs:  The Library Media program is the only nationally accredited program of its type in Arkansas.  Further, it and the Instructional Technology program are offered entirely on-line to better serve the entire state of Arkansas, preparing school library media specialists and instructional technology specialists for leadership roles in schools.
  
• Reading Program and Reading Center:   UCA’s Reading masters program includes a strong emphasis on working with English Language Learners.  Further, the Reading Center is piloting a program with the League of United Latin American Citizens (LULAC) to include English Language Learner parents in learning activities and support.   
  
• Special Education:  To address the special education teacher shortage, UCA now offers an on-line special education graduate program.  This program is accessible to teachers across the entire state and region.
  
• College Student Personnel Administration (CSPA):  UCA’s CSPA program recently received noteworthy commendations in its accreditation review and continues to attract students nationwide, most of whom hold graduate assistantship positions in various UCA student personnel offices. CSPA graduates are typically placed in university professional positions across the country, as well as in Arkansas.