(upbeat music)
- Hello and welcome to
another episode of "In Focus."
Highlighting a different college
within the university each episode,
we hope to give you a glimpse
of the amazing students,
faculty, staff members, and history
of Wichita State University.
Hi, I'm Shirley Lefever,
Dean of the College of Applied Studies.
On this episode, we will feature
a few of the nationally
accredited programs,
an unmatched applied
learning opportunities
the College of Applied
Studies has to offer,
allowing students to
obtain their dream career
in areas related to education, counseling,
athletic training, exercise science,
sport management, or workforce leadership.
First, we'll feature the
Teacher Apprentice Program
which addresses teacher shortages
across the state of Kansas
by allowing paraeducators to earn a degree
in early childhood and
elementary education
completely online while still
maintaining their position
in the schools as paraeducators.
Ashley, would you begin by telling us
a little bit about the degree program?
- Sure.
We started the degree program
after having a superintendent in Kansas
reach out to us who was an alum
of Wichita State University,
and asking if we could look at
what are some different
ways that we could address
teacher shortages in the state of Kansas,
and so the conversation started.
And those conversations led to us
creating the Teacher Apprentice Program.
We decided that we needed to
be able to meet our candidates
where they were at and where they were at
were in their communities and they were
already in the schools.
So how do we go about meeting
the needs of those candidates?
And that's when we decided
to create the Teacher Apprentice Program,
which is based upon an inverted model.
So adult learners and transfer students
don't have to come in with all their
general education courses completed.
Now, they will complete them
at some point in the program,
but our goal was is how do
we approach this program
and give them the knowledge
they need to be successful
within their current position
and then how do we create
those courses that
allow them to transition
from being a paraeducator
to a classroom teacher.
So from there we created the
Teacher Apprentice Program
and continue to refine
the model as we move.
- That was great.
Liz, can you tell me a little bit more
about the students in the program,
who the program was designed for?
- Yeah, absolutely.
So paraeducators, it's great
'cause they, like you said,
are in their communities.
They're invested in the
school in which they live,
and so the paraeducators remain working
and they get to take all
of their classes online.
So we create classes that they
can apply right away in the class.
Whatever they're learning online,
they're able to put into use right away.
- Now are we talking about
the traditional high school
to college student in this program?
Or are we reaching a
completely different market?
- Great question.
So these students are ones
that are adult learners,
so they're not right out of high school.
A lot of them have taken a few years off,
for whatever reason,
and we are reaching
them where they are now.
So as adult learners,
we have to be mindful
that they are adult learners.
They're not that
just-graduated-from-high-school
typical college students.
So it brings a completely
different dynamic,
and a wonderful challenge
for us as educators
to reach them where they are.
- I would say that the average time
that these adult learners have been
a paraeductor is seven years or more.
We have some who have been
invested in their school
for 10 plus years as a paraeducator
and some as little as five years.
- So what are some of the
unique features of the program
that are included specifically
to meet the needs of those adult learners?
- I would say it's the
TAP success coaches.
That would be a unique
piece that we put into this,
and so, Liz, if you want to
share a little bit about that.
- Yes, so the TAP success
coach, it's a wonderful role.
We get to be their
cheerleader in their corner.
We help them design their lesson plans
for a whole class mindset,
but then they get to
work with the students
in which they are employed to work with.
We refine those lesson plans skills,
we provide them feedback to help ensure
that they have differentiation
and accommodations for their students.
We really want them to think
about a universal design
just like we do in the on-campus programs.
And as a success coach, we
get to watch them online.
They video themselves doing their lessons
and so then we get to provide
that feedback of their lesson.
- So it sounds like a success coach
is a little like a mentor.
- Yes.
- Yes.
- Yes.
- They're mentors,
but they are also people
who understand the practice.
They are building administrators,
they're district administrators,
they're classroom teachers.
Each one of them are
stellar in their own skills,
but they also want to make a difference
in teacher education.
And so their goal is
to where is this para,
and how do I scaffold
that learning process?
So that they start to see
themselves differently,
they being the candidate
who's in the program.
We don't want them to see
themselves as I'm just the para.
We want them to see the
impact that they're making
in the classroom whether they're the para
or whether they transition
to teacher of record.
- Yeah.
Another great thing
about the success coaches
is we meet with them every month via Zoom
so we have our entire
group and we follow them
the entire time that
they're in the program.
So I would have a student from day one
and get to see their journey
for the next two years, or three years.
And we meet monthly,
we talk about classroom
management expectations.
They're able to then build a community
with other people in their cohort,
which is really nice
'cause sometimes you think,
oh, goodness, oh, online!
But we have such a
community that we build with
within our success coaches.
- Interesting.
