Preparing (and collecting data from) self-reliant teacher education program completers
By Robb Scott, Co-Editor of C2C Digital Magazine and Editor - Multilingual Adaptive Systems Newsletter
Video Presentation from SIDLIT 2022
The premise for this presentation from SIDLIT 2022 was that current practices in Educator Preparation Programs at Kansas institutions of higher education are insufficient regarding self-study procedures in the area of “completer effectiveness,” a key aspect of the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) 2022 Standards - Initial Programs. In particular, this teacher training proposal pertains to CAEP Standard R4.1a Completer Effectiveness, that is, “The provider demonstrates that program completers effectively contribute to P-12 student-learning growth” (CAEP, 2020).
Although the fundamental concept driving the CAEP accreditation process is self-study on the parts of teacher educators and EPP program administrators, there remains a disconnect between those data-mining exercises and the lack of such opportunities for self-study data-analysis afforded to candidates which would enable program completers to build self-assessment skills for greater autonomy, self-reliance, and resilience to continue
growing and adapting to handle unforeseen settings and situations.
The EPP typically utilizes focus groups to collect evidence for R4.1a. This data collection is described by one program as follows: “EPP will train completer participants on measuring
student-learning growth, using paired samples t-test.”
Let’s reorganize the teacher preparation curriculum to incorporate self-assessment skill-building within key courses as a candidate spirals upwards through a four-year undergraduate program or two or three-year advanced professional programs. Let’s make self-assessment, self-reliance, and resilience major program objectives towards which candidate improvements are measured from baseline data to key benchmarks that must be met along with growth of knowledge, awareness, and skills in other aspects of the teaching profession.
Figure 1: KEPPS Standard 1, Learner Development
Figure 3: KEPPS Standard 3, Learning Environment
Figure 4: KEPPS Standard 4, Content Knowledge
Figure 7: KEPPS Standard 7, Planning for Instruction
The following three articles were examined to discover findings relevant to self-assessment skill development:
Article 1) “Impact of a Portfolio Program on Self-Assessment Skills Involving General Longitudinal Outcome” (Scartabello, Abate, & Slimak, 2018)
Article 2) “Self-Reported Medication Adherence and Health Status in Late Adulthood: The Role of Beliefs” (McDonald-Miszczak, Maki, & Gould, 2000)
Article 3) “Developing Self-Assessment Skills Amongst Doctors in Nepal” (Butterworth, 2010)
Scartabello, Abate, & Slimak (2018) evaluated improvements in self-assessment skills associated with portfolio-based self-reporting by students and scored using a seven-part “Portfolio Self-Assessment Evaluation Rubric:
Part 1 - Student “provides a complete, specific description of the experience”;
Part 2 - Student “provides a complete and clear association between the experience and the outcome”;
Part 3 - Student reports include “implementation of previously stated ways to improve”;
Part 4 - “Description is both detailed and explicit for all previous ways to improve and specific strategies for improvement”;
Part 5 - Student report “completely/clearly explains a change in behavior, with evidence for all previous ways to improve”;
Part 6 - “Description is both detailed and explicit for all new ways to improve and specific strategies for improvement;”
Part 7 - “All new ways to improve are clearly relevant to the outcome and are clearly distinct.” (Scartabello, Abate, & Slimak, 2018)
Suggested enhancements to current model of data collection on CAEP Standard R4.1a, based on findings from Scartabello, Abate, & Slimak (2018)
McDonald-Miszczak, Maki, & Gould (2000) studied reports by patients of own compliance with prescribed health-care treatments and medications.
Suggested enhancements to current model of data collection on CAEP Standard R4.1a, based on findings from McDonald-Miszczak, Maki, & Gould (2000)
Butterworth (2010) found two key factors in objective self-assessment “are the use of precise standards and the availability of feedback.” Also, Butterworth (2010) reported convergence and reliability of self-assessment scores over time through continual comparisons between trainees and their tutors.
