College of Education Assessment Overview

COEd faculty, staff, and administration continue their commitment to student learning and have made considerable progress toward accomplishing the assessment goals outlined in our COEd Academic Plan II for undergraduate and graduate programs.

Summary for Calendar Year 2008

In 2007-08 we continued to collect student assessment and program evaluation data across all departments in the College. CoEd programs were heavily vested in the aggregation, disaggregation, and analysis of student assessment data throughout the AY in preparation for our National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) continuing accreditation review. This onsite review was conducted in February, 2008. The Institutional Report that previewed our alignment with NCATE Standards can be found at: http://www.uwyo.edu/ted/documents/IR_for_UW.pdf NCATE Standards include six areas: Candidate Knowledge, Skills, & Dispositions; Assessment System & Unit Evaluation; Field Experience & Clinical Practice; Diversity; Faculty Qualifications, Performance & Development; and Unit Governance and Resources. Performance of our graduates on state required professional examinations for purpose of licensure continues to exceed the federal, state, and NCATE requirement of an 80% pass rate. In addition, we provided extensive data regarding faculty, college governance, facilities, and support for our programs (e.g., advising, field experience supervision, faculty loads) in a formal Documents Room prepared for the onsite visit. Please see pages 9 and 10 of the Institutional Report for a partial listing of changes that have occurred.

These extensive datasets were also the foundation of program level self-studies submitted to NCATE Specialty Professional Associations (SPAs) (e.g., National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Council for Exceptional Children, Association for Childhood Education International) or to the Professional Teaching Standards Board (PTSB) for the re-approval and national recognition of our programs. There were a total of 25 programs reviewed as part of the NCATE reaccreditation review. Program Reports included extensive documentation of program level assessment plans with analyses focused on alignment with defined professional standards and evidence of program-level improvements made based on data collected in areas that included curriculum, student and program assessment, field experiences, collaboration with external constituents, staffing, and others.
We received word in early May that we have earned our NCATE re-accreditation, marking 54 years of continuous accreditation for us! Our next review is scheduled for spring of 2015. All programs are approved by the PTSB for certification or endorsement in Wyoming. Some programs are in the process of revising assessment instruments to reflect closer alignment with specific professional standards with intent to pilot modified instruments in 2008-09.

Plans for 2008-09 include: careful examination of our assessment cycles to include this continuing work in the development of our college and department APIIIs; develop a timeline for the systematic review of our conceptual framework; re-constitute the internal Assessment Review Committee to support modifications to assessment instruments and the long-term review of assessment plans across the College; continued expansion of the College of Education Integrated Database (CEID); and attention to the two areas for improvement cited in our NCATE review.

Summary for Calendar Year 2007

In 2007-08 we continued to collect student assessment and program evaluation data across all departments in the College. CoEd programs were heavily vested in the aggregation, disaggregation, and analysis of student assessment data throughout the AY in preparation for our National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) continuing accreditation review. This onsite review was conducted in February, 2008. The Institutional Report that previewed our alignment with NCATE Standards can be found at: http://www.uwyo.edu/ted/documents/IR_for_UW.pdf. NCATE Standards include six areas: Candidate Knowledge, Skills, & Dispositions; Assessment System & Unit Evaluation; Field Experience & Clinical Practice; Diversity; Faculty Qualifications, Performance & Development; and Unit Governance and Resources. Performance of our graduates on state required professional examinations for purpose of licensure continues to exceed the federal, state, and NCATE requirement of an 80% pass rate. In addition, we provided extensive data regarding faculty, college governance, facilities, and support for our programs (e.g., advising, field experience supervision, faculty loads) in a formal Documents Room prepared for the onsite visit. Please see pages 9 and 10 of the Institutional Report for a partial listing of changes that have occurred.

These extensive datasets were also the foundation of program level self-studies submitted to NCATE Specialty Professional Associations (SPAs) (e.g., National Council of Teachers of Mathematics, Council for Exceptional Children, Association for Childhood Education International) or to the Professional Teaching Standards Board (PTSB) for the re-approval and national recognition of our programs. There were a total of 25 programs reviewed as part of the NCATE reaccreditation review. Program Reports included extensive documentation of program level assessment plans with analyses focused on alignment with defined professional standards and evidence of program-level improvements made based on data collected in areas that included curriculum, student and program assessment, field experiences, collaboration with external constituents, staffing, and others.

