COMPETENCY-BASED, ONLINE TEACHER PREPARATION PROGRAMS IN MATHEMATICS AND SCIENCE IN THE UNITED STATES: THE WESTERN GOVERNORS UNIVERSITY TEACHERS COLLEGE

Western Governors University (WGU) was founded thirteen years ago by the Governors of nineteen Western States in the United States in order to provide competency-based, online undergraduate- and graduate-level programs in teacher education, business, information technology, and the health professions to students living in predominantly rural areas. The Teachers College of WGU currently enrolls approximately 11,000 students, more than 2000 of whom are matriculated in science and mathematics teacher preparation programs. The University currently enrolls approximately 20,000 students. Most importantly, the University's programs are all entirely online and competency-based, with the exception of clinical experiences in teacher education and nursing.

In this paper, I will describe in detail the competency-based, online mathematics and science education programs, which are among the largest mathematics and science teacher preparation programs in the United States. The focus will be on each of the following topics;

1. The mathematics and science content in these programs;

2. The pedagogical approach employed in the preparation of mathematics and science teachers;

3. The competency-based curriculum of WGU in general, and of the Teachers College curriculum in particular;

4. The assessments used to measure candidates' competency in mathematics and the sciences;

5. The Capstone Project required of all graduate students;

6. Pre-clinical and Clinical experiences for mathematics and science candidates;

7. The Cohort Seminar, which is virtual and which is concurrent with the Clinical experience;

8. The virtual learning communities;

9. The learning resources used for mathematics and the sciences; and

10. The laboratory experiences, both digital and home-delivered, used in the science programs.

Throughout this paper, the emphasis will be on a careful examination of the competency-based nature of these curricular areas and on presenting data that shows the progress our graduates make as professionals throughout the clinical experiences and after graduation.