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STANDARD IV: Candidate Knowledge, Skills and Dispositions
Indicator 4.01 highlights five specific areas of assessment: (a) content knowledge, (b) pedagogical knowledge, (c) portfolio completion, (d) candidate’s ability to meet the Five Standards and 16 Principles of Vermont Educators and the (e) Education Department’s systems of communication of these assessment standards with both undergraduate and graduate students. Each criteria area will be addressed independently in the remaining narrative. Both undergraduate and graduate students in each of the initial licensure areas must meet the same minimal criteria. The only exceptions are in the graduate areas of special education and school leadership. Students pursuing initial licensure in special education , Reading Specialist, or TESOL have additional set of portfolio requirements as they relate to the specific endorsement. Graduate students pursuing licensure in leadership/school principalship do not have to develop a summative portfolio because in order to be accepted into the program they would have already met the Vermont State requirement via teacher licensure. Each licensure area aligns with the state competencies. Content Knowledge in the Endorsement Areas As required by the State of Vermont licensing regulation section 5231, all teacher education candidates at Saint Michael’s at both the undergraduate and graduate levels also have a liberal arts major. The primary means for assessing content knowledge are grade point average in liberal arts major and performance on Praxis II exam. Beginning with the class of 2007, students must satisfy the requirements of their Liberal Arts major with a grade point average of 3.0. Classes prior to 2007 needed to earn a 2.7 grade point average. In addition, in order to be recommended for initial licensure, all students must meet the State of Vermont cut scores on the appropriate Praxis II content exam. The Praxis II pass rates are found on in the electronic exhibit room. Finally, secondary education undergraduate students must obtain a letter of support from a liberal arts faculty member who can attest to the student's competence in their particular major. The liberal arts faculty member is given a list of the content competencies that are available through the Vermont Department of Education Licensing office. The Praxis exams are used in two ways. Praxis I indicates basic competency in reading, writing and mathematics. Praxis II for Elementary Education majors offers perspective related to pedagogy and the core subject areas taught. While for secondary education majors, Praxis II offers information about content knowledge that is prioritized by ETS for that particular year. While we only have 2 years of data and small sample sizes, we are, as a college, interested in the impact that Praxis II might have on academic programming. Liberal Arts faculty in history, English, mathematics, and sciences have agreed to take the Praxis II in order to inform a conversation between departments. Current questions for consideration include: ► Is there a correlation between what Saint Michael’s offers (per content area) and the questions asked on the exam? ► Is there a correlation between the course requirements per area (as opposed to elective options) and the questions posed on Praxis II? ► Are there aspects of Praxis II that could influence any of the programs in a positive manner? ► Do we need to alter the program requirements in any of the areas in order to prepare students for the Praxis exams? ► And, of course the ultimate question: Do we as a liberal arts institution, teach to the test? As a Department, we are anxious and excited to engage in these conversations with our Liberal Arts colleagues. Another means of assessing knowledge in the content areas is to backward chain and examine the State licensing competencies in relationship to the competencies explored in each of the related liberal arts majors. In the summer 2003, the Chairperson of each department was given a list of the Vermont State competencies for their content area and asked to write down which courses offered students the opportunity to move toward that competency. The original competency lists are available in the Electronic Exhibit room (history, English, biology, chemistry, biochemistry, Spanish, French, undergraduate art, graduate art, Theater Arts). After each chair completed the hard copy, there were individual follow up conversations with a member of the Education Department. These activities provided the foundation for the collaborative effort toward the preparation of future educators. Each chairperson expressed an interest in continuing the dialogue and each wants the results of the Praxis II scores for the students. Pedagogy All teacher education courses at Saint Michael’s College have aspects of pedagogy woven through them in both an explicit and implicit manner. Faculty make their own pedagogy transparent, often using the specific instructional