1 Associate of Arts in Teaching Secondary Education Charge to Faculty Disciplinary Committees March 21, 2003
The purpose of this document is to provide the charge to the faculty disciplinary
committees who will oversee the development of the Associate of Arts in Teaching-
Secondary Education (AAT) degrees. The following sections provide charge and
context: (a) background, (b) role of faculty, (c) structures of development, (d) Faculty
Disciplinary Committees charge and timeline, and (e) Faculty Secondary Education
Committee charge and timeline.

Background

Given the urgent need for secondary education teachers throughout Maryland, especially
in critical shortage areas, it is imperative that new strategies for recruiting and educating
students in secondary teacher education be developed. Equally significant, preparing
tomorrows teachers in Maryland is already an inter-institutional effort 50% of all
teacher education graduates in Maryland get their start at a community college. Further,
53% of all of Marylands undergraduates are currently enrolled in community colleges
and two-thirds of the growth of all new full-time freshmen in Fall 2002 occurred in
community colleges. Moreover, a clear majority of minority students are enrolled in
community colleges. Therefore, successful student transfer is a shared responsibility and
all participating institutions must be committed to the growth of the Associate of Arts in
Teaching degree.

The AAT Secondary Degree

The Associate of Arts in Teaching-Secondary Education degree is designed to prepare
students for transfer into a baccalaureate degree program in a designated content area.
Upon graduation, and meeting Maryland qualifying scores on required Praxis II tests,
these students will be eligible for state certification based on the approved program at the
community college and on the successful completion of a Maryland approved
certification program at the receiving institution. Expected outcomes of this initiative are:
a higher number of baccalaureate degrees in secondary teacher education and more
minority teachers in Maryland.

Colleges and universities will commit to common outcomes for the first two years of the
undergraduate curriculum in each discipline; the total number of credits in the AAT
degree will not exceed 64. Community college students would need a passing score on
Praxis I and a cumulative grade point average of 2.75 on a 4.0 scale to earn the degree.

Students earning the degree option would meet all requirements for transfer to the
corresponding baccalaureate secondary teacher education program without further review
by Maryland public and private four-year institutions. Without further review means that
once a student is admitted, the receiving institution will not conduct course-by-course
review since the approved outcomes for the AAT-Secondary Education degree are 2 incorporated in the lower-division courses offered by the community college and aligned
with the lower-division requirements at the four-year institution. Community college
students would need to meet the same degree requirements as native students at the
receiving institution; however, where possible, a transfer student would not be required to
take more credits toward a particular degree than a native student. At least half of the
credits for the degree will be taken at the four-year institution.

The primary responsibility for the secondary AAT resides in the academic disciplines. In
order to meet the stipulations of the Maryland Redesign for Teacher Education (MHEC,
1995), all secondary education teachers must have a degree in the content area in which
they plan to teach. Thus, the development of the secondary AAT rests first on
articulation with the disciplinary major.

Role of Faculty

The role of faculty is central to any effort that involves the curriculum. Therefore, the
role of the faculty is key to the establishment of the secondary AAT degree. Just as
faculty develop curriculum in a shared and collegial manner at the home institution, the
same approach will be the basis for the discussion and recommendations of the
disciplinary committees.

Each committee will provide a design that meets the highest standards of academic
quality and presents a common set of outcomes for the first two years. The work of the
disciplinary committees will reflect and promote faculty members deep commitment to
education and pedagogy on all levels, their efforts resulting in stronger learning
environments for the training of teachers at the two- and four-year levels, which, in turn,
will result in stronger learning environments for secondary school students who, in turn,
may enter our two- and four-year institutions.

As the committees consider the broader benefits of their efforts, it will also be important
to consider the Middle States Commission on Higher Educations philosophy that the
faculty and other qualified professionals are responsible for devising and developing an
institutions academic, professional, research, and service programs within the framework
of its educational mission and goals.

