10
Candidate Performance Assessment
In the College of Education
The College of Education (COE) at Texas Tech University (TTU) strongly believes in public accountability and transparency: we are open for public review and are accountable for our actions. The basis for such accountability is the assessment of our candidates’ performance, and the use of a range of data to inform our decision making.
Performance assessment is founded in a clear vision for educator preparation: Through meaningful partnerships with the schools, agencies, and communities we serve, the College of Education will produce measurably best educators in the U.S. and provide programs, services, and research that maximize student success from early childhood through graduate education.
Strategic Goals for Educator Preparation Texas Tech University
The College aspires to be a national leader in education reform and has embraced three strategic goals for doing so. As these goals are achieved, the end result is to produce measurably the best educators in the United States. In so doing, our graduates are provided with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions to make them highly qualified and recruited for whatever education position they seek.
Goal 1: Produce the Measurably Best Educators in the U.S.
The College will produce “trademark” graduates with distinctive skills and outcome-producing capacities that address stated market needs in a cross section of communities and population centers, thereby increasing diversity and enrollment.
Goal 2: Add value to the profession by collaborating with partner schools, agencies, and communities to maximize P-20 students’ college and career readiness, health, and success. (P-20: Students from preschool through grade 20, college.)
The College will engage with school, agency, and community partners to maximize college and career readiness, health, and success; and will maximize the measured impact of our graduates on the clients they serve.
Goal 3: Conduct research that brings measurable improvement and innovation to the field. Prepare educators to use research as a tool to continuously improve and innovate.
The College will use intervention research to maximize a measured impact of our graduates on the fields they serve, including maximizing P-20 students’ college and career readiness, health, and success.
The primary means to judge the attainment of these goals is through ongoing assessment activities, particularly the measurement of candidate performance. There are multiple points throughout educator preparation programs where candidates’ readiness is examined. The regular assessment of performance therefore becomes the bases for achieving the College’s goal to “Produce the measurably best educators in the U.S.” Following are six assessments utilized by academic programs to monitor candidate performance and inform decision making.
Multiple Assessments of Candidate Performance
1. End of Phase Assessments
All educator preparation programs and courses are hierarchically organized into three levels or phases reflecting increasing performance expectations of candidates and enhancing faculty members’ instructional capabilities. These expectations are reflected in corresponding “end-of-phase” performance assessments.
· Phase One (P1) assessments emphasize the foundational knowledge and reasoning required in the discipline.
· Phase Two (P2) assessments incorporate the knowledge, reasoning from P1 and assimilate them into practice, or skill, that takes place in guided and hypothetical settings, such as case studies and controlled clinical experiences.
· Phase Three (P3) assessments integrate the knowledge, reasoning and skills from Phase 1 with the simulated application from Phase 2, and then employ them in authentic real world settings.
The results from end-of-phase assessments are entered into a database and are analyzed by faculty members to monitor candidate progress and to evaluate program quality. If a candidate does not meet the proscribed level of competency, remediation is undertaken in order to advance individuals to the next Phase, or to guide them to consider other career options.
Figure 1 is an excerpt from a dashboard indicating End-of-Phase data.
Figure 1
2. Apply and Evaluate Assignments (A&E)
Each educator preparation course has an A&E assignment that reflects the course “phase” (i.e., Phase 1 to Phase 3). A&E assignments provide opportunities for candidates to practice and develop instructional skills. These skills are taught by instructors who first model them in the college classroom. Then candidates practice those strategies in the safety of the college classroom to improve competency. Finally, candidates try out those strategies in real-world, clinical settings to further refine and demonstrate competency. Candidates use a video-capture device to record their instruction, and then submit the video for evaluations, including self, peer, and instructor evaluation. This evaluation provides important feedback to candidates about their competency. In many courses, candidates can again instruct and record to build on what they learn in their first attempts. A&E assignments are an important component of all Phase 2 and Phase 3 courses.
Figure 2 provides an indication of how A&E data are used. Notice how a variety of indicators are measured, including academic feedback, activities and materials, assessment, benchmark data analysis, and data management. Also note how variables such as program, semester, and course may be changed to provide many levels of data—all of which allow candidates, instructors, and programs to improve. Ultimately this process better prepares graduates for their eventual careers in education.
