Meeting & Agendas

Everyone introduced themselves at the start of the meeting. The Veteran’s Day holiday resulted in a lower attendance than expected.

Linda announced that the Department submitted our Early Childhood Associate Degree Accreditation (ECADA) self-study at the end of September. Program Statistics: Linda presented the graduates from Fall 2010 through Summer 2011. • 68 students completed the Comprehensive CDA, a Marketable Skills Award (60 funded through Teacher TRAC) • 14 Child Development Certificate graduates (6 funded through Teacher TRAC) • 8 Associate of Applied Science graduates (3 funded through Teacher TRAC) There were 373 enrollments in child development courses in this Fall. Student Learning Outcomes: ACC now requires program level student learning outcomes for all Marketable Skills Awards, Certificates, and Associate degrees. The Child Development Department used a modified form of the 5 key standards. A handout listing the student learning outcomes and detailed learning objectives was shared with committee members. Teacher TRAC: Teacher TRAC will have continued City of Austin funding, based on the recent solicitation process. Due to some special funds, there will be more funding in the 2011-2012 contract than in the past. Next year, City funding will be cut by 50% to $46,000. The total budget for the 2012-2013 contract will be $149,758, not including ACC in-kind of $59,756. This fall there are 154 Teacher TRAC students. Of those, 67 are in the Comprehensive CDA, 47 are Certificate majors, and 40 are Associate majors. Accreditation Program: Sue Gartner retired on September 30, 2011. The program was expected to end on that same day, but the contract was extended for six months. The program is now ending in March 2012. There is $39,765 in funding, which is primarily for cribs for programs that are accredited or working toward accreditation and serve low income children. Sheri Leonard has been hired on a temporary part-time basis to coordinate the project. CDA Preparatory Class (CDEC 1241) – The Department is offering a new course this spring to help those students in the Academic CDA prepare for the national CDA assessment. A flyer describing the program was shared with the Advisory Board Lab School – Dawn gave an update on the Lab School. The Planet Earth classroom is participating the Texas School Ready program to serve as a model for how a play-based program can meet the Texas School Ready requirements. The Lab School has integrated a new assessment tool from Teaching Strategies into its curriculum. The tool is electronic, which gives parents the option to view assessments. There have been some scheduling changes for observation. Instead of coming for one hour visits, students for some of the observation only courses, such as CDEC/TECA 1318 or CDEC/TECA 1311will come in blocks of time. The Lab School has begun working on re-accreditation. They will be submitting an electronic self-study. The paperwork for NAEYC is to be turned in by May 2012.

Overview of Process and Next Steps – Linda reported that our self-study was submitted in September. The full report is available for anyone who would like an electronic copy. The report includes our program context in which reports on 12 criteria about the program are presented, the learning opportunities available for students to meet all of the five standards and 19 sub-standards and five supportive skills. The accreditation peer review team has been identified and the visit scheduled for March 25 – 28. There will be a meeting with the Advisory Committee that is tentatively scheduled for Tuesday, March 27, from 3:30 to 4:30. Gale who is a peer reviewer for the ECADA gave a brief overview of the expectations for the visit. There is no socializing with the peer review team. They take all of their meals separately and are busy with work the entire three-day visit. Larry asked if there were any concerns about the getting accredited. Linda reported that the Department feels like the program is strong and should be accredited, but there is always a chance that ECADA has a different perspective. PD asked how many programs that apply are accredited. That information may be available from NAEYC, but we do not have that information. Sandra provided an overview on the three different kinds of accreditation that were being discussed in the meeting: NAEYC child care center accreditation, the Early Childhood Associate Degree Accreditation (ECADA), and the college-wide accreditation through the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS). Review of Conceptual Framework – The committee members reviewed the conceptual framework. The key components are our practice as educators, our work as colleagues, and our role in the community. Betsy asked about how our conceptual framework aligns with that of the college. ACC does not have a formal conceptual framework. The group discussed alignment of the accreditation standards and conceptual framework with ACC’s mission. Faculty felt that there was general alignment. Larry asked what the ACC mission is. See below for the mission: ACC Mission Statement The ACC District promotes student success and improves communities by providing affordable access to higher education and workforce training in its eight-county service area. To fulfill its mission, the College will provide, within its available resources, the mission elements prescribed by the State of Texas: [a] Vocational and technical programs of varying lengths leading to certificates or degrees. [b] Freshman- and sophomore-level academic courses leading to an associate degree or serving as the base of a baccalaureate degree program at a four-year institution. [c] Continuing adult education for academic, occupational, professional, and cultural enhancement. [d] Special instructional programs and tutorial service to assist underprepared students and others who wish special assistance to achieve their educational goals. [e] A continuing program of counseling and advising designed to assist students in achieving their individual educational and occupational goals. [f] A program of technology, library, media, and testing services to support instruction. [g] Contracted instruction programs and services for area employers that promote economic development. Review of Data from Accreditation Key Assessments (Student Outcomes) The committee reviewed a handout that shows where each of the five ECADA standards and supportive skills are assessed. Gale shared how the department completed curriculum mapping, which shows where all of the various standards are covered in our courses. A brief description of each of the five key assessments was shared. The committee then reviewed a handout that shows some of the results from our assessments for each of the standards and sub-standards. Exceeds expectations is equivalent to an A; Meets expectations is equal to a B; Approaches expectations is a C; and Below expectations is a D or F. The faculty plans to identify additional learning opportunities across the curriculum for several sub-standards that need improved student outcomes. One overarching theme was the need for improved observation skills, particularly participant observation and applying what is learned in observation to planning. The Department will develop a continuum of observation expectations and teaching strategies across the curriculum. Another area of focus is to establish a mentoring system to ensure inter-rater reliability of use of the key assessment grading rubrics for consistency. Review of Data from Student Success Initiative (Faculty Coach) Gale has been leading the Department on an examination of the success of our students. Key finding were shared with the Advisory Committee (see powerpoint for details). This includes the large number of students (58%) taking our capstone courses who need developmental work in two or more areas (reading, writing, or math). However, only 31% of the students took the college success course. Another area of concern is the gap between our African American students. The success rate (A, B, or C) was 73% which is higher than the college average of 56.7%, but still lower in contrast to the other ethnicities. See the powerpoint for percentages with D, E, IP (in progress) and withdrawals by ethnicity. A question was raised about the number of African American students. Linda did not have the specific numbers at the meeting. Follow-up Information: For the period examined (Fall ’09, Spring ’10 and Fall ’10) there were duplicated enrollments (students may be counted more than one time) of 260 African-American students (17%); 394 Hispanic students (31%); 529 White students (42%); 73 Asian students (6%); 27 Non-resident aliens or international students (2%) and 26 other/unknown (2%). Larry asked if age or poverty were issues related to the success data. Gale reported that these aspects were examined, but the data did not show differences based on age or income levels. Discussion of goals for improvement Based on the faculty examination of the data, two goals were set: 1. To increase the number of students meeting or exceeding expectations on key ECADA assessments by 5% 2. Increase the success rates of African American students Our strategies include: >Establishing departmental policies to promote success >Developing a “Tips for Success in Child Development Courses” handout >Conducting a focus group with African-American students to get more insight on what strategies might be effective. >Additional faculty development on learning strategies that are taught in our college success course and cultural and class competence.

