Board Committee Documents Academic Policy
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Table of Contents: 1 Abstract 2 2 Description of Curriculum Modification: 2 Bachelor of Science in Mathematics Education 3 Need, Justification and Purpose 2 4 Students A. Interest/Demand 4 B. Enrollment Projections 5 C. Admission Requirements 6 5 Curriculum: A. Introduction 6 B. Pedagogy Component 6 C. Mathematics Component 10 D. Mathematical Applications Component 13 E. Liberal Arts and Science Core Component 14 F. Summary of Degree Requirements 14 6 Cost Assessment 15 7 References 15 Appendices A Course Syllabi for New Pedagogy Courses 17 B Course Syllabi for New Math Courses 46 C Program Scheduling 69 D Full-Time Faculty Teaching Assignments 72 E Faculty to be Hired 76 F New Resources 77 G Projected Revenue 78 H Supporting Materials for Projected Revenue 79 I Five Year Financial Projection 85 J Articulation Agreements: Bronx Community College, Borough of Manhattan Community 87 College K State Requirements for Teacher Preparation Programs 97 L NCATE and NCTM Accreditation Standards 101 M Certification and Licensing of Teachers in New York State 104 N Correspondence from Professor S. Smith regarding planned 105 Curricular changes in the Department of Architectural Technology O Student Survey Form 106 P Consultation with affected Departments • Career and Technology Teacher Education 107 • Architectural Technology 107 • Computer Systems 108 • Electrical & Telecommunication 109 Engineering Technology Q Relevant Minutes from Department Curriculum Committee Meeting, 110 Relevant Minutes from Department Meetings 111 R Letter of Support from Dean Pamela Brown 114 S External letter of Support 115 T Library Resource and Information Literacy Form 117 U Chancellor’s Report 122 "! ! ! 1. Abstract The Mathematics Department of the New York City College of Technology is proposing to sponsor a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics Education. The program will prepare students for certification to teach middle school and secondary school mathematics (grades 7 to 12) in New York State. The proposed curriculum is comprised of 4 components: A pedagogy component (29 credits), a mathematics component (37 credits), a liberal arts and science core component (43-45 credits), and a mathematical applications component (9-11 credits). Courses within the mathematical applications component may be chosen from architecture, electrical and computer engineering technology, computer systems, applied mathematics, and physics. The program hopes to address the shortage of well-trained mathematics teachers in the New York City public school system, particularly among underrepresented groups. 2. Description of Curriculum Modification: Bachelor of Science in Mathematics Education The Mathematics Department of the New York City College of Technology is proposing to sponsor a Bachelor of Science Degree in Mathematics Education. The program will prepare students to teach middle school and secondary school mathematics (grades 7 to 12) in New York State. The proposed curriculum is comprised of 4 components: A pedagogy component (29 credits), a mathematics component (37 credits), a liberal arts and science core component (43-45 credits), and a mathematical applications component (9-11 credits). Courses in the pedagogy component are linked to mathematics content and are specifically focused on the teaching of mathematics. The mathematics component will provide students with a solid foundation needed to teach mathematics with rigor and self-confidence. Program graduates will have the math background necessary to enter Master’s degree programs in either mathematics education or pure mathematics. Courses within the mathematical applications component may be chosen from architecture, electrical and computer engineering technology, computer systems, applied mathematics, and physics. The electives are designed to provide a broad foundation in the application of mathematical principles. The proposal includes 8 new pedagogy courses and 7 new mathematics courses. Catalogue descriptions of the new courses are included in Section 4. Detailed course outlines are included in Appendices A and B. 3. Need, Justification and Purpose The proposed Bachelor of Science in Mathematics Education has been designed to meet a pressing need for well-trained mathematics teachers. A well-trained mathematics teacher must not only have a solid pedagogical foundation, but must also have an extensive background in mathematics. #! ! ! It is the latter quality that is most lacking among today’s middle school and secondary school mathematics teachers. A recent study of the National Science Foundation (NSF, 2006) found that between 23 and 29 percent of middle school and high school mathematics and science teachers did not have a college