So I'm interested in the online piece
and how you've been able to
make that feel less online
and less individual and more
of a community, as you said.
Is there anything else you
want to share about that?
- Absolutely.
Oh, go ahead.
- No, you're fine.
- Okay. (laughs)
So one of the things
that our instructors do
is we'll videotape ourselves
doing our lectures.
Kind of like a flipped classroom,
so we're bringing in
different technology pieces
that our students can then implement
in the classroom as well.
And we do discussion
boards and not just a,
here's a question and I
want you to answer it.
We want to really let them know
if you do a discussion board
it's not coming in and
shouting into a classroom
and then leaving, so how am
I advancing the conversation?
We're talking about higher
order thinking skills,
but not only are we
modeling with our students,
but that we want them to then model
whether they have those early
childhood educator students
or up to 5th and 6th grade.
So the videos are very helpful.
We check in with them often.
Our instructors are
available all the time,
which is so nice.
These students really
bounce a lot of ideas
and brainstorming off of their instructors
and success coaches.
- That sounds great.
- I would say not only
is it the instructors
that have helped this process,
but I would say the advisors.
Our candidates don't feel like
they're in an online program
because they feel like
their advisor's right there,
ready to answer their question.
We have two academic
advisors who are focused
and looking at how do we meet
the needs of these students.
So, and then, also that TAP success coach,
that has played a crucial
role in this program
in helping build that relationship,
and connecting the student
to Wichita State University.
- Wonderful.
So high-touch and online.
- Yes.
- So what's ahead?
What's the future of the TAP program?
- I think growing throughout Kansas,
right now we're in so many districts,
but I would love to see us grow
throughout more districts in Kansas.
- Mm-hm.
- And I see us going across
the borders of Kansas
into the Shocker City
Partnership Schools or cities
and working with the
districts within those.
This program has started to be recognized
by superintendents outside
of the state of Kansas,
and they're now starting
to call us and say,
how can we be a part of this program?
And how do we grow our own teachers?
Teacher shortage isn't just
something happening in Kansas.
It's happening across the nation,
and so districts want to know
how do we grow our own teachers.
How do we create this same
pipeline within our own district.
So, those conversations are starting.
I see us expanding not only
the current teacher-apprentice program,
but I also see us going across
into other content areas.
Currently, science and math,
at the secondary level,
are two areas that districts
are needing to create their own teachers,
and I see us looking at how
do we build that curriculum
and how do we start to build that program,
to not only help districts within Kansas,
but then within our border states.
- So quite a success story,
and I feel it's really a
story of how Wichita State
is responding to a need
that's in the community.
- Yes, I would agree, yes.
- In response to workforce needs
for more employees with
professional skills
and a bachelor's degree,
the College of Applied Studies developed
the Workforce Leadership and
Applied Learning program.
This program allows students
to earn while they learn,
gaining college credit
for their work experience.
Let's take a look.
- Well after spending
a lot of time talking
with both business and
industry and students,
the College of Applied
Studies really wanted to focus
on developing a flexible degree.
There are a lot of people
that have a lot of different needs
and so what we wanted to
do was build an opportunity
for people to complete that degree
or engage in career exploration.
People were really looking
for, not just the flexibility,
but also this idea that you could
engage in applied learning.
You could earn while you learn
as a lot of people have said,
the idea that you could take
what you learn in the classroom
and apply it on a regular
basis outside the classroom
in whatever it is,
whatever organizational setting
that you wanted to put together.
(group chattering)
- It's all right, gotta know
what your temperature is.
When I started here about four years ago,
found myself surrounded by colleagues
with master's and doctorate degrees.
Here I am with my associate's degree.
And not to belittle myself,
but I knew that if I wanted
to be as good as my peers
there was work I was gonna
need to do to get there.
For a while, I looked into a lot
of different two plus two programs.
Let's face it, I'm a single
mom, I work full-time,
I have many different, you
know, outside responsibilities
and I wasn't trying to go
back to school for four years.
And I think it was one
night after scrolling again,
like, what am I gonna do with myself?
Where am I gonna go?
Where am I gonna apply?
What do I do?
I closed my laptop, pulled out my phone.
One of my friends from
work here had just posted
about Wichita State's new bachelor program
for the workforce in applied learning.
But I was lucky enough to start as one
of the first four students in the program,
so that was kind of cool just
to be part of something new,
part of something bigger,
and part of something,
I think, not only, you
know, directly affects me,
personally, but both professionally
and then for my students too, you know,
this is an option for them
to continue their education,
to improve their career success.
And that's in a day so
now what's the next step?
- So I think one of the things
that we kinda pride ourselves on
is that there is no
sort of one traditional
or typical student that
comes through the program.
