Borrowed generously from Jim Wyckoff (October 10, 2010). Using Longitudinal Data Systems for Program Improvement, Accountability, and Research. University of Virginia
Why Assessment?
Assessment is a culture of continuous improvement that parallels the School’s focus on scholarship and research. It ensures candidate performance, program effectiveness, and unit efficiency.
Overview
Program Improvement:
By following candidates and graduates both during their programs and over time after graduation, programs can learn a great deal about their programs
Accountability:
Value-added analysis of teacher/student data in longitudinal databases is one measure of program accountability
Research:
A systematic program of experimentally designed research can provide important insights in how to improve candidate preparation
Jim Wyckoff, 2010
Program Improvement Some Questions
Who are our program completers—age, ethnicity, areas of certification?
What characterizes the preparation they receive?
How well do they perform on measures of qualifications, e.g., licensure exams?
Where do our program completers teach/work? What is their attrition?—are they meeting program goals and mission?
How effective are they in their teaching/work? Ultimate impact!
Accountability What Constitutes Effective Teacher Preparation?
Programs work with school districts to meet the teaching needs of the schools where their teachers are typically placed
Programs are judged by the empirically documented effectiveness of their graduates in improving the outcomes of the students they teach
Retention plays a role in program effectiveness as teachers substantially improve in quality over the first few years of their careers.
Research How Can Programs Add Value?
Selection: Who enters, how does that matter, and how can we influence it?
Preparation: What preparation content makes a difference?
Timing: Does it matter when teachers receive specific aspects of preparation?
Retention: Why is retention important to program value added and what can affect it?