These combined findings from the three articles were used by the present author to develop a proposal for a new framework/model to incorporate self-assessment in teacher preparation programs. The tentative model is defined in terms of six key aspects, under the acronym I-S-U-K-I-F:
Robb Scott retired as a teacher educator and special education expert in 2020 after a cross-cultural career that included middle school, high school, community college, university, and adult-education settings in Ecuador, Kansas, Colorado, New York, Saudi Arabia, and Japan. His most recent book, Teaching Content: Skill-Building in Inclusive Contexts, was published in 2022. He was interviewed on a Leading Equity podcast (https://www.leadingequitycenter.com/249) in summer of 2022, and is currently working on a middle and high school English language arts curriculum project in Colorado. His e-mail is drrobbscott@gmail.com.
Video Presentation from SIDLIT 2022
And truly it demands something godlike in him/her who has cast off the common motives of humanity, and has ventured to trust himself/herself for a taskmaster. High be his/her/their heart, faithful their will, clear his/her sight, that he/she/they may in good earnest be doctrine, society, law, to himself/herself, that a simple purpose may be as strong as iron necessity is to others!-- Ralph Waldo Emerson (Self-Reliance, 1841)
My Premise Regarding CAEP Self-study Data on Completer Effectiveness
The premise for this presentation from SIDLIT 2022 was that current practices in Educator Preparation Programs at Kansas institutions of higher education are insufficient regarding self-study procedures in the area of “completer effectiveness,” a key aspect of the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) 2022 Standards - Initial Programs. In particular, this teacher training proposal pertains to CAEP Standard R4.1a Completer Effectiveness, that is, “The provider demonstrates that program completers effectively contribute to P-12 student-learning growth” (CAEP, 2020).
“The self-study report is a collection of evidence and supporting narrative forming the basis for accreditation review, and the first source of information for the CAEP site team” (CAEP Consolidated Handbook, January, 2020), as part of a seven-year cyclic CAEP accreditation process timeline.
My Antithesis-Thesis Statement
Although the fundamental concept driving the CAEP accreditation process is self-study on the parts of teacher educators and EPP program administrators, there remains a disconnect between those data-mining exercises and the lack of such opportunities for self-study data-analysis afforded to candidates which would enable program completers to build self-assessment skills for greater autonomy, self-reliance, and resilience to continue
growing and adapting to handle unforeseen settings and situations.
Typical Procedures for Collecting Data on CAEP Standard R4.1a
The EPP typically utilizes focus groups to collect evidence for R4.1a. This data collection is described by one program as follows: “EPP will train completer participants on measuring
student-learning growth, using paired samples t-test.”
My Proposal
Let’s reorganize the teacher preparation curriculum to incorporate self-assessment skill-building within key courses as a candidate spirals upwards through a four-year undergraduate program or two or three-year advanced professional programs. Let’s make self-assessment, self-reliance, and resilience major program objectives towards which candidate improvements are measured from baseline data to key benchmarks that must be met along with growth of knowledge, awareness, and skills in other aspects of the teaching profession.
Kansas Educator Preparation Program Standards for Professional Education (KEPPS)
Figure 1: KEPPS Standard 1, Learner Development
Figure 3: KEPPS Standard 3, Learning Environment
Figure 4: KEPPS Standard 4, Content Knowledge
Figure 6: Standard 6, Assessment
Figure 7: KEPPS Standard 7, Planning for Instruction
Figure 8: KEPPS Standard 8, Instructional Strategies
Figure 10: KEPPS Standard 10, Leadership and Collaboration
Preliminary Findings from Three Articles on Self-assessment and Professional Development
The following three articles were examined to discover findings relevant to self-assessment skill development:
Article 1) “Impact of a Portfolio Program on Self-Assessment Skills Involving General Longitudinal Outcome” (Scartabello, Abate, & Slimak, 2018)
Article 2) “Self-Reported Medication Adherence and Health Status in Late Adulthood: The Role of Beliefs” (McDonald-Miszczak, Maki, & Gould, 2000)
Article 3) “Developing Self-Assessment Skills Amongst Doctors in Nepal” (Butterworth, 2010)
Scartabello, Abate, & Slimak (2018) evaluated improvements in self-assessment skills associated with portfolio-based self-reporting by students and scored using a seven-part “Portfolio Self-Assessment Evaluation Rubric:
Part 1 - Student “provides a complete, specific description of the experience”;
Part 2 - Student “provides a complete and clear association between the experience and the outcome”;
Part 3 - Student reports include “implementation of previously stated ways to improve”;
Part 4 - “Description is both detailed and explicit for all previous ways to improve and specific strategies for improvement”;
Part 5 - Student report “completely/clearly explains a change in behavior, with evidence for all previous ways to improve”;
Part 6 - “Description is both detailed and explicit for all new ways to improve and specific strategies for improvement;”
Part 7 - “All new ways to improve are clearly relevant to the outcome and are clearly distinct.” (Scartabello, Abate, & Slimak, 2018)
Suggested enhancements to current model of data collection on CAEP Standard R4.1a, based on findings from Scartabello, Abate, & Slimak (2018)
- Infuse self-reliance throughout teacher preparation program
- Spiral through the 10 KEPPS Standards two full cycles by program completion (1st cycle-Content Knowledge goals; 2nd cycle-Professional Skills goals)Utilize a modified version of Scartabello, Abate, & Slimak’s Rubric to shape each candidate’s 20 self-assessments
- Each KEPPS self-assessment is compared with objective assessment of same raw data by faculty/mentor
McDonald-Miszczak, Maki, & Gould (2000) studied reports by patients of own compliance with prescribed health-care treatments and medications.
