Standard 5

The School of Education (SOE) faculty members represent a wide range of diverse cultural background and professional qualifications. They possess the experience and expertise that support the mission of the unit. They are recognized for excellence in teacher education and professional development for the undergraduate and graduate degree opportunities they provide to all teacher candidates and other school personnel in the region. They are deeply committed to teaching, scholarship and community service. This commitment is evidenced in their publications, participations in professional associations and international conferences, and in-service training opportunities provided to the teachers and other school personnel on Guam and the region. Through modeling best professional practices in teaching, research and service, they inspire the constituents they serve to become agents of change and progress.

5.1 Faculty Qualifications

What are the qualifications of the full-and part-time professional education faculty (e.g. earned degrees, experience, expertise)?

During the past three years, the School of Education has made significant changes to accommodate the requirements of NCATE. Competence to teach in a specific content area as well as ability to teach other disciplines, skill in carrying out multifarious functions, and proficiency in working with diverse students became the core criteria in faculty recruitment. Syllabus revision was also part of these changes. The current syllabi reflect the depth of faculty understanding of their fields and the interconnectedness of their courses with the other courses in the curriculum.

To date, the School of Education has 22 full-time faculty members. Almost 91% are doctorate degree holders. All have spent a substantial number of years in the teaching profession and

clinical practice. Table 1 shows the distribution of full-time faculty by program, academic qualification and rank, and years of teaching experience.

Faculty searches are being conducted to fill the positions in the following programs:

Table 1: Faculty Distribution for 2005-2006

There are 9 adjuncts in the School of Education. They are hired following the University requirements:

1) submission of an application form that can be obtained from UOG the Human Resource Office

What contemporary professional experiences in school settings do the higher education clinical faculty have? What percent of higher education clinical faculty have these experiences?

There are also SOE faculty members who have spent substantial years of clinical practice in their fields. Two faculty members spent five years as a clinician in the Reading Clinic. Another faculty spent 10 years in the Recreation and Leisure Management Internship Program. The longest serving faculty of SOE (Professor Emeritus on contract) has 24 years of clinical practice in Mental Health to his credit. Two or 100% of the full-time faculty members of the Educational Administration and Supervision Program have 6 and 27 years of experience as school administrators respectively.

For faculty members without terminal degrees, what expertise qualifies them for their assignments?

Two full-time faculty members are master’s degree holders. One is an assistant professor in early childhood education. Her area of specialization in both baccalaureate and master’s level is early childhood education. Being the former Director of SOE’s Early Childhood Learning Center and teacher of pre-school children, she brings with her a wealth of experience in early childhood education that the teacher candidates majoring in early childhood education would benefit from. She is the current Coordinator of Early Childhood Education Program. The other faculty without a terminal degree is a new hire carrying the rank of instructor. She was an adjunct faculty in the Educational Administration and Supervision Program and now is assigned as a regular faculty in this program. She was an administrator for 27 years. Her expertise and experience are advantages to the program.

The SOE programs are also supported by regular adjunct faculty members. All, but one, hold a terminal degree in their field (Ed.D. or Ph.D.). The only non-doctorate adjunct faculty served as an adjunct in the Language and Literacy Program for a many years. She is highly qualified because of the substantial years of experience and non-degree credits earned in her field. Moreover, this adjunct faculty is very familiar with the personalities, policies, and procedures at the SOE.

For Field Experience, the cooperating teachers and classroom supervisors who are tasked with mentoring the teacher candidates have to fulfill the following requirements: teaching license in the area they supervise, at least five years teaching experience and very satisfactory performance ratings from school principals. The SOE also offers field experience in Educational Administration and Supervision. It is focused on principalship training. The cooperating principals who work with interns possess the following qualifications:

1. Personal Attributes (Attitudes and Dispositions): self-confidence, personal reputation, commitment to the mentoring process, openness to new ideas, sensitivity to the needs of others, and professional demeanor

2. Knowledge and Skills: Knowledge about schools and systems, current educational issues and practices, understanding of political and organizational dynamics in relation to education; generic leadership and management skills

Portfolios of full-time faculty are available in the Exhibit Room. They include information regarding academic preparation and credentials, scholarly publications and presentations, and professional engagement.

How does the unit know faculty have a thorough understanding of the content they teach?

The intellectual competence of the SOE faculty is manifested in the content-specific courses they teach. They have graduate degrees and professional development credits in these content-specific courses, such as audio-visual education, science and math education, language arts and reading, special education, and P.E. to name a few. Their professional activities include paper presentations in national and international conferences about the areas they teach, classroom-based research that support teaching, learning, and grant writing related to their content areas.

