Program Quality and Effectiveness

Candidates will demonstrate skills to plan, implement, assess, and modify effective instruction for all students.

The Teacher Work Sample (TWS), adapted from The Renaissance Partnership for Improving Teacher Quality Project (http://fp.uni.edu/itq), is a performance assessment designed to demonstrate evidence of Sam Houston State University candidates' ability to facilitate learning for all students. This sample illustrates the candidate's ability to plan, implement, modify and assess instruction during their student teaching semester. Prior to the student teaching semester, candidates choose one (12 to 14 week placement) or two (6 to 7 week placements). During the first 6 to 7 weeks of their placement, candidates are required to create and teach a unit as a Teacher Work Sample. After consulting with their mentor teacher about the unit focus, candidates teach a minimum of five lessons from the unit in their mentor's classroom. Additionally, the candidates are evaluated on their unit planning and teaching of unit lessons. They are also required to reflect on their decision-making and teaching practice including their impact on student learning. The Teacher Work Sample (TWS) focuses on seven teaching processes that are crucial for effective/reflective teaching and must be considered when planning for the learning of all students. Each process is defined by a performance standard, specific task, a student prompt and a rubric that identify the desired performance of the candidate related to that process.  Candidates score a 1 - they have to redo the assignment; a 2 or 3 demonstrates that the candidate proficiently completed the document.

Since the goal of 90% was not met (87%) in 13-14, the goal will remain the same.  At least 90% of candidates during the 2014-2015 academic year will achieve a score of 2 or 3 on the Teacher Work Sample. Information on Scoring Procedures: As recommended by the Renaissance Group, each candidate's Teacher Work Sample is blindly scored by a minimum of two trained scorers. Each scorer evaluates and assigns a score of three(target), two (acceptable), or one (unacceptable) to each indicator, Additionally an overall score of three, two or one is given to each of the seven processes as well as and an overall three, two or one to the entire Teacher Work Sample. If the first two scorers agree on the overall Teacher Work Sample score, the scoring process is complete. However, if the two scorers do not agree the Teacher Work Sample is scored for a third, possibly fourth time, until agreement is reached. For this reason, the data presented in the following charts represents the number of scorings not the number of Teacher Work Samples scored. Once agreement is reached on the Teacher Work Sample score, the overall scores are sent to the student teachers.

The criterion for this indicator was met.  For 2014-15, 96% of candidates scored a two or three.  The goal was 90%.  A summary of the results is below:

            52% made a 3

            46% made a 2

            1%    made a 1

Prior to the Spring 2015 semester, scores of “low 2” were given.  If a candidate received a 2 and a 3, a third reading occurred and score was given, and if that score was a 2, it was assigned a low 2 rating.  College-wide, this rating was not assigned in the spring and if a candidate scored a 2 and 3, they were assigned a “2.5.”  For the purposes of this report, the 2.5 scores were included in the 2 category.

Beginning in the fall 2015 semester, the Teacher Work Sample will no longer be assessed in student teaching.  Each program will determine how it chooses to include and assess the seven TWS processes.

Candidates will demonstrate mastery of the state-mandated pedagogy standards.

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). These 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 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.

Separate standard-setting panels were convened to review statistical data about candidate scores from initial pilot studies of the tests during their development. Recommendations were forwarded to the SBEC, which made the final decisions about establishing passing scores. TExES examinations are centrally administered by SBEC and NES at pre-determined sites and on pre-established dates across Texas similar to many of the national achievement tests. This regime provides for a professional, equitable, and secure testing environment for candidates. Alternative testing arrangements are also permitted for those requiring special consideration. Sites are selected after a careful review of security and accessibility potential, and the quality of overall testing conditions. Tests are scored centrally.

First time pass rates on all levels of the Pedagogy and Professional Examinations will exceed 92%. 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 faculty decided to focus on the first time pass rate instead of the overall pass rate for the 2014-2015 academic year. 

The criterion for this goal was met.  The pass rate for first time test takers on the EC-12 PPR for the fall 2014, spring 2015, and summer 2015 was 92%.  Out of 453 attempts by unique people, 415 passed on their first attempt.