approaches in class that they want the undergraduate and graduate students to use. Pedagogical knowledge is assessed using the following criteria: grade point average in the Education major, successful completion of Education requirements as listed in the Saint Michael’s undergraduate and graduate catalogues, successful completion of Praxis II for Elementary Education majors, successful completion of Praxis II content area for secondary education majors, successful completion of the licensure portfolio, and a successful 16 week student-teaching experience. All students must maintain a 3.0 grade point average, meet the State cut score on Praxis II and meet standard on the State of Vermont Licensing Portfolio Rubric. Because we only recommend students for initial licensure if they have met all of the criteria, 100% of those who apply for licensure receive licensure. However, some students have had to take Praxis I or II more than once and have had to submit their licensure portfolio more than once. Other students who began their careers as education majors were not allowed to continue toward licensure when they did not meet the requirements. For example, not all students "pass" student-teaching. Therefore, those students would not be recommended for a Vermont teaching license. However, we have not kept hard data tracking students who exit our program and why they do so. Portfolio Process The portfolio process has become an integral component of the teacher licensure program at Saint Michael’s College. As the portfolio process has evolved in the State of Vermont, faculty at Saint Michael’s has stayed abreast of the changes. As a result, the portfolio process at Saint Michael’s College is in alignment with the ROPA-R requirements. At the undergraduate level. the portfolio process is spelled out very clearly in the Guide to Teacher Education Programs and Licensure. At the graduate level the document is called Saint Michael’s College Graduate Education Program: Portfolio Process for Teacher Licensure. In the fall of 2003, members of the Department designed a “portfolio report card.” Using the State 11 page portfolio assessment rubric, we boiled down the content onto a shorter, more manageable format. The portfolio report card is the formal instrument used when assessing each portfolio. As a single piece of paper, it is easier to manage. Faculty and students do still refer to the 11 page state rubric for clarification purposes. Formative support is available to all undergraduate and graduate students in various forms including: individual conversations with faculty, workshops sponsored by the Education Club, sample portfolios, and through coursework (i.e., ED 415: Portfolio Development; ED 417: Reflective Practices; and GED 689: Student-Teaching Seminar). Most courses integrate aspects of portfolio development into course activities and requirements. Given that we believe the portfolio offers students with multiple opportunities to reflect upon their teaching and learning, it is logical that the portfolio becomes a summative assessment. The portfolio process gives students the opportunity to reflect upon all of their learning experiences in a rather comprehensive manner. At the undergraduate level, we have maintained formal records of the pass rates for the portfolios since 2000. We have not kept such formal data at the graduate level. At this point, we do not see a strong need for such record keeping at the graduate level because if an entry does not meet standard, then the student would be directed to re-do the entry. This has happened on occasion, but is uncommon. At the graduate level, only one student who did pass all other requirements (e.g., course work, GPA, student-teaching) but did not meet standard on the licensure portfolio, was not recommended for licensure. In this case, the portfolio was a helpful tool in determining that the student had not demonstrated the necessary skills for licensure. Following is an accounting of the numbers of undergraduate students who passed the portfolio requirement on the first and second submissions, as well as those who did not pass after the second submission.
Graduate students seeking initial licensure in Special Education, Reading Specialist and TESOL (refer to exhibit room) have additional requirements. These requirements provide performance based assessment that reflects the unique competencies of a special education teacher. Examples of student portfolios for each of the licensure areas are available in the Exhibit Room. Feedback from Saint Michael’s Graduates The Education Department surveys program completers on an annual basis. In the Spring of 2003 we conducted a survey of all teacher education graduates between 1996-2003 to determine their satisfaction on a variety of program dimensions. Seven questions were targeted directly to their experiences related to the portfolio process. Eighty six responses (77 female and 9 male) were received and analyzed using a SAS program. The raw data are available in the Exhibit Room.