We received word in early May that we have earned our NCATE re-accreditation, marking 54 years of continuous accreditation for us! Our next review is scheduled for spring of 2015. All programs are approved by the PTSB for certification or endorsement in Wyoming. Some programs are in the process of revising assessment instruments to reflect closer alignment with specific professional standards with intent to pilot modified instruments in 2008-09.

Plans for 2008-09 include: careful examination of our assessment cycles to include this continuing work in the development of our college and department APIIIs; develop a timeline for the systematic review of our conceptual framework; re-constitute the internal Assessment Review Committee to support modifications to assessment instruments and the long-term review of assessment plans across the College; continued expansion of the College of Education Integrated Database (CEID); and attention to the two areas for improvement cited in our NCATE review.

Summary for Calendar Year 2006

This report of progress toward assessment goals in the College of Education is relevant to the current undergraduate Wyoming Teacher Education Program (WTEP) that includes degrees, majors, concurrent majors, and post-baccalaureate teacher certifications for Elementary and Early Childhood Education, Special Education, and Secondary Education. This summary also addresses the assessment questions for the Department of Educational Studies which is the academic home for the required teacher education foundation courses (EDST prefixes) identified in the WTEP Assessment Plan. It should be noted that the undergraduate degree program for certification in Special Education is being sunsetted; the final candidates in this program were expected to complete in spring 2007, but we will have two final candidates completing the program in spring 2008. All new admits to this certification are through a Master's degree program. The reader should also be aware that the WTEP Assessment Plan (available at: http://www.uwyo.edu/ted/wtepassessment.asp) is the foundation for both the assessment of candidate learning and for program review and assessment. The Assessment Plan is tightly aligned with standards set by the Wyoming Professional Teaching Standards Board (PTSB), the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and a number of NCATE specialty professional associations (SPAs) such as National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the Council for Exceptional Children, and with ten College of Education standards. We continue to work closely with these organizations to assure that we are revising and developing curricula and programs that meet these standards and which are responsive to the significant changes in teacher preparation across the nation as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act which includes sections targeted at "highly qualified" teachers. Lastly, this report is written as we prepare for our NCATE accreditation review (formally scheduled for February 9-13, 2008) and the parallel program review by the PTSB and SPAs in early fall semester 2007. Consequently, data aggregation and dissemination of assessment results is in full swing through the summer 2007 and will be continuing into fall 2007.

Assessment activities in 2006-07:

Added 3 new concurrent majors (Secondary Science/Physics; Secondary Social Studies/History; Secondary Agricultural Ed/Ag Business) to bring the total number of concurrent majors to 18 with candidate assessment through the College of Education Integrated Database (CEID)
Converted the download feature of the CEID from the previous UW SIS to Banner compatibility
70+ "Common Assessments" across all Phases of the WTEP as identified in the Assessment Plan are resident for online completion and automatic scoring and data archival/reporting in the CEID
Added access and tracking for candidates at UWCC, in Music Education, Family & Consumer Science (to supplement the Early Childhood endorsement programs), and Educational Leadership to all functionalities in the CEID
Disseminated summary Praxis II data from the first full year of implementation as required for WY teacher certification requirement
In the spring of 2006, the CoEd commissioned the UW College of Education Survey of Residents and Mentor Teachers by WYSAC. Survey data from Professional Learning Community (PLC) participants were also collected (spring 2006), summarized and distributed. These results were disseminated at college leadership levels, in the Advisory Council for Teacher Education, and at department levels in full report and executive summary forms.

Examples of changes that have occurred or are under review at this time in response to data sources include:

Curriculum review of core WTEP learning outcomes (e.g., classroom management, special needs learners, technology integration; use of student assessment data)
Change in the naming of our collaborations for Phase III candidates from "Professional Learning Communities" to "Partner Schools"
Heightened discussions about our candidates' abilities to meet the needs of culturally diverse learners; our capacity for and need to recruit more culturally diverse candidates; impact of second language learners in public schools and the need to address this more strategically in the WTEP; alternative certification options for Wyoming
In collaboration with the WY community colleges and Outreach, development of a pilot program for a state-wide distance-delivered Elementary Education program (tentative start date: fall 2008)
Addition of a recruiting team in the Dept. of Secondary Education to increase admissions in targeted majors
Focused efforts to increase communications and collaborations for all WTEP issues with community colleges, relevant UW faculty outside the CoEd, the Science Math Teaching Center, PLC district faculty and administrations, WY Professional Teaching Standards Board and the Wyoming School-University Partnership

Efforts underway to follow students once they have graduated: [Undergraduate]

In spring 2006, the Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center completed a telephone and mail survey of all Education Residents (student teachers) and their mentor teachers in the public schools.

CoEd Residency Students (RS) in spring 2006 (N= 171) [Does not include UWCC; Does include Post-Bacc] ELEM: 83; SEC: 82; MUS: 6
Mentor Teachers (MT) in spring 2006 (N=208)
16 WY districts including 5 PLC districts
Pre-letter, mailed survey, telephone reminder, option to complete by phone
RS response: 102 for a response rate of 61%
MT response: 141 for a response rate of 86%
Survey items targeted the 10 CoEd Standards (26 "preparedness" items) & areas related to the Residency
RS survey: 36 items including 2 open response
MT survey: 45 items including 2 open response

The full report and an executive summary are available at: http://www.uwyo.edu/ted/wtepreports.asp

The CoEd has made a commitment that this survey will be conducted in even-numbered years.

Summary for Calendar Year 2005

This report of progress toward assessment goals in the College of Education is relevant to the current undergraduate Wyoming Teacher Education Program (WTEP) that includes degrees, majors, and post-baccalaureate teacher certifications for Elementary and Early Childhood Education, Special Education, and Secondary Education. This appendix also addresses the assessment questions for the Department of Educational Studies which is the academic home for the required teacher education foundation courses (EDST prefixes) identified in the WTEP Assessment Plan. It should be noted that the undergraduate degree program for certification in Special Education is being sunsetted; the final candidates in this program will complete in spring 2007 and this certification will be available only through a Master’s degree program. The reader should also be aware that the WTEP Assessment Plan (adopted by CoEd faculty on 9.16.04; updated 5.19.05; implemented beginning Fall 2005) is the foundation for both the assessment of candidate learning and for program review and assessment. The Assessment Plan is tightly aligned with standards set by the Wyoming Professional Teaching Standards Board (PTSB), the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and a number of NCATE specialty professional associations (SPAs) such as National Council of Teachers of Mathematics and the Council for Exceptional Children, and with ten College of Education standards. We continue to work closely with these organizations to assure that we are revising and developing curricula and programs that meet these standards and which are responsive to the significant changes in teacher preparation across the nation as a result of the No Child Left Behind Act which includes sections targeted at “highly qualified” teachers. Lastly, this report is written as we prepare for our NCATE accreditation review (fall semester 2007) and the parallel program review by the PTSB and SPAs during academic year 2006-07, so data aggregation is not yet complete (see #2 below).

What are your program goals and/or student learning outcomes?
The student learning outcomes are documented in the ten CoEd Standards (adopted 4.28.03; updated with minor revisions 6.2.04).

Where can they be found? Are they available to students? If so, how?

The CoEd Standards are on the college website at: http://www.uwyo.edu/ted/standards.asp. Faculty who teach courses required in the WTEP include a statement of the relevant standard(s) (or elements of the standard(s)) for each course in the syllabus. In addition, the CoEd Standards are an appendix to the WTEP Handbook (available on the web at: http://www.uwyo.edu/ted/handbook.asp and in CD-ROM format) which is distributed to every incoming and transfer candidate in their first semester in the program. The Handbook is also shared with public school faculty who serve as mentors for candidates during their Residency (student teaching) field experience.
Provide a brief summary of your assessment activities for this past year. What did you accomplish? Please describe what data were collected or analyzed. If you analyzed data, what are you doing with the results? What changes have you made because of what you learned?

In the summer of 2005, the College funded the development of a digital database system to collect, aggregate and disaggregate, and archive assessment data from the Assessment Plan. The College of Education Integrated Database (CEID) is a tightly secured integrated SQL database that continues to expand to support individual candidate assessment data as well as WTEP level data. These are current functional components of the CEID that are used by faculty and staff (who have access privileges):
- Common assessments for every course and Phase of the WTEP as identified in the Assessment Plan are resident for online completion and automatic scoring and data archival
- Data collection on every standard and standard element as defined within the Common Assessments for Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions of all candidates
- Data archiving and reporting options at the individual candidate level, instructor level, major level, program level, and/or department level
- Advising functionality for archival and faculty viewing of individual advising notes for Education majors (including those in off-campus programs at UWCC and UW/Powell)
- With daily downloads to CEID from SIS (soon to be Banner), faculty can access critical transcript and demographic information for Education majors (e.g., current GPA, course completion, email address)
In the spring of 2005, the CoEd commissioned the UW College of Education Teacher Program Survey 2005 (see #3 for details). Results of the 2005 UW survey of advising were distributed and department-level review occurred. An additional student assessment is the Praxis II examination. We collaborated with the PTSB to implement a new state teacher certification requirement that candidates pass the Praxis II examinations for all program completers beginning fall 2005.