The faculty are currently working to realign undergraduate courses to better reflect the new state standards, the EPLS standards, and the ISTE standards.  The realignment will ensure that all candidates receive the highest level of teacher preparation possible, allowing candidates to pass the exam on the first attempt.

Visibility and Impact

The Department will involve all faculty in recruitment efforts to increase  enrollment in all programs.

All recruitment efforts for the 2014-2015 academic year will be documented by Dr. Bob Maninger, our recruitment coordinator, along with the names of the faculty members who attended the event.  We also document which recruitment strategies yield the most enrolled students.

As reported last year, our newly named recruitment director will organize, gather materials, set up booths, and keep the recruitment log for the 2014-2015 academic year.

All department faculty participated in recruitment activities during the fall 2014, and spring 2015 semesters.  It is estimated that recruitment efforts at the fall and spring Saturdays at Sam events yielded the most enrolled students.

Each program will increase enrollment from fall 2014 to fall 2015.  This information will be gathered for each program as well as for the department overall.

The indicator for this objective was not met.  Overall, the department enrollment was down 3.94% from the 2013-14 academic year.  A summary for the program majors is below:

        BA/BS Interdisciplinary Studies            (2013-14) 1550    (2014-15) 1529

        MED Curriculum and Instruction                            297                     258

        MED Instructional Technology                               47                       46

        Graduate Teacher Certification Only                      35                       20

One reason for the decline in enrollment for programs leading to initial teacher certification (the BA/BS in Interdisciplinary Studies and Graduate Teacher Certification Only) is that beginning in the fall 2014 semester, a 2.75 GPA was required for admittance to the SHSU teacher preparation program, where in the past, admission required only a 2.5 GPA.  As a result of this more stringent admission criterion, the number of students meeting the admission requirement was lower than it had been in the past.
 

In order to see department and program enrollment grow in undergraduate program (BA/BS Interdisciplinary Studies) it will be necessary to continue recruitment efforts and work with the College of Education’s recruitment coordinator and the SHSU marketing department towards that end.  It will be understood that more stringent admittance requirements might delay enrollment growth.  Growing the graduate programs’ enrollment will require working with the SHSU marketing department to publicize  the programs and to continue recruitment efforts.

Faculty Excellence

Increase Curriculum and Instruction faculty productivity through contributions to the field in publications and presentations.

Annual professor to presentation ratio for Curriculum and Instruction compared to 2013-2014. Each professor will report on their FES document all presentations. The total number of presentations for all professors will be divided by the total number of professors. This will be converted to a percentage. This percentage will be compared to the percentage from the 2013-2014 FES reports. We are looking for an increase from year to year, not necessarily a statistically significant increase.

Faculty presentations increased slightly from the 2013-14 academic year.

                        2010-11         4.3 average presentations

                        2011-12         5.6 average presentations

                        2012-13         4.9 average presentations

                        2013-14         5.1 average presentations

                        2014-15         5.3 average presentations

Annual professor to publication ratio for Curriculum and Instruction compared to 2013-2014. Each professor will report on their FES document all publications. The total number of publications for all professors will be divided by the total number of professors. This will be converted to a percentage. This percentage will be compared to the percentage from the 2013-2014 FES reports. We are looking for an increase from year to year, not necessarily a statistically significant increase.

Faculty publications decreased slightly from the 2013-14 academic year.   
                        2010-11         2.00 average publications

                        2011-12         2.73 average publications

                        2012-13         1.98 average publications

                        2013-14         1.98 average publications

                        2014-15         1.73 average publications

As tenure and tenure-track faculty, it is very important that we engage in scholarly activities.  Faculty are supported with departmental travel funds and encouraged to work together to publish.  Encouragement will continue and be expanded to emphasize turning presentations into publications.  In addition, faculty will be encouraged to apply to the College of Education’s Enrichment Fund program for monetary assistance in presenting, and the college’s Office of Research and Graduate Studies for monetary assistance in presenting their research.