The purpose of the annual assessment and strategic plan update is to foster continued positive progress and sharpen focus on critical priorities. This report is presented in the following sections:

1. Progress Towards the Goals of the College Strategic Plan
2. Contribution to the Goals of the Campus Strategic Plan
3. Lessons Learned from Current Progress
4. Notable Changes in Challenges and Opportunities
5. Rationale for Prioritization and Focus of Goals
6. Draft Revised College Strategic Plan Initiatives and Goals

In this section, I will report highlights by initiative rather than specific goal. In addition, I will report highlights and areas of concern rather than specific details on each objective. Also, although all of the college initiatives correspond with the campus strategic plan, as noted in Section II of this document, specific activity correspondence is noted where appropriate.

• We have hired some excellent senior faculty who will add to our recognition (e.g., Strike, Mislevy, Oxford), and we have some good offers out so far this season.
• The college public relations program is increasing the visibility of the many excellent faculty in the college.
• The senate faculty development committee has made great strides in addressing the needs of assistant and associate professors.
• Many talented members of our faculty have been recognized with prestigious grants and awards, and we have a significant number of faculty serving in national leadership positions (see the Fall Issue of This Just In and the listing on the Dean's Office portion of the web page).
• The college has made phenomenal growth in external grants and contracts. As of February, we had $18 M in awards for the fiscal year that began July 1. This represents 136% of our highest previous full year and 155% of last year. We are not resting, but rather instituting a continued push for selected cross-department and cross-college initiatives.
• The Maryland Assessment Research Center for Education Success is up and running in expanded space in Tawes. Their funding and opportunities continue to grow.
• The Maryland Institute for Minority Achievement and Urban Education is moving swiftly. While the Institute is establishing infrastructure, we are working with Prince George's County Public Schools on a project to improve achievement in three low performing schools.
• The K-16 Outreach Center is serving Prince George's County and Anne Arundel County School Districts.
• The Special Education Department is involved in a partnership to evaluate and assist Baltimore City School district.
• The Higher Education and College Student Personnel Programs are increasing their collaboration.
• We continue to improve in our U.S. News and World Report ranking as well as other rankings. (Campus Strategic Plan, Initiative 2, Goal 2: By 2004, we aim to have . . . the College of Education . . . ranked firmly in the top 15 nationally, as measured by such assessments as the annual rankings of professional schools in U.S. News & World Report.)

• Three goals have already been achieved. In both March of 2000 and March of 2001, CAPS ranked 1^st and Special Education ranked 10^th. For the first time, in March 2001, Education Policy ranked 9^th. This means that three of our six departments have programs ranked in the top 10 in U.S. News & World Report. All other departments have at least one program that ranks in the top 20 in either U.S. News & World Report or another ranking.
• An in press article ranks our Human Development Department in the top tier, and a recent survey ranked Measurement and Statistics as 6^th.
• The College was ranked 22^nd by U.S. News and World Report in March 2001, up from 23^rd in March 2000.

• We continue to conduct regular reviews of all of our academic programs. Student satisfaction surveys are conducted for each course. In addition, the departmental review for the Special Education Department was completed, and the review for the Counseling and Personnel Services Department is underway.
• A major review and revision of secondary education programs is underway with the K-16 Faculty Collaboration Committee, including Arts and Science faculty and the Maryland State Department of Education. We have implemented a multiple pathways model to increase the number of content area degreed students who become certified teachers. This model includes a citation/certificate option, dual majors, a fast track bachelor's/master's degree, and a master's certification program. (Campus Strategic Plan, Initiative I, Goal 1: Elevate the importance of preparing students for teaching careers and engage faculty in the arts and sciences disciplines with those in education to ensure high quality education for future teachers. Provide undergraduates with increased opportunities to acquire Teacher Certification either as part of their BA or BS degree or as part of a fast-track master's in education.
• We completed a friendly review of our teacher preparation programs last summer. As a result, the Teacher Education Redesign Oversight Team has worked to assure full compliance with the Maryland Redesign for Teacher Education, State and Federal Title 2 Requirements, and the accreditation requirements of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. More importantly, we have worked to establish structures that enable us to continually assess and improve our programs.

• Enrollments and selectivity continue to improve although we have a way to go on our enrollment goals, which are currently a combined undergraduate and graduate enrollment of 2350 with a graduate enrollment of 1000 by 2002.

