Faculty

Bonnie Alco, Ph.D.
Dona Bauman, Ph.D.
Arthur Chambers, M.Ed.
Barbara Cozza, Ph.D.
Darryl DeMarzio, Ph.D.
Patricia A. Gross, Ed.D.
Tata J. Mbugua, Ph.D.
Kathleen K. Montgomery, D.Ed.
Rui Niu, Ph.D.
Maria Orechkina, Ph.D.
Vanessa Silla-Zaleski, Ed.D.
Derry L. Stufft, Ed.D.
Kathleen B. Wasserman, Ph.D.
Gloria T. Wenze, Ph.D.

Mission

The Education Department endeavors to contribute to the improvement of education by preparing informed, inquiring, and skilled professionals who, as scholars and decision-makers, are prepared for positions in the educational community. More specifically, the department aims to provide persons with a breadth and depth of knowledge and understanding in their specialized areas of professional practice and to provide training to ensure competence in the specific area of functioning. To this end, individual program competencies have been developed. Additionally, the department endeavors to offer opportunities for continued professional growth to practicing educators, to assist in the educational growth and development of the community served by the University, and to foster the advancement of knowledge through research in education.

Programs

The Education Department offers degrees in Early and Primary Education, Middle Level Education, and Secondary Education, each leading to state teacher certification. Secondary Education Concentrations include:

Dual majors or the equivalent of a dual major are part of all secondary programs at the University.

Accreditation

The department’s programs are accredited by the Pennsylvania Department of Education (PDE). The University’s Professional Education Unit is also accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Accreditation and interstate agreements between Pennsylvania and selected states assure that courses taken will be considered for certification in most states. Praxis Series I & II tests are required for Pennsylvania Teacher Certification.

Clearances

In order to enter Pennsylvania schools or be placed at any field experience site that would place students in direct contact with children, including any and all University of Scranton clinics or tutoring sessions, all students must have a Criminal History Clearance (Act 34), Child Abuse Clearance (Act 151) and FBI Fingerprint Clearance (Act 114) on file with the Education Department. Any citation on the Act 34, Act 151, or Act 114 will prevent students from participating in field and student teaching, or admission into Teacher Education Programs. In no case will a student be provided with placement information previous to the instructor’s acknowledgement of current clearances.

Semi-Annual Review of Student Dispositions

Education majors are evaluated regularly at a meeting of the Education Department faculty to assess each individual student’s continuing potential to become a teacher. This determination is based on professional behaviors as outlined in The Education Student Handbook (available from the Education Department Web site). Students whose professional behaviors are unsatisfactory are subject to departmental probation and may be recommended to the dean of the college for dismissal from the Education program. The department’s probation policy and other information are presented in the Education Student Handbook.

Service Learning

The Panuska College of Professional Studies embraces a service learning experience to better prepare its students for professional careers that are service oriented. Education majors are required to perform 10 hours of community service per academic year. The service learning hours for senior education majors are performed as part of the students’ professional development during their senior student teaching experience. Secondary education majors perform 20 hours of service in their freshman year and have no service requirements for the sophomore year.

E-portfolio

Students are encouraged to maintain artifacts of their professional experiences as they progress through their teacher training. Upon completion of the student teaching experience, students are required to submit an e-portfolio that documents their professional experiences.

Advising

Freshman and sophomore students will confer with their academic advisors in order to plan the sequence of courses that will be taken for each term. Entering freshmen will be given the new program requirements prior to orientation. All the courses mentioned below will be a part of the new programs.

Title II

Federal regulations in the Higher Education Act of 1998 require that departments of teacher education report their students’ performance on the Praxis Series examinations. An analysis of the results from the most recent academic year is available from the chair of the Education Department.

Teacher Candidacy Screening

Students are accepted to the University as Education majors, but progress beyond 48 credits may occur only upon application for Teacher Candidate status. Acceptance into Teacher Candidacy permits the student to engage in junior-level Education course work.

The following outline presents criteria for the teacher certification candidacy programs.

1. Verification of at least 48 semester hours in order to meet PDE chapter 354.23 regulations.
2. Verification of at least 3.0 GPA in Educa- tion, teaching area, and overall, with veri- fication of “C” or above in education and teaching areas taken by the time of application.
3. Clearances: Criminal History Clearance (Act 34), Child Abuse Clearances (Act 151), and FBI Finger print Clearance Act (Act 114) indicating, “no record”. Any citation on the Act 34, Act 151 or Act 114 may result in removal from field, student teaching or Education Program.
4. Passing scores on the PRAXIS Series I examinations. (PSST Reading, Writing, Mathematics)

Further criteria for teacher candidacy to each program is shown below. More information is provided by the field director at scheduled meetings each semester.

Teacher Candidacy Requirements: Early and Primary

Teacher Candidacy Requirements: Middle Level

Teacher Candidacy Requirements: Secondary Education