Degree Programs
Teacher certification now easier for paraprofessionals
Georgia Southern University’s College of Education (COE) is offering paraprofessionals new ways to earn their teacher certification. The initiative recognizes the advantages and challenges unique to students currently working in schools and wanting to continue serving their school community. Starting in the fall of 2023, customized degree tracks (pending approval) will allow paraprofessionals to complete their education quickly without interfering with their school work schedule.
Alisa Leckie, Ph.D., Assistant Dean for Partnerships and Outreach, has been guiding COE efforts to serve paraprofessionals. She began by consulting with schools in the region, collecting input from HR directors and paraprofessionals at school districts in Bulloch, Liberty and Effingham Counties. In just those three counties, Leckie met over 100 paraprofessionals interested in teacher certification. She explains, “Paraprofessionals have chosen to work in schools with children. They’re highly qualified with a desire to work in the field, but, logistically, it’s been untenable for parapros to earn certification.”
As for HR directors, Leckie says they are eager for solutions to teacher shortages and understand the benefits of empowering a workforce that is already invested in their school community. These HR directors have agreed to provide support and field experience for employees participating in the COE program.
In addition to working with schools, Leckie collaborated with departments across the University to create the flexibility and support required to address the needs of paraprofessionals. For example, all paraprofessionals seeking teacher certification will have the same knowledgeable advisor, and those starting as freshmen can potentially begin graduate coursework in their senior year.
Recruitment events for paraprofessionals have been held in five school districts since the fall of 2022, and there are currently nearly 30 paraprofessionals enrolled in coursework this spring.
Leckie sees the initiative as a win-win-win for the paraprofessionals needing career advancement, the University needing to serve an increasingly non-traditional student base and school districts needing teachers. She says, “Hopefully this will serve everyone well. It’s time.”
New accelerated program debuts this fall, allows students to complete special education advanced degree in less time
Georgia Southern University special education faculty created an Accelerated Bachelor’s to Master’s (ABM) program to assist undergraduate special education students with earning an advanced degree in special education in less time.
The team, including the College of Education’s Eric Landers, Ph.D., Cynthia Massey, Ph.D., Stephanie Devine, Ph.D., Kathryn Haughney, Ph.D., Caitlin Criss, Ph.D., and Karin Fisher, Ph.D., received approval for the new ABM to begin this fall, encouraging special education undergraduates at Georgia Southern to complete a M.Ed. in Special Education.
“Creating ABM options for prospective teachers provides a career path that results in a master’s degree and a higher salary than those without,” explained Landers. “Through this route, students will save both time and money towards a degree in this field.”
The ABM in BSEd to M.Ed. Special Education allows special education undergraduate students to take courses (up to nine credit hours) in their junior and senior years that will transfer as credit in the University’s M.Ed in Special Education program.
“Students completing this track will complete both the initial and an advanced teaching certificate in special education in fewer hours than if they had done the programs separately, and it allows them to enter the field at a higher salary,” said Landers.
All efforts from the special education team aim to help address the state and national shortage of certified teachers, specifically in special education, which has recently been named one of the three highest-need subject areas by the Georgia Department of Education.
“The void clearly impacts states’ abilities to meet the needs of students with disabilities, as research shows that students with disabilities have greater academic success when supported by teachers certified in special education,” explained Landers. “As educators of and advocates for special education, we will continue to strive to help meet the needs of students with disabilities in our state and nation in any way that we can.”
Special education college classroom takes a ‘flip’
Faculty members in the College of Education (COE) at Georgia Southern University recently published research on their efforts to analyze and reconfigure undergraduate special education classroom instruction for preservice teachers at the University.
Lead by Assistant Professor of Special Education Cynthia C. Massey, Ph.D., the research team included COE faculty members Selçuk Doğan, Ph.D., Edward A. Muhammad, Ph.D., Eric Hogan, Ph.D., and Jackie Kim, Ed.D., as well as former Heard County Schools Special Education Teacher Cindy N. Head, Ed.D. Their study, “The Effect of Flipped Instruction on Special Education Preservice Teachers’ Perceptions,” was published in the International Journal of Scholarship for Teaching and Learning.
In fall 2019, Massey taught her first special education assessment course in the traditional format at Georgia Southern with students who were juniors in their first semester of major courses. By spring 2020, she began research to explore alternatives for teaching the material.
“I decided to pursue this research project to explore a nontraditional approach to instruction,” explained Massey. “I wanted to improve the way I supported juniors in the special education program as they mastered course content and improved their pedagogical skills. I chose to use the flipped instruction model to increase the amount of time they spent applying the content learned in a supported atmosphere before implementing the strategies learned with their P-12 students. The purpose of this project was to analyze the effectiveness of this model.”
The new flipped instruction method requires both asynchronous and synchronous instruction, with students engaging in asynchronous assignments centered on the content prior to class time. During synchronous class, students met face-to-face and began with a review of difficult or confusing concepts from the content review done on their own.
“Once we completed review, we then had the remainder of the class time to engage in hands-on activities and group discussions that allowed students to demonstrate their knowledge of the concepts,” said Massey. “I aimed to increase the motivation and engagement with course content while increasing their content knowledge so they become better educators for students with disabilities.”
The use of instructional technology allowed the students to engage in conversation and instruction outside of the classroom. Programs and applications such as Perusall, Flip and Khan Academy allowed students to read, practice and discuss content for the course outside of the classroom without the necessity of costly textbooks.
To further analyze this instruction method, two additional courses were restructured to the flipped classroom method, with one instructor making the addition of administering digital badging to add a gaming element to the course.
After each course, students were surveyed about the new teaching methods. Results were definitive that students preferred the hands-on activities versus lectures and 100% of students surveyed agreed or strongly agreed that the course provided a student-centered learning environment.
“As educators, it is important that we continually seek the most effective way to reach our current students,” said Massey. “This project taught me the importance of continuing to grow as an educator to best serve the students I teach. I will continue to search for ways to provide students with a learner-centered classroom environment and evaluate educational technology tools that best meet their needs.”
Since the success of the flipped classroom methodology, several other special education faculty have applied this approach to their classrooms.
Georgia Southern receives $1.1M National Science Foundation grant to support development of regional mathematics, science teachers
Georgia Southern University’s College of Education (COE) and College of Science and Mathematics (COSM) have been awarded a five-year National Science Foundation (NSF) Robert Noyce Teacher Scholarship Program grant with a total intended award amount of $1,199,206 to support dynamic preparation of secondary science and mathematics educators who will be teacher-leaders in high-needs schools.
The grant will focus on developing prospective secondary teachers, grades 6-12, who can integrate authentic, problem-based learning experiences into their science and mathematics classrooms using regional STEM contexts.
The state of Georgia continues to have a shortage of certified secondary mathematics and science teachers, with southeast Georgia reporting more than 200 high school mathematics and science openings over the past several academic years. Gregory Chamblee, Ph.D., principal investigator (PI) and COE professor of secondary mathematics education, explained that this grant provides an avenue to meet the growing needs of the University’s service area schools and Georgia schools in general.
“To meet these content and demographic needs, prospective secondary mathematics and science teachers must learn how to integrate various instructional models and resources in their classrooms,” he said. “Simultaneously, they must be able to assess how these strategies impact their students’ learning and communicate their work to their colleagues. They must develop their students’ critical and creative thinking skills.”
To achieve this, Chamblee and the grant team, composed of COE faculty Amanda (Glaze) Townley, Ph.D., and COSM faculty Gwendolyn Carroll, Ph.D., and Tuyin An, Ph.D., will recruit science and mathematics majors at Georgia Southern, who may not have previously considered a career in teaching, to experience enriched secondary education preparation in sync with their content area.
