The Assessment of Initial Candidates’ Diversity Proficiencies
Our external reviewers acknowledged that our unit takes diversity and our responsibility to promote the learning of all students seriously as they note WIU “has devoted considerable effort toward ensuring that its conceptual framework and course offerings help candidates develop the knowledge, skills, and professional dispositions to facilitate learning of students from diverse backgrounds.” We recognize as the great critical theorist and multicultural educator Peter McLaren explains, “You can't teach people anything . . . You have to create a context in which they can analyze themselves and their social formations and lives” (Singh, 2006). Such a context is recognized via our conceptual framework, curriculum and clinical experiences. As reflective practitioners, we must evaluate how and at what level our unit is meeting its established diversity proficiencies.
The creation of the unit’s six diversity proficiencies was informed, in part, by culturally relevant pedagogy, which may be used interchangeably with culturally responsive, culturally appropriate, culturally congruent, or culturally compatible pedagogy. Culturally relevant pedagogy refers to the use of effective practices in culturally diverse classrooms and schools. The goal of culturally relevant pedagogy (CRP) is the maximization of learning for culturally diverse students, including those from diverse race/ethnicity, social class, gender, language, religion, sexual orientation, and exceptional backgrounds. Unit faculty recognize these cultural attributes are interwoven and integrated into students’ identities and can impact the learning environment. Says Villegas, “in order to maximize learning opportunities, teachers must gain knowledge of the cultures represented in their classrooms, then translate this knowledge into instructional practice" (1991, p. 13).
The unit has identified six diversity proficiencies that reflect culturally relevant pedagogy:
1. Acknowledging cultural and individual differences.
2. Adapting instruction and assessment to cultural and individual differences.
3. Connecting classroom activities to cultural and individual differences.
4. Incorporating multiple perspectives of cultural and individual differences into their professional behavior.
5. Contributing to the classroom and/or school climate that values cultural and individual differences.
6. Communicating in a culturally responsive and respectful manner.
Four assessments are used to evaluate the extent to which candidates are developing these proficiencies. Three of these assessments are completed during student teaching. During that experience, mentor teachers complete Disposition Check 3 (DC3) and the Student Teaching Clinical Experience Evaluation (STCEE), while program faculty evaluate the Western Teacher Work Sample (WTWS). The Universal Design for Learning (UD) assessment, the fourth assessment of diversity proficiencies, is completed prior to student teaching and provides additional data for one of the proficiencies. These assessments, particularly those completed during student teaching, provide a triangulation of the data. Collectively, the four assessments inform our understanding of how well our candidates meet each diversity proficiency.
Diversity Proficiency: Acknowledging cultural and individual differences.
Discussion of the Data
1.a) Disposition Check 3 includes inventory items that assess our candidates’ dispositions for “fairness” and the “belief that all students can learn”. The development of these dispositions provides a foundation for acquiring the ability to “acknowledge cultural and individual differences”. Indicators that address “fairness” include “considers opinions of others with an open mind” and “displays equitable treatment of others”. Data indicate that 67% of candidates earned target ratings and 33% earned acceptable ratings for “fairness”. Indicators for the disposition “belief that all students can learn” include “acknowledges perspectives of individuals from diverse cultural and experiential backgrounds”, “interacts appropriately in relation to cultural norms”, “appreciates and embraces individual differences”, “demonstrates positive attitudes toward diverse cultures and learners”, and “conveys high expectations for achievement”. Data indicate that 68% of candidates were at target levels for this disposition and 32% were at acceptable levels. These dispositions provide evidence that candidates can “acknowledge cultural and individual differences”.
1.b) The Student Teaching Clinical Experience Evaluation (STCEE) has four inventory items that assess the proficiency “Acknowledging cultural and individual differences”: (30) acknowledges and accepts differing viewpoints or opinions; (31) encourages students to see, question, and interpret ideas from multiple perspectives; (38) creates a climate that supports diversity; and (40) uses vocabulary that reflects sensitivity to gender, ethnicity, and culture. Overall, 90% of candidates earned target ratings and 10% earned acceptable ratings for “acknowledges and accepts differing viewpoints or opinions”. Seventy-nine percent of candidates were at target levels for “encourages students to see, question, and interpret ideas from multiple perspectives”. This is an important indicator because of its alignment with the precepts of cultural relevant pedagogy. Eighty-eight percent of candidates were at target levels and 12% were at acceptable levels in the assessment of “creates a climate that supports diversity”, and 87% were at target levels for “uses vocabulary that reflects sensitivity to gender, ethnicity, and culture”. The use of Inclusive language is at the forefront of becoming a more culturally competent educator.