• Overall graduate enrollment has risen from 897 in Fall 1999 to 921 in Fall 2000, while the number of new graduate students rose from 83 in Fall 1999 to 143 in Fall 2000.
• Undergraduate enrollment dropped slightly from 1259 in 1999 to 1251 in 2000. This may reflect some difficulty in tracking secondary dual majors.
• According to Graduate School data presented to the Council of Deans in the Fall of 2000, the GRE scores for new graduate students went up in all 6 departments, while the entering GPA went up in 5 and remained the same in the 6^th department.

• Fall 2000 data reveal some increases in undergraduate selectivity. We have experienced a very slight increase (2.4%) in the 75^th percentile of our combined SAT scores and a miniscule decrease (0.4%) in the 25^th percentile. Our 75^th percentile is 1280 with the 25^th at 1115. However, HS GPA for new first time students is up from 3.58 in 1999 to 3.66 in 2000. Transfer GPA is up from 3.09 to 3.15.

• For undergraduates, our six-year graduate rate is 74% with 44.7% completing in the college and the remainder finishing in other campus programs. However, we still need to make progress on the 5-year rates, which are 66.7% for new first time students and 64.3% for transfers.

• Recruitment brochures have been produced to assist departments.
• Two departments are focusing on improvements in their doctoral programs.
• A limited enrollment plan has been approved in elementary and early childhood education to keep enrollments within resource based levels. In addition, the state required Praxis I test is now required for admission to professional courses in teacher education, and Praxis II is required for admission to student teaching. This will assure that all graduates are certifiable as teachers.
• Significant resources have been provided from the campus to increase the participation in and quality of the clinical teacher preparation experience provided in Professional Development Schools (PDS). Based on funding and expansion plans, we will go from 51% PDS participation in the current year (FY 2001) to 83% next year (FY 2002), and 100% by FY 2003.
• A full time position has been created to foster recruitment of high quality undergraduate students.
• Web pages have been significantly improved.

• We have lost some diversity in the faculty ranks. However corrective actions have been taken to promote retention. In addition, departments have been strongly encouraged to aggressively recruit racial and ethnic minority faculty candidates in all searches and to use additional resources to seek target of opportunity hires.
• We have a ways to go with our diversity goal of 30% of our undergraduate and graduate student bodies by 2004. The Fall percentage of African American, Hispanic, Asian, and Native American students has remained fairly stable with 23.9% for undergraduates and 23.3% for graduates in 1999 and 24.4% for undergraduates and 23% for graduates in 2000.
• New minority recruitment initiatives have been implemented.
• Focus groups have been held, and a plan for improved climate for undergraduate students is underway.
• Two luncheons for the college retirement group are now held each year.
• A recognition and community committee was started, and additional efforts have been made to assure faculty recognition.

• Temporary space (8,000 sq. ft.) was secured in the Tawes building, and the campus process and development campaign for the addition to the Benjamin Building are underway.
• A research coordinator has been hired, and consultants continue to be employed to assist in grant preparation.
• External funding in the college has increased significantly. Award levels have risen from $11.2 million for last year (FY 2000) to $18 million for the first 8 months of FY 2001. The highest previous award level for the college had been $12.8 million in FY 1999.
• We now have a stable external relations structure, including public relations/publications, alumni support, and development. The major gifts portion of development is now provided by a consultant engaged through University Advancement. Our FY 2001 gift total (through 1/31/01) is $1,394,053, which exceeds each of the past two full years. Although this is an improvement, we have still not reached our stated goals.
• The Board of Visitors of the College of Education has been established and has now met twice.
• An annual strategic plan assessment and update process is now underway. This report is part of the first cycle.
• A college committee infrastructure has been re-established.

• The K-16 Outreach Center began operations with Prince George's and Anne Arundel County Public Schools. In Prince George's County the center assisted the district with a large scale assessment of their instructional support systems. (Campus Strategic Plan, Initiative 4, Goal 1: Foster collaboration among education, arts and sciences, and the K-16 community to develop and evaluate curricula, methods, and materials that will enhance teacher training and improve the effectiveness of schools at all levels.)
• We have been working since last May with Prince George's County Public Schools to plan a project to address the minority achievement gap. The project, which will get underway in Summer 2001, will involve Bladensburg area schools.
• Plans are underway for a collaborative, state-wide Doctor of Education in Leadership program with Morgan State and Bowie State.
• The College Outreach Committee continues to monitor and strengthen college outreach activities.
• Special Education's Center for Education and Juvenile Justice held a very successful regional conference on school violence that was sponsored by Hyundai Motors.
• Plans are underway for a September conference on minority achievement.
• We have been very visible in technology outreach as described in Initiative Six.

• We have added technology items to the annual faculty activity report to obtain baseline data and measure improvements in integration of technology into instruction.