Retiring of Child Development Enhanced Skills Certificate (Director Certificate) A handout of the current enhanced skills certificate was provided. The courses include Administration of Programs for Children II, Internship, Technical and Business Writing, and Introduction to Accounting I. There have been no graduates from this certificate for a number of years. The Texas Higher Education Coordinating Board will retire unused certificates. The Department reported that it will sunset this certificate. Right now many students who want advanced director training are in Taking Charge of Change -Austin which is partnering with ACC. The students in TCCA earn credit for Admin II and III. This seems to meet the needs for directors at this time. The Department may develop a different certificate if the community identifies a need. It was moved and seconded to retire this certificate. Change in Lab Requirement for Guidance: Linda presented a proposal to require those students who complete the CDEC 2422 (CDA II) and CDEC 2424 (CDA III) with a B or better to complete at least half of their fieldwork hours (24 hours) for CDEC 1419 Guidance at the ACC Lab School. The reason for this is that these students’ requirement for CDEC 1166 Practicum I and CDEC 1392 Special Topics are waived. Practicum I and II are the only lab experiences that require students to do at least half of their lab hours at the Lab School. If students do not take Practicum I, then the first time they have a lab experience at the Lab School might be in Practicum II. In Practicum II the students are expected to take on the lead teacher role in the middle of the semester and it has been difficult for some students who have not had any previous experience in the Lab School. The Advisory Board discussed this issue. It was moved and seconded that this policy change be adopted after consultation with Advisory Board members who were absent and with community child care programs. The motion carried unanimously.

There was a brief discussion of the experience of Lab School Assistant Teacher Shannon Saldaña as she moved from ACC with her AAS in Child Development to Sam Houston State University, which is an online program. Sam Houston State accepted more of her child development courses than other affordable four-year colleges or universities. Discussion of Articulation issues Linda gave a brief overview of some of the current articulation agreements and challenges associated with them for our students. Typically, the transfer institutions want students to complete their AAS, but will only accept a limited number of child development hours. The state of Texas does not currently offer an AA degree in child development. Dr. Phan asked about the number of credit hours in our program (70), since most transfer programs only accept up to 66 credits. The AAS is designed to be a terminal degree (not for transfer), so they typically have more credit hours. This issue will be brought back to the Advisory Board for further discussion. Some of the programs include: Stephen F Austin – • National Online Head Start Degree Completer Program • Articulation Agreement in process (52-53 hours transferred from our courses – 27 credits – 18 from our gen. ed. requirements) Texas State University Sam Houston State • 66 semester hours – 36-40 in a technical program • Earned AAS Lamar University UTSA – Bachelor of Arts and Sciences –BAAS: Early Childhood Language and Literacy Studies – earned AAS 36 credits in tech program