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Criteria - South Carolina Commission on Higher Education
CRITERIA FOR PROFESSIONAL DEVELOPMENT COURSES OFFERED AT THE GRADUATE LEVEL
If graduate credit is to be awarded for professional development course experiences, and, more importantly, if professional development course experiences are to have a significant effect on improving teaching, learning, and student achievement, then all professional development coursework must meet the following ten criteria:
- The course must build upon an undergraduate knowledge base; the knowledge base that the course presupposes and how the course goes beyond that base must be specified.
- The course must involve a dynamic interaction with the subject matter, the instructor, and other students. The learning that will take place both during and outside classroom sessions, the types of critical interchanges that will take place between the instructor and other students, and how the work required will exceed, both qualitatively and quantitatively, the work typically expected at the undergraduate level must all be specified.
- The course must have a research base and assist students in generating new knowledge and/or in applying extant knowledge to improve teaching and learning.
- Faculty teaching graduate courses must conform to the requirements for faculty as stipulated in the Criteria for Accreditation of the Commission on Colleges of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools (SACS) which states that each faculty member teaching courses at the master’s and specialist degree level “must hold the terminal degree, usually the earned doctorate, in the teaching discipline or a related discipline.” The Criteria further note “in unusual cases institutions may appropriately include as graduate faculty members those who have demonstrated exceptional scholarly or creative activity, or professional experience, but who may not possess the required academic credentials.” The degree and experience qualifications of the faculty member who will be teaching the course must be specified. The institution must, in accordance with SACS Criteria, keep on file for all on- and off-campus full-time and part-time faculty members the required documentation of academic preparation, professional and work experience, and technical and performance competency, among other documentation of qualifications.
- Faculty teaching graduate courses must provide documentation of contributing to the knowledge base of the discipline they teach through scholarship, application, or publications; how the proposed faculty member has contributed to the discipline must be specified.
- The duration of the activity, including the total number of contact hours that participants are expected to spend in the activity, as well as the span of time over which the activity takes place, must be significant and sustained. The Southern Association of Colleges and Schools requires that “courses offered in non-traditional formats, e.g., concentrated or abbreviated time periods, must be designed to ensure an opportunity for preparation, reflection and analysis concerning the subject matter. At least one calendar week of reflection and analysis must be provided to students for each semester hour of graduate credit awarded.” For example, if fewer than three weeks of coursework are proposed for a three-credit hour course, other means must be planned to ensure continuous and sustained instruction, reflection, and analysis over the remaining week(s) or beyond, through such means as scheduled on-line discussion groups; specific, required postings to a Web site for critique and commentary by the instructor and/or students enrolled in the class; instructor visits to student classrooms for observation and conferencing; and regular scheduled feedback on student projects.
- The professional development course must encourage collective participation of groups of teachers (e.g., from the same school, specialty area, department, and/or grade level), which has generally been found to result in enhanced learning and teaching beyond that of individual teachers participating from many schools.
- The professional development course must have a content focus in that the degree to which the activity is focused on improving and deepening teachers’ content knowledge in the teaching field and their knowledge of how students learn particular content is positively correlated to enhanced teaching and learning.
- The professional development course must contain opportunities for active learning through opportunities for teachers to become actively engaged in the meaningful analysis of teaching and learning, for example, by reviewing student work or obtaining feedback on their teachings; and
- The professional development course must actively promote coherence in teachers’ professional development by encouraging continuing professional communication among teachers and by incorporating experiences that are consistent with teachers’ goals and aligned with state standards and assessments.