It's something that's built
to meet the needs of students
where they are at that moment.
Well, Min is in a very unique
and interesting situation.
She has the educations
necessary for her field,
and working with, and educating,
veterinary tech specialists
and so what she's doing is,
and this is something that I
think's really interesting,
is not only is she a student now,
but then she also is a teacher
that works with students,
so she really understands
what students are needing
and she really understands
the types of flexible degree programs
or flexibility that needs to
be built into higher education.
- So, again, working full-time,
all the extra that comes with life
and being able to really
manage my time in a good way,
that's where this degree
fits perfect for me.
Of course I have lots of college work.
I'm taking every other college course
that you'd expect to take
to earn a bachelor's degree,
but I am afforded the
opportunity to gain credit
through my job experience.
You know, being a teacher is something,
it's taken me a while to
even call myself a teacher
because it's such a revered position,
and I wasn't sure that
I was deserving of that.
But, again, having gone through
some of my own coursework
and reflecting on my own
five year meager experience
with teaching, I can
really appreciate the work
that I've put in and the things that,
again, I know I can improve on.
So it's been helpful both
personally and professionally.
- The number of students
currently enrolled
in WSU's School Psychology program
is over 11 times larger than
it was only three years ago.
With me today are Angie
Beeler and Mia Bonitto
and they're gonna discuss
this tremendous growth.
Welcome to the program.
- Thank you for having us.
- Yes, thank you.
- Angie, can you tell me a little bit
about the field of school psychology?
- Absolutely.
So school psychology right now
is just an up and coming field.
We're seeing tremendous
growth throughout the country,
and we're also seeing that there
is a severe need for school psychologists,
and we're unique in the
realm of psychologists
in the sector that we
work with in schools.
And we work with children
helping to identify them
and provide services for them
for special education needs,
both for behavioral or academic
and even emotional needs
within the school setting
to help provide services
for things like IEP plans, 504 plans,
really just being a part
of a multidisciplinary team
and providing the supports
that students need
to be successful.
- Okay.
- One of the things that I
think that a lot of people
make a mistake about is that they think
that school counseling and
school psychology are the same.
And so I always, whenever
I start to tell people
about school psychology
I like to start with that
because I like to say,
now do you want to be
a school psychologist
or do you want to be a school counselor?
And a lot of times they say,
"I don't know the difference,"
or, "Those are the same,"
and so one of the things
that it's important to understand
is that school counselors
generally work in the general
education environment.
So everybody who has been
to a high school before
and who remembers being in high school,
they remember usually talking
to their school counselor,
maybe about their classes,
maybe about if they're having
any emotional concerns
or things like that.
School psychologists, we
have this joke in the field,
about how we're the ninjas of the schools.
A lot of times we're
like not really in the,
people don't necessarily see us.
So a lot of times we're
the ones who are working
with the people with disabilities.
We might be in other classrooms
for those particular students
and so a lot of times
we're doing things like testing students,
working in classrooms with
kids with disabilities,
we might be working if a child is having
very significant behavioral issues,
a lot of times we're involved
in those types of tasks.
Also a lot of people will say,
oh we didn't even have a school
psychologist in my building,
and most of the time you probably did,
you probably just didn't ever see us.
- Right, so can you tell me a little bit
about the job outlook for school psychs?
- Yeah, absolutely.
The job outlook right
now for school psychs is,
like I said, there's a severe
need for school psychologists,
especially in the state of Kansas,
and so we're really
working with the community,
and with our surrounding
areas to grow our program,
like you had stated earlier,
in order to serve the need
for the school psychologists
that are needed in this area
and even in the rural areas in
Kansas and across the nation.
- Right.
- Yeah there's a nationwide shortage
of school psychologists.
I like to tell any students
who come to ask me,
you can always find,
basically anywhere you go
you can find a job in school psychology.
In particular, in the rural
communities outside of Wichita,
they have a really significant need.
We have students in several
different states as well.
We've got someone working
in Wisconsin right now,
for example, and they
also were very excited
to work with our students as well.
- Exciting career and exciting time
to jump in for this career.
- So I don't know about you two
but I'm getting a lot of
requests for school psychologists
from places all over the
state and out-of-state.
Can you tell me a little bit
about the job prospects for school psychs?
- Absolutely.
So, as I said earlier,
school psychology is
really a growing field,
and there's a severe deficit
both in the surrounding area
nationwide for school psychologists
so we're really working
to grow the program,
like we talked about,
with the 11 times growth
over the last three years,
and we're working to answer the needs
for our surrounding communities,
and also for the greater Kansas
area, as well as nationwide.
We do currently have an intern
out in Wisconsin right now
and we are getting some
of our students out
in some more of the rural areas.
