ASSESSMENT REPORT
FOR


Bachelor of Science in Social Studies with Grades 4-8 Certification  (BS)
Administrative or Educational Support Unit

Spring 2004
Assessment Period Covered        

July 1, 2004
Date Submitted

Expanded Statement of Institutional Purpose Linkage:
Institutional Mission/Goal(s) Reference:
Texas A&M International University, a Member of the Texas A&M University System, is committed to the preparation of students for leadership roles in their chosen profession and in an increasingly complex, culturally diverse state, national, and global society … Through instruction, faculty and student research, and public service, Texas A&M International University is a strategic point of delivery for well-defined programs and services that improve the quality of life for citizens of the border region, the State of Texas, and national and international communities.

Administrative or Educational Support Unit Mission Statement:
The College of Arts and Sciences is dedicated to the provision of programs that prepare students for a variety of professional roles through enhancement of their abilities to communicate and to understand and appreciate the world through a broad-based, liberal arts education.

Intended Administrative Objectives:

1. Students completing the educator preparation program will compare favorably with their knowledge of instructional design and assessment to promote student learning.

2. Student interns completing the educator preparation program will demonstrate the skills related to implementing effective, responsive instruction and assessment.

3. Students completing the educator preparation program in Social Studies will have a broad understanding of the field.

  


ASSESSMENT REPORT
FOR


Bachelor of Science in Social Studies with Grades 4-8 Certification  (BS)
Administrative or Educational Support Unit

Spring 2004
Assessment Period Covered        

July 1, 2004
Date Submitted

Intended Administrative or Educational Support Objective:
NOTE:  There should be one form C for each intended objective listed on form B.  The intended unit objective should be restated in the box immediately below and the intended objective number entered in the blank space below

1.
Students completing the educator preparation program will compare favorably with their knowledge of instructional design and assessment to promote student learning.

First Means of Assessment for Objective Identified Above:
1. a. Means of Unit Assessment & Criteria for Success:
The average score of students in the educator preparation program will be 70% or a minimum of 240 on Domain I (Designing Instruction and Assessment to Promote Student Learning) of the Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities (PPR) Texas Examination of Educator Standards (TExES). 

1.    a. Summary of Data Collected: 
Out of a population of 57 students, only 54 took the Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities (PPR) Test of the new Texas Examination on Educator Standards (TExES) during the Fall term of 2003.  The remaining three students either took the Examination for Certification of Educators in Texas (ExCET) or had not tested at the time this report was prepared.  On average, the students who took the PPR Examination obtained 76.83% of the items correct on Domain I.  An analysis of the students' performance on the four competencies comprising Domain I indicated that their two strongest areas were Competency #3 (Understands how to design effective instruction and assessment procedures) with 79.46% accuracy and Competency #2 (Understands and applies concepts related to student diversity) with 78.65% accuracy.  On Competency #1 (Understands and applies human developmental processes), students demonstrated 77.3% accuracy and 71.93% accuracy on Competency #4: (Understands and applies learning processes and factors to plan effective instruction and assessment). 

Despite these differences, students' performance on Domain I and the respective competencies indicates that they exceeded the 70% criterion.

Out of a population of 73 students, only 23 took the Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities (PPR) Test of the new Texas Examination on Educator Standards (TExES) during the Spring term of 2004. On average, the students who took the PPR Examination obtained 77.00% of the items correct on Domain I.  An analysis of the students' performance on the four competencies comprising Domain I indicated that their two strongest areas were Competency #3 (Understands how to design effective instruction and assessment procedures) with 75.17% accuracy and Competency #2 (Understands and applies concepts related to student diversity) with 79.22% accuracy.  On Competency #1 (Understands and applies human developmental processes), students demonstrated 80.04% accuracy and 73.57% accuracy on Competency #4: (Understands and applies learning processes and factors to plan effective instruction and assessment).  Despite these differences, students' performance on Domain I and the respective competencies indicates that they exceeded the 70% criterion.

1. a. Use of Results to Improve Instructional Program:
Students' performance data were shared with program faculty who agreed that it was important to refine their instructional efforts with respect to Domain I.  Additionally, closer inspection of the Fall 2003 and Spring 2004 TExES data revealed that greater attention needs to be given to Domain III of the TExES, since students’ average performance on competencies #7 (Communication), #8 (Instructional Practice), #9 (Technology), and #10 (Assessment) did not consistently exceed 75%  across two administrations of this exam.  Faculty agreed to develop a plan to systematically incorporate these competencies into their courses and will begin implementing the revised courses in the Fall 2004 semester.

Second Means of Assessment for Outcome Identified Above:
1. b. Means of Program Assessment & Criteria for Success:
At the pre-service interview to enter the teaching internship, students in the teacher preparation program will provide evidence of knowledge of instructional design and assessment with a score of 90% or better, as determined by a committee of public school personnel and College of Education Supervising faculty who will use a rubric developed for this purpose. 

1. b. Summary of Assessment Data Collected:
Spring 2004 Block II Data collected from 74 students through the use of the Internship Interview Rubric indicated that 74 (100%) of the students successfully participated in the interview process and were subsequently admitted into the internship experience.  During this interview, students demonstrated appropriate knowledge of instructional design and assessment.  Of the 74 students interviewed, no more than four (5%) needed to strengthen their understanding of: a) how to successfully work with students having special needs; b) develop a greater understanding of the learner-centered proficiencies; c) authentic assessment; or d) multiple intelligences.