Aggregation and dissemination of CEID data and first-year Praxis data is ongoing through this summer for use by faculty and college leadership through 2006-07. Dissemination of the Survey data has occurred at college leadership levels, in the Advisory Council for Teacher Education, and at department levels in full report and executive summary forms. Examples of changes that have occurred or are under review at this time in response to data sources include:
- Adoption of a standardized syllabus format that includes references to Standards
- Curriculum revision and addition to address areas reported as potential improvement areas (e.g., classroom management, special needs learners, educational assessment vs. descriptive statistics)
- Significant revisions to the formal agreements (new MOUs effective fall 2006) that exist with public school partners in the Professional Learning Communities based on student and P-12 faculty reports of strengths and weaknesses in this Residency model
- Collaborative development of 15 concurrent majors for secondary education majors to meet certification requirements for “highly qualified” teachers
- Heightened discussions about our candidates’ abilities to meet the needs of culturally diverse learners; our capacity for and need to recruit more culturally diverse candidates; impact of second language learners in public schools and the need to address this more strategically in the WTEP; alternative certification options for Wyoming (including the possibility of a state-wide distance-delivered Elementary Education program)
- Increased attention to faculty preparation prior to Advising Week to minimize gaps in advising (accuracy and options)
- Increased participation with other UW units to take best advantage of the Teacher Shortage Loan Repayment Program and the Hathaway Scholarships to improve our recruiting, especially in teacher shortage areas
- Extended communications for all WTEP issues to include community colleges, relevant UW faculty outside the CoEd, the Science Math Teaching Center, PLC district faculty and administrations, and the Wyoming School-University Partnership
What efforts has your program/department made to follow students once they have graduated and/or left the university?

The Wyoming Survey and Analysis Center completed a telephone survey of Education graduates from 2002, 2003 and 2004. The college provided the Survey Research Center with 12 core questions to be asked of both the graduates and their principals. The design of the study envisioned that only principals whom the graduates had given permission to contact would receive the employers’ survey, to be administered by mail with telephone calls to non-respondents. The response rate after follow-up was 71% for graduates. The employers’ survey was a mail survey with phone calls to non-respondents. The questions asked of the principals were the same 12 core preparedness questions. They were asked about UW graduates in general and not about any one graduate in particular. The SRC obtained 115 consents from graduates with at least partial contact information. An effort was made to obtain full contact information by way of Internet search, etc. The mixed mode of administering the survey of school principals yielded a response rate of 61%. The full report is available at: http://www.uwyo.edu/ted/wtepreports.asp

The CoEd has made a commitment that this survey will be conducted in odd-numbered years. In even numbered years (including 2006), a similar survey is being conducted of all current Residency students and their assigned public school mentor teachers. These results will be available from WYSAC in early July 2006.
Please respond to the feedback/suggestions provided to you from the Assessment Coordinators last year. What have you done to address these concerns?

The responses last year were made to respective departments based on minimal departmental responses to the assessment question. While a “cover” report was provided last year, there was no Assessment Coordinator feedback to the cover report. This year, each WTEP program (and the respective undergraduate department) is represented by this summary.
What problems, challenges, or issues regarding assessment does your department still have? What can be done for these issues to be resolved within the next academic year? What resources or assistance do you need?

Our greatest challenges at this time are (a) to complete the 2006-07 data collection, aggregation, and dissemination in preparation for the NCATE accreditation visit in fall 2007 and (b) to disaggregate sufficient data for individual program areas to prepare their reports for submission to the PTSB or SPA in early spring 2007. Some part-time staffing assistance (particularly if the person had some experience with teacher accreditation and program review) to support departments and the College in these preparations from fall 2006 through fall 2007 would be a tremendous benefit.

Summary for Calendar Year 2004

In 2004, we continued our unit-level and department-level assessment initiatives leveraging the adoption of the conceptual framework statement (May 4, 2004) and focusing on the action items set forth in Academic Plan II and respective Department Academic Plans. This CoEd mission statement guides our efforts related to student and program assessment: “The mission of the College of Education is to provide quality education through the development of prospective teachers, counselors, adult educators, and school leaders; to provide continuing educational opportunities for members of those professions; to support inquiry and research which further our understanding and practice of effective teaching and learning; and to provide service to the state and nation through professional partnerships and organizations.” The foundational theme for all programs in the CoEd is DevelopingCompetent and Democratic Professionals.