What types of instructional strategies do faculty members use to reflect an understanding of different learning styles?

All members of the faculty use a wide variety of instructional strategies to promote candidate learning; for example, cooperative learning, group creative presentations for the social learners in class; case analysis, reflective writing, reflective inquiry and research for the analytical learners, guided discovery, and use of activity sheets and worksheets for the procedural learners; and hands-on activities, pure discovery and project work for the active learners. These instructional techniques put a heavy premium on critical thinking, problem solving and collaboration. They are well described in the syllabi that are available electronically.

How do faculty and the unit know the results of candidates’ assessment of faculty instruction?

As a requirement in the negotiated Agreement by and between the Board of Regents of the University of Guam and the GFT/UOG Faculty Union, every faculty has a right and responsibility to be evaluated by their students. Assessment of faculty instruction is conducted towards the end of every semester. Student feedback provided semesterly indicates whether or not SOE faculty members are modeling best practices in teaching. For the past two years the overall average for the School of Education faculty has been substantially high. In fact, five faculty members obtained overall averages higher than the university and college averages for the last two years.

Faculty members who excel in teaching are recognized annually by the Charter Day Awards Committee and by the individual colleges. In the years 2000 and 2005, several faculty members of the School of Education garnered the most covetous Professor of the Year Award and Excellence in Research Award. Three faculty members have been consistently featured in Who’s Who Among America’s Teachers since 2000. Recently, two faculty members, one from Elementary and one from Language and Literacy, are recipients. The award certificates of faculty are available in the Exhibit Room.

How do faculty members integrate diversity and technology throughout their teaching?

The SOE Faculty accommodates diversity in the classroom through the use of cooperative learning strategies, group projects and presentations, and the use of prior knowledge and cultural experiences during discussion. Faculty members also make provision for individual differences (e.g. out-of-class mentoring for those who need help, and an alternative to practicum). Faculty’s course assignments for the teacher candidates and other school personnel incorporate the use of technology in oral presentations of topics assigned to individual candidate or groups of candidates, computer integration to show how the teaching of certain concepts is facilitated, internet surfing to look for current literature and studies to back up research findings. The unit has two computer labs for use by the candidates in doing their assignments. These labs are used extensively by the audio-visual and computer courses that are offered in the undergraduate and graduate programs of SOE. The faculty will soon embark on an electronic portfolio requirement for all the education candidates of SOE. Both faculty and candidates are currently undergoing training on electronic portfolio preparation.

How do faculty members assess candidates’ performance in the courses they teach and experiences they supervise?

SOE faculty adhere strictly to the standards of their professional associations, the institutional standards of SOE that are contained in the SOE Conceptual Framework and the INTASC Standards that the Guam Public School System (GPSS) uses. The extent of accomplishment of the standards is measured by multiple assessments used by faculty. These standards are categorized into five groups: 1.) content knowledge that is measured by exams, oral presentations and portfolios; 2.) pedagogical content knowledge and skills that are assessed through technology integration presentations and instructional materials development, lesson planning and microteaching in the methods and practicum courses; 3.) professional and general pedagogical knowledge and skills that are measured by rubrics for reflective journals, research reports, case studies, portfolio presentations; 4.) impact on student learning that is assessed through the use of INTASC benchmark rubrics and other SPA rubrics for practicum, student teaching and internship; and 5.) dispositions that are measured by a disposition rubric used in all the courses. Faculty members value the candidates’ performance in these areas that are represented by the five categories because they reflect the kind of teachers and school personnel that SOE aims to produce for the diversified clientele in the Guam school system.

How does instruction reflect the Conceptual Framework and current research and developments in the field?

The institutional standards in the SOE Conceptual Framework are assessed by faculty at three critical points: entry (admission into the program), midpoint (before student teaching) and exit (after student teaching/internship). The course objectives in candidates’ syllabi are aligned with the institutional standards in the SOE Conceptual Framework. Their course syllabi also show the use of research in their teaching. Course assignments include literature search on current developments in the topics that are covered in the course content and research on various factors that affect student learning and other relevant areas of instruction. Results of these assignments are presented orally by the candidates and discussed in the light of current situation in their fields. Research findings are likewise discussed and instructional strategies that address the findings from a research study are examined in the course.

How does faculty encourage reflection, critical thinking, problem solving and development of professional dispositions?

