Curriculum Changes for Changing Times

Written on: November 28, 2016

Perhaps some of you have heard the news that the Education Department at D’Youville will not accept new students for Spring 2017. instead, we will be developing new programs in elementary, secondary, and special education, with a target date of Fall 2020 for our next group of students. You might think this is a negative, but it’s really a very good thing.

This is an ideal time to make the change. Teaching jobs are scarce in Western New York and Southern Ontario, and students know it, so they’re choosing other careers. The Common Core curriculum, the changes in federal requirements, and the New York State requirement that every teacher-education program be nationally accredited  all need to be incorporated into teacher-education programs. We’ve been working on that piece by piece, but now we’ll be able to develop the best program we can imagine.

Two concerns that come up are about the current students and the current faculty. For the students, a personalized plan is being developed for each one that will enable him or her to complete a master’s degree and certification requirements as quickly and economically as possible. Local colleges have been cooperative, particularly Niagara and Canisius.

And every faculty member in education will keep his or her job while helping to develop the new programs. We’ll be consulting with schools and districts (including the diocesan Department of Education), working with the undergraduate liberal arts, math, and science departments at D’Youville, looking at other models, and studying accreditation requirements in order to integrate them into the new programs. We’re excited about the possibilities.

So pray for us as we work on these opportunities. And if anyone fears that D’Youville will no longer offer teacher education, tell them, no, we’ll just be doing it better.

—by Nancy Kaczmarek, GNSH

Sister Nancy Kaczmarek is a professor in the Education Department at D’Youville College.

This entry was posted in News and tagged: changing curriculum, Common Core, D'Youville College, Department of Education, education, elementary, Federal requirements, national accreditation, New York State, secondary, Southern Ontario, special education, teacher-education programs, teaching jobs, Western New York