Fall 2011 - Wheelock College

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10 Fall 2011 News NuggeTs Wheelock Teaching Program Cited as a Model Wheelock College was one of just 10 higher education institutions in the U.S. lauded for its strong student-teaching program in a recently released report by the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ). The report, based on a two-year study by the Council, described Wheelock’s program as a “model” design because the College requires that mentor teachers be fully qualified and also actively participate in the selection of mentor teachers. “ We are proud to be recognized by NCTQ as an exemplary institution with a model program.” —President Jackie Jenkins-scott The report noted that student teaching serves as the real-world classroom trial for nearly 200,000 teacher candidates each year and cited surveys of new teachers that suggest student teaching is the most important part of their teacher training experience. To understand what makes a student-teaching experience strong, the Council conducted a two-year review of the student-teaching programs at 134 higher education institutions across the country, looking at a variety of documents such as student-teaching handbooks and contracts between the programs and their partner school districts. In its report, the Council concluded that only a small fraction of the nation’s teacher-preparation programs do an adequate job of designing and overseeing their student-teaching field experiences. Most of these experiences are weak, the report said, because few teacher-preparation programs carefully select the mentor teachers who will work with the novice teachers. Too often, the report said, student teachers are simply thrown into whatever classroom happens to be convenient for the local principal. According to the report, only 14 percent of the programs in the study require mentor teachers to have all three of the following traits: at least three years of teaching experience, demonstrated high ability to improve student learning, and demonstrated skill at mentoring adults. The report also said that just under half of the teacher-preparation programs in the study exerted full control over the matching of student teachers with mentor teachers. The report also noted that the stakes in student teaching are high because teachers are being held to increasingly rigorous standards. It said teacher candidates deserve student-teaching programs that prepare them well, concluding that, “While we certainly identified some exemplary institutions, this review suggests that all too often, too many elements of student teaching are left to chance.” Not at Wheelock. Remarking that the College is often recognized as a national leader in teacher education, President Jackie Jenkins-Scott says, “We are proud to be recognized by NCTQ as an exemplary institution with a model program.”
Teacher Bound Program ― Something to Shout About This year marks the fourth year of Wheelock’s Teacher Bound Upward Bound Program, and it is a momentous one. In June, the program’s first cohort of 25 high school students who live in Boston and are interested in teaching careers graduated with a 100 percent success rate for themselves as a group and for the program. All of the students graduated from high school on schedule, were accepted at and enrolled in colleges or universities, and received financial aid packages that actually are allowing them to realize their hopes for higher education. That is an abundance of good news to shout about! “The success of this first class of scholars is a direct result of Wheelock College’s mission to improve the lives of children and families,” says Chris Sumner, Teacher Bound director. “Our community at Wheelock has provided life-changing opportunities, and we have all felt the impact of the students’ hard work, passion, resolve, and integrity.” Ceronne Daly, who is director of the Office of Pre-Collegiate and College Access Programs and created Teacher Bound, adds, “We would not have been as successful had we not had the support of so many departments and individuals on campus, including faculty and staff and two Wheelock students who had field placements with the program.” Teacher Bound is supported by a grant from the federally funded Upward Bound program with additional support from an anonymous foundation. A Reading Jumpstart for Wheelock’s Military Civic Engagement Program News NuggeTs AmeriCorps Grant to Aspire Institute Will Expand Educator Mentor Corps Wheelock College has received a $140,000 Ameri- Corps grant that will help to expand a Greater Boston-based teacher mentor program, Educator Mentor Corps (EMC), piloted by the College. EMC strives to improve teacher retention by connecting urban schoolteachers to skilled retired educator mentors. Wheelock will use the funds to recruit and train 40 retired teachers to serve as many as 50 K-12 mentee teachers per year in Boston and Chelsea. The College will work in collaboration with the Boston Public Schools, Chelsea Public Schools, ReadBoston, WriteBoston, the Massachusetts Service Alliance, and other partners to place mentors with teachers in schools. To date, Wheelock and BPS have already successfully recruited and placed 14 retired educators to mentor 16 novice teachers. The AmeriCorps grant will support the program for a year and can be extended for up to three years. One of the innovative new programs run by Wheelock’s new Center of Excellence for Supporting Military Families is designed to raise awareness among Wheelock Jumpstart students about issues facing children in military families. During the 2011-2012 academic year, 75 Jumpstart students will learn ways to support militaryconnected children and then work with two to four children at five different preschool centers in Roxbury and Dorchester. These service learning hours will be in addition to time that Jumpstart students spend reading more than 1,500 books with 200 preschool children each year (left, senior Laylin Chong presents Jumpstart diploma to her student). Student preparation includes sessions with Dr. Shirley Malone-Fenner, dean of Arts and Sciences, who originated the Center, and Barbara Powers, a military family life consultant with the Family Program of the Massachusetts National Guard. Sessions focus on the topic of how deployment affects preschool-aged children and practices for supporting them in the preschool environment. The students also provide packets of support information and resources for parents and the care providers. Wheelock Magazine 11
Page 1 and 2: Fall 2011 • The Campaign for Whee
Page 3 and 4: Dear Alumni and Friends, More than
Page 5 and 6: (PAGE 2) SEE XEROX FOR HOW THESE TH
Page 7 and 8: The Campaign for Wheelock off to a
Page 9 and 10: The Campaign for Wheelock LYRICS TO
Page 11: Five Transformational Firsts The Ca
Page 15 and 16: A Grand Reopening for Mattahunt Com
Page 17 and 18: Advocating for Teaching Media Liter
Page 19 and 20: Ava Jennings ’12 participated in
Page 21 and 22: Corpus Mirabile (Wondrous Body), 20
Page 23 and 24: Fall Alumni Symposium Honors Louise
Page 25 and 26: Leader in the Spotlight INTERVIEW B
Page 27 and 28: Maine Alumni Talk Policy Wheelock a
Page 29 and 30: WheeLock coLLege annuaL rePort of g
Page 31 and 32: Named Funds Scholarship and Loan Fu
Page 33 and 34: 2010-2011 Anniversaries Celebrated
Page 35 and 36: Anne Wingle Howard Deborah Carlson
Page 37 and 38: Lynese Marshall Pearson Donna Crave
Page 39 and 40: Board of Trustees and members of th
Page 41 and 42: in Honor of Deborah Lisansky Beck E
Page 43 and 44: Thanks to Louise Butts ’51/’55M
Page 45 and 46: Jane Steele Milchen ’51/’69MS m
Page 47 and 48: on Martha’s Vineyard six months o
Page 49 and 50: “because I had broadcast my comin
Page 51 and 52: Lynn still volunteers with the Swin
Page 53 and 54: I think she takes after me! Josh, n
Page 55 and 56: Students on a Mission Wheelock stud

Fall 2011 - Wheelock College

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