UOG’s Comprehensive Faculty Evaluation System (CFES) encourages faculty reflection, critical and creative thinking, problem solving, and good teaching. To meet program standards, SOE faculty assign candidates to do case studies, keep reflective journals and engage in self-evaluation to encourage reflection. Faculty also assign candidates to submit research reports, term papers, and observation narratives with reflections; develop activities and instructional materials; and plan instruction based on knowledge of students and theories of learning. All these require the use of critical and creative thinking, and problem-solving.

At the beginning of each course, faculty distribute the disposition rubric to candidates and discuss all the elements with them. At the end of the course, the candidates are assessed in terms of the extent of their development of the professional dispositions and provided feedback.

5. 3 Modeling Best Professional Practices in Scholarship

According to UOG’s Comprehensive Faculty Evaluation System (CFES), scholarly productivity is a requirement for reappointment, promotion and tenure. To produce scholarly work and engage in scholarly activities are expectations of all faculty members. The quality of their work as well as the quality of professional activities they engage in are evaluated by peer review committees and appropriate administrators.

Scholarly productivity comes in various forms, such as books and publications, position papers, refereed conference presentations and grant involvement. From 2001 to present date, the SOE faculty have published a total of 40 articles, books and chapters in books; made 42 conference presentations; attended over 60 national and international conferences; and wrote 5 position papers and 11 grant proposals. Recent examples of grant proposal initiatives include collaborative efforts with GPSS in the Teacher Enhancement Grant and the GEARUP grant application and building partnerships with local and regional communities for collaborative research. Below are some of the grant proposals written by SOE faculty.

Research is encouraged by the College Dean by releasing faculty members from one course of their four-course teaching load. The recent research studies that have been supported by SOE with a 0.25 FTE are:

Currently, a group of faculty from the Early Childhood, Elementary and Secondary Education Programs pulled their resources together to investigate teacher candidates’ impact on student learning. They are looking at the effects of the following factors on student learning:

Some of the research studies conducted by SOE faculty have been submitted for publication in The Micronesian Educator. This is a scholarly journal that SOE has supported since its inception in 1990. From 2001 to date, nine SOE faculty members have published articles in this journal and seven have also been asked to referee articles for publication. Eight SOE faculty members have served on the Editorial Board. Copies of The Micronesian Educatorare available in the Exhibit Room.

The institution’s mission is to enlighten, to discover, to serve. The SOE faculty’s grant writing initiatives reflect the mission to serve. For example, Project HOPE is geared towards the promotion of effective teaching in early childhood education by providing effective professional development activities to the early childhood educators in the Federated States of Micronesia (FSM). The project’s acronym reflects the mission to serve – Helping Others to Perform Effectively.

The research studies conducted by the SOE faculty are aimed to discover new perspectives in teaching and learning and disseminate the results through conferences and journals to enlighten the professional community.

Excellence in modeling best professional practices in scholarship is also reflected in the development of basic curriculum materials, such as student handbooks. Two new student teaching handbooks have been written for the ED492 course – one for the early childhood and elementary education majors, and the second one for secondary education majors. The handbooks are based on the SOE Conceptual Framework and INTASC Standards. The production of a handbook for interns in ED498 has just been completed. In connection with the graduate courses involving clinical practice by other professional candidates, relevant program faculty have developed their own handbooks, some are being revised to reflect the SOE Conceptual Framework.

How is the faculty recognized for best practices in their respective disciplines?

Awards for excellence in research and scholarship are evidence that faculty have performed well and have contributed to the expansion and refinement of knowledge in their chosen fields. In 2000, one faculty member received the UOG Faculty Award for Excellence in Research. Two years after, another faculty was presented an award by the American Psychological Association for outstanding scholarship. In 2003, one faculty member received one of the six Presidential Research Awards that are given to UOG faculty annually. Her research was on critical thinking and diversity. In 2004, a faculty member from the P.E. Program garnered the Dance Scholar/Artist Award by the National Dance Association for the American Alliance for Health, P.E. Recreation and Dance. Recently, a faculty received the Excellence in Research Award, during the Charter Day Celebration for 2006.

5.4 Modeling Best Professional Practices in Service

What types of service are expected as part of the institution and unit’s mission?

Service is a key component of the university’s mission. It is one of the three areas where faculty members are evaluated for reappointment, promotion and tenure. Service involves engagement in university, college and school activities as well as involvement in a variety of work with the community.

