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| Vol. 18, No. 13 | Dec. 3, 1998 |
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| Vol. 18, No. 13 | Dec. 3, 1998 |
Education is in the spotlight in Delaware, with programs in place to upgrade school, teacher and student performance and to meet new standards across the board.
To help in this statewide effort, the Delaware Center for Teacher Education (DCTE) was established in the College of Human Resources, Education and Public Policy in July to coordinate UD professional education programs and to coordinate programs for in-service teachers.
DCTE is funded by the college, the University and the Delaware General Assembly.
"Our premise is that better-trained teachers mean better students," interim director Carol Vukelich said. "Basically, our goals are to strengthen pre-service and in-service teacher education, support state efforts to help teachers meet accountability requirements and improve access to professional education programs.
"DCTE has undertaken a number of initiatives to coordinate and enhance educational opportunities for UD pre-service teachers and Delaware in-service teachers to link several separate educational programs into a cohesive whole," Vukelich said.
Elementary and special education majors, and some students who are focusing on middle-level teaching, are in the School of Education," she said. "Many planning to become middle school teachers and all planning to become high school teachers major in the disciplines they will teach, with a minor in education. With teacher education programs offered in several colleges, there was a need for a center to support the University Council on Teacher Education's efforts to coordinate these programs."
As part of her job, Vukelich also chairs the University Council on Teacher Education with representatives from disciplines across campus. The council defines educational program policies and DCTE the implementation of these policies in the educational programs of different colleges.
For example, the council has focused on ways to enhance minority student enrollment in education and the recruitment of minority faculty.
"Recently the council adopted the College of Human Resources, Education and Public Policy's very successful minority student recruitment program, ASPIRE. Now ASPIRE will use what is known to work to attract and retain minority students to all teacher education programs. We also have looked at ways to assist departments in their recruitment of minority faculty," Vukelich said.
DCTE also acts as a checkpoint for graduating education students. Barbara VanDornick, associate director, checks all student records to ensure students are eligible for recommendation for teacher certification. DCTE also oversees the Alternative Routes to Certification program. This program helps teachers with a bachelor's degree earn certification while teaching.
Volunteer programs, such as America Reads where 250 undergraduates tutor young children, and the First State Mentor Corps are under the DCTE umbrella.
"There also was a need for a central clearinghouse of educational programs for in-service teachers. One of the simple things we did was to install a single telephone number-1-877-UD TEACH-so that teachers can get information directly from us.
"We also have a web site <www. udel.edu/dcte> with information about professional development activities for teachers," Vukelich said.
DCTE works with school districts and provides consulting services, workshops, in-service and graduate courses. This summer's Delaware Writing Project involved teachers from 19 school districts who learned innovative methods for teaching writing. During the academic year, the teachers, in turn, are giving workshops to their colleagues.
The Office of Educational Technology, a resource for schools incorporating modern technology into the classroom, offers numerous graduate courses in educational and assistive technology every summer.
The University underwent evaluations by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and the Delaware State Department of Education to ensure that programs meet state and national standards, and DCTE has been involved in the process.
"This has been a useful procedure as we have looked closely at what programs and policies are in place, at student performance and the quality of students in education, what we can do to strengthen educational programs at UD and how we can support education throughout the state," Vukelich said.
"On behalf of the University, DCTE provides services and programs that support quality education statewide," said Dean Dan Rich of the College of Human Resources, Education and Public Policy. "The center is strengthening the training of teachers at the University and is providing professional development assistance to practicing teachers throughout Delaware."
-Sue Swyers Moncure
