I. School and Community Partnerships
Northwest Center for Children’s Literature (NWCCL)
The newly formed NWCCL is housed in the university library. It serves all adults who work with children by providing a non-circulating preview library of all current Pre-K through Young Adult books published in the United States, by hosting authors and book-related events, and by serving as a clearing house for all things involving children’s literature in the Northwest via the website.
Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT)
The College of Education led Concordia University’s CELT Professional Learning Community through several workshops on brain-based teaching and learning. Called the PCL/BBL, several faculty from the College of Education, the College of Theology, Arts and Sciences and the School of Management participated in modality and learning style surveys, discussions, and video presentations. In addition, a guest professor, Dr. Patsy Paxton, an academic director from Auckland University of Technology, in Auckland, New Zealand, participated in these workshops through live online video streaming. Dr. Paxton joined us on campus in July, 2004, where she reviewed the PLC’s materials and provided workshops to the COE on Dr. William Purkey’s Invitational Education model. CELT provides ongoing lending opportunities to student teachers who desire to check-out technology equipment for use in their student teaching classrooms.
Faubion Partnership
Each semester education candidates from the EDU 372 (performing and visual arts) class invest time with Faubion Elementary School children, teaching lessons which integrate music, art, and drama into the curriculum. There are as many as 12 groups of education students whose volunteer time impacts over 200-220 elementary students every semester. Faubion teachers and their students benefit from arts activities involving diverse topics while Concordia students gain experience in collaborative learning and practical classroom experience.
MADE for Kids (Music, Art, Drama program provided to NE Portland elementary schools)
MADE for Kids is Music, Art & Drama Education, a community-oriented opportunity for North and Northeast Portland kids in grades 3 — 8. Established by Concordia University (CU) in 1996, the program is designed to encourage underprivileged children with interactive arts experiences beyond their regular school programs and brings arts education to children who have experienced funding cuts or lack of funding in their schools. MADE for Kids incorporates diverse student help from CU theatre and art programs to Elementary Education students. Each October, MADE for Kids sponsors a Saturday Arts Carnival where local artists, musicians and theatre practitioners are booked through Young Audiences of Oregon to lead workshops and perform. This event is free and draws between 100-150 children and their parents for a one day event.
The program also offers an arts camp which has been 2-3 weeks in length and served approximately 70 children in summer 2003. Saturday Arts Carnivals and Summer Camps have featured local artists like Will Hornyak, Tears of Joy Theatre and Grupo Condor music and workshops, while some CU theatre productions and arts activities are Made for Kids and offered to CU students for academic credit. This intergenerational, interscholastic experiment has been supported through grants from the Pamplin Foundation, Herbert Templeton Foundation, Autzen Foundation, Union Pacific Foundation, and the Hoover Family Foundation. Recent MADE activities have included CU’s own Case of the Broken Zoosafone (presented to 8 neighboring Elementary schools), A Midsummer Night’s Dream (Summer Camp) and Story and the Arts (presented at Faubion Elementary classrooms by CU Education students).
Centennial Partnership
Working in collaboration with Centennial School District, Concordia launched a partnership in January of 2003 to provide masters degrees and continuing teaching licenses to 32 Centennial teachers. Core courses are offered in the Centennial School District, and electives are taken either online, at Concordia or another location in the district.
This partnership provides candidates an opportunity to work and learn with their colleagues on specific projects and initiatives which provide excellent benefits for the district. As an example, two core courses were taught by district personnel with particular credentials and expertise. This allowed candidates exposure to new techniques and materials, and to study them in light of district needs, hopes, and goals. This collaborative effort not only provides candidates with a graduate degree or continuing teaching license, but also allows for a chance to implement improvements and changes within their own classroom, school, or district.
A second cohort was begun in January of ’04 with the Centennial and Reynolds School Districts. There are 35 teachers in the program who are working on masters degrees, continuing teaching licenses, and administrative licenses. Once again district personnel who are considered experts in specific disciplines were the instructors for several of the courses. New projects are underway as the candidates investigate and implement best practices for teaching and learning.
Fine Arts Alliances
Concordia University also linked with various Portland theatre companies and theatre groups. One such collaboration has been with Michael Rohd, Artistic Director of Sojourn Theatre, a nationally known artist who has led many workshops dealing with socially conscious theatre. His company produced an original work, Hidden, for the Anne Frank exhibit in winter of 2002, and, in our theatre space, he work-shopped a piece in collaboration with Ping Chong, the legendary theatre director. Michael Rohd also leads a week long intensive workshop in our space through another of his companies called Hope Is Vital, a nonprofit nationally recognized arts and social theatre organization. This workshop is primarily for social workers, health care professionals, and theatre practitioners.
