Education

ELEMENTARY EDUCATION
PHYSICAL EDUCATION
PREK-12 EDUCATION
SECONDARY EDUCATION (6-12)

The Division of Education is comprised of two disciplines: Professional Education for Elementary and Secondary School Teachers and Physical Education.

Majors are offered in Elementary Education, Physical Education, PreK-12 Education and Secondary Education.

The Education Department offers programs that prepare teachers to obtain the Kansas Teacher License in Elementary Education (K- 6) and secondary education (6-12), including: Art (PreK-12); Health and Physical Education (PreK-12); Music (PreK-12) both instrumental and vocal; Spanish (PreK-12); Business; English; Mathematics; and History and Government.

The coursework in Health and Physical Education (non-teaching) can be used to prepare students to enter the field of fitness programming in the business world.

Teacher education students, in order to be licensed, must pass the Principles of Learning and Teaching (PLT) test and a content assessment. Check with the Teacher Education Office for current requirements.

AIMS, FUNCTIONS AND PROCEDURES FOR TEACHER EDUCATION

One of the major functions of Friends University is to prepare teachers for elementary and secondary school environments. Prospective teachers should confer with the Director of Teacher Education early in the first semester of college registration to receive information as to the aims of the program, procedures for indicating intent to become a teacher, requirements for admission and retention in teacher education (including 2.75 GPA in education courses, 2.5 GPA in Writing 1 & 2, 2.75 GPA in content area courses, and 2.75 overall college record), and procedures for admission to and retention in the professional semester.

Program outline sheets are available for all programs from the Registrar’s Office or the Teacher Education Office. Prospective teacher education candidates are advised to use these sheets throughout their college study.

The Teacher Education Programs require various classroom field experiences such as: Teacher Assistant (freshman-sophomore level), Student Tutoring (sophomore level), small and whole group instruction (junior level), and Internship (student teaching) at the senior level.

TITLE II INFORMATION

Teacher Education Vision:
At Friends University, program graduates are prepared to be knowledgeable, reflective professionals able to create appropriate learning environments for diverse communities of learners while maintaining the highest standards of professional behavior. Program content is research-based and all successful teacher candidates are able to use available technology to facilitate learning.

Friends University was established in 1898 and has been actively involved in teacher education since 1906. Friends University is accredited by The Higher Learning Commission and is a member of the North Central Association, telephone 1-312-263-0456, www.ncahigherlearningcommission.org.

Friends has offered quality teacher education programs for students in the Wichita area and south-central Kansas for many years. Friends has developed and maintains a good working relationship with local schools; is located within the largest school district in Kansas, Wichita USD 259; and therefore, is able to place students in a variety of field experiences.

Friends University has maintained high-quality programs in teacher education during the years. Along with a strong program in elementary education, Friends offers 6-12 secondary programs in business, English language arts, history and government, and mathematics; P-12 art, music, physical education, and Spanish.

Section 207 of Title II of the Higher Education Act mandates that the Department of Education collect data on state assessments, other requirements, and standards for teacher certification and licensure, as well as data on the performance of teacher preparation programs. For the academic year 2005-06, the single-assessment institution level pass rate was: PLT K-6 – 87% (Statewide pass rate – 98%); PLT 7-12 – 94(Statewide pass rate – 97%). The aggregate pass rate for professional knowledge was 91% (Statewide pass rate – 97%). Aggregate content knowledge pass rate was 81% (statewide pass rate - 95%). For more information or a copy of the full report, contact the Teacher Education Department Office at 316-295-5824.

The Teacher Education Unit at Friends University is accredited by the Kansas State Department of Education and National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), 2010 Massachusetts Avenue NW, Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20036, phone: (202) 466-7496. This accreditation includes the undergraduate and graduate levels of professional education programs offered at the institution. In addition, the education programs at Friends University are also approved by the Kansas State Department of Education.