We're looking to kind of broaden our areas
with our students,
but there is a definite need
for school psychologists.
- Yeah, one of our recent graduates
just moved to Colorado
and we have lots of
people all over the U.S.
and all over the state
that are serving that need in this area.
- Do you have to have a school,
or a psychology degree or
have been a psych major
in order to become a school psychologist?
- The answer's no,
and you can pick up on this too, Mia,
the answer's no you don't
have to have a background
in psychology or a degree in psychology
for an undergraduate degree.
Now, we do have a couple
of different options
in our graduate program.
We have one where you can
enter with a bachelor's degree,
which is a 60 credit hour sequence,
and that you can really come in
with any background in
mental health, or education,
and hop onto a 60 degree program track
where you would get your EDS on the way
or if you have a master's degree,
whether it be in psychology,
education, counseling,
any mental health or surrounding field,
you could also do a 39
degree credit hour track
for an EDS as well.
- Cool.
- And an EDS stands for
Education Specialist
and Education Specialist
is a unique degree
for school psychologists.
A lot of people don't really
know exactly what that is
and essentially what I
like to say is it's halfway
between a master's and a doctorate.
So it's 60 hours and it
includes also, after that,
in order to get your license,
you have to do a one year internship.
One of the things that's really cool
about the state of Kansas
is that our internships
actually are fully paid
so the vast majority
of our students go in on the first step
of a teacher pay scale,
and they're able to make,
I mean, very good money,
in that very first year
working as an intern which is--
- As a student.
- Yes which is not something that is true
of every state for how internships work.
- Absolutely and we have a lot
of teachers that will come back
as special education teachers, counselors.
We have a lot of
professionals in the field
that will come back to get their
EDS after a master's degree
or after they've been in
the field for many years.
- And that's one of the things
that's really cool about our program.
All of our classes are offered
starting at 5:00 p.m. or later,
so the vast majority of
our students work full-time
and we find that that works really well
for a lot of those people
who are wanting to transition
from one job to another.
In particular, teachers,
a lot of times they,
we all know teachers are
heroes and they're exhausted,
and so school psych is
a great option for them
to still remain in the school
but transition outside
of that classroom role.
- Right, so if somebody were interested
in coming into the program,
what would you suggest?
How would they approach it?
- I think just reach out to us.
We have no problem with students
just reaching out to us,
shooting us an email or a phone call.
Coming in during our office hours.
- Yes, yep.
- I mean, we're very open to just having
a conversation for students,
and we do have quite a few
different interesting things
going on within our program.
I know we have the new ABA certificate
that's embedded throughout
our program now.
- And ABA stands for?
- Applied Behavioral
Analysis so we do have
a verified course sequence now
that is a sequence of six courses
where students can take en route
to their school psychologist EDS degree
and four of the courses
are embedded throughout,
they're able to take the
other two as electives,
that are already part of
their degree requirements,
and get another certification
throughout the way,
which makes them eligible
for Board Certified Behavioral
Analyst Certification
given the right supervision
and examination.
So they have that option as well.
We do have a couple of
counseling certificates too.
We find that our students
like to have several options throughout,
especially now students
are looking for a program
that can give them multiple options
and certifications throughout the sequence
and I think that we've worked really hard
to restructure the program so
that students can specialize
in different areas whether
it be behavior or counseling
or even getting more
experience with testing,
or whatever it may be.
- What do you think students would say,
and alumni, about the program?
- Yeah I think one of the things
that we have really heard from alumni
is that they're very excited,
first of all, about the growth.
We've also made it, we've worked very hard
to make it faster for
students so that students--
- Streamline it.
- Yes, streamlining and
making it so that students
can be full-time and finish in two years
plus that third year of internship
if they take the right classes
and progress along the way.
Many of our students
choose to go part-time
because they're working professionals
or even coming right from
undergrad, they still,
often they still choose
to work during the day
so working full-time, they
may take a little longer,
but our students are
very able to work quickly
through the course sequence.
- And I think a lot of our alumni
are also talking about
the behavior experience
that they're getting
throughout the program now.
We've received great feedback
from the surrounding area
that that was a need within the community,
and that school psychologists, as a whole,
just needed some more training in the area
of problem behaviors in schools.
So that's some great feedback
we've been getting as
well from our alumni.
- Excellent.
- I think they're excited
about the bilingual component
as well and diversity.
- Absolutely.
- That will do it for this
episode of "In Focus."
I'd like to thank all of our
guests for joining us today.
To check out more episodes,
or for other great WSU video content,
make sure to subscribe
to WSUTV on YouTube.
Plus, now you can
download the new WSUTV app
on Roku and Apple TV.
Thanks again.
We'll see you next time.
(light upbeat music)