Concordia University is a member of the Portland Area Theatre Alliance (PATA), a theatre support and networking organization. Twice a year they hold City-Wide Auditions open to local actors seeking work in Portland area theatres. Artistic directors from various local theatres attend the event in search of talent for upcoming shows, both professional and non-professional. In February, there were approximately 160 actors and 15 directors over a three day auditioning event on our campus.
Winners on Wheels Sports Day
Each year youth ages 4-15 years of age join Concordia University students in a day of sports and team games. The Winners-On-Wheels (WOW) is a non-profit “scoot-type” organization whose goal is to empower kids who use wheel chairs a chance to challenge their abilities and expand their skills. CU students from the HPE 452 (Adapted Physical Activity and Sport) class developed and hosted individual sports stations and organized and participated in several team events designed for the WOW kids. Following a morning of fun and competition, CU students and WOW participants were paired up for lunch that was sponsored by Figaro’s Pizza. The afternoon was comprised of team games, circuit races, and an awards ceremony. Through this experience WOW participants gained from the thrill of giving the all in physical activity and CU student learned to know kids who happened to be in wheel chairs. As a result both WOW participants and CU students will be able to make a positive difference in their communities.
LEST (Lutheran Elementary Schools Tournament)
Concordia University and Lutheran Elementary schools from Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, California, and Nevada have gathered for 40 years to celebrate the academic and athletic gifts of hundreds of elementary-age children. LEST involves 23 elementary or middle schools and over 1200 participants each year. There is healthy competition in curricular (art, spelling, writing, mathematics) and co-curricular activities (basketball, cheerleading, chess, dance, and swimming) that challenge individuals and groups to develop high levels of excellence in these areas. The College of Education takes the leadership in sponsoring and promoting this enrichment program on an annual basis.
A.C. Green Basketball Camp
For the past 18 years NBA All-Star, AC Green, and Concordia University (CU) coaching staff have combined to sponsor a summer basketball day camp that serves boys and girls ages 9-18 years of age. The focus on the camp is more than just basketball. Through team time, skills and drills, and the reinforcement of positive attributes (respect, responsibility, integrity, and sportsmanship) participants gain valuable life lessons. Scholarships are available to those who normally would not be able to attend the camp. Throughout the camp’s history over 3500 youth have had opportunities to experience firsthand what servant leadership is and gain from the positive interaction of AC Green and the Concordia University staff.
Career and Technical Education (CTE Certification)
Concordia University’s College of Education launched a new program for high school and community college career and technical education (CTE) teachers during the 2002 — 2003 academic year. A partnership with Clackamas Community College and the Clackamas ESD resulted in 23 new CTE teachers enrolled in a cohort program to gain proficiency in instructional strategies, learning theory, classroom management, and assessment techniques. Classes are offered in the evening during an 18 month period that leads to a CTE Certificate.
Using a federal grant, the Clackamas ESD provided a $15,000 grant to assist with tuition costs for the beginning teachers and instructional assistants in the cohort. This partnership program offers another licensure pathway for technically skilled people from the military, business, and industry who want to teach career and technical education at a high school or community college.
Seattle Pacific University
In an effort to serve the licensing requirements of education graduates employed as teachers by the state of Washington, Concordia University and Seattle Pacific University created an academic partnership that specifically supports Concordia’s own graduates, as well as other Washington education candidates, as they seek to earn the Washington Professional Certificate.
Candidates who enroll in this program must already have earned a Washington Residency Certificate and be teaching in a Washington public or approved private school. They must also enroll in the Seattle Pacific University Professional Certificate Program and take both the Pre-Assessment and Culminating seminars through that institution. Meeting these requirements, these teachers may take masters level courses at Concordia University to meet their 9 credit core requirements if these courses align with their professional growth plan and are pre-approved by their professional growth team.
Online Learning — Serving educators at a distance
In the fall of 2002 the Oregon Teacher Standards and Practices Commission (TSPC) approved Concordia’s online M.Ed. in Educational Leadership, a program that can be taken entirely online from home, school, or office. This format is a practical and effective tool for teachers who need to meet licensing or professional development requirements but do not live in the vicinity of a college or university. With the launching of this program, the college takes a huge stride in reaching its goal to provide advanced study opportunities for rural educators.
PT3 Grant
The College of Education completed the third of a four year federal grant called PT3 (Preparing Tomorrow’s Teachers to Use Technology). This grant is shared in a collaborative effort with George Fox University, Pacific University, University of Portland, Western Baptist College, and Willamette University. This multi-institutional educational technology foci has been formalized through the formation of the Oregon Technology in Education Network (www.oten.info/).
