A3. Instruction
The ULM Interactive Learning Model to Prepare Learning Facilitators provides the framework supporting the College of Education professional programs. Methodology courses contain assignments which require teacher education candidates to develop, select, review and evaluate instructional content, assessment procedures, resources and strategies that are responsive to cultural, linguistic and gender differences. The courses form the foundation and conceptual framework that permeates the professional courses and is specifically reflected in Objectives and Outcomes of each courses. The courses address standards of the Louisiana Components of Effective Teaching (LCET), Council for Exceptional Children (CEC) standards, and National Board for Professional Teaching Standards (NBPTS), as well as content specific national standards.
Theories and research that form the bases for curriculum development and instructional planning, as well as the scope and sequence of teacher education curricula are embedded with each of ULM’s teacher education programs. Candidates are provided with opportunities to utilize national, state, and local curricular standards and benchmarks in the instructional planning process. Types of adaptation and accommodation needed to support and facilitate ALL learners to include those with exceptional learning needs.
In methods and assessment courses special attention is given to the Louisiana Components of Effective Teaching (LCET), which is codified in the syllabi for all courses in all of the teacher education programs. LCET was compiled by renowned educational experts with input from teachers, practitioners, and administers and is based on evidenced based research of effective teaching. All method and assessment courses also emphasize the familiarization and integrations of the Louisiana State Standards and Benchmarks which serves as the adopted curriculum for all public schools in the state of Louisiana.
Teacher candidates are required to write lesson plans using the approved university format which is based on LCET standards and the objectives must be codified using the Louisiana Departments of Education’s Grade Level Expectations (GLE). Planning competencies assessed through the lesson plans include the specificity of the learner outcomes in clear, concise objectives, activities that develop objectives, identification and plans for individual differences, identification of materials other than standard materials as needed to differentiate instruction, and statements of how learner outcomes will be measured.
In addition, teacher candidates produce teaching portfolios that reflect the teacher candidates’ field experiences and work with individual students. It includes, but is not limited to, the following components: class profile, lesson plans which reflect and address GLE’s for content taught, and the appropriate activities and techniques for teaching/addressing the identified objectives.
The Louisiana State Department of Education and the College of Education and Human Development encourage the use of technologies to plan and manage teaching and learning, as well as those that can be integrated and infused to provide access to the curriculum. Candidates are encouraged to view technologies as tools for productive teaching and learning. Candidates are expected to create web quests to be used by students, and to create multimedia presentations as evidence of their advanced computer literacy. Special education candidates are also given an opportunity to write IEP’s using a Louisiana State Department of Education’s adopted computerized IEP program which incorporates an extensive bank of short term objectives to match specific Louisiana benchmarks and standards, thus ensuring that students with ELP access the general curriculum. Candidates are required to compare and critique IEPs written with the assistance of computerized IEPs and those written without the computer program.
During their professional studies, teacher education candidates participate in activities that prioritize the components of the general education curriculum and develop accommodations for individuals with exceptional learning needs. As teacher education candidates progress through their program of study, their skills are further enhanced as they modify and make appropriate adjustments in the general education curriculum so that the individual with exceptional learning needs can effectively access the general education curriculum. These activities assist the student in developing sequencing, implementing, and evaluating the individualized learning objectives for typically developing children, adolescents, and young adults as well as those with exceptional learning needs. These skills support the candidate in developing individual lessons, instructional and integrative units of study, and IEP’s.
(Exhibit 1c1.1 Undergraduate Signature Assessment Description, Rubrics and Data)
(Exhibit 1b1.1 MAT Signature Assessment Description, Rubric & Data)
(Exhibit 1b2.1 M.Ed. Signature Assessment, Description, Rubric & Data)