Most faculty members are involved in university committees, such as: Promotion and Tenure, Faculty Election Commission, Academic Committee on Research, and the Library and Technical Support Committee. Everyone in the School of Education is a member of one or more of the following SOE Committees: Admissions Committee, Curriculum Committee, Advisement Committee, and the NCATE Standards Committee. SOE faculty members are very active in University governance with five associate professors having served on the Faculty Senate and three as chairs of key committees such as the Academic Affairs Committee and the Academic Committee on Graduate Curricula.

How are faculty members involved in professional associations, P-12 schools, the community, and internationally?

SOE faculty members are involved in various professional associations that contribute to the advancement of professional practices in their disciplines. They are members of 20 different professional associations. Participation in local chapters of these associations as well as participation in national or regional organizations include assistance in organizing workshops and seminars, chairing of meetings and seminar sessions and serving as board members. Faculty involvement in these associations is discussed in detail in the various faculty portfolios.

SOE faculty members are also involved in service to the professional community. They provide in-service workshops to elementary and secondary schools that request for their services. They also serve as judges in science fairs, resource persons in education fairs, facilitators in summer camps, hosts of educational events and talk shows, such as the Chalk Talk radio program, and advisers to professional organizations, such as ACEI Guam Chapter and FEGA (Future Educators of Guam Association). One of the advisers received an award for excellence in service. This same faculty has been the recipient of Excellence in Service Award for two years, 2000 and 2003. Another SOE faculty received the Guam Humanities Council Award in 2003. In the same year, the National Dance Association awarded its Excellence in Service Award to an SOE P.E. Program Faculty.

Some SOE faculty coordinate service learning activities for the teacher candidates, Service learning activities are carried out with pre-school and elementary school children in two GPSS schools. The Saturday Science and Social Studies Camps are organized by one elementary school to assist their students learn science and social studies that are not fully covered during the instructional days because of the island-wide implementation of Direct Instruction in the GPSS schools. The same holds true with the early childhood education. One school sought the help of the Early Childhood Program to conduct sessions with their pre-school children through Saturday classes. These classes became the service learning component of two courses in SOE.

SOE faculty members do not only conduct workshops and seminars. They also organize them for the professional community. For example, a SPED faculty has organized 16 workshops, training sessions and forums; an Early Childhood Education faculty has organized mini conferences and the “Week of the Classroom Teacher” every year for a dozen years; two Elementary Education Faculty have organized several workshops for DCESL (Dual Certification in English as a Second Language), and a group of faculty has organized a number of technology workshops, including LiveText and Moodle.

The Unit’s service tradition extends to consultancy work where some faculty members get assigned to off-island duties for a limited period to use their expertise and experience in the international arena. One SOE faculty was on loan to the World Bank as Materials Development Specialist and Assessment Consultant. This World Bank assignment was for a limited period of two weeks twice a year for a period of two years (AY 2003-2005). Another SOE faculty was a consultant to the College of the Marshall Islands. She provided input on the deanship and acted as Dean of the College of Education for three months.

In addition, two SOE faculty members also serve as core faculty for the Guam CEDDERS (Center for Excellence in Developmental Disabilities: Education, Research and Service). One is a core faculty for research and dissemination and the other, a core faculty for interdisciplinary studies and services. One of these faculty members is very active with legislation for special needs children. Law 24-190 on Universal New Born Hearing Screening that was passed in 2004 is the responsibility of her group. In 2005, one of these two faculty members left SOE to assume the project director post in the Guam Public School System. However, the SOE has been able to retain the expertise of this person in the SPED Graduate Program as an adjunct faculty.

In what ways do professional education faculty members collaborate regularly and systematically with colleagues in the wider external environment to improve teaching, research, learning and candidate performance?

SOE faculty members seek out collaboration to improve the quality of education for candidates. This collaboration is reflected in the establishment of the SOE Advisory Committee. The composition of this committee includes the Dean of CPS where the School of Education resides, SOE Administrative Officer, Accreditation and Special Projects Officer, NCATE Coordinator, YEC Director, Chairman of the Board of Regents, PDLLC Administrator, Guam GPSS Superintendent, GPSS Director of Research, Planning and Evaluation, GPSS Administrator of Personnel Services, GPSS Director of Curriculum and Instruction, GPSS Associate Superintendents, PTA GPSS Representative, Guam Legislature Representative, Guam Community College President, Representatives from the Private schools, Student Representatives, Representatives from the Regional Community Colleges, Superintendents of Guam Private Schools and the Senior Vice President of the University. The SOE Advisory Committee has provided a forum for the SOE faculty and the members of the professional community to engage in discussions about the Conceptual Framework and the scholarship of teaching and learning. The forum has served as a stimulus to further analysis of the SOE curriculum by program faculty.

