Senate Document Number 2801S

Date of Senate Approval 03/01/01

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Statement of Faculty Senate Action:

APC Document 22:   Change to Teacher Licensure Programs in Secondary School (9-12) Licensure, Comprehensive Science Licensure, and Middle School Licensure for Biology, Chemistry, Physics, and Earth Science Majors

Effective Date: Fall 2001

1. Under Concentration in General Biology in the Biology section of the Catalog:

Delete:

The paragraph beginning "Students who wish to receive teacher licensure in 9-12 Biology...."

Add:

Students who wish to receive teacher licensure in 9-12 Biology or Comprehensive Science must complete all requirements for the Biology major with Concentration in General Biology including PHYS 131 and also all additional requirements indicated under the Education Section of the Catalog. Students who wish to receive licensure in 9-12 Comprehensive Science must also complete ENVR 105, 130, and PHYS 231. Students seeking licensure in Middle School Science should complete all requirements for the Biology major with Concentration in General Biology including PHYS 131 as well as ENVR 130. A second area of concentration is required for middle school licensure, preferably in mathematics. See the science licensure advisor in the Education Department for additional information about teacher licensure.

2. In the Chemistry section of the Catalog, on p. 76, under Chemistry with Teacher Licensure,

Delete: Section II

Add: II. Required courses outside the major--19 hours, including ENVR 130; MATH 191, 192; PHYS 221, 231 (or 222); and those requirements indicated under the Education section of the Catalog.

Add: Students who wish to receive teacher licensure in 9-12 Comprehensive Science (as distinct from Chemistry) must complete the requirements listed above, as well as BIOL 105, ENVR 105, and ATMS 103. Students seeking Middle School Science Licensure must complete the requirements listed above for Chemistry with Teacher Licensure as well as BIOL 105. Also a second area of concentration is required, preferably in mathematics. See the appropriate advisor in the Education Department for additional information about teacher licensure.

Delete: Section II

Add: II. Required courses outside the major--21-24 hours, including ENVR 130; CHEM 111, 132 (or a satisfactory score on the Chemistry Placement Examination), 144, 145; MATH 191, 192, 291; and those requirements indicated under the Education section of the Catalog.

Add: Students who wish to receive teacher licensure in 9-12 Comprehensive Science (as distinct from Physics) must complete the requirements listed above as well as BIOL 105 and ENVR 105. Students seeking Middle School Science Licensure must complete the requirements for Physics with Teacher Licensure, as well as BIOL 105. Also a second area of concentration is required, preferably in mathematics. See the appropriate advisor in the Education Department for additional information about teacher licensure.

Add: At the bottom of the subsection after the sentence " Students who wish to receive teacher licensure in 9-12 Comprehensive Science (as distinct from Earth Science) must also complete PHYS 231 and BIOL 105" these additional sentences: "Students seeking Middle School Science Licensure must complete the requirements for Earth Science with Teacher Licensure as well as BIOL 105. Also a second area of concentration is required, preferably in mathematics. See the appropriate advisor in the Education Department for additional information about teacher licensure."

Impact Statement:
The changes proposed here will have little impact on the affected science departments. We have been graduating only about four science licensure students per year. So significant changes in course enrollments are not anticipated. It is hoped, however, that by reducing the number of hours required for 9-12 licensure to below 128 hours for biology, chemistry, and physics majors, we will induce more students to choose a career in science education. The severe shortage of qualified science teachers in the middle and secondary schools warrants our attention.

Rationale:
The recommended changes come after discussions with the relevant faculty and department chairs in the affected science departments. We attempted to develop programs which reduced the number of required hours as much as possible while still retaining majors that were equivalent in rigor to other departmental tracks and meeting the competencies required by the Department of Public Instruction for each licensure area. These proposed changes mainly move a broad base of cognate courses from the 9-12 licensure tracks in the individual majors and place them under the comprehensive science tracks where they are required by DPI. This replacement of courses is only relevant to licensure requirements and does not affect the integrity of the science majors at all. In addition, in some cases, the requirements for the middle school science licensure programs were reduced to make this licensure track more feasible for students to fulfill and still meet the DPI competency requirements.

The standards for 9-12 Science licensure call for:

"2.0 Understand the interrelationships among the sciences, and relate the major concepts of chemistry, the earth/space sciences, and physics to biology."

ENVR 130 Catalog entry describes it as " The Biological, chemical, and physical, and societal implications of human impact on the environment...." This course integrates and emphasizes the relationships between biology, chemistry, and earth science and so addresses the standard more aptly than the current listing of separate courses.