Figure 2
Apply and Evaluate (A&E) Data
3. Performance Assessments (PA)
The culminating Phase 3 evaluation for teacher candidates takes place during the year-long student teaching practicum or graduate internship. During this year, candidates’ instructional competency is evaluated through four assessments of instructional competency. Each PA is intended as a formative assessment of candidate competency so that, like the A&E assignments, feedback can be used to shape and improve instructional skills. To maximize the formative benefits of this evaluation, each PA also includes a “POP” cycle: (a) a pre-conference to review the lesson; (b) observation and scripting of lesson to gather evidence for evaluation; and (c) post-lesson meeting with the candidate to review evidence, coach and assign ratings.
Candidate instructional competency throughout the program is evaluated using the TAP Rubric.
The Rubric was designed by the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching as part of the Teacher Advancement Program (TAP), and has multiple indicators such as instructional plans, standards and objectives, presenting instructional content, activities and materials, academic feedback, and managing student behavior. Like the A&E assignments, PAs also involve the use of a video-capture device to facilitate self-reflection and (later) program monitoring and adjusting.
Figure 3 indicates one view of performance assessment data. Again these data may be aggregated and disaggregated in many ways by program, year, and measurement indicators.
Figure 3
Performance Assessment (PA) Data
4. Student Attitudinal Measure
P-12 students taught by candidates during student teaching also provide feedback, which is gathered through a pre and posttest administration of the Classroom Engagement Inventory. Through this inventory, students are able to rate the extent to which they are emotionally, cognitively, and behaviorally engaged when they are being taught by the teacher candidate. Teacher candidates receive the anonymous results, and use this feedback to target specific types of strategies aimed at improving student engagement. At the end of the year, students again provide feedback to their teacher candidate about their engagement while she or he is teaching. These data provide teacher candidates with a fuller picture of their competency, feedback about their efforts at improvement, and a direction for continuing to refine their instructional skills for engaging students.
5. School District Benchmarks
A major focus of assessment activities is to measure the impact educator preparation candidates have on the clients and communities they serve. The growth P-12 students’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions is a basic measure of the success of college candidates. As part of this process, school districts provide a variety of data concerning the performance of their students on assessments produced by the districts, and on the State of Texas Assessments of Academic Readiness (STAAR) test. These benchmark and summative data in turn are used to determine the impact college teacher candidates make on the public school students, as indicated in Figure 4. Again, variables such as program, subject, and grade level may altered to provide a range of information to support decision-making and improvements.
Figure 4
School District Benchmark Data
6. The Texas Examination of Educator Standards (TExES)
The culmination of all college assessment activities is to produce measurable best educators, a major indicator of which is the passing rate of the state licensure exam—TExES. All portions of the Texas Examination of Educator Standards must be passed for a candidate to become a certified educator in Texas. TExES has both final and practice components, with candidate performance on the exam used in several ways.
· Passage of the appropriate Practice Content exam is required for admission to the teacher education program.
· Passage of the appropriate Final Content exam is required for admission to student teaching.
· Passage of the Final Pedagogy and Professional Responsibility exam is required for ultimate certification.
Texas Tech candidates do well on the TExES, as indicated in Figure 5. These data are for candidates’ initial attempt of the exam. Individuals who don’t pass the first time may retake the exam for eventual success. Note how top-level performance is found across all ethnic and gender groups (Figure 6). Additional performance details are found in individual certification field data, Figure 7. Notice that TTU candidates perform well with certificate specific exams, as they complete requirements to become a range of educators—teachers, principals, counselors, and diagnosticians.