• A total of four Technology in Motion carts were put into service, each consisting of 9-10 laptop computers networked with wireless technology, a device for projecting computer images and essential software for the Macintosh and PC platforms. Two of these carts were placed in Benjamin and two in the Tawes Building so that College faculty and students can roll these into their classrooms to teach with technology.

• A model Technology in Teaching Classroom is being established to demonstrate how information technology can enrich instruction. This includes a technology teaching station consisting of a desktop computer, printer, projector for computer images, document display device, a 4' x 6' touch-screen SmartBoard on which images are projected, and two Technology in Motion carts. This demonstration classroom will be connected with a similar facility in a nearby school via a video link so that faculty and students at both sites can observe and analyze technology-enhanced instructional strategies.

• An additional new PC computer lab was created in the Benjamin Building consisting of 21 desktops and a device for projecting computer images.

• A multimedia production facility was constructed in the Benjamin Building consisting of a digital video computer and a CD-ROM burner for creating audio/video content. This will permit students and faculty to develop electronic portfolios of digital resources on CD's and on the Web for use in College courses and programs.

• The College is the recipient of one of the first "Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology" Implementation grants from the U. S. Department of Education for a project entitled, "Building Learning with Technology." This involves the training of 30 teams of K-16 faculty and students in developing and implementing technology-enriched units in their classes. Involved in this initiative are the University of Maryland, Prince George's Community College, the Prince George's and Montgomery County Public Schools, Apple Computer and Verizon Communications.

• A new initiative is involving College faculty in preparing to enhance their teaching with technology. This involves review of course syllabi, planning instructional strategies for using technology to enrich learning, just-in-time training on software required for instructional activities, and reflection on the outcomes of instruction with technology. In addition, Instructional Design Institutes and workshops are being offered for faculty to develop a vision for how technology can enrich learning as well as skills and knowledge for implementing technology in their classrooms.

• An increasing number of College courses are either being offered entirely online or are being significantly enhanced through distance learning. The two primary platforms being utilized for distance education are WebCT (Web Course Tools) and Blackboard. Training is being offered by the Office of Information Technology, the College of Education's Building Learning with Technology project and the College Campus Computing Associate.

• The College is a partner with the Maryland State Department of Education in a "Preparing Tomorrow's Teachers to Use Technology" Catalyst grant from the U. S. Department of Education. This project is developing a set of technology performance-based outcomes that all teacher education students in Maryland will need to achieve prior to graduation. The College is piloting the application of these MSDE technology outcomes to determine how these can best be utilized to assure that all future teachers know how to use technology to enrich learning.

• Research on how information technology can enrich learning has increased significantly over the past year.

• Technology outreach courses have been delivered in four counties over the past year (Baltimore City, Queen Anne's, Frederick, and Prince George's), and plans are underway to offer these courses in Cecil County and in additional school systems on the Eastern Shore.

First, it should be noted that the initiatives of the college strategic plan and those of the campus strategic plan are fully comparable and can be mapped into each other. To illustrate this comparability, they are presented side-by-side.

Thus, considering the compatibility of the initiatives, all of the progress on the college strategic plan contributes to the goals of the campus strategic plan.

However, the campus strategic plan did contain some specific education goals. Those goals have been noted alongside the progress reported in Section I of this document.

The past year has brought some new challenges and opportunities that should be considered in the strategic plan revision. These changes are listed below.

• Current national conditions suggest significant opportunities for both the Maryland Institute for Minority Achievement and Urban Education and the Maryland Assessment Research Center for Education Success.
• Increasing the diversity of the undergraduate student body has become more pressing due to challenges of maintaining diversity in limited enrollment programs.
• Changes in leadership in four departments have added new dimensions to focusing department strategic plans.
• The new multiple pathways options for secondary certification mean that we must track both degree production and certifications in order to measure impact. Students can become certified to teach, through college courses, without an education major.
• Since the multiple pathways model is likely to result in an increase in master's students and a decrease in some undergraduate categories, campus has agreed to a new enrollment goal for the college --- 2350 with at least 1000 in graduate enrollment.

The only suggested goal revision for the college strategic plan relates to enrollment. Specifically, I propose to change Goal 2 of Initiative Two in the following manner, which is consistent with campus goals for the college.

• By 2004, increase and maintain total enrollment at or above 2350 with graduate enrollment at or above 1100 while also increasing selectivity and diversity.
• Increase the number of secondary education teacher graduates to 150 by 2004, with special attention on shortage areas.
• Increase and maintain credit production at 36,100 (Note, this does not count EDCP undergraduate courses).