Introduction

The College of Charleston's status of excellence in education continues to attract students from the state, the region, nationally and internationally. There are many educational reforms that will impact the College during the next 5-8 years. This report looks at four areas and outlines observations and implications in those areas:

1. School Governance (CCSD, parental voice and magnet-charter-choice)
2. Teacher Preparation, Comprehensive School Reform and Standardized Testing
3. Funding Equity and Funding Processes (vouchers, public/private choice)
4. Teaching and Learning Issues (standards, high expectations for all students, etc.)

School Governance Issues

During the next few years, the citizens of South Carolina are more likely to become both individualistic and permissive, requiring higher education to respond accordingly. The College of Charleston, with its regional (Lowcountry and the state) emphasis, must position itself to meet the growing demands of this diverse population while looking to continue its excellent educational tradition.

Observations

1. The State of South Carolina will continue to utilize Performance Funding to fund higher education initiatives.
2. Quality education will be competitive among institutions of higher education in South Carolina.
3. Recruitment and retention of minorities is an ongoing issue.
4. The Charleston County School Board (CCSD) is engulfed in continuing turmoil.
5. The CCSD serves a population of high school students with the lowest SA T scores in the nation.

Implications

The College of Charleston has the capacity to continue to offer programs of very high quality and to attract top students from our region and from across the nation. In order to compete for those students with other highly academic institutions such as William & Mary, we must continuously survey the marketplace to ascertain what aspects of a college program attract them to select and institution.

The future growth or decline in the size of the pool of high school graduates will depend more upon minority retention, especially in middle and high school grades. With a growing minority population percentage, and high drop out rates among minorities, we see a threat to a pro-growing orientation toward College of Charleston enrollments, and indeed, a threat to the future well being of the state of South Carolina. In an effort to ensure positive benefits for the state, and, if desired, protect the pool of college eligible numbers in the future, the College may wish to consider becoming involved in the dropout issue in secondary education. The College has a service commitment to the state, and should seek to partnership with local schools and our CCSD Board to help design effective intervention strategies that will address the drop-out rate and improvement of SAT scores for our youth.

Almost 20% of College of Charleston students (18.5% of this year's entering students) are from Charleston County. Maintaining quality academic programs at the College of Charleston depends on a pool of qualified high school graduates. In its own self-interest the College must continue to work with the Charleston County School District and with the local legislative delegation. The College would also benefit from interfacing with Berkeley and Dorchester counties as well.

Teacher Preparation, Comprehensive School Reform and Standardized Testing

A percentage of the pool of applicants to the College of Charleston comes from the immediate geographic area. Therefore the preparation of future teachers for this area is of critical importance to the College. Part of our mission must be to have an impact on the preparation of teachers and on K-12 itself in order to ensure the best-qualified and most competent pool of applicants to our College.

Observations

1. There is a national shortage of teachers in critical areas across the nation. The College of Charleston, as an institution of higher education, has a responsibility to help address this shortage.
2. Education in general and the manner in which future teachers are prepared to manage a classroom has come under close scrutiny from all sectors. The quality of our future teachers must be addressed.
3. Several other national issues may serve to impact teacher quality for future College of Charleston graduates, including:
   • The Title II reauthorization of Higher Education Act (REA), which mandates accountability of states and institutions that prepare teachers
   • The relationship ofK-12 curriculum standards to School of Education curriculum
   • The influence of National Board of Professional Teaching Standards
   • The need for an active involvement of college/university presidents in teacher preparation programs
   • School partnerships and their role in the preparation of teachers
   • Greater infusion of technology in teacher preparation programs
   • A need for more professional development opportunities for teachers
   • Development of alternative paths to teacher certification
   • New linkages with Math, Sciences and Humanities that will involve faculty in the preparation of a strong, active teaching force
4. The quality of student performance in the K-12 education system in South Carolina has continuously been shown to be in need of improvement. The issue of teacher accountability may need to be revisited. In the course of this review, various concerns that impact educational accountability as a whole will need to be included.
5. If we are to hold teachers accountable we must find a way to also more collectively assess student performance (beyond solely using test scores as a measure).
6. The state is currently revamping its certification system. This will have a direct impact on how future educators are certified. This also offers a unique opportunity for the President and the faculty from all departments to be involved in developing a truly college-wide teacher preparation program.
7. The performance of College of Charleston graduates on professional education examinations has been at an acceptable level.
8. The College of Charleston has a high degree of participation in state initiatives regarding K-12 education.