Structures of Development

The process of development of the secondary AAT will be overseen by the Secondary
AAT Oversight Council, which was appointed by the Maryland K-16 Leadership Council.
This group includes membership from public and private four-year institutions,
community colleges, and the K-12 sector and also includes both disciplinary and
education representatives.

The Oversight Council will seek nominations from institutional chief academic officers
to appoint Disciplinary Faculty Committees for each of the initial target disciplines.
These committees will include representatives from two- and four-year institutions and 3 K-12. Each Disciplinary Faculty Committee will be comprised of 13 members: 6
community college faculty, 6 four-year institution faculty, and 1 curriculum specialist
from K-12. The four-year representatives will specifically include representatives from
the research, comprehensive, and liberal arts institutions. Faculty nominations will be
submitted to the Oversight Council, which will select and approve the members of each
committee. Nominees not appointed to the Disciplinary Faculty Committees will be
appointed to serve on the Disciplinary Resource Groups.

Broader Disciplinary Resource Groups will validate the Committee recommendations
and provide broader outreach and dissemination. The Disciplinary Resource Groups will
have at least one representative from every public and private, two-year and four-year
institution in the state.

The Oversight Council will seek nominations from education deans and directors and
appoint a Secondary Education Faculty Committee comprised of secondary education
faculty from the two- and four-year institutions. As with the other committees, this group
will include representatives of the different segments as well as the different categories of
four-year institutions. It will be charged with developing outcomes that would be
included in the common core of the secondary AAT.

Faculty Disciplinary Committees Charge and Timelines

In order to develop the secondary AAT degree, Faculty Disciplinary Committees are
charged with accomplishing the following tasks.

1. Review and analyze a collation of curricula and lower-division course descriptions
(provided by the Secondary AAT Oversight Council) across all two-year and four-
year institutions. Identify commonalties and unique elements.
2. Examine and revise as necessary the secondary education disciplinary outcomes that
have already been identified and developed by previous faculty discipline groups
(applies to chemistry, mathematics, physics, and Spanish).
3. Expand upon those outcomes to include requirements for the discipline major.
4. Develop a draft AAT degree consisting preferably of a single common core of
outcomes, but no more than two tracks of outcomes, for the first two years of the
discipline major. Until the outcomes are developed by the Faculty Secondary
Education Committee, insert a placeholder in the common core to accommodate the
education outcomes.
5. The Faculty Secondary Education Committee will develop outcomes for the first two
years of the education curriculum.
6. The Disciplinary Resource Groups will refine the draft. 4 7. Submit the draft AAT to the Secondary AAT Oversight Council for review and
feedback.
8. As directed by the Secondary AAT Oversight Council seek faculty input and approval
of the degree at each participating two- and four-year institution.
9. Convene annually to evaluate the effectiveness of the AAT in terms of the transfer
process, program quality, and production of certified teachers. This group should
annually receive reports on the success rates of AAT students in the major fields and
on the Praxis II examinations, and, for comparison, the success rates of native
students.
10. Develop a three-year degree review and revision cycle, which would enable the two-
and four-year institution faculty to make recommendations for revision as needed to
maintain the disciplinary integrity of the degree.
11. Report annually to the Secondary AAT Oversight Council.
Each group will establish its own process of meeting schedules (within the defined
timeframe), online and remote meetings, email listservs and bulletin boards, with the
assistance of the University System of Maryland staff. However, it is expected that the
AAT degrees will be in place within one year of the initial group meeting.

Faculty Secondary Education Committee Charge and Timeline

The Faculty Secondary Education Committee will complete the following tasks. This
process must be completed within six months of initial meeting.

1. The committee will draft outcomes that can be met in the first two years.
2. These outcomes will be submitted to the education faculty at each of the two- and
four-year institutions for feedback.
3. Using the institutional feedback, the outcomes will be revised.
4. The revised outcomes will be submitted to the faculty at each institution for approval.