1.c) The Western Teacher Work Sample (WTWS) has three items that assess “acknowledging cultural and individual differences”. These items reflect student teachers’ ability to recognize, assess and incorporate the cultural and contextual factors of their school and classroom environments and their students in their instructional plans. The first item requires candidates to “describe community, district and school factors that may impact student learning”. Data indicate that 40% of candidates were at target levels, 59% were at acceptable levels, and 1% were at the unacceptable level. The second item requires candidates to “describe student characteristics that may impact student learning”. Forty-five percent of candidates were at target levels, 51% were at acceptable levels, and 4% were at the unacceptable level for this item. The third item requires candidates to “identify and discuss the potential instructional implications of one or more contextual factors as informed by an understanding of the major schools of thought”. These data indicate that 38% of candidates were at target levels, 56% were at acceptable levels, and 6% were at the unacceptable level.
Analysis of the first diversity proficiency: Mentor teachers and program faculty evaluate candidates on different items associated with the proficiency “acknowledging cultural and individual differences”. While the DC 3 and STCEE are dispositional and performative measures completed by mentor teachers, the items assessed by the WTWS, which is evaluated by program faculty, are elements of candidate’s formal and procedural knowledge base. Overall, data from DC3 and STCEE provide evidence that nearly 100% of candidates met or exceeded “acceptable” levels of performance, while overall data from the WTWS indicate that 97% of the candidates met or exceeded “acceptable” levels of performance.
Diversity Proficiency: Adapting instruction and assessment to cultural and individual differences.
Discussion of the Data
2.a) Disposition Check 3 has inventory items that assess “belief that all students can learn”, which is foundational to a willingness to adapt instruction and assessment to cultural and individual differences. Indicators associated with the “belief that all students can learn” include “acknowledges perspectives of individuals from diverse cultural and experiential backgrounds”, “interacts appropriately in relation to cultural norms”, “appreciates and embraces individual differences”, and “demonstrates positive attitudes toward diverse cultures and learners”. Data indicate that 68% of candidates were at the target level and 32% were at the acceptable level in the assessment of this disposition, which provides a foundation for candidates’ ability to “adapt instruction and assessment to cultural and individual differences”.
2.b) The Universal Design (UD) for Learning assessment includes six competencies that provide evidence for candidates’ ability to adapt instruction and assessment for diverse learners. Data from the first competency, “is useful and marketable to people with diverse abilities,” indicate that 75% of candidates were at the target level, 19% were at the acceptable level and 6% were at the unacceptable level. Data from the analysis of the second competency, “accommodates a wide range of individual preferences and abilities” show that 68% of candidates were at the target level, 27% were at the acceptable level and 5% were at the unacceptable level. The assessment of the third competency included in the UD, “is easy to understand, regardless of experience, knowledge, language skills, or concentration level” shows that 75% of candidates earned target ratings, 22% earned acceptable ratings, and 3% earned unacceptable ratings for their performances. Data from the fourth competency, “communicates necessary information effectively, regardless of ambient conditions or the user’s sensory ability”, provides evidence that 69% of candidates were at target levels, 25% were at acceptable levels, and 6% were at unacceptable levels. The assessment of the fifth competency, “minimizes hazards and the adverse consequences of accidental or unintended actions” shows that 72% of candidates were at target levels, 25% were at acceptable levels, and 3% were at unacceptable levels of performance. Finally, the data from the sixth competency, “adapts instruction”, indicates 75% of candidates earned target scores, 16% earned acceptable scores, and 9% earned unacceptable scores. The UD assessment, which assesses formal and procedural knowledge, occurs during the candidates’ junior year or the first semester of the senior year.
