Kean University – College of Education
Initial Program Completer Survey Comments*
Teacher of Students w/Disabilities
Fall 2012
In which areas and in what ways does the College of Education and your education program excel?
Ø The advisors were there to help when a student was in need, in any form of stress.
Ø The College of Education excels in preparing students for their professional field work. The higher level classes teach students helpful techniques to use in the classroom.
Ø The advisers that I had in the Education program were the best, and they steered me in the right direction through everything.
Ø The Special Education and History Department's advisement was outstanding.
Ø The teachers were fabulous. They really were always there to help.
Ø The special education department excels because I learned about the whole individual child, and not just about the class. The individual child has needs, and must be adhered to.
Ø This is an excellent program, but is tailored to elementary education. If you wish to teach at the secondary level, you should attend another school.
Ø My English instructors have been incredible.
Ø The College of Education has prepared to meet the needs of a diverse group of learners.
Ø The professors in special education classes were very supportive.
Ø The support from the professors in the College of Education
Ø The support from all professors has been a great help.
Ø The Special Education Professor are wonderful at Kean.
Ø Support
Ø The head of the department, Dr. Lee. If I ever had a problem, I knew that I could rely on her to solve it. For example, I was accidentally deleted from my Senior Fieldwork Class. She fixed the problem within hours, and although I was panicking I knew I could trust her 100%.
Ø Compared to other student teachers I worked with from other colleges I felt more prepared and had more tools to accomplish what needed to be done.
Ø Supportive staff, positive atmosphere in class
In what ways do you think the College of Education and your education program can improve?
Ø Have more class times available. There were too many classes that were only offered at the same times.
Ø The program can improve by having better communication and preparing the students more for the praxis tests.
Ø They can improve on the information they give students, I feel like some information was held back, and we were not properly informed about things.
Ø There needs to be an emphasis on classroom management/practical classes and less content based classes. A teacher can't teach if they don't know how to properly control the class.
Ø I think there should be more classes and better times.
Ø Teach us more ways on how to handle situations with politics.
Ø You need professors who have secondary experience. Cutting apples out of paper and hanging them on my board is not going to get me far in a class full of juniors.
Ø Organization: The program seems to undergo major adjustments every year or so, and no one, not professors, not advisers, seems to know what the latest requirements will be. / TWS: To put it succinctly, no two instructors seem to agree on what should be contained in this portfolio. This, coupled with the fact that I was forced to repeat TWS II, despite receiving high marks the first time, led to hopeless frustration on my part. In the future, please provide the instructors with some consistent, concrete guidelines, rather than allowing each to interpret the rubric as he/she wishes. / Full-time Professors and advisers: At Kean Ocean, we need more tenured or tenure-track professors. Too many part-time professors don't seem to have enough hours or enough information.
Ø I think that there should be more practice writing lesson plans prior to the field experiences.
Ø Everything about the program has ben great
Ø More Organization
Ø Jr. Fieldwork should be more than 1 day a week.
Ø More professors to teach so classes cound be smaller.
Ø A course to work on Resumes /
Ø The profesors are wonderful!!! I feel that TPC left me guessing what and when things were due. The staff in the special ed advisement kept me in the right direction.
Ø Advisement can be improved.
Ø There should be a drop in service for College of Education students to be able to ask questions about the different challenges and obstacles they face.
Ø Students with a major regarding Earth Scienc should be required to take a Chemistry & Physics class to help pass the Praxis II.
What other types of coursework or fieldwork do you think would have better prepared you for being a teacher?
Ø More time in the pre-professional fieldwork. Once a week is not enough time to learn.
Ø I think as a student of teacher with disabilities major, students should experience all ways that they can teach in professional field. (inclusion, pull-out, self-contained)
Ø Additional courses in classroom management.
Ø I think we should had a class about all students behaviors.
Ø I realized that my required english coursework had really nothing to do with teaching middle school english. They are two different things. Middle school english needs to be taught to us; teach us how to use the textbooks and software; different strategies.
Ø Secondary education. All the classroom management that I learned, Iearned during student teaching. Kean in no way prepares a student to teach at the secondary level. Most of the lessons I wrote during coursework were for elementary Ed because that is where the expertise of the professors was.
Ø Lesson Planning
Ø more psychology classes
Ø None. I think what was done worked well.
Ø I feel there should be more field work earlier in your education than waiting until senior year to complete most field work.
Ø Lesson Plan Class and more on Applied Behavioral Analysis.
Ø Internship
Ø How to write an IEP; How to have a parent-teacher conference
Ø more classes on different disabilities and how they learn best and what are some signs of those disabilities
Ø 5 days a week, Junior Field
Ø hands on in the classrooms!!
Ø Interview techniques, writing a resume, applying for certification.
More experience in the field in different settings and levels. Example: inclusion, self contained, and elementary and middle school.
Ø Junior field should be more than one week. I learned so much during my paraprofessional field work that I wish I had that in Junior Field as well. Problem is your only in the classroom one day a week. It i hard to gain respect from students.
*Comments have been copied directly from students’ online survey responses.
Initial Program Completer Survey Comments –TSD - Fall 2012 1