The unit was disapproved in January, 2015 when the Education programs were found to have errors in their documentation.
Faculty and staff spent the last year rectifying the situation. Updated documents were submitted last fall; the Board of Teaching conducted a site visit on February 18 and voted to approve the education unit on Friday.
The disapproval is rooted in a separate story–
In 2012, the Board of Teaching noticed that UMD failed to document a course within the Integrated Special and Elementary Education (IESE) dual-license program. The requirements were met, but it wasn’t properly documented. Because of this, in March, 2013, the IESE program was disapproved.
In the process of accurately documenting the program information, faculty and staff noticed errors in other programs. The Dean of the College of Education and Human Service Professions brought the inaccuracies to the Board of Teaching’s attention. The Board of Teaching subsequently disapproved the unit as well as other programs that had been inaccurately documented.
This triggered the review process, which culminated in the site visit. At the conclusion of the visit, the team recommended full continuing approval of the unit. The Board of Teaching approved this recommendation at the March 11 meeting.
Dean Pinkney Pastrana says it’s a great relief to have resolution.
The points she wants to stress:
1. Students’ time to degree was never impacted across all teacher education program.
2. Graduates from all teacher licensure programs at UMD who have met state requirements have been fully licensed throughout the review process.
3. This final board approval means that the state recognizes UMD to again be in good standing as an institution that provides teacher preparation programs.
4. Throughout the review period, impacted programs have been moving successfully through the approval process. We anticipate all approvals to be complete before the end of the semester.
Teacher Licensure Timeline
2012
The Minnesota Board of Teaching (BoT) notices a failure to document a course within the Integrated Special and Elementary Education (IESE) dual-license program. The state made changes to literacy/reading requirements and Special Education requirements - UMD made the required changes to IESE program in response to state changes
2013
Education standard forms switch from paper submission to a new electronic system– which helps catch human error
February 2013
Further updates requested by BoT to the UMD Education Department. UMD did not send them.
March 2013
Previously approved IESE program is disapproved by the BoT due to failure to submit needed documentation
July 2013
Jill Pinkney Pastrana becomes dean of CEHSP
October 2014
The BoT contacts Pinkney Pastrana about the disapproval of the IESE program that happened in March of 2013
December 2015
Faculty and staff work to accurately input program information before December deadline, in an attempt to solve the problem and not impact students
January 8, 2015
Email sent to education students stating that the error would be quickly resolved
January 2015
1. Media reports teacher licensure story
2. December 14 graduates receive temporary licensure
3. Fall graduates applying for licensure in approved programs (all but IESE) are found to have errors in their documentation. A detailed study of EDU recent program updates is done. Errors in reporting found across programs.
February 2015
Dean brings information of inaccuracies in reporting to the BoT. BoT subsequently disapproves impacted programs and disapproves the “unit.” This is what triggers the complete review process, and the need to re-submit the details on all programs Teacher Education offers.
March 6, 2015
Dr. Andrea Schokker, Executive Vice Chancellor for Academic Affairs, sends memo to students telling them that the delay would take longer to resolve than expected
May 2015
May grads fully licensed
August 2015
Internal deadline for programs to submit documentation
August/September 2015
All updated documents submitted from UMD to BoT
October 2, 2015
Written report submitted to BoT
October 15, 2015
13 students file a lawsuit against UMD, claiming fraud
November 13, 2015
Board of Teaching approves full licensure for all Fall 2015 graduates who are eligible at the point of graduation.
December, 2015
December 2015 grads that meet state eligibility (tests, student teaching, BA degree) can apply for full licensure
February 18, 2016
BoT site visit
March 11, 2016
BoT votes to approves UMD education unit