Welcome to Miles College - Division of Education

PROGRAMS

The Division of Education offers degree programs in Early Childhood Education, Elementary Education, English/English Language Arts Education, Biology/Biology Education, Music/ Music Education (Choral or Instrumental), Chemistry/Chemistry Education, Mathematics/ Mathematics Education, and History/General Social Science Education. It also provides professional education courses necessary to meet teacher-certification requirements for candidates who are preparing to teach at the P-12, and Secondary School levels. Candidates may earn a Bachelor of Science degree in the Division of Education. Candidates who complete teacher certification at Miles are designated as “Highly Qualified” under the provisions of the federal legislation titled “No Child Left Behind.”

In Spring 2008 the Division of Education implemented the child development major as a result of the need for individuals who specialized in early child development. Candidates completing this program of study are not eligible for teacher certification.

MISSION

The mission of the Division of Education follows the mission of the college to ensure that teacher education candidates “seek holistic development that leads to intellectual, ethical, spiritual, and service oriented lives This includes providing a liberal arts curriculum along with content mastery courses and teaching pedagogy that maximize the diversity and creativity essential to teacher education. Faculty professional involvement with candidates contributes to a learning environment that stimulates the life-long learning that undergirds teaching effectiveness.
The Division manifests this concept by providing opportunities for candidates to continue learning as they progress through their programs of study. Courses are designed to help candidates to develop the knowledge, skills and dispositions that they will need to work effectively with students in P-12 schools.

The conceptual framework for the Division of Education is described as “The Teacher: A Facilitator of Learning.” The teacher is a catalyst for learning to take place. He/She acquires the knowledge needed to transfer to the students, creates the climate for learning to take place, initiates activities that are meaningful to the students, and provides encouragement for student learning to take place in P-12 schools. The coursework and performance based activities allow teacher candidates to enhance their abilities in these four areas such that they will be highly qualified effective teachers. The Division of Education at Miles College has designed programs of study that meet the needs of the teacher candidates in these four areas to prepare educators to work in P-12 schools:

1. Acquiring Knowledge
2. Creating a Climate for Learning
3. Initiating Meaningful Activities
4. Providing Encouragement

ACCREDITATION

The College is a member of the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE), and has been selected to participate in the Partnership for Excellence in Teacher Education (PETE). This partnership assists with preparation for pre-candidate status for accreditation by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). The Teacher Education Program (TEP) has been approved by the Alabama State Department of Education on the basis of National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification standards.

In compliance with the requirements of Title II of the Higher Education Act, Miles College reports that the state of Alabama presently administers the Alabama Prospective Teacher Test, a statewide teacher test for undergraduate candidates seeking initial teacher certification, and the Praxis II, a nationally normed test for undergraduates seeking initial teacher certification. Based on Alabama’s latest assessment of first-year teacher performance, Miles graduates performed well and all programs are designated “clear”. Student teaching involves 16 weeks at 40 hours per week for a total of 640 clock hours or a full semester. A copy of the College’s most-recent annual report may be obtained from the Alabama State Department of Education website www.alsde.edu . (Select reports, teacher prep report cards, Miles College)

OBJECTIVES

1. To satisfy Alabama State Department of Education requirements for all programs of study offered that lead to Class B Teaching Certificates.
2. To assist candidates in developing attitudes, knowledge, and technical competencies required to teach early childhood, middle, and secondary students.
3. To assist candidates in acquiring a sound professional background which will enable them to pursue graduate work in education and/or in education- related areas.
4. To provide in – service training for early childhood/elementary and secondary teachers.