2.c) The Student Teaching Clinical Experience Evaluation (STCEE) has nine inventory items that assess “adapting instruction and assessment to cultural and individual differences”. Eighty-one percent of candidates were at target levels and 19% were at acceptable levels of performance for these nine performance-based competencies, which include the following items: (4) creates learning experiences that make the content meaningful to ALL students (including second language, culturally diverse and special needs learners); (5) adapts content instruction to meet the needs of ALL students with accommodations when appropriate; (13) plans for accommodations to meet the needs of ALL students; (15) incorporates cultural diversity and individual student experiences in planning to enrich instruction; (20) establishes challenging, but reasonable expectations with accommodations, for ALL students; (29) accommodates for the identified needs of learners with IEPs; (39) uses information about students, families, cultures and communities as a basis to connect students' experiences with instruction; (40) uses vocabulary that reflects sensitivity to gender, ethnicity, and culture; and (43) utilizes a variety of formal/informal assessment techniques with accommodations when appropriate.
A further analysis of these nine competencies through the framework of CRP suggests that four competencies are particularly important in the assessment of the ability to “adapt instruction and assessment to cultural and individual differences”. Eighty-three percent of candidates were at target levels and 17% were at acceptable levels for “creates learning experiences that make the content meaningful to ALL students (including second language, culturally diverse and special needs learners)”. Seventy-five percent of candidates scored at the target level and 25% scored at the acceptable level on the item “incorporates cultural diversity and individual student experiences in planning to enrich instruction”. Additionally, data indicate that 77% of candidates were at target levels and 23% were at acceptable levels for “uses information about students, families, cultures and communities as a basis to connect students' experiences with instruction.” Finally, data indicate that 87% of candidates were at target levels and 13% were at acceptable levels for “uses vocabulary that reflects sensitivity to gender, ethnicity, and culture” which provides evidence of candidates’ use of inclusive language that is needed to become a culturally competent educator who can adapt instruction to cultural and individual differences.
2.d) The Western Teacher Work Sample (WTWS) has fourteen competencies aligned with the second diversity proficiency. These items assess candidates’ ability to adapt instruction and assessment to cultural and individual differences, and reflect an examination of candidates’ skill in using formal and procedural knowledge. Overall, 35% of candidates were at target levels, 60% were at acceptable levels, and 5% were at unacceptable levels for these fourteen indicators. A review of these fourteen competencies indicates that two warrant further examination. The first item (Task 4.4) asks candidates to “discuss how the contextual information and data were used to select appropriate activities, assignments, and resources”, which is consistent with expectations found in CRP. Data indicate that 31% of candidates were at target levels, 64% were at acceptable levels, and 5% were at the unacceptable level. The second competency (Task 7.1) asks candidates to “discuss their implementation of the unit in terms of its impact on student learning and in light of the major schools of thought previously discussed in contextual factors”. Thirty-six percent of candidates scored at the target level, 61% at the acceptable level, and 3% at the unacceptable level. This item asks our candidates to reflect on the content and context of their teaching and assessment of student learning in relationship to contextual factors relevant to their students and the school environment, which correlates well with CRP’s principle which emphasizes that to “maximize learning opportunities, teachers must gain knowledge of the cultures represented in their classrooms, then translate this knowledge into instructional practice" (Villegas, 1991, p. 13, as cited in the Culturally Relevant Pedagogy Primer).
Analysis of the second diversity proficiency: Both mentor teachers and program faculty evaluate candidates’ ability to “adapt instruction and assessment to cultural and individual differences”. The analysis of the data from the two depositional and performance-based assessments, DC3 and STCEE, indicate that 100% of the candidates earned acceptable or higher ratings from their mentor teachers, with two-thirds of them earning target ratings. Program faculty’s assessment of candidates’ formal and procedural knowledge through their evaluation of the UD project and the WTWS provide evidence that almost 95% of the candidates earned acceptable or higher ratings for their performance. These data provide strong evidence that candidates are meeting or exceeding expectations for “adapting instruction and assessment to cultural and individual differences”, which is an important proficiency in developing a culturally competent educator.
Diversity Proficiency: Connecting classroom activities to cultural and individual differences.
3.a) Disposition Check 3 (DC 3) has inventory items that assess candidates’ “belief that all students can learn”, which is foundational to “connecting classroom activities to cultural and individual differences”. Specific indicators associated with this third proficiency include “acknowledges perspectives of individuals from diverse cultural and experiential backgrounds”, “interacts appropriately in relation to cultural norms”, “appreciates and embraces individual differences”, and “demonstrates positive attitudes toward diverse cultures and learners”. Data indicate that 68% of candidates earned target ratings, while 32% earned acceptable levels for this proficiency.