College of Education
Title II Institutional Report

Mission: The mission of the College of Education is to prepare exemplary professional practitioners and scholars; to generate, use, and disseminate knowledge about teaching, learning, and human development; and to collaborate with others to solve critical educational and human problems in a diverse global community.

History  and Characteristics of the University: The University of Florida is a major, public, comprehensive, land-grant, research university.Florida is among the nation's most academically diverse public universities. Florida has a long history of established programs in international education, research and service. It is one of only 17 public, land-grant universities that belongs to the Association of American Universities. In 1905, the University formed its teacher education program, designed to educate future teachers and administrators.The College is currently located in Norman Hall.The College also operates the P.K. Yonge Developmental Research School on a separate campus and Baby Gator, an NAEYC accredited Early Childhood UF Research and Development Day Care Center, on campus. The University maintains over 4,000 regular faculty members and has about 45,000 students, including those pursuing undergraduate, graduate, professional, and distance education degrees. UF ranks fourth among public universities in the number of National Merit Scholars.The University is continually ranked in the top tier of public universities in the U.S. News and World Report rankings.Admission to the University is very competitive and entering students generally must have among the highest grade point averages to gain admission.The student body is comprised of 51% females and 49% males and consistently maintains a minority student population of around 22%.

Characteristics of the College of Education:The College of Education offers undergraduate and graduate programs in four academic departments and one school: Counselor Education; Educational Leadership, Policy, and Foundations; Educational Psychology; Special Education; and The School of Teaching and Learning.The College has 86 full time, tenure track faculty members in professional education.An additional 40 faculty are appointed to the professional education faculty in affiliated programs (Agriculture, Art, Health, Music, & Physical Education).Minority faculty members comprise about fifteen percent of the teacher education faculty.Over the last decade, the College has increased its efforts to recruit, admit, and retain a diverse student body.The College continually strives to provide additional funding for scholarships, expand the base of minority contacts, and network and recruit minority candidates at student conferences. In 1999, the Professional Education programs had an enrollment of 891 full-time students and 121 part-time students in the undergraduate professional education programs and 639 full-time and 360 part-time graduate students in professional education programs.Eighty-eight percent of the students enrolled in the College were female and fifteen percent were minorities.

Teacher Preparation Programs:In 1985, the College implemented a unique set of teacher education programs called PROTEACH (from PROfessional TEACHer).These intensive five-year programs, designed to culminate in a Master of Education (M.Ed. in elementary education, special education, and secondary education), are built upon a conceptualization of what a beginning teacher should know, should be able to do, and should be as a model for our youth.PROTEACH incorporated increased coursework outside the College of Education as well as expanded foundational studies, clinical experiences, and student teaching in the classroom setting.Only students in approved programs are allowed to student teach in their final year in the teacher preparation program.The Unified Early Childhood program, begun in 1995, offers NCATE and state approved certification for birth through age four, age three through grade three, and a prekindergarten handicapped endorsement. In 1999, the College inaugurated the Unified Elementary PROTEACH program, a five-year initial licensure program. During the freshman and sophomore years, students complete their general education requirements and three prerequisite introductory courses to prepare them for program entry. During the junior and senior years, students experience a common curriculum designed to prepare an elementary teacher with an emphasis in special education. During the graduate year, students may elect the dual certification track (Elementary/Special Education) and complete special education coursework leading to certification in special education, as well as elementary education. Or they may elect the elementary certification track, which confers elementary certification, with a 12-credit advanced specialization in one of three areas: Elementary Interdisciplinary, ESOL Specialist, or Elementary Specialist (Literacy, Math/Science, or Technology). The program is designed to prepare teachers who are able to work effectively with diverse student populations and who understand and can use research-based practices. The content of the program provides students with both breadth of knowledge about teaching and learning and depth of knowledge in specialized areas.

PROTEACH students in elementary education, unified early childhood education, and special education receive the bachelor's degree upon the successful completion of the first two phases of the approved teacher education programs, with an additional year required to complete these teacher education programs. Students in the secondary PROTEACH program receive a baccalaureate degree in their content disciplines and complete a fifth year in the College with a focus on pedagogy. The University also prepares students to teach in affiliated programs including agriculture, art, music, physical education, and health science education through a joint four-year program with the College.

Requirements for Admission to Teacher Education: Candidates for admission to the PROTEACH programs must have completed 60 hours of state-mandated prerequisite courses with at least a 2.6 cumulative grade point average; a 3.0 grade point average on 3 professional courses; 1010 SAT or 21 ACT test scores, and a passing score on all sections of the CLAST test. Admission to the PROTEACH master's program is based on an acceptable Graduate Record Examination score and an upper division grade point average of 3.0.

Accreditation: All of the University's teacher preparation programs are accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and are approved by the Florida State Department of Education. The Counselor Education programs are accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs. The School Psychology program is accredited by the American Psychological Association and the National Association of School Psychologists.

Institutional Plan for Including Title II Report Information In Published Materials: The Title II Report information will be published electronically on the College of Education web page at http://www.coe.ufl.edu as well as in print materials distributed through the College's academic departments, student services office, and affiliated college publications. Reference to the web page will be made in print copies of the University's graduate and undergraduate catalogs.

Contextual Information
(2002-2003)

Student teaching varies by program, with a range from one semester to a full academic year.

Single-Assessment Pass-Rate Data:  Regular Teacher Preparation Program

Academic Year:  2002-2003        Testing Period:  7/97-9/03
Number of Program Completers:  297

Calculations by the Florida Department of Education.

Institution contact: Theresa B. Vernetson
Telephone:  (352) 392-0728
Email:  tbv@coe.ufl.edu

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