Increase Program Quality And Effectiveness

Post Bacc Teacher Certification candidates will demonstrate their ability to modify instruction and plan for assessment.

Performance on the Teacher Work Sample (TWS) continues to be a successful indicator for our Post Bacc teacher candidates.  In previous years we have focused on one area of the TWS that considers a candidate's ability to modify instruction. A Post-Bacc teacher candidate must receive a Target score of a 3 overall on the TWS which they have.   The section that addresses the modification of instructional practices for all learners will be our focus again.  In addition, we will look more closely at the candidates' Assessment Plans as it appears from the data that this is an area that could be improved as well.

Eighty-five percent of the Post bacc teacher certification candidates during the 2013-2014 academic year will achieve a score of at least a "2" or "3" overall on the Assessment Plan and Design for Instruction domains of the TWS.  The candidates overall TWS score must be a "2."  The Post bacc teacher candidates TWS's are scored at least twice by trained scorers.  

Overall performance on the TWS for 2013-14, we find 37 PB/Combo students with the following breakdown:
3:10/37=27% (Target) 
2.5*: 7/37=19% (Acceptable)
2: 18/37=48% (Acceptable)
1: 2/31=6% (Unacceptable) 
* this is possible for the Spring 15 term because exact matching scores were no longer required - a passing 2 matched with a passing 3 was good enough to call the student assessments "done" with no additional assessments needed.
Disaggregated data charts show for each TWS Domain show that most Post-Bac students score lower in Contextual Factors, Assessment Plans and Reflection and Self-Evaluation.

Since the Teacher Work Sample will no longer be a requirement for certification, a new capstone assessment will be implemented during the 2015-2016 academic year.  The realignment to the new Teaching Standards is underway.

Post baccalaureate teacher candidates will demonstrate the knowledge and skills necessary to satisfy the state certification requirements through performance on administerd exams.

All candidates seeking initial certification, advanced teacher certification, or certifications for other school personnel must take one or more of the Texas Examinations of Educator Standards (TExES). The Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities Certification Examination is required of all certification candidates. The remaining examinations directly correspond to the state content competencies that have been identified for the certification desired. These content competencies are aligned with and based on the appropriate state standards and the Texas Essential Knowledge and Skills (TEKS) statements, which describe the state mandated curriculum for students. Each TExES examination is criterion-referenced and is designed to measure a candidate's level of content knowledge and skills appropriate for educators in the State of Texas. Each test was collaboratively developed by the State Board of Educator Certification (SBEC), National Evaluation Systems, Inc. (NES), an independent corporation specializing in educational measurements, with additional participation by committees of Texas educators. Individual test items developed to measure the state competencies were reviewed and rated by the various committees of Texas educators to ensure appropriateness of content and difficulty, clarity, and accuracy. These committees also ensured that the test items matched the appropriate competencies and were free from potential ethnicity, gender, and regional biases. The committees also helped prepare scoring rubrics for written response items and training materials for those who would score the tests.

Overall, Post Bacc candidates passing the PPR exam will meet or exceed 85%, both overall and within each Program level. While the accountability system for the state examines scores for each completer cohort and provides for students to repeat the examination if they are not successful on the first attempt, the analysis of pass rates which will be presented here represent the pass rates on the first attempt for all PPR exams taken in 2013-2014. Scores will reflect that at least 85% of Post-Bacc students passed the PPR exam on the first attempt.

Data continue to indicate lower performance areas of the PPR exam are Domains III (Instruction and Assessment) and IV (Professional Roles and Responsibilities).  Efforts to strengthen performance in these two domains are in underway and course curricular changes to address lesson planning and assessment have begun.

We find that of the 37 unique PB/Combo students who took the EC-12 TExES PPR exam during the 2013-14 cycle, 34 passed.  This is a pass rate of 92% for 2014-15.

Since pass rates have decreased by 2% from a 94% passing rate to 92% passing rate for Post Baccs, we will continue to strengthen course curriculum to ensure success of the TExES PPR EC-12 exam.