We recognized the need to explicitly articulate the connections between curriculum, program requirements, accreditation (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE)) and program approval standards (Professional Teaching Standards Board (PTSB) or NCATE Specialty Professional Association (SPA)), our own CoEd Standards for the Wyoming Teacher Education Program (WTEP), changes in federal requirements (e.g., NCLB, IDEA) and our assessment of student performance. In May 2004, we held a week-long assessment workshop for CoEd faculty. Representatives from several WY community colleges and a few colleagues from Arts and Sciences also participated. These 50+ participants created the first draft of the WTEP Assessment Plan (attached) for all programs in teacher education. Many drafts later this final version was adopted (May 19, 2005) for full implementation in fall 2005. It is important to note that this assessment plan cuts across knowledge, skills, and dispositions for preservice teacher candidates.

We convened an Assessment Review Council (ARC) that met extensively throughout AY 2004-05. ARC membership included representatives from each department that contributes coursework to undergraduate teacher preparation programs and one faculty representative for graduate programs. Faculty sub-committees convened to develop common assessments for core WTEP courses and for other assessments identified in the WTEP Assessment Plan. Drafts of the assessment instruments, rubrics, and scoring guides were shared with the ARC for final approval. Some common assessments already existed and these were reviewed and revised to assure alignment with the standard elements stipulated in the WTEP Assessment Plan.

We contracted with the WYSAC to develop instruments to collect program assessment data from our graduates who are now in their first or second year of teaching and (with appropriate permissions) from their principals. These data were collected in spring 2005 and are part of a biennial data collection plan. Results will be shared in this report 2005.

In the summer 2004, we brought together a wide variety of UW stakeholders to discuss our needs relative to the collection, aggregation, disaggregation, and dissemination of student assessment data. We discussed access to student data and gave serious consideration to two private vendor packages. After much consideration, both options were dismissed due to (a) prohibitive expense and/or (b) inability to customize the package to unique needs of the CoEd. Dean McClurg continued to search for alternative sources of funding for this effort. Currently, we are in the mid-development stages of an integrated database server (CEID) with web-based interface for faculty and staff to monitor individual student progress. The CEID will also allow administrative access to cumulative, comparative, and historical datasets.

Initiatives related to student or program assessment which are continuing in 2005:

Collaborations with College of Arts and Sciences and the College of Agriculture to identify concurrent majors for Secondary Social Studies Education, Secondary Physics Education, Secondary Earth and Space Science Education, Secondary Agriculture Education, Secondary Modern Languages Education (Spanish, French, German), and Elementary Education that meet respective accreditation standards.
Adoption and implementation of extensive program changes and program assessment plans for the departments of Special Education and Educational Leadership.
College-wide implementation of the WTEP Assessment Plan.
Faculty/staff training and full implementation of the CEID for the undergraduate programs.
Initial planning for extending the CEID to include graduate programs and ability to monitor student performance across post-baccalaureate, endorsement, master’s, and doctoral programs.
Dissemination and support for the implementation of the WTEP Assessment Plan in off-campus locations (UW/CC and Powell) and for feeder programs in WY community colleges.
Begin to use assessment and program evaluation data for student recruitment purposes.
Support efforts to gain PTSB endorsement and/or certification recognition for specific programs (e.g., MSNS; middle grades math; middle grades science; English/Theatre; English/Communication; English/Journalism).
Planned implementation (fall 2006) of extensive revisions the college-wide Ph.D. program.
Progress toward aligning the college-wide Ed.D. program with specialty professional association standards, the CoEd mission, UW Graduate School expectations, and assessment of student performance.
The ARC will convene to monitor the implementation and the data collection processes for the WTEP Assessment Plan and to provide suggestions/avenues for dissemination of student assessment data for purposes of program improvement.

In summary, we have made long strides in the area of assessment for preservice teacher candidates since initial discussions began in 2001-02. We are clearly in the implementation phase of an assessment plan for preservice teacher preparation programs that is grounded in the mission, standards, and professional expectations of turbulent times for education. These accomplishments rest on the shoulders of our faculty which improves our prospects for institutionalization, but requires significant time and human resource commitment from vested partners to continue the effort. The CoEd has set a course to ensure the successful review of our programs by the PTSB and NCATE in fall 2007. These reviews (program level and college level) are wholly based on performance assessment data, paralleling the expectation set within our academic university community.