Figure 5
TExES Certification Tests Overall
Initial Pass Rates
Year / Initial Pass Rate / Number of Test Takers2014-2015 / 98% / 447
2013-2014 / 95% / 431
2012-2013 / 95% / 652
2011-2012 / 95% / 584
2010-2011 / 92% / 693
2009-2010 / 95% / 606
2008-2009 / 97% / 598
2007-2008 / 97% / 675
2006-2007 / 96% / 679
2005-2006 / 96% / 621
2004-2005 / 93% / 610
2003-2004 / 97% / 473
2002-2003 / 95% / 397
2001-2002 / 92% / 586
Figure 6
TExES Pass Rates for Completion Year 2015
All / Female / Male / African American / Hispanic / Other / White98% (447) / 98% (366) / 97% (81) / 100% (13) / 97% (128) / 88% (8) / 98% (298)
Figure 7
TExES Pass Rates
By Certification Area (2014-2015)
Certification Area / Taken / Passed / PercentAgricultural Science and Technology (6-12) / 14 / 13 / 92.86
Art (EC-12) / 12 / 12 / 100
Bilingual Education Supplemental-Spanish (NA) / 47 / 41 / 87.23
Dance (8-12) / 2 / 2 / 100
Deaf and Hard of Hearing (EC-12) / 1 / 1 / 100
Educational Diagnostician (EC-12) / 32 / 31 / 96.88
English Language Arts and Reading (7-12) / 5 / 5 / 100
English Language Arts and Reading/Social Studies (4-8) / 13 / 13 / 100
English as a Second Language Supplemental (NA) / 70 / 64 / 91.43
Generalist (EC-6) / 250 / 250 / 100
History (7-12) / 7 / 7 / 100
History (8-12) / 10 / 10 / 100
Mathematics (4-8) / 1 / 1 / 100
Mathematics (7-12) / 1 / 1 / 100
Mathematics (8-12) / 3 / 3 / 100
Mathematics/Science (4-8) / 10 / 10 / 100
Music (EC-12) / 25 / 25 / 100
Physical Education (EC-12) / 15 / 15 / 100
Principal (EC-12) / 10 / 10 / 100
School Counselor (EC-12) / 1 / 1 / 100
Science (8-12) / 1 / 1 / 100
Social Studies (7-12) / 1 / 1 / 100
Special Education (EC-12) / 53 / 52 / 98.11
Superintendent (EC-12) / 3 / 3 / 100
Teacher of Students with Visual Impairments (EC-12) / 18 / 18 / 100
Theatre (EC-12) / 1 / 1 / 100
Moving Forward
Ultimately, performance data on Texas Tech candidates provide incentive for continued reform of educator preparation programs and provide the basis for research about our programs, which informs the conversation about teacher education.
The College of Education is committed to rigorous and focused strategic goals producing the “Measurably best educators in the U.S.” In particular, our reformed teacher education program, Tech Teach, is marking a radical departure from traditional teacher preparation programs by engaging candidates in activities aimed at developing superior instructional competency and professionalism. Transformed coursework focuses on helping candidates learn and apply the skills necessary to foster preschool through 12th grade student achievement. Clinical experiences include extended placements with diverse populations throughout the program, and a full year of student teaching. Through the use of video-capture technology, candidates receive unprecedented feedback about instructional competency; and through the use of a co-teaching model, gain experience that develops the qualifications and skills equal to or above that of a second-year teacher. These experiences allow Texas Tech University graduates to meet the needs of all diverse student populations, and help us produce the “Measurably best educators in the U.S.”
Progress toward the measurably best goal, and Tech Teach as a model of excellence, have recognized by many external groups.
• Lubbock ISD: “We try to hire all the Tech Teach graduates that we can. We have principals fighting over them.”
• Dallas ISD: “We want more Tech Teach graduates, how do we get them and what do we need to do to keep them?”
• The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation, a national accrediting body, calls educator preparation at TTU, “A National Model of Reform.”
• Texas Tech University has been interacting with several groups that want more involvement with the Tech Teach model:
o the Massachusetts Department of Education;
o the Louisiana Department of Education;
o the University of Memphis;
o the Urban Teacher Center with programs in Baltimore and Washington, DC; and
o the National Institute for Excellence in Teaching has engaged in early discussions about a teacher prep partnership for TAP Schools across the U.S.
o TTU was the only university recipient of a Gates Teacher Preparation Transformation Center grant to support the reform of other university’s teacher preparation programs.
Indeed, Texas Tech University is moving forward to product the “Measurably best educators in the U.S.”