Department of Education

Faculty: Associate Professor Wilson, Chair; Professors Almerico, Erben, Soublis; Associate Professors Ensmann, O'Grady; Assistant Professors Franco, Schock; Assistant Teaching Professor Civil; Lecturer Tankersley.

Mission: We are leaders, educators, and scholars who passionately prepare exceptionally qualified and highly effective, socially responsive facilitators of active learning.

Vision: The Department of Education's vision is that every educator makes a positive difference in the world by creating learner-centered environments that meet the developmental needs of all.

Philosophy: The best way for teachers to prepare learners well is to equip them with problem-solving strategies that enable them to cope with new challenges in their personal and professional lives. In the context of coping, learners are enabled to understand the subjective and changing nature of truth; that multiple perspectives exist; and that what is considered to be true by any one individual or at any one point in history may change over time.

The teacher’s role is to serve as a guide whose primary responsibility is to act as a facilitator for student learning. In the process of creating learning experiences and environments, the teacher takes into account the well-being and development of the whole learner in terms of physical, emotional, social, aesthetic, intellectual and linguistic needs. The teaching and learning process needs to be characterized by extensive interaction between teacher and learners, and among learners themselves. Teachers provide learners with experiences that enable them to learn by doing, because meaningful learning is an active process.

School is a place where learners develop personal as well as social values. In the words of Maxine Greene, “We have to know about our lives, clarify our situations if we are to understand the world from our shared standpoints.” Schooling needs to prepare learners with a broad understanding of the democratic process and the role of the individual in that process. Such an understanding includes how governance structures operate in a democratic society. Schools should not only transmit knowledge about the existing social order, they also should seek to reconstruct it. Learners must be enabled to understand how individuals can take advantage of the democratic process and to act as change agents as they pursue efforts to restructure the society in positive ways.

Teachers need to place a premium on bringing the world into the classroom. Learning experiences need to include field trips, telecommunications, community-based projects of various sorts and opportunities to interact with persons beyond the four walls of the classroom.

Teachers must allow learners freedom of creative choice and provide them with carefully designed experiences that will help them find meaning in their lives and find their own answers to questions. This does not suggest, however, that learners may do whatever they please. The choices that are offered to learners are well-structured and are designed to provide optimal learning.

Curricula are judged by whether they contribute to the individual’s quest for personal and professional meaning. Appropriate curricula result in an increased level of personal awareness as well as content-area knowledge.

Teacher Education Programs at UT

The following undergraduate programs offered through The University of Tampa Department of Education are approved by the Florida Department of Education:

Elementary Education/ESOL & Reading-endorsed (K-6)
Secondary Biology Education/ESOL-endorsed (6-12)
Secondary Mathematics Education/ESOL-endorsed (6-12)
Secondary Social Sciences Education/ESOL-endorsed (6-12)
Professional Education Minor (6-12)

Certification Endorsements

Certification endorsements are offered in Reading and ESOL (English to speakers of other languages). The ESOL endorsement is delivered through an infused model and cannot be earned separately from any degree. The Reading Endorsement is only offered in conjunction with the Elementary Education degree. Like the ESOL endorsement, the Reading endorsement is delivered through an infused model and three stand-alone reading courses (EDU 315, EDU 316, EDU 318) and a reading practicum (EDU 418). Courses are designed to provide students extensive experience working with children, adolescents and young adults in school settings.

Any course transferred to this University for purposes of meeting teacher certification requirements must be equivalent to a specific UT course.

Florida State Teacher Education Mandates

Florida state laws pertaining to requirements for certification in teacher education may be enacted after this edition of the UT catalog has gone to press. Education students must comply with these requirements, even if they do not appear in this version of the catalog, in order to graduate from any Florida teacher education program or be certified to teach in the state of Florida. Such information is made available in the Department of Education office and through its Quick Help Guides.

Programs in the Department of Education are nationally accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). This accreditation recognizes that UT education programs have met or exceeded national professional standards for the preparation of teachers and other educators.

Passing all Florida Teacher Certification Exams (FTCE) is a graduation requirement. FTCE include General Knowledge Test (GK), Professional Education Test (PED), and Subject Area Examination (SAE).

ESOL (English to Speakers of Other Languages) Endorsement

All Florida teacher education programs must provide ESOL training as part of elementary and secondary certification. Elementary education and secondary education (Biology, Mathematics, Social Sciences) majors complete 15 hours of ESOL coursework to earn an ESOL endorsement. At UT this includes stand-alone ESOL coursework: LIN 217, EDU 312/EDU 354 and EDU 319 ESOL Practicum (with Seminar) II (for elementary and secondary education majors) as well as ESOL content infused into existing education courses. The ESOL Standards (2010) are assessed through targeted assignments uploaded to LiveText (ESOL indicators are addressed) in stand-alone ESOL courses and infused ESOL courses.

Physical Education majors who began their programs in or after fall 2000 as freshmen (regardless of institution) must complete specified ESOL coursework in EDU 354 only to fulfill State ESOL requirements. They do not earn the ESOL Endorsement.

Professional Education Minors do not earn the ESOL Endorsement, but must complete EDU 320 and EDU 358 to meet the State ESOL requirement.