The NSF-funded program will provide scholarship support to students to earn dual undergraduate degrees in biology, chemistry, mathematics or physics and secondary education. A five-year academic plan has been tailored for students who wish to complete both degrees, including summer internships with the Skidaway Island Marine Extension and community education experiences with the COE’s Center for STEM Education and the University Botanic Garden. Students participating in the program will also have seminar courses during the final three years of their program that will be co-taught by COE and COSM faculty for teaching support in content and methodology.
The program will provide academic funding of $12,500 per year for the final three years of the academic program, which include a yearlong teaching placement, for 18 undergraduate scholars.
“During the yearlong teaching experience, students will be placed in a high-need regional school in Chatham or Evans County,” explained Chamblee. “These school districts are very interested in hosting and, ultimately, hiring the Noyce Scholars to provide opportunities to develop their teaching skills in high-need schools. This will provide our scholars both urban and rural school settings as they develop their teaching skills.”
Support of the program’s participants will continue into their induction years of teaching, with meetings and instructional coaching provided during their first year of teaching. A mentorship model will be developed to allow for graduates of the program in their second and third years of teaching to pair with first-year graduates as cohorts complete the program.
“In five years, 18 Georgia Southern Robert Noyce-funded scholars will become leaders in high-need school districts,” said Chamblee. “They will be well-versed in leading the use of locally-designed experiences to make positive changes in schools and student achievement across the state.”
College of Education faculty travel to Georgia Southern University’s Ireland campus for exchange of ideas in advance of summer study abroad program
Six professors from Georgia Southern University’s College of Education (COE) recently broadened their horizons during a trip to Ireland as they learned from and shared insight with instructors and educational leaders in the Wexford County community.
Led by Howard Keeley, Ph.D., director of the University’s Center for Irish Research and Teaching, COE faculty traveled to Georgia Southern’s learning center in Wexford, Ireland, to observe Irish educational settings and exchange ideas with local leaders just ahead of a summer study abroad program opportunity for Georgia Southern students in which $100,000 of scholarship funding is available.
“The main thing we did was get in front of leaders in the education space in Ireland,” stated Keeley. “We spoke to a number of folks who are either principals or vice principals or, in some way, senior administrators in a variety of schools including all-boys, all-girls, religious, secular and mixed schools.”
The group included Catherine Howerter, Ph.D., associate professor of elementary and special education; Kip Sorgen, Ph.D., assistant professor of leadership, technology and human development; Alex Reyes, Ph.D., assistant professor of middle grades and secondary education; Amanda Wall, Ph.D., associate professor of middle grades and secondary education; Betsy Barrow, Ed.D., assistant professor of middle grades and secondary education; and Dan Calhoun, Ph.D., professor of leadership, technology and human development.
Reyes, who trains pre-service and in-service teachers to work with culturally and linguistically diverse students, was excited to travel to Wexford after a study abroad program in Czech Republic she spearheaded with Wall was canceled in March 2020 due to the pandemic. Intrigued by Ireland, a plurilingual country, she was curious to see how Wexford’s environment might benefit students culturally.
“I thought it was really exciting,” said Reyes. “All of the street signs are in Irish, even though English is the main language spoken. That prioritizing of that cultural heritage is fascinating. It was great to learn that the students in their primary and secondary schools take Irish language and culture as a subject every year.”
She was especially motivated by a field trip to an Irish-language school, Meanscoil Gharman, which serves middle and high school students. With the exception of one daily class in English, teachers and students conducted all lessons in Irish.
“It was really interesting to see that perspective,” she said. “There has been a revitalization of that culture. I thought that was fascinating to see how that can be handled in school.”
In addition, Reyes was duly impressed with the country’s prioritization of social and emotional literacy for children, and the mandated well-being hours that are incorporated into daily school routines as a result of the pandemic. A program that promotes hygiene and an anti-bullying campaign also fit into the wellness curriculum.
“It really impressed me that as a nation they prioritize the wellness of students, and how language and cultures can really be supported in a meaningful way,” Reyes said. “It’s affirming to see a proactive approach that has positive outcomes. Now, thinking ahead, we can look at how we can create opportunities for our students to experience this kind of approach.”
Sorgen, who teaches in the educational leadership program at Georgia Southern, was interested in Ireland’s professional preparation.
“None of them had advanced degrees, like what we offer at Georgia Southern,” noted Sorgen. “Learning about how to be a principal in Ireland is on-the-job training. In Georgia, there are specific educational requirements for our school administrators guided by professional standards. In Ireland, they generally ascend through the ranks, which makes professional mentoring essential to their success. We are exploring ways our educational leadership students could learn from Irish administrators about their experience, specifically with mentoring.”
He also foresees the international partnership as a two-way exchange.
“Given educational leadership programs are not common in Ireland, our faculty are considering ways in which we could use our expertise to foster leadership development of principals and teachers in Wexford,” said Sorgen. “We would utilize the Georgia Southern Wexford campus to host some of these sessions, furthering Georgia Southern’s relationship within the Wexford community.”
Keeley also arranged meetings with education policy makers, including an extended meeting with an Irish congressman who is a representative for the County of Wexford in the Irish national parliament and chairs the joint committee for the Irish equivalent of the House and Senate Committee on education and higher education.
“That was a tremendous opportunity for our faculty to talk to somebody at the highest level of government in Ireland, creating Irish state policy on education,” said Keeley. “And I know from the feedback we got from our College of Education colleagues that particularly for those in higher education, that to them was a really useful, next-step experience.”
The trip exceeded expectations.
“It was a fantastic learning experience for everyone,” said Keeley. “We had lots of high-level and also very practical experiences, and I could see our College of Education team thinking, ‘How can I bring what I’m learning, what I’m experiencing in this moment, into my classroom, into my curriculum, into my prospective study abroad courses in a way to build student success for our Georgia Southern folks.’ I think it was a great visit.”
Complementing the faculty’s trip, a COE Irish study abroad program on diverse education in Ireland was recently approved for Summer 2022 and will give education students the opportunity to take one or two courses with the study abroad component. This will be a part of a broader study abroad program in Wexford, presented by the Honors College and the Center for Irish Research and Teaching, with assistance from the Office of the Provost and the Office of Global Engagement.
The costs for undergraduate students at Georgia Southern’s Wexford campus will be offset by a $100,000 scholarship fund with awards of $1,000 for each student accepted into the program.
“For students traveling to Wexford, Ireland, this summer, we will be able to defray the cost of the program through a generous travel scholarship through the Georgia Southern University Foundation,” said Dustin Anderson, Ph.D., associate provost for Student Success. “The donation makes these the most affordable multi-week programs that we ever have been able to offer.”
Keeley is thrilled the gifts from generous donors will enable a number of students to earn valuable global experiences.
“For students to have an opportunity to have international lives is powerful, and it’s powerful in ways that sometimes we can’t even predict,” he said. “Just the very fact of being abroad is going to change any of us, right? It can have a really transformative effect to feel a sense that, you know, as a student, ‘I can do this,’ and then a sense after the fact, ‘I did this,’ and just that in itself is educational. Giving students a safe space in Wexford, Ireland, to grow and feel that they are in a sense global citizens and bring the best of America, bring the best of Georgia, bring the best of the states from Savannah to Ireland, and learn to be an ambassador. That’s wonderful.”
In addition to the education courses, students will also be able to choose from a Wexford-Savannah honors inquiry and an interdisciplinary program open to all students on human migration with courses in geography, religious studies, public health and a CORE study abroad course.
Students interested can learn more about the program by clicking here and can email Kristin Karam in the Office of Global Engagement for more information about the scholarships.
Georgia Southern University-Wexford is a global hub for learning housed in a historic building constructed in 1812. The space now features state-of-the-art classrooms and student apartments. Georgia Southern is the first public university in the United States to open an outreach learning facility in Ireland.