Assessment of Candidate Competence

The definitions of good teaching that are framed by standards and the new expectations that are used to verify the competence of candidates on all standards in a much different way than in the past have directed us to create several new assessment practices. These assessments fall into four categories by purpose:

  1. Summative assessments at "gates" or junctures in preparation to help verify and celebrate preparedness and to limit access to those who lack the skills or commitment to move on. Our gates occur at enrollment, admission, admission to student teaching (the culminating experience in preservice teacher education), and program completion. We inform students very early about the technical standards of the profession and of the program - the minimum capabilities necessary to succeed. This clarifies decisions (our decisions and the candidates' self-assessments prior to admission) and provides opportunities for students with disabilities or other unique needs to prepare accommodation plans and techniques to strengthen their performance and their application to the program. We thoroughly learn about students at each of these junctures and provide detailed feedback to them about their own strengths and weaknesses and methods to improve. We employ a multifaceted approach to select a specified number of candidates to admit each semester. In addition we rigorously review candidate quality at program end. Please see attached documents 1, 2, 3, and 4.
  2. Formative assessments across the program to assure candidates have every opportunity to learn as they evolve into professional educators. These assessments must focus on academic issues, professional behavior and disposition issues, and the reflective abilities of teacher candidates (the abilities to learn from experience, carefully determine instructional responses, anticipate learning problems, etc.). We monitor our students through advising, regular informal reviews of candidates by program faculty and staff, formal referral and intervention procedures, end-conferencing and portfolio analysis, and self-assessment practices. These assessments focus on the standards and on our program emphases as described in the conceptual framework and the specific teachings of the program. Please see attached documents 5, 6, 7, and 4.
  3. Assessment of candidates on standards to inform teaching and learning and to certify competence. Program-specific assessments assist students and faculty to determine and document competence. State-mandated standardized tests provide norm-referenced data regarding the skills and knowledge of teacher candidates. In addition to the purposes for these assessments that help individual candidates to learn and grow, the integrity of these course- and program-embedded assessments as well as the performance of candidates on standardized assessments also serve to provide information to those conducting teacher education program evaluation. Assessment strategies include course-embedded assessments, stranded field experience observational assessment tools, portfolios which are organized by standards and require candidates to "evidence" their performance on those standards, PreProfessional Skills Test (PPST), Praxis II tests of general pedagogical knowledge and disciplinary knowledge, analyses of candidates' characteristics, and surveys of graduates and their hiring principals. 
  4. Assessment of the program and the candidates by assessing the performance of the students of our student teachers and the students of our graduates. This form of assessment feels very new but is rapidly approaching as an expectation. Models are emerging for doing this well (cleanly). One model that we are studying from Western Oregon involves something similar to a graduation rule performance package with: 1) pre- and post assessments that can be compared, and 2) focused teacher reflection to identify and analyze the teaching practices that resulted in the student learning. We are including the request for data (student learning evidence to support the claims that Gustavus graduates are uniquely strong teachers) in our graduate survey. We also will be seeking funds to support action research of graduates as they work to evidence their teaching accomplishments in the form of K-12 student learning.

We also plan to consider another system involving the application of "Curriculum-Based Assessment" concepts (repeated probes of student capability either using "sampling" probes or direct measures of performance) and a time-series analysis that identifies the degree and timing of improvement. Improvement corresponding with teaching and reflective analysis of growth allow the educator to understand what learning is able to be attributed to teaching.

Admission Process Appeals

In the event that a student is denied admission to the program by the Gustavus department of Education, and is subsequently unsuccessful in appealing the decision within the department, the student may appeal to the Academic Dean, who will ask for a written statement from both the student and the department prior to rendering a decision. The Dean's decision will be final.

Licensure Recommendation Appeals

In the event that a graduating student is not recommended for licensure by the Gustavus department of Education, the student may appeal to the Academic Dean, who will ask for a written statement from both the student and the department prior to rendering a decision. The Dean's decision will be final. The student may appeal an institutional decision to the Minnesota Board of Teaching (MN Statute 122A.09, Subdivision 4c).