President's Message

Redefining the Rules of Engagement for Our Schools and Classrooms

The future of Greater Cleveland – the future work force, the future political leaders, the future caretakers – can be found sitting in the desks and playing on the playgrounds of our region’s schools. In public, private and charter schools all across town, the next generation is being prepared to take the reins of our great city and region.

And who is preparing and leading these children? The talented men and women who are graduating from Cleveland State University’s College of Education and Human Services. Every year, we send more than 300 teachers to work – highly qualified teachers who typically score in the top 5 percent on national examinations of knowledge and demonstrated classroom teaching ability. Our graduates are prepared to help transition the classrooms of today into the schools of tomorrow, producing students who are prepared for success in a highly technical, diverse and rapidly changing global marketplace.

The faculty at Cleveland State engage future teachers and leaders in activities that prepare them well for the educational challenges they will face. They learn about diverse cultures and student backgrounds; they learn content knowledge as well as pedagogy to respond to individual academic and social skills needs; they learn about how to use technology effectively to meet various learning needs; and they learn that knowledge is constantly growing and changing in the daily lives of their students.

The new College of Education and Human Services building is under construction and will be ready for occupancy in 2010.

In short, Cleveland State University doesn’t just prepare teachers and school leaders to maintain the status quo; we prepare teachers and school leaders to be change agents and individuals who will redefine the 21st century classroom.

The following examples illustrate the new ways of thinking that are part of the curriculum and experiences of future teachers and school leaders enrolled at Cleveland State University, new paradigms that are redefining the rules of engagement for our schools and classrooms in Northeast Ohio.

Investigating the New Global Economy:
Students who graduate from our regional school systems must not only carry with them a strong foundation in reading, writing and arithmetic, they must understand that they will be living as adults in a truly multinational, global society. Taking the lead in preparing students for this changing world are school districts like Shaker Heights, Cleveland Heights- University Heights, and Cleveland. Together with other partners such as the Cleveland Clinic, the Cleveland Council for World Affairs, and the Ohio Department of Education, they are working diligently with faculty and staff in Cleveland State’s College of Education and Human Services and many business organizations to infuse this global environment into the school day. These efforts include the development of a K-12 International Academy of Greater Cleveland built around international baccalaureate standards; the implementation of a Chinese government-sponsored Confucius Institute that will prepare teachers of Chinese language and culture for classroom licensure as well as support their work in schools, businesses and the broader community; the expansion of student and teacher exchange programs with schools in both Korea and China; the preparation of a work force to teach students whose language is other than English (TESOL); and the development of a new 21st century skills curriculum for students in 26 area high schools.

Bringing More Engineering Into the K-12 Classroom:
It is well understood that our educational system must increase the number of talented students interested in the study of science, mathematics and engineering in order to maintain our region’s and country’s place in the global economy. CSU is a major producer of Ohio mathematics and science teachers and hosts special institutes to develop a pipeline of high school students interested in studying and ultimately teaching these subjects. Through a unique relationship between faculty in the College of Education and Human Services and the Fenn College of Engineering, numerous ideas and innovative projects are helping the K-12 community further integrate the study of engineering at earlier levels. Projects underway or under development include collaboration on a new Engineering Applications course at Shaker Heights High School; bringing engineering graduate students into the middle school classroom; integrating hands-on, exciting, preengineering curriculum at local high schools; teaching engineering principles to prospective teachers; and increasing communication among practicing engineers, teachers, teacher educators and administrators about the role and structure of engineering in the K-12 curriculum.

Redefining School Leadership:
Leading the schools of the future requires a new type of educator, one who can not only focus on curriculum development and student achievement, but also can navigate the political and fiscal issues associated with leading a multimillion dollar organization. CSU recognizes that leaders must be grown, and provides a continuum of urban leadership training. The nationally award-winning Master’s of Urban Secondary Teaching (MUST) consistently produces a cadre of savvy high school teachers who have proven resilient in their dedication and successful in their instruction for Cleveland and First Ring school districts. Through the new Center for Educational Leadership, faculty and staff are redefining what it means to be a school leader by offering unique, nontraditional leadership programs such as the First Ring Leadership Academy for aspiring and current administrators, the Master’s of Education in Organizational Leadership, and the Education Policy Fellowship Program created by the Institute of Educational Leadership in Washington, D.C. These programs revolutionize the traditional, classroom-based leadership program by infusing practical, on-the-ground leadership experiences with best practices from fields such as business, urban studies and communications and by focusing on critical issues of poverty, race, mobility and academic achievement gaps.

Cleveland State University and Shaker Heights Schools Engage

The challenges for schools in Shaker Heights and the other 14 First Ring school systems surrounding Cleveland in the 21st century range from meeting the needs of a diverse student body to redefining the curriculum to match the requirements of a new global economy. Cleveland State University is a key partner in our efforts to meet these challenges.

Mark Freeman
Superintendent, Shaker Heights City School District

The initiative, expertise, and guidance of faculty members and graduate students from Cleveland State helped make Shaker Heights High School’s new Engineering Applications course a tremendous success in its inaugural year. The program has exceeded all expectations. CSU engineers and education faculty members collaborated with Shaker to secure a $100,000 Garrett Morgan grant from the U.S. Department of Transportation to support the development of the course, with the goal of increasing the number of women and minorities going into engineering. We have also been able to infuse engineering concepts into the curriculum, and expose students to the vast world of engineering careers, from the elementary level through high school. This partnership between Cleveland State and Shaker Heights will help us produce technologically literate citizens and strengthen our nation’s work force.

Through Shaker’s efforts to develop an International School curriculum with Cleveland State, Cleveland Heights/University Heights, and Cleveland Metropolitan Schools, we are thinking globally and acting regionally. Working initially with a Chinese language emphasis at the early childhood level, this work has been bolstered by the University’s numerous programs focused on China, including the promotion of Chinese language instruction for teachers (Shaker Heights has hired three teachers of Chinese); support of these teachers through their recently funded Confucius Institute; and the development of student/teacher exchange programs with various universities and school districts throughout China. As the student body at Shaker Heights continues to diversify and parents request additional global experiences for their sons and daughters, the connections to the work led by Cleveland State University are priceless.

Cleveland State University approaches educational innovation with gusto. Shaker Heights is proud to partner with this fine institution as we work together to develop next-generation education for our children.

Michael Schwartz
President