The Five Towns College campus location provides the unique opportunity for candidates to impact P-12 learning across Long Island in both Nassau and Suffold counties. The Music Education program partners with various School Districts across Long Island; these include culturally rich, ethnically diverse, and economically disparate populations where candidates are able to observe, interact, and teach. These partnerships demonstrate our commitment to serve the education community as well as to provide valuable experiences for our pre-service teachers.

Five Towns College is in the process of revising data collection methods on program completers’ impact on P-12 learning and development. It is anticipated that data for the measure will be available by Spring of 2023.

As a NASM accredited school, Five Towns College recognizes and abides by the Standards and Guidelines provided in the NASM Handbook 2020-2021. In keeping with those Standards and Guidelines, the Music Education Division addresses the markers of Desirable Attributes, Essential Competencies (Musical and Teaching), and Professional Procedures necessary for music educators to enter the teaching field.

Desirable Attributes 

Students adhere to a Policy of Dispositions that are evaluated throughout their four years of study. The final evaluations on Dispositions come from their Cooperating Teachers when Student Teaching in the public schools. Students are rated either Ineffective, Developing, Effective, or Highly Effective. For the 2019-2020 Academic Year, the average rating among three students by their Cooperating Teachers was Effective.

Essential Competencies

Students are evaluated on three examinations in order to receive teacher certification: The Educating All Students exam (EAS), the Content Specialty Test (CST)-to address their musical competencies, and the Educative Teacher Performance Assessment (edTPA). In the 2019-2020 Academic Year, 100% of Five Towns College students who took the EAS passed, 67% of the students taking the CST passed and 100% of the students taking the edTPA passed the exam. (See the Table in Measure 6 for the Pass Rates for 2019-2020.)

Profession Procedures

Five Towns College follows the Guidelines and Standards outlined by NASM as course work for the teacher preparation program is implemented. Beginning with application to the Music Education program, students are informed of all the requirements for successful completion of the program. Students are provided with a checklist of all the steps necessary leading to Teacher Certification in NYS. Each semester, students review this checklist with their advisor to make sure they are on track to achieve their goals.

Five Towns College has implemented a robust curriculum taught by faculty with successful careers in the public schools and who maintain close ties with the educational community. They ensure students are well-prepared for their future careers. In addition to excellent instruction, students participate in observational and teaching experiences in the public schools that further helps them develop their competencies as pre-service teachers.

A newly revised Employer Satisfaction survey was sent to the immediate supervisor of five employed program completers as of 2018 up to August 2019. Employers were asked to rate graduates on nine factors using the following four-point scale: 1) Ineffective, 2) Developing, 3) Effective, and 4) Highly Effective. One only employer responded. Highlights from the employer survey responses include:

• The Completer was rated Highly Effective across all nine factors.
• In describing attributes that distinguish the completer from other teachers in the same school, the administrator stated that the Five Towns College graduate was, “Innovative and possessed strong interpersonal skills.”

Program completers for the 2019-20 Academic year were surveyed to gauge their satisfaction with the Music Education program. Three respondents replied rating several factors related to how well the program prepared them to become music educators. A five-point scale was used ranging from Not at All Prepared to Very Well Prepared. Completers indicated they felt Very Well Prepared in working with a classroom of students, in their training for a diverse population, and from their participation in ensembles. Overall students rated their student teaching experience as a positive experience; even though two of them were faced with a challenging situation due to Covid -19 that limited their interaction with students.