CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

Key Concepts of the Conceptual Framework

The Unit's commitment extends beyond a focus on preparing candidates to teach or continuing the professional development of practicing teachers. The Unit also prepares persons for other professional roles in schools such as principals, school psychologists, counselors, mental health professionals, speech language pathologists, and physical education specialists.

The process by which candidates are provided opportunities to be metacognitive and engage in thoughtful questioning and problems-based learning.

The extent of content, pedagogical and professional knowledge, skills and dispositions a candidate possesses in order to ensure that all students learn. Assessment of a candidate's effectiveness is performance-based, uses multiple measures and is authentic. The preparation of effective practitioners addresses the mandates of No Child Left Behind and the demand for "highly qualified" and "effective" professionals.

The research base, content knowledge, competencies, and practice associated with the preparation of professional educators, clinicians and specialists.

Formal and informal procedures for eliciting evidence related to candidate learning and unit effectiveness. The assessment system is based on professional, state and institutional standards. It includes measures that are systematically used to collect data at predetermined transitional points in order to predict candidate success and improve programs.

The theories, investigations and policies that drive the work of the Unit.

The continuous process for determining the extent to which the states Mission, Goals and Outcomes of the Unit are realized.

A focus on candidates, faculty and students who represent a variety of ethnic, racial, socioeconomic groups and ability levels. The Unit provides opportunities for candidates to work with diverse students, and to demonstrate dispositions that value fairness and the belief that all students can learn.