Teacher Education Program 2013-2014
The Teacher Education program received confirmation that the Inquiry Brief Commission for the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) concluded at its meeting on October 22, 2013 that the evidence presented in the Inquiry Brief for Caldwell University, as verified and evaluated by the Initial Review Panel, merits TEAC Accreditation status for seven years. There are two areas for improvement.
Please follow link to the approval noted by panel October 22, – 23, 2013.
Two areas of improvement include a) improve training of cooperating teachers in the use of student teacher assessment and b) improve the consistency of the validity of assessments of claims.
Program claims:
The College and the Division of Education claim a commitment to preparing teachers, nurses, and curriculum specialists who:
- Demonstrate mastery of the subjects they will be expected to teach;
- Are knowledgeable in the application of instructional and technological strategies that are learner-centered and appropriate to the diverse needs of the students;
- Reflect upon classroom practices as they relate to competent instruction and the caring nature of their teaching.
Grades (Claim 1)
Undergraduate candidates are required to maintain a 3.0 GPA overall, and graduate candidates must have a 3.0 GPA for admission to the program.
The mean subject matter GPA for undergraduates is 3.4 for the 2013 – 2014 academic year.
Graduate candidates in Literacy, Special Education and Curriculum and Instruction Programs are as follows for 2012-2013 academic year:
Literacy: 3.926
Special Education: 3.864
Curriculum and Instruction: 3.897
Evaluations (Claim 1, Claim 2, Claim 3)
Undergraduate candidates are evaluated using the Clinical Competency Inventory (CCI), which is a cross-institutional assessment instrument designed to align with the New Jersey Professional Teaching Standards. Caldwell supervisors are trained to use the instrument and in turn train the cooperating teachers. The Clinical Competency Inventory (CCI) is completed by college supervisors, cooperating teachers and the students themselves each semester during student teaching. The CCI aligns teacher behaviors to the eleven New Jersey Professional Standards of Teaching. