Standard 2: Aspect E

Standard 2e: Program completers engage in professional practice in educational settings and show that they have the skills and abilities to do so in a variety of additional settings and community/cultural contexts. For example, candidates must have broad and general knowledge of the impact of culture and language on learning, yet they cannot, within the context of any given program, experience working with the entire diversity of student identities, or in all types of school environments. 

Candidate preparation includes first-hand professional experience accompanied by reflection that prepares candidates to engage effectively in different contexts they may encounter throughout their careers.

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Case for Standard 2e:
For this standard, the program selected three data sources: an internal Program Completer Survey, a Disposition Survey administered in SPED 175: Final Practicum in Mild/Moderate Disabilities and SPED 176: Final Practicum in Moderate/Severe Disabilities, clinical practice courses that represent the starting and ending points for our students, and the CSU Educator Quality (EdQ) Center Completer Survey

Data Sources & Analysis

Data Source 1

Program Completer Survey (Pilot)

Description of Data Source:
We realized that the data captured by some of the tools developed by the CSU Educator Quality Center did not allow us to measure the progress of our completers in all the ways we wanted. Thus, when we developed a pilot survey, we specifically worked to solicit feedback from completers about these areas.

The survey included fifteen questions based on the themes of our Education Specialist Program Standards and one open-ended comment question. Some of the questions we developed addressed AAQEP aspects that we had little data on. Specifically, we wanted to measure areas that our graduates currently engage in that are supportive of international and global perspectives. Candidates rated each item on a 4-point likert scale (1=none, 2=a little, 3=somewhat, 4=a lot).

The survey has been distributed three times, once in fall 2021 and at the beginning and end of spring 2021, to current candidates in all three phases and program completers. Although there were 37 responses, we deleted three respondents (two had not yet finished the program and another completed in 2009). Of the remaining 34 respondents, 1 completed the program in 2018, 2 completed in 2019, 16 completed in 2020, one did not identify their graduation year (though we estimate it was in 2020), and the remaining 14 completed in 2021.

Perspective Captured from Data Source: Completers

Rationale for Using Data Source: 
Our pilot survey seeks to gather information from our completers about the extent to which they engage in self-assessment, goal-setting, and reflection.

Specific Element of Data Source: 
For this data source we looked specifically at the responses to one survey item: 

To what extent do you currently engage the following professional practices? 

• Engage in self assessment, goal setting, and reflection?

Definition of Success for Each Element: 
Our goal is that 85% of our completers would respond with either “A lot” or “Somewhat.”

Displays of Analyzed Data:
Table 1, Program Alumni Survey, Goal Setting Item, 2020-21

Link to Full Dataset: Program Completer Survey dataset

Interpretation of Data:
We were gratified to see that such a high percentage of our completers engage in self-assessment and goal setting. We believe this is an important skill for teachers, and we also believe that reflection is one of the key professional practices that lead to discovery and new knowledge in the field. Since this is a pilot survey, we will continue to monitor our completers’ self-assessment in this area while working to increase the number of respondents. 

Data Source 2

Pre and Post Dispositions Surveys

Description of Data Source:
Candidates evaluate their own progress on six broad professional dispositions in each of their three clinical experiences through the Pre- and Post- Dispositions Survey. The professional dispositions include Reflection, Critical Thinking, Professional Ethics, Valuing Diversity, Collaboration, and Life-long Learning. Each of the six dispositions is subdivided into descriptors with which candidates self-assess their progress. Candidates evaluate each disposition on a four-point Likert Scale, ranging from No/limited evidence/application (value = 1) to Exceptional evidence/application (value= 4). The Post-Dispositions Survey data are collected in candidates’ culminating clinical experience. 

Perspective Captured from Data Source: Candidate

Rationale for Using Data Source:
This data provides our program with the candidates’ perception of their progress on some of the behaviors required for successful professional practice, including goal setting, professional growth, and reflection.  These self-assessments are key to understanding the perspectives of our candidates on their development of these specific dispositions. 

Note: The data collected from our data system, Tk20, was available only for Fall 2019, Spring 2019, Spring 2020, and Spring 2021. The reason that data are available for only those semesters is unknown, however, it may have to do with a change in the Tk20 binder format and forms. 

Specific Elements of Data Source: 
Disposition Survey, Life-Long Learning Section. Candidates rate themselves on the following dispositions:

• Seeks out opportunities for professional development (e.g., attendance at workshops, in service training, conferences, membership in professional organizations) using the information learned to improve teaching practice
• Seeks out opportunities to serve the school, students, and community (e.g., extracurricular activities, Big Brothers, Big Sisters)
• Demonstrates a positive attitude toward learning, intellectual and academic curiosity
• Presents on an area of expertise or interest to teachers and/or parents at local, state, national or international conferences or training.

Definition of Success for Each Element: 
We measure success as having the average response at 3.0 or above. 

Note that we do not have data that allows us to examine the growth of students over the course of clinical practice since Fall semester data is missing. Although this is a flawed measure due to a technology glitch that eliminated Fall data, we believe that we’ve resolved that problem and will be able to trace students from here on out. For now, this presentation of data allows us to get a perspective on where our students as a whole begin and where they end in our program. 

Displays of Analyzed Data:
Table 2: Pre-Disposition Survey (SPED 175) and Post-Disposition Survey (SPED 176), Average Scores, 2019-20

Link to Full Dataset:  SPED 175 Post Dispositions Survey Dataset and SPED 176 Post Dispositions Survey Dataset

Interpretation of Data: 
The SPED 175 data reveals that the vast majority of our candidates begin with a positive attitude towards learning (3.7 and 3.6). There is also a high score related to seeing our opportunities for professional development. These data indicate that teacher candidates are likely to have a growth mindset when it comes to their career. The two lower scores relate to making presentations and seeking out service opportunities. An examination of the SPED 176 data demonstrates that, except for one outlier, the scores reach our goal of 3.0 for the program. Even so, we feel that we need to do more to help candidates identify their strengths, set goals about sharing their knowledge and understand how to continue to grow in the profession. 

Data Source 3

CSU Educator Quality Center Program Completer Survey

Description of Data Source:
Each year, the CSU Educator Quality Center administers a survey to program completers to learn their perceptions of how well the program prepared them in a number of areas aligned with the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing’s Teaching Performance Expectations (TPE). Program completers from all CSU campuses are invited to respond to each item on a 1-5 scale, where 1 indicates they believed that they were “not at all” prepared and 5 indicates they believe they were “very well” prepared.” Fresno State has a high rate of completion due to the efforts of our credential analyst who requires completion as part of the credential application process. 

Perspective Captured from Data Source: Program Completers

Rationale for using Data Source: 
CSU Educator Quality Center Completer Survey captures program completers’ anonymous perspectives of how well the program prepared them at the conclusion of their teaching credential coursework and field experiences, providing valuable insights into their perceptions of the program. This measure provides the best assessment of our completers’ performance in relation to this aspect. 

Specific Elements of Data Source: 
We specifically looked at two items in Domain 6: Developing as a Professional Educator:

How well did the program prepare you to:

• Element 1: Reflect on your own teaching practice and level of subject matter and pedagogical knowledge to plan and implement instruction that can improve student learning.
• Element 3: Establish professional learning goals and make progress to improve your practice by routinely engaging in communication and inquiry with colleagues.

Definition of Success for Each Element: 
Programmatically, our goal is to have our completer average within .2 of the CSU average. A continuous improvement goal would be to have our average at 3.5 or above. 

Displays of Analyzed Data:
Table 3: CSU Educator Quality Center Completer Survey, Elements 1 and 3,  2018-21

Link to Full Dataset: The link to the full dataset is unavailable. However, if reviewers would like to view the CSU Educator Quality Center Data Dashboards, we are happy to set up a time to provide them access by sharing screens in a Zoom session.

Interpretation of Data: 
For both measures, we reached our goal of being within .2 of the CSU average when aggregating the data for all three years. We were also pleased to see that we scored 3.0 or above on all measures. In order to reach our continuous improvement goal of 3.5, however, we had work to do in supporting our completers’ ability to establish goals for professional growth and engage in self-assessment, goal setting, and reflection. We have a strong belief that reflective practice and goal setting are important attributes of successful teachers, thus, it is our desire that our completers exit our program with a growth mindset. 

Next Steps Narrative: 
Overall, data demonstrate that completers exit our program with the ability to engage in reflection, goal setting, and a desire to engage in professional growth. One realization that we had is that there is opportunity within our program to gather better data on this aspect. Though students are afforded multiple opportunities to reflect, such reflective practices typically focus on lesson planning or activities, and often omit the broader view of the field. If we are going to hold students accountable for presenting on their areas of expertise, such opportunities need to be made available for those students who may not have the economic situation that allows them to take time off from work or travel to conferences. We might consider embedding professional development presentation opportunities into coursework to better support this area. To address this, we are currently revising course syllabi with the understanding that candidates in final student teaching would benefit from goal setting in their professional lives. 

Aspect F →