There is also collaboration between SOE and the Faculty Senate Standing Committee on Evaluation and the Standing Committee on Faculty Excellence. The SOE faculty collaborating with the Committee on Evaluation is working on a learner-centered evaluation of teaching performance. The SOE is also collaborating with the Faculty Excellence Committee on matters pertaining to the celebration of the Faculty Development Day held annually. Six faculty members are involved in Project Hat’sa of the GPSS. This project concerns teacher enhancement and is funded by the U.S. federal government award to the GPSS. Also, four or five SOE faculty members are involved in the mentorship program, establishment of teacher standards, and assessment.

Another avenue for collaboration is CARE (Collaborative Agenda for Research in Education). CARE is an attempt to provide focus and coherence to SOE’s research efforts in the area of teaching, learning and teacher education. Its purpose is to respond to important needs of the School of Education in the area of applied research:

2. need to generate synergy between SOE and its various partners in education (GPSS, schools, and other colleges)

3. need to focus on research with policy implications and/or with an intervention component so as to make a greater impact on schools

A group of SOE supervisors has started collaborative research with their student teachers and classroom supervisors in several cooperating schools. They are addressing such pressing concerns as the development of critical thinking, accommodation of diversity, and promotion of communication and active participation in the classroom.

Furthermore, the SOE carries out collaboration via partnership agreements/ memorandum of agreements developed between SOE and its partners – GPSS, DODEA, GCC, Saipan Public School System, and the regional community colleges (NMC, PCC, COM-FSM) within IDP. The Individualized Degree Plan or IDP is an in-service degree conducted primarily off the University of Guam campus. It is made possible pursuant to contractual arrangements between the University and a Local Education Agency (LEA) in the Micronesian region. Academic control of the program is retained by the School of Education.

In what ways do SOE faculty collaborate with Arts and Sciences Faculty and other colleges?

SOE faculty also participates actively in collaborative work with other academic units on campus, including co-sponsoring and co-organizing regional conferences with the College of Liberal Arts and Social Sciences (CLASS), such as the Regional Language Conference held annually, co-organizing science education courses for in-service teachers with the College of Natural and Applied Sciences (CNAS), and grant writing with the School of Business and CLASS for the GEARUP grant application. Book and research projects with CLASS, secondary program reviews with CNAS and CLASS are likewise being carried out.

The aims of these collaborations are enhancement of teaching, promotion of research that is meant to improve the teaching-learning process, and the overall improvement of candidates’ learning.

How does the unit conduct systematic and comprehensive evaluations of faculty performance?

Based on UOG’s Comprehensive Faculty Evaluation System (CFES), systematic and regular evaluations are conducted by the Dean or Dean’s designee (Executive Director). The Dean conducts an interview with each faculty member, by appointment, sometime during the last two weeks of the academic year. At each interview session, a review of the faculty’s professional goals and the plans to carry them out is conducted. These goals and plans of action by faculty are submitted at the beginning of the year.

The extent of faculty accomplishments after one year is evaluated. Areas of strength and areas of perceived weakness are determined. Recommendations for improvement (e.g. greater productivity in terms of research, publications, and active participation in service learning endeavors) are arrived at collaboratively.

For faculty seeking reappointment, the unit forms an evaluation committee composed of one member from the faculty’s division elected by the division faculty, one member from any division selected by the faculty himself/herself, and a chair of the evaluation committee selected by the aforementioned members. The recommendation of the evaluation committee is forwarded to the Dean who reviews the faculty evaluation and makes his recommendation to the Senior Vice President of the University.

For faculty members applying for promotion and tenure, the guidelines set forth in the BOR Agreement are strictly followed (BOR Handbook). The faculty member notifies the Dean of his/her application and the latter provides a letter of recommendation to the University’s Promotion and Tenure Committee.

1. Through the teacher candidates’ course evaluations conducted every semester

The first one provides direct evidence of faculty performance in teaching while the last two represent indirect measures of faculty’s involvement in program effectiveness.

How are evaluations of professional education faculty members used to improve teaching, scholarship and service?

Results of faculty evaluations by the teacher candidates are used by the Dean and Executive Director to discuss with individual faculty members their strengths and weaknesses. The purpose of this one-to-one discussion is to help the faculty member devise instructional plans to make needed improvements. The Administrative Chair monitors these plans.

