For more information, contact Cindy Young, (937) 775-3232.

November 25, 1997

WRIGHT STATE PROGRAM GIVES TEACHING
STUDENTS TOTAL CLASSROOM EXPERIENCE

The state of Ohio forecasts that by the year 2000, 50 percent of the state's teaching force will turn over. There is a need to train more teachers, and many of tomorrow's teachers are entering the profession from other career fields. Wright State University's Professional Year Program (PYP), offered by the College of Education and Human Services, is a year-long teaching certification program for professionals that combines university course work and extensive hours in the classroom.

Now in its third year, this year's PYP began in June with 48 students. Interns selected for the program have undergraduate degrees and work experience in a number of areas, including retail management, banking and the military. Some realized that a teaching career was always their first love. Others found something missing in their first career and decided to start fresh in another career.

Steve Huss, a PYP intern from Seward, Alaska, graduated from DePauw University in 1996 and was working for the U.S. Geological Survey as a geologist. He decided to enter the PYP because, "I didn't exactly want to sit behind a desk all day and type up reports like I was doing for the USGS."

Jennifer Burr began as an education major at Wright State but earned her degree in accounting. After working as a CPA for two years, she decided, "It's not for me. I really need to be out and dealing with the kids. The walls can close in on you when you stare at a computer all day."

Huss is teaching 8th grade science at Baker Junior High School in Fairborn. His cohort teacher is Dale Spurlock, a 29-year veteran of the profession. Often the pair team teaches the class, or Huss tutors students individually. Huss likes the attitude of his junior high charges.

"They're still pretty enthusiastic to be in school," Huss says. "The kids are still interested. They still listen to you. They look up to you. You can be more of a mentor to the students."

PYP interns also have the chance to participate in the schools' extracurricular activities. Huss is helping coach track and cross country at his school this year. Because Huss has a bachelor's degree, he can serve as a substitute teacher for Spurlock, meaning, "The lesson plan can continue. It's not like a day off."

The PYP interns enjoy a higher status in the classroom than typical student teachers. "We are introduced ... as another teacher in the classroom," Burr says. She is teaching second graders in Billie Harris' classroom at Five Points Elementary School in Fairborn. The class consists of 22 students, evenly divided between boys and girls.

Both Huss and Burr learned about PYP from friends. "Wright State had the most to offer me," Huss said. "They allowed me to get into the classroom within a year and spend this year as an intern."

"It's a nice alternative when you're making a career choice that you're not looking at three more years of school," said Burr. She adds, "It is definitely an intense year. You can't have a job while you're doing this."

Wright State and the Fairborn City Schools have had a partnership agreement for the program over the past three years. This year the PYP is also underway in the Dayton and Trotwood-Madison school districts.

Interns selected for the PYP spend the entire school year working with a cohort teacher from the participating school district. Currently the interns spend two days each week taking classes at Wright State, with the remaining three days spent in the classroom. The program is based on the medical school model which attempts to give students the total ecology of the medical setting. In this case, it's in the elementary or secondary school setting.

"We call it the total ecology of the school," says Donna Cole, Ph.D., associate professor of education and coordinator of the Professional Year Program at Wright State. "You have to learn how you use human service agencies, (and) you need to find out about the various partners of the school."

PYP goes well beyond most teacher training programs. The state of Ohio requires 300 field hours for prospective teachers; PYP students get more than 1,000 field hours.

"If they student taught in the spring, they knew how to close the school," Cole says. "If they student taught in the fall, they knew how to start it. These individuals see the whole operation. They're there from the very first day. They're on the school calendar, not ours here at Wright State."

Huss and Burr both say their experience in the Professional Year Program has been positive. They both find teaching rewarding, and Burr says of her students, "When they finally understand something, that is very rewarding."