Admission to Teacher Education

Undergraduate Admission for Minors

Students who intend to earn the Professional Education minor at The University of Tampa must apply to the Department of Education. Application forms are available at https://www.ut.edu/education.

Students who have submitted the following documentation are eligible for admission to the Professional Education Minor:

• A completed Admission to Professional Education Minor application, which includes a criminal record information form.
• A cumulative GPA of at least 2.5 on a 4.0 scale.

Undergraduate Admission for Majors

Students who intend to major in a teacher education program at The University of Tampa begin as a pre-education major and then must apply for admission into the Department of Education. Students must have completed, or will complete, 30 credit hours by the end of sophomore year. Transfer students must be admitted to teacher education before enrolling in any 300- or 400-level education courses. Candidates may not enroll in 300- or 400-level education courses until they are officially admitted to teacher education. Application forms are available at ut.edu/education/admission.

Students who have submitted the following documentation are eligible for admission to teacher candidacy. Declaring a pre-education major does not guarantee admission to education programs.

• A completed Admission to Teacher Education application.
• An unofficial transcript indicating completion of 30 credit hours of coursework.
• A cumulative GPA of at least 3.0 (on a 4.0 scale). Students who have a GPA 2.9 - 3.0 may be referred to the department's Admissions, Retention and Dismissal Committee for further consideration.
• Documentation of passing scores on all portions of the General Knowledge (GK) Exam on the Florida Teacher Certification Examinations (FTCE).
• A signed Cooperative Learning Agreement.
• A completed Applicant’s Perspective on Education.
• Two completed UT Educator Disposition Assessments with ratings of "1" or higher.
• One letter of recommendation.
• Criminal Record Information form.

Completed applications are to be submitted online to the Department of Education at https://www.ut.edu/academics/college-of-social-sciences-mathematics-and-education/department-of-education---education-degrees/application-for-admission-into-the-teacher-education-program by March 15th (for Fall admittance) or October 15th (for Spring admittance).

Retention

Undergraduate Retention Requirements for Minors

To continue in the Professional Education Minor at The University of Tampa, students must maintain a cumulative GPA of at least a 2.5 overall, and a 3.0 in all education coursework. Students must make satisfactory progress toward mastery of the FEAPs/InTASC standards and indicators, Florida Reading Competencies 1 and 2, and ESOL Standards documented through the LiveText electronic database and outlined in all undergraduate EDU syllabi.

Students may be required to complete the criminal background check and fingerprinting for classroom observations in local schools.

Undergraduate Retention Requirements for Majors

To continue teacher education studies at The University of Tampa, undergraduate candidates must fulfill the following requirements:

• Maintain a minimum GPA of 3.0. This shall include LIN 217 for elementary and secondary education majors.
• Make satisfactory progress toward mastery of the Uniform Core Curriculum (UCC)/InTASC standards and indicators as documented through the LiveText electronic database and outlined in all undergraduate EDU syllabi.
• Complete required field assignments satisfactorily ("Progressing" or above as measured on the Danielson Framework).
• Pass all three sections of the FTCE prior to graduation: General Knowledge Exam (GK), Professional Area Exam (PED) and Subject Area Exam (SAE).
• Receive a rating of "1" or higher on the Educator Disposition Assessment as part of the intern application.
• Receive a rating of "1" or higher on the Educator Disposition Assessment at the completion of Practicum III.

Candidate Remediation

The candidate who fails to meet state-mandated candidate performance assessment benchmarks and fails to evidence acceptable mastery of the UCCs or candidates who do not reach department benchmarks in disposition will be referred to the department chairperson and to the Admission, Retention, and Dismissal (ARD) Committee for remediation. The committee will recommend specific candidate interventions intended to help the candidate achieve the expected targets and benchmarks. Remediation always requires enrollment in the 0-3 credit hour course EDU 380 Professional Development Clinical.

LiveText Electronic Database

The Department of Education uses the LiveText database system to formally collect data to document candidate progress and mastery of competencies in and across programs, including the Professional Education Minor. For teacher candidates, LiveText provides evidence that FEAP/InTASC/PEC/Subject Area Competencies and Skills/ESOL Domains/Reading Endorsement Competencies (REC), FSS/NGSSS have been met prior to the culminating field/clinical experience. All education candidates are required to obtain and manage a LiveText account. Candidates who do not upload required critical UCC assignments to LiveText will earn a grade of "Incomplete" in the course and be referred to the ARD Committee for further action/remediation.

Cooperative Learning

Education majors at The University of Tampa are required to engage in numerous cooperative group activities, projects and presentation. Many of these are prepared outside of class. The rationale for this requirement is two-fold.

• Contemporary teachers are required to understand, create and facilitate noncompetitive group investigation and cooperative learning experiences in their classrooms. An understanding of the process of cooperation and the attainment of related skills is developed through one’s own involvement in such experiences. 
• Teachers are compelled to collaborate and cooperate noncompetitively with other teachers in their school, to team-teach and to carry out various school missions, projects and presentations. Therefore, teacher preparation students are expected to create and implement group activities, projects and presentations. They are to be fully committed to such requirements in terms of availability, preparation, punctuality, reliability and the spirit of cooperation. Failure to meet these requirements may result in student dismissal from the Department of Education.