*Not mutually exclusive responses, therefore total does not equal 100%. It may be interesting to note that after initial analysis of the data, we ran Chi Square test to determine if the experiences of graduate students differed from the experiences of undergraduate students. The data were also divided and compared along the lines of “early completers” (i.e., 1996-1999) and “later completers” (i.e., 2000-2003). The logic behind "early" versus "late" completers was that the "later completers" had the advantage of a smoother, more familiar process. However, no significant difference were found for any of the questions. This means that (a) both graduate and undergraduate students are having very similar experiences, (b) as were those students who participated in the earliest versions of the portfolio process, versus more recent graduates. In the final analysis, we have learned that while the students' final portfolio products consistently meet State standard, the data suggest that we can improve the experiences or process of creating the portfolio. We need to be more thoughtful and deliberate after we assess portfolio pieces. The data indicate the students do not feel like they are part of the assessment process, nor do they spend time reflecting on the feedback as long as they have “passed.” This will be a high priority for faculty within the Education Department as such an intentional focus may improve students abilities to be reflective educators. Five Standards and 16 Principles At the undergraduate level, students receive a copy of Five Standards for Vermont Educators: A Vision for Schooling in their first education course (i.e., ED 231: Schools and Society. Graduate students receive this document during the Decision to Teach (GED 516). In addition, several professors list the standards and principles on their syllabi. The Five Standards for Vermont Educators: A Vision for Schooling document is referred to throughout the program as students move toward licensure. As a Department we have examined all of the courses at the undergraduate and graduate levels to carefully determine where each of the Standards and Principles are addressed and at what level of mastery. Using the rating scale: A = Awareness, I = Intermediate, S = Synthesis, we plotted out where we emphasized the standards and principles. We created a program matrix or a curriculum map for every licensure program. Program examination along this dimension offered opportunities for us to be deliberate about our pedagogy and our expectations for students. This matrix or map also serves as an additional guide for adjunct faculty, to inform them where we expect students to obtain knowledge and skills related to the principles. The ultimate assessment of a student’s ability to meet the standards and principles is a performance based assessment through student-teaching and documented in the portfolio. All students must use the of Five Standards for Vermont Educators: A Vision for Schooling as the organizing theme for their portfolios. Then the state rubric, which is constructed around the standards and principles, is the assessment tool. Several examples of both undergraduate and graduate portfolios are available for review in the exhibit room. Communication with Students All of the program requirements for undergraduate teacher licensure at Saint Michael’s College are clearly spelled out in the Guide to Teacher Education Programs and Licensure. Included in the Guide are: program theme, study abroad information, testing requirements, State licensing competencies, Saint Michael’s policies (e.g., G.P.A, liberal arts majors and minors, timelines.), portfolio development, licensure decisions, appeal process, and State licensing forms. Undergraduates receive this guidebook during ED 231: Schools and Society. The Guide is updated annually to ensure that we are in compliance with State of Vermont licensing regulations. An example of a change that occurred most recently, but will effect students in the graduating class of 2007 and beyond can be found on page 26: Students must satisfy all the requirements to obtain a Major in the subject area. Students must attain a 2.7 GPA in their major subject area (Class of ’07 must attain a 3.0 GPA), a 3.0 GPA in Education courses, and have successfully passed Praxis I and the appropriate Praxis II exam in order to be placed for student teaching. At the graduate level, academic programming and initial teacher licensing information (e.g., course requirements, G.P.A., testing information) is in the Graduate Catalogue. Additional detailed information about the licensure portfolio process in particular, is available in the Saint Michael’s College Graduate Education Program: Portfolio Process for Teacher Licensure. In addition, graduate students seeking initial licensure in special education receive another guide book to support them in the creation of their portfolio. Students enrolled in TESOL also have a separate Guidebook. Again, these materials are reviewed and updated annually. GOALS for the Next Action Plan Based on the survey and current experiences, the logical goals related to the experiences and data analysis related to the portfolio process are the following: 1. Implement all aspects of the portfolio process consistently to ensure stages and processes become routine for all students. 2. Continue to embed portfolio activities explicitly in courses that require connections between reflection and the portfolio. 3. Design a system that involves students in the assessment of their own portfolio. This system needs to include peer conferencing, active dialogue and assessment. |
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