[When] older adults are asked to assess their adherence levels, they use their personal belief system rather than conducting retrospective and objective reviews of actual remembering and forgetting episodes….a general assessment of adherence may be much like a general metacognitive assessment (i.e., memory self-efficacy) that draws upon
beliefs about oneself within the domain rather than actual behaviors. (McDonald-Miszczak, Maki, & Gould, 2000)
Suggested enhancements to current model of data collection on CAEP Standard R4.1a, based on findings from McDonald-Miszczak, Maki, & Gould (2000)
- Infuse self-confidence (self-efficacy) training throughout the curriculum
- Program faculty and leadership demonstrate and apply principles of Strengths-Based Supervision in which feedback consistently focuses on positive reinforcement, building rapport and “instilling confidence, fostering independence, and reducing anxiety” (Nichter & Dowda, 2017, p. 318)
- Utilize programmatic self-assessments (20 per candidate on a modified version of Scartabello, Abate, & Slimak’s Rubric) as opportunities for candidates to internalize thought processes supportive of autonomy and internal locus of control
Butterworth (2010) found two key factors in objective self-assessment “are the use of precise standards and the availability of feedback.” Also, Butterworth (2010) reported convergence and reliability of self-assessment scores over time through continual comparisons between trainees and their tutors.
These combined findings from the three articles were used by the present author to develop a proposal for a new framework/model to incorporate self-assessment in teacher preparation programs. The tentative model is defined in terms of six key aspects, under the acronym I-S-U-K-I-F:
- Infuse self-reliance, self-efficacy, and strengths-based supervision throughout teacher preparation program
- Spiral through the 10 KEPPS Standards two full cycles by program completion (1st cycle-Content Knowledge goals;
- 2nd cycle-Professional Skills goals)
- Utilize a modified version of Scartabello, Abate, & Slimak’s Rubric to shape each candidate’s 20 self-assessments on KEPPS Standards
- Each KEPPS self-assessment is compared with objective assessment of same raw data by faculty/mentor, for timely and constructive feedback to build candidate's self-assessment skills
- Utilize these 20 self-assessments as opportunities for candidates to internalize thought processes supportive of autonomy and internal locus of controlFollow up with Teacher Education Program completers so they can both use self-assessment for professional development and as a modality for reporting data for program self-study on CAEP Standard R4.1a -Completer Effectiveness
Shorthand for this ISUKIF model is:
- Infuse self-reliance
- Spiral KEPPS standards
- Utilize self-assessment rubric
- KEPPS assessments converge
- Internal locus of control
- Follow up for CAEP R4.1a data
References
About the Author
Robb Scott retired as a teacher educator and special education expert in 2020 after a cross-cultural career that included middle school, high school, community college, university, and adult-education settings in Ecuador, Kansas, Colorado, New York, Saudi Arabia, and Japan. His most recent book, Teaching Content: Skill-Building in Inclusive Contexts, was published in 2022. He was interviewed on a Leading Equity podcast (https://www.leadingequitycenter.com/249) in summer of 2022, and is currently working on a middle and high school English language arts curriculum project in Colorado. His e-mail is drrobbscott@gmail.com.
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