Results of the exit survey regarding the candidates’ performance of the institutional standards in the SOE Conceptual Framework are discussed at the program level. Program faculty discuss the strengths of their program and the areas that need further improvement. The results are used in the program review process and in generating changes in the course offerings (e.g. more time for the content of science and math in the elementary school; thus a separation of the integrated science and math course was approved as a substantive change in the program).

Feedback from employers’ surveys are also utilized to document best practices in the schools as well as those aspects of classroom instruction that need more attention in the teacher preparation program (e.g. classroom management was rated lowest by school principals; thus an elective course on solving discipline problems was recommended as a new requirement).

How does the unit provide opportunities for faculty members to develop new knowledge and skills, especially as they use the institutional standards in the SOE Conceptual Framework, performance assessment, diversity, technology, and emerging practices?

The School of Education sponsors periodic retreats for faculty to discuss the knowledge, skills and dispositions embodied in the Conceptual Framework and how they can be developed in the courses. Follow-up meetings at the program level on syllabi revisions to incorporate the institutional standards of the SOE Conceptual Framework and their alignment with program standards were conducted. The Unit also conducts meetings with faculty from other colleges to discuss the institutional standards in the SOE Conceptual Framework.

The policies and practices in SOE encourage faculty to be proactive in professional development. For example, financial assistance is available for faculty to attend at least one annual conference to enhance their knowledge and skills and keep abreast of emerging practices in their fields. Travel to attend conferences is supported financially by university funds and other donors, such as the Continental Micronesia Airlines. The Dean endorses faculty applications for these travel grants.

The Dean also sends announcements via e-mail to all SOE faculty of grant opportunities. He forms teams of interested faculty members to start writing grant proposals and assists these teams through his editorial advisement.

The SOE Executive Director regularly communicates with faculty in the unit about local workshops and seminars, and other events of potential interest to teacher educators. She encourages faculty to conduct workshops on current trends, particularly the use of computers in teaching and assessment. An example is the Live Text Workshop which she coordinates personally. Moodle training for all SOE faculty is currently being conducted by the Instructional Technology faculty. The LiveText coordinator, a faculty member, is providing training on the use of this software for both faculty and students,

Within the School, there are seminars and workshops for faculty initiated by some SOE faculty themselves. An example is the Student Teaching Seminars that are open to everybody – UOG supervisors, cooperating teachers in the schools, teacher candidates and program faculty. These seminars involve faculty in professional development in two ways: (1) as resource speakers, they provide teacher candidates and their supervisors with current information on pedagogy and assessment, or (2) as participant observers, they interact with the speakers and audience; thus enriching their perspectives of teaching and learning. Topics in these student teaching seminars that are spread throughout the semester include:

2. Performance assessments of products and process (portfolio assessment, rubrics for lesson planning and lesson delivery, INTASC assessment rubrics)

Release time for research is also available. An FTE of 0.25 may be allocated to faculty who is interested in doing research that would benefit the School in general, and the faculty’s Program in particular.

The results of faculty evaluation by the Dean and the SOE Executive Director have indicated a need to provide professional development in the area of research. Release time for research is made available by the Dean for those faculty members who need to carry out research for their promotion and tenure. An FTE of 0.25 may be allocated to faculty member who is interested in conducting research that would benefit the School in general, and the faculty’s Program in particular.

Sabbatical leave is also available to work on a project, enhance competency as a scholar or pursue a terminal degree in a related field of study. From 2001 to the present date, two SOE faculty members have availed of this professional development opportunity.

The success of any teacher education program lies in the qualifications, performance and development of its faculty. The School of Education of the University of Guam has five undergraduate programs, an M.Ed. program with different specializations. These programs are supported by knowledgeable faculty who have many years of teaching experience in their fields, are high performing as evidenced by their assessments of instruction, scholarship and service, and are deeply committed to the institution’s mission and student learning. They model best professional practices and collaborate with their colleagues in the professional community. Their accomplishments are partly attributed to the unit that continuously assesses its performance and provides feedback for improvement and a good support structure for professional development.

5.1 Faculty Qualifications

5.3 Modeling Best Professional Practices in Scholarship

5.4 Modeling Best Professional Practices in Service

5.1 Faculty Qualifications

Table 1: Faculty Distribution for 2005-2006

5. 3 Modeling Best Professional Practices in Scholarship

5.4 Modeling Best Professional Practices in Service