A number of Concordia faculty participated in the PT3 faculty development activities this past year which emphasized the content areas of the arts and foreign languages. Education faculty were required to develop a proposal for curriculum development or redevelopment focused on effective uses of educational technology in a specific university course. The goal was to deepen student levels of engagement, understanding, problem-solving, and the synthesizing, development. and communication of information.
The grant monies also enabled the university to purchase two new Dell Latitude notebook computers to add to Concordia’s PT3 equipment pool. This hardware is available to any Concordia education student for the development and delivery of curriculum in practicum and student teaching experiences. The equipment is taken directly to the school site for meaningful use with students and returned to the university when these educational activities are concluded.
Perhaps most importantly, education students are able to attend a PT3 Technology Conference at the end of each year of the grant where their work, and the creative products of other education students from participating schools, are displayed, presented, and reviewed.
The Oregon Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development
Oregon ASCD offers student teachers a daylong activity to network with over 200 others who are completing teacher education preparation. A series of workshops focusing on interviewing, recent developments in 504/IEP, technology, school reform, and curriculum initiatives provides a very stimulating day for prospective teachers. The lunch featured the ASCD professional development director — and her call to professionalism in teaching.
Partnering with the Ford Family Foundation and Murdock Trust
The University’s Center for Excellence in Learning and Teaching (CELT), developed with generous grants from the Ford Family Foundation and the M.J. Murdock Charitable Trust, continues to develop as both a virtual and a physical resource aimed at facilitating the creation and support of diverse learner-centered teaching environments, and provides a locus for the review and planning of on-campus faculty professional development activities. The Office of the Provost and the Information and Technology Services Department of the University jointly administer the Center. The CELT Advisory Council, composed of faculty members from across the university, provides review and advice on all activities of the Center.
CELT provides instructional design, Instructional development and instructional technology support for courses undergoing moderate to complete revision, whether to improve instructional quality in a face-to-face environment or to provide academic programming to students at a distance. During the 2002-03 academic year CELT implemented a revised media services program and a technology application helpdesk, bringing greater levels of service and support to faculty and staff.
Concordia University System
The ten colleges and universities of the Concordia University System are an educational mission of The Lutheran Church — Missouri Synod. This CUS system is composed of 10 liberal arts colleges and universities in Ann Arbor, MI; Austin, TX; Bronxville, NY; Irvine, CA; Milwaukee, WI; Portland, OR; River Forest, IL; St. Paul, MN; Selma, AL; and Seward, NE. This system of institutions has a150-year tradition of educational excellence and can draw on the expertise of over 600 full-time faculty members across the system. A number of curricular collaborations exist among these ten institutions as well as technology-enhanced relationships with a growing number of high school, congregations, and other community service agencies across the country.
Dr. Becky Bailey and Loving Guidance, Inc.
The College of Education hosted a national conference for pre-K-12 teachers and student teachers on February 7, 2004. Dr. Becky Bailey, an international early childhood expert, was guest speaker. The conference was held at the Portland Sheraton conference center and 125 participants were in attendance. After the conference, Dr. Bailey requested a partnership with Concordia University, where professionals attending her five day workshop could earn four graduate seminar credits. After several months of negotiation and preparation, an online registration system was implemented and students from the Dr. Bailey summer workshop in Florida enrolled, from diverse locations like Alaska, Indiana and South Dakota. A full-time professor from the College of Education served as their online instructor during their research, implementation of strategies and research paper completion.
Association of Childhood Education International (ACEI)
The College of Education partnered with Association of Childhood Education International for educational conferences during 2004. ACEI was an active professional partner during the Dr. Becky Bailey conference in February, 2004. Concordia University was an active sponsor of the ACEI fall conference featuring Jack Prelutsky, award-winning children’s poet in October, 2004. Concordia student teachers represented the university’s NWCCL with a display table at the conference, and the university hosted a graduate program information table.
Parkrose School District
Parkrose School District partnered with the College of Education to provide a year-long New Teachers Seminar series. Parkrose School District hired a significant number of new teachers (35% of the total faculty) during the 2003 — 2004 school year and requested graduate-level sessions. These sessions reviewed best practices, emergent needs (parent-teacher conference strategies, grading policies, parent contacts, etc.) technology in the classroom and authentic assessment. In addition, problem-solving the needs of new teachers was emphasized. Guest speakers from the College of Education provided specialized information.
Moms of Multiples (MOMs)
The College of Education partnered with Moms of Multiples (MOMs) to provide a parenting and learning styles workshop series at St. Vincent Medical Center. There are over 400 families of multiples (twins and triplets) in the Portland Metro area who belong to MOMs. There is a tremendous need for early childhood development and discipline information, which continues to be provided by early childhood experts in the COE. Individuals have requested personalized consultation and strategy sessions. In addition, the COE provides pertinent and research-based information for the MOMs monthly newsletter.