NCATE ASSESSING EDUCATION CANDIDATE PERFORMANCE:A Look at Changing Practices

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NCATEASSESSING EDUCATION CANDIDATE
PERFORMANCEA Look at Changing Practices

• Todays presenters
• Linda Bradley, Coordinator of Special Projects,
  James Madison University, Harrisonburg, Virginia
• Emerson Elliott, Director of Special Projects,
  National Council for Accreditation of Teacher
  Education

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Introduction

• NCATE performance-based accreditation
• Standards drive NCATE reviews
• Evidence comes from assessment results
• Frequent question Do you have examples?
• Assessment Examples Project
• Committee set criteria invited submissions
  reviewed and selected examples
• Use for technical assistance and training

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The current state-of-practice

• Rapid developments in the field
• Innovation and variety in assessments
• Need for clear expectations
• Limited assessment of content knowledge
• Little evidence that technology is exploited
• Infrequent assessments of P-12 learning
• Linking data to evaluate units and programs

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Criteria for Evaluating Assessments

• Assessments
• Are aligned with standards
• Have explicit expectations
• Distinguish levels of performance
• Are used to reach meaningful decisions
• Include authentic tasks
• Are systematically evaluated

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Selection of assessments

• Based on the criteria
• Highlight today
• James Madison UniversityAssessing Candidate
  Content Knowledge and Impact on Student Learning

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JMU Assessment ofStudent Teachers

• Aligned with standards
• JMU aligned its assessment with
• SPAs
• Candidate competencies
• NCATE Standard 1 elements
• NOTE see separate handouts in the next section
  for details on this part of the presentation

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JMU Assessment ofStudent Teachers

• Explicit expectations and authentic tasks
• Five categories
• 23 indicators
• Focus on student learning

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JMU Assessment ofStudent Teachers

• Clearly distinguished levels of performance
• Three-point rubric for each indicator
• Narrative section for comments

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JMU Assessment ofStudent Teachers

• Used to reach meaningful decisions
• Unit-level centralized database
• Program-level individual candidate assessment

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JMU Assessment ofStudent Teachers

• Systematically evaluated
• Reviewed and revised ST-9 through STEP grant last
  year
• Greater emphasis on
• Virginia Standards of Learning
• teaching content
• impact on student learning
• Piloting revised ST-9 this year

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Other examples in the book

• Eighteen examples in total
• Index category What is assessed
• Subject content knowledge
• Pedagogical knowledge
• Classroom skill
• Dispositions
• Influence on P-12 learning

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More . . .

• Index category Type or form of assessment
• Essay
• Reflections
• Performance task
• Computer administered assessment
• Action research
• vignettes

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Example RHOFSTRA UNIVERSITY English Proficiency
Exam SUCCESSFUL COMPLETION OF THE PROFICIENCY
EXAM IS A GRADUATION REQUIREMENT. You have 90
minutes to finish your essay. INSTRUCTIONS In
a well-organized, well-developed, and grammatical
essay, identify, analyze, and evaluate the
argumentative or persuasive strategies employed
in the attached essay. After summarizing the
authors purpose and/or central point, you should
consider at least some of the following questions
in the course of your essay What techniques
does the author use to convince the general
reader that his or her argument is reasonable?
How is the evidence the author presents intended
to support the argument? What steps does the
author take to convince readers that she or he is
sensible, credible, or trustworthy? What figures
of speech or thought--irony, metaphor, analogy,
repetition--does the author use to make the essay
memorable or persuasive? How does the
organization of the piece contribute to the
works effectiveness? Do not merely summarize
the work or argue with the writer. You may
present your opinion on the issue, but only
insofar as it is relevant to your evaluation of
the authors specific persuasive techniques.
Ultimately, the essay will be graded on how well
you present and support your opinion of the
authors argumentative strategies, not the
authors beliefs. Take enough time to read the
passage carefully and sketch an outline of your
essay before you begin to write. Sample PE
Essay Smokers get a Raw Deal, by Stanley S.
Scott Stanley S. Scott (1933-1992) was vice
president and director of corporate affairs of
Philip Morris Companies Inc. This essay
originally appeared in December 29, 1984, in the
op-ed page of the New York Times. The Civil
Rights Act, the Voting Rights Act, and a host of
antidiscrimination laws notwithstanding, millions
of Americans are still forced to sit in the back
of planes, trains, and buses. Many more are
subject to segregation in public places. Some are
even denied housing and employment victims of an
alarming--yet socially acceptable--public
hostility. This new form of discrimination is
based on smoking behavior. If you happen to enjoy
a cigarette, you are the potential target of
violent antismokers and overzealous public
enforcers determined to force their beliefs on
the rest of society. Etc.
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• Example IUNIVERSITY OF CHARLESTON, WV
• What Should Be Included in Your Research Report?
• Your research report will not be a paper but
  rather a Power Point presentation similar to one
  you might give at a professional conference. It
  should include the following information
• 1. How you came to this study/topic
• 2. Purpose of the study or research question(s)
• 3. Summary of educational literature on your
  topic (what other research says about your topic)
• 4. Context of study (type of school, students
  grade level, a little about the community, etc.
  keeping in mind that you will need to keep the
  location and participants anonymous)
• 5. Participants in study (the number and any
  other pertinent information)
• 6. Data collection (the methods you used to
  collect your data, including some samples)
• 7. Analysis (how you analyzed data, including
  some samples)
• 8. Results (the answers to your question or
  questions this can be done in charts or graphs
  or tables or by using direct quotations from
  participants, or by using bullets and summaries)
• 9. Conclusions (what you as the teacher
  researcher conclude about your study what the
  implications are for teachers and teaching how
  this study relates to the professional
  literature)
• 10. What you would do differently
• How Will You Be Assessed?
• You will receive a grade for this project based
  on the following
• O Research skills and data collection
• O Ability to synthesize data and results

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Committee members believe

• The examples can provide ideas
• Unit and program leaders can adapt these to their
  own purposes
• CONTACTS for examples should be tapped for
  their experience and insights

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• For more information go to
• the NCATE web site
• http//www.ncate.org/institutions/articles.asp
  ?ch37
• And click on Assessing Education Candidate
  Performance A Look at Changing Practices
• PDF format can be downloaded
• Printed copies can be ordered