major or even a minor in their teaching field. Ingersol (1999) reported that 49 percent of seventh grade U.S. mathematics teachers did not have the equivalent of a minor in mathematics. Milbourne (2002) found that out of the 134,000 secondary school mathematics teachers in the U.S., only 86 percent were certified to teach mathematics. The mathematics background of teachers is strongly correlated to student performance. Hawkins et al. (1998) concluded that “at the eighth grade level, students who were taught by teachers with teaching certificates in mathematics outperformed, on the mathematics National Assessment of Educational Progress test, students whose teachers had certificates in other fields.” Similar results are found in science education, indicating that content background affects student performance across STEM fields: A meta-analysis by Druva and Anderson (1983) determined that “students' ability to understand the essentials of the scientific method was positively correlated with the number of science courses their teachers had taken.” The proposed program will immerse students in an intensive mathematical course of study in addition to providing a solid pedagogical foundation. In fact, our program goes one crucial step further: Our program integrates pedagogy and mathematics content. Integrating mathematics content with pedagogy is made possible by a fundamental characteristic of our proposed program. Our program, unlike most others, is housed in a single department, the Mathematics Department. Most training programs for mathematics teachers provide pedagogy training in an education department, and mathematics instruction from a separate mathematics department (Graham et al., 2000). “The segregation between the two major components of mathematics education programs may foster a perspective that methods are unrelated to content or that content is more important than method” (Yunas et al., 2008). Unlike most programs, ours will illuminate the interrelations between pedagogy and mathematics. The strength of the mathematics component of our program is apparent even in comparison to two very prestigious programs for the training of mathematics teachers: New York University’s Bachelor of Science in Mathematics Education, and the Mathematics Secondary School Teacher Preparation Program of SUNY Stony Brook. NYU’s program includes 36 credits of mathematics. Stony Brook’s program has a very strong mathematics component; it is one of the few programs housed in a mathematics department. Stony Brook’s program includes 39 credits. By comparison with these top programs, our program requires a minimum of 45 credits in mathematics, and students may take more through electives. The mathematics component of the proposed program is roughly equivalent to that provided by a typical Bachelor of Science in Mathematics, and would prepare students to enter graduate school in pure mathematics. As such, our program is consistent with recommendations of the National Council of Teachers of Mathematics (NCTM). The NCTM holds that secondary school teachers should have completed the equivalent of an undergraduate major in mathematics and that middle school teachers should have the equivalent of an undergraduate minor in mathematics (NCTM, 2005). $! ! ! Demand for Mathematics Teachers Strong demand for effective mathematics teachers has been a consistent trend for well over a decade across the U.S. (Boyd, 2009). Further, the problem of recruiting effective teachers appears to be more acute in schools serving high poverty student populations (Boyd et al., 2008; Boyd et al., 2006; Hunushek, 2004). In a recent study, Boyd (2009) concluded that “even with the creation of the alternative certification route, New York City finds it difficult to recruit sufficient numbers of teachers with substantial math coursework or a math undergraduate major.” The proposed program will help meet the demand for highly qualified math teachers. Posam and Choppin (2005) cite the No Child Left Behind act (NCLB) as a factor that has contributed to the shortage of math teachers in New York City. The NCLB increased the demand for qualified teachers by requiring that mathematics teachers be fully certified, and have a content knowledge roughly equivalent to an undergraduate major in mathematics (National Comprehensive Center for Teacher Quality, 2006). The increased demand for highly qualified Math teachers caused by the NCLB is likely to persist as a result of the Common Core State Standards Initiative (CCSS), an initiative that has been adopted by many states including New York State. The CCSS is a state-led effort “to create shared high standards to make sure all American students are ready for college and work” (CCSS, 2010). The CCSS lays out a rigorous set of middle school and high school mathematics standards