OATdb Archive

2012 - 2013

Special Education MED (Educational Diagnostician)

Goal
Mastery Of SBEC Knowledge And Skills
Educational Diagnostician students will demonstrate mastery of knowledge and skills set forth by SBEC.

Objective
Mastery Of SBEC Knowledge And Skills
Graduates will demonstrate competencies in assessment and evaluation as set forth by  the State Board of Education Certification (SBEC) for diagnostician certification. The four domains included in the test are: (1) Students with disablities, (2) Assessment & Evaluation, (3) Curriculum & Instruction, (4) Foundations and Professional Roles and Responsibilities.


Indicator
Texas Examination Of Knowledge & Skills
TExES for Educational Diagnosticians developed by the Education Testing Service (ETS)

Criterion
Pass Rate
  1. 85% of candidates will pass Domain II of the TExES, a measure of knowledge of Assessment and Evaluation skill. This is the same area identified as weaker two years in a row.  Criterion will remain at 85% as we strive to extensively focus on this area.


Finding
Pass Rate
83% of candidates passed Domain II (Assessment and Evaluation) of the TExES, a measure of knowledge of Assessment and Evaluation skill. This is the same area identified as weaker in the previous year. While the median score shows improvement from 81% to 83%, we have still have not met our goal.  Criterion will remain at 85% as we strive to extensively focus on this area.

Action
SBEC Knowledge And Skills Base
Foundations and Professional Roles and Responsibilities were the lowest areas at an average score of 82.7% . We will emphasize this content in our Sped Practicum Course 6312 and in the Sped 6311 Seminar in Sped course.  


Goal
Mastery Of CEC Knowledge And Skills
Candidates will demonstrate mastery of knowledge and skills on comprehensive examinations referenced to the standards set forth by the Council for Exceptional Children’s (CEC) Knowledge and Skills for Educational Diagnosticians.


Objective
Mastery Of CEC Knowledge And Skills
Candidates will demonstrate mastery of knowledge and skills on comprehensive examinations referenced to the standards set forth by the Council for Exceptional Children’s (CEC) Knowledge and Skills for Educational Diagnosticians.


Indicator
Comprehensive Exams Rubric
Faculty-developed rubric scored independently by faculty members in the specialization area following standards of CEC

Criterion
Pass Rate On Comprehensive Exams
100% of candidates will achieve 80% of all possible points or more on the comprehensive exam rubric.  Since 100% of candidates reached the 75% criterion last year, we will raise the criterion to 80% of all possible points.  The area we identified for improvement is the area of theories. We will be eager to determine whether our interventions have an impact in 2012-2013.


Finding
Sped Comp Assessment Scores
Zero percent of our candidates met the 80% criteria on the comprehensive exam rubric. The highest mean score was 74.5% in the area of Knowledge and Application of Evaluation Procedures. The lowest mean score was  50.91 in the area of Knowledge and Understanding of Learners with Disabilities.


Action
Comprensive Exam Questions And Rubric
New questions will be developed that fit the new CEC advanced standards and the rubric will be reviewed with all sped faculty to increase interrater reliability.


Update to previous cycle's plan for continuous improvement We did not meet the goal of having 85% of candidates pass Domain II on their TExES. We were unable to place addiditional emphais in courses on the areas of greatest weakeness (Sped 5302, Sped 5303, Sped 6310 sped 5303, sped 5304, sped 6305) as turnover in faculty required the use of pool faculty replacements who were unfamiliar with case study approaches. Additionally, the transition of faculty impacted the implementation of consistent instruction.Moreover, the CEC standards were changed to the advanced level which required new emphases on comprehensive exam items.

Plan for continuous improvement  

With the addition of new faculty, we will provide more systematic instruction in assessment courses and  enhance content in the Sped 5301 online course. Review of the new comprehensive exam rubric with all faculty will increase the likelihood of greater inter-rater reliability.