Implications

The College of Charleston, as part of the educational infrastructure, should seek to be a leader in addressing issues of teacher quality .In order to address the teacher shortage, the School of Education at the College of Charleston should embark on a more active recruitment program that will attract a diverse faculty and student body. In light of the emphasis placed on perforD1ance outcomes (student test scores), the School of Education may want to investigate ways of partnering with K-12 schools to investigate strategies that may assist with implementation of educational content to improve student outcomes. The School of Education should also more fully coordinate and report on the involvement of individual College personnel involved in statewide educational efforts at the K-12level. Where applicable, all academic departments should be integrated into these efforts.

Although the changes to the re-certification system should serve to address some of the concerns that currently exist with teacher quality and should also address some issues of accountability for future teachers, the issue of academic preparation must be constantly reviewed and modified to produce the most competent teacher educators possible. While the scores that College of Charleston students earn on professional examinations have been at an acceptable level, more attention may need to be given to ways of improving professional exam scores.

Funding Equity and Funding Processes

Funding is always an issue with which we grapple. As the State of South Carolina embraces the concept of Performance Funding, and as the College continues to grow and change, funding issues become central to our ability to be effective in accomplishing our mission.

Observations

1. The effect of university funding based upon our scores on the Performance Funding indicators and its impact on the College of Charleston must be addressed.
2. South Carolina public schools are funded through a combination of federal, state and local monies. Most of the funding is from local property taxes.
3. The maximum amount of local property taxes that the school system may collect is, in some cases, set by the local legislative delegation. This is the case in Charleston County.
4. In local money spent per pupil, Charleston County School District ranks in the bottom 10% of school districts in the state.
5. As a result of the low per-student expenditures, Charleston County schools have been allowed to physically deteriorate and the teacher salaries are lower than in all the surrounding counties.

Implications

The College of Charleston's budget is not protected from economic fluctuation. Performance Funding can, however, serve to offer some degree of stability if we continue to perform at levels that provide maximum support form the state. While many institutions are suffering from lower growth rates, the College of Charleston continues to expand both in the number of students and in faculty to teach them. The result of this growth creates a concomitant need for more resources across the campus (e.g., facilities, faculty, revenue, administrative costs, equipment etc.).

Teaching and Learning Issues

"South Carolina is committed to new, higher standards in all subjects" (State Department of Education Web Site--www.state.sc.us/sde/test123/commhstd). The South Carolina State Department of Education has become actively involved in the national movement to set higher standards for K-12 students. The Education Accountability Act passed by the Legislature in 1998 mandated the creation of standards of learning and testing for each grade level (K-8) and in language arts, mathematics, science and social studies for grades 9-12. The state has developed a testing program, the PACT tests, which will include end-of-grade tests for grades 1-8, an "exit" exam at the end of grade 10 and selected end-of-course tests to be determined in the near future.

This major legislative directive suggests several observations and implications for attention and possible action by the College of Charleston.

Observations

1. It will be important for the College of Charleston to know that the skills, content knowledge, and performance levels outlined in the standards and tested in the P ACT tests correlate with College of Charleston expectations of in-coming students.
2. Also of importance is that the College of Charleston, as one of the academic institutions of the state, have interaction with the K-l2 system and to seek ways to contribute to and to influence the further development and implementation of this new standards-based program. The College of Charleston is part of the state of South Carolina's "K-16" program of education. Careful attention will need to be paid to the mechanism(s) by which the College can most constructively be involved in such interaction.

Implications

The literature describing the standards suggests that students will be expected to be able to handle not only significant content but also to develop higher levels of problem-solving and more complex intellectual skills. These high goals will increase the demand for teachers with the skills to address more demanding programs. The recruitment, preparation and continuing support of teachers of such quality need to be addressed by the College of Charleston.

In light of increased levels of academic preparation by in-coming students, it will be required of the College of Charleston to assure excellence in all of its programs and an overall atmosphere of exciting, intellectual activity.

Conclusion

The College of Charleston has as a part of its mission offering quality education to students of the State of South Carolina with attention to the Lowcountry region with programs of quality that also attract other U .S. and international students as well. All four areas (School Governance, Teacher Preparation, Funding Equity, and Teaching and Learning) impact the success with which the College accomplishes its mission. We have set out the observations and their implications, making specific recommendations when possible. The Long-Range Planning Committee should take this report into consideration and act upon its recommendations when formulating the strategic plan for the College of Charleston.