IDS - Interdisciplinary Studies

This course inducts educators into the process of NBPTS candidacy. Examination of available certificates and the NBPTS core propositions and standards begin the journey. Instructional practices that support the four entries and six assessment center tasks are explored. Discussions of suitable classroom practices and activities to the candidacy requirements of the various certificates build the foundation for continued growth and advancement through the process. Prerequisite(s): Three years of teaching experience, a current teaching license if the teacher is in a school where licensure is required, and initiation of the formal on-line application process for securing a candidate number from NBPTS. 3 semester hours

This course expands the candidates' capacity in observation, interpretation and analysis. In videotape sharing, candidates enact lessons, implement instructional strategies, focus on student learning in large and small group settings and present evidence of student growth in the content being featured. In the analysis of student work, candidates demonstrate their knowledge of developmental stages of learning, their interventions when they observe miscues or misconceptions, and their reflections on the work being evidenced. Prerequisite(s): Three years of teaching experience, a current teaching license if the teacher is in a school where licensure is required, and a secured candidate number from NBPTS. 3 semester hours

As a continuation of the previous course, students will complete their work for the remaining entries in anticipation of submission to NBPTS. Candidates will continue to expand their content knowledge, examine current trends and topics in their fields, and exchange techniques and strategies in anticipation of the six assessment center exercises. They will construct a conceptual framework to situate their practice, their assessment of student progress, and design for instruction. This exploration will equip candidates to analyze assessment prompts, determine significant information, and write coherent responses. Prerequisite(s): Three years of teaching experience, a current teaching license if the teacher is in a school where licensure is required, and completion of the formal requirements for securing a candidate number from NBPTS. IDS517 or consent of instructor. 3 semester hours

Advanced (retake) candidates are advised to evaluate their previous National Board for Professional Teaching Standards scores, determining which entries or assessment center activities should be redone. This course guides the candidates in revisiting the standards and requirements of their certificate. They will be mentored in determining the shortcomings of their previous submissions and assisted in preparation of a more accomplished entry or entries. Prerequisite(s): Evidence of candidacy and previous scores from NBPTS. 3 semester hours

Candidates examine significant topics related to understanding and documenting student learning and achievement with a focus on relating critical analysis of student performance to subsequent instructional design. Topics will include historical perspectives on student assessment, current practices of student assessment, and how results of different forms of assessment are being used (and misused) for a variety of purposes. Candidates will conduct a brief action research study into one of the practices of student assessment currently being used in their own classrooms. Prerequisite(s): Admission to the M.Ed. IDS Program 2 semester hours

Candidates will analyze and reflect upon all the action research studies that they have engaged in over the previous six quarters. This will include linking their own research with the research of others. They will also prepare for communicating to other educators specific results and/or lessons learned from their studies. Communicating results may be accomplished through writing a professional article, designing an in-service training program, or proposing a presentation for a local, national or international educational meeting. Readings will be in specific areas relating to the themes of the students' previous Action Research studies on student assessment and learning. Prerequisite(s): Admission to M.Ed. IDS Program 2 semester hours

This first course in a two-course sequence focuses on the idea of curriculum integration in the K-12 schools. In contrast to the traditional arrangement of schooling into separate subjects and time periods of the day, there is an enduring and strengthening paradigm of education which aims for a more holistic, integrated set of learning experiences for students. This initial course focuses on the roots, reasons, characteristics, and politics of the integrated-learning paradigm. Topics include the historical evolution of both the separate-subject curriculum and the various integrated alternatives which have arisen in the past; the theories of learning and human development which support an integrated approach; the socio-political theories supporting curriculum integration; and the key ingredients of classroom curricular integration. The course takes the integrated paradigm as its own, and providing a demonstration of such holistic learning by intertwining the study of above elements, which might ordinarily be taught separately. 3 semester hours

This second course in a two-term sequence focuses on the enduring concept of integrating learning in the K-12 schools. In contrast to the traditional arrangement of schooling into separate subjects and time periods of the day, there is an emerging paradigm of schooling which creates a more holistic, integrated set of learning experiences for students. This second course in the sequence focuses on the practical features observation, critical appraisal, design, implementation, and evaluation of integrated curriculum experiments in real classrooms. The course takes the integrated paradigm as its own, and providing a demonstration of such holistic learning by intertwining the study of above elements, which might ordinarily be taught separately. 3 semester hours

The Internship in Curriculum and Teaching is designed specifically for students enrolled in the Leadership in Curriculum and Teaching Educational Specialist Field Program. The internship is an integrated part of the intact group experience comprising one strand among several. Rather than a culminating experience, the internship is intended to parallel coursework in group theory, leadership, classroom culture, curriculum theory and evaluation, and staff development. Interns are encouraged to work collaboratively on meaningful projects intended to affect change in school policies and procedures. NLU faculty, school personnel associated with the internship site, and participating interns will be responsible for monitoring the internship. Each student in the Curriculum and Teaching Specialist Field Program is required to register for a total of nine semester hours. Prerequisites: Acceptance into the Curriculum and Teaching Educational Specialist Field Program and enrollment in Term 1. 1-4 semester hours. Variable credit per quarter.