1. b. Use of Results to Improve Instructional Program:
Program faculty reviewed the data mentioned above and agreed to continue to refine their courses by placing greater attention on the four areas mentioned and assessing through different means students’ understanding of all relevant competencies.

Since students' performance on the Internship Interview Rubric has exceeded expectations, faculty members decided to place a special emphasis on Competency #7 (Communication: The teacher understands and applies principles and strategies for communicating effectively in varied teaching and learning contexts) from Domain III of the Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities (PPR) Texas Examination of Educator Standards (TExES), especially since students’ average performance over the last two TExES administrations has not been higher than 69%.  This competency will be incorporated into the Professional Education courses that pre-service teachers take. 



ASSESSMENT REPORT
FOR


Bachelor of Science in Social Studies with Grades 4-8 Certification  (BS)
Administrative or Educational Support Unit

Spring 2004
Assessment Period Covered        

July 1, 2004
Date Submitted

Intended Administrative or Educational Support Objective:
NOTE:  There should be one form C for each intended objective listed on form B.  The intended unit objective should be restated in the box immediately below and the intended objective number entered in the blank space below

2.
Student interns completing the educator preparation program will demonstrate the skills related to implementing effective, responsive instruction and assessment.

First Means of Assessment for Objective Identified Above:
2. a. Means of Unit Assessment & Criteria for Success:
The average score of 90% of students completing the educator preparation program on the Field Performance Evaluations will be at or near 85%, with no score lower than 65%.

2. a. Summary of Assessment Data Collected:
Data collected from 73 students during the Spring 2004 semester through the use of the Field Performance Evaluations revealed that their scores ranged from 50 to 100 and that the mean for the group was 92.2.  Students were particularly capable of maintaining positive rapport with the students and communicating information in an accurate, clear, and logical manner to their students.  A trend observed among some students is that they need to make sure that students are attentive before beginning the lesson or giving directions.  In addition, they need to question students in a variety of ways to promote critical thinking.  Overall, the desired performance standard was exceeded.   

2. a. Use of Results to Improve Instructional Program:
The data mentioned above will be shared with program faculty to determine how to best incorporate these insights into the educator preparation program.  Program faculty will also re-examine and possibly revise the assessment instrument used at this point in the educator preparation program to help them identify program strengths and areas of need.

Since students performance on the Field Performance Evaluations has exceeded expectations, faculty has decided to focus on Competency #10 (Assessment: The teacher monitors students performance and achievement; provides students with timely, high-quality feedback; and responds flexibly to promote learning for all students) from Domain III of the Pedagogy and Professional Responsibilities (PPR) Texas Examination of Educator Standards (TExES).

Second Means of Assessment for Objective Identified Above:
2. b. Means of Unit Assessment & Criteria for Success
At the Portfolio Defense, the students completing the educator preparation program will provide evidence of knowledge and performance of instructional design and assessment with a score of 85% or better as determined by a team of Field Supervisors using a common rubric.

2. b. Summary of Assessment Data Collected:
During the Spring 2004 term, 70 Block III students prepared and presented their portfolios for evaluation.  Seventy-nine percent (55) of the 70 students earned a score of 80% or higher on their portfolios. The average score obtained by the 70 students was 87.17%.  As a part of the portfolio presentation, students demonstrated an appropriate understanding of instructional design and assessment.

2. b. Use of Results to Improve Instructional Program:
A team of educators working with the educator preparation program will re-examine the rubric used to assess students' performance on their portfolios to determine if any modifications to the rubric and/or program are needed.  This team of educators will research different types of rubrics used to assess e-portfolios and will create a rubric to be utilized for e-portfolios with Block I students during the Fall 2004 term, Block II students during the Spring 2005 term, and Block III students during the Fall 2005 term. The rubric will then be used to help educators monitor program strengths and areas of need. 

 

  

ASSESSMENT REPORT
FOR


Bachelor of Science in Social Studies with Grades 4-8 Certification  (BS)
Administrative or Educational Support Unit

Spring 2004
Assessment Period Covered        

July 1, 2004
Date Submitted

Intended Administrative or Educational Support Objective:
NOTE:  There should be one form C for each intended objective listed on form B.  The intended unit objective should be restated in the box immediately below and the intended objective number entered in the blank space below

3.
Students completing the educator preparation program in Social Studies will have a broad understanding of the field.

First Means of Assessment for Objective Identified Above:
3. a. Means of Unit Assessment & Criteria for Success:
Graduating seniors will take the Texas Examinations of Educator Standards (TExES) practice test for Domain I (Social Studies Content) and Domain II (Social Studies Foundations, Skills, and Instruction). The mean average score will be 80% or better in each of the two domains. 

3. a. Summary of Assessment Data Collected:
Social Studies faculty will commence administering the practice test in Fall 2004.

3. a. Use of Results to Improve Unit Services:
No data have been collected at this time because the survey was not completed and administered to graduating students in Fall 2003.

Second  Means of Assessment for Objective Identified Above:
3. b. Means of Unit Assessment & Criteria for Success:
Graduating Social Studies majors will be surveyed to gather supporting data concerning the degree to which the program provided them with a broad understanding of the field of Social Studies, using a five-point Likert scale ranging from 1 (not at all) to 5 (very well).  At least 85% of those responding will rate the program 4 or 5 on the scale.

3. b. Summary of Assessment Data Collected:
Social Studies faculty will commence administering the survey in Fall 2004.

3. b. Use of Results to Improve Unit Services:
No data have been collected at this time because the survey was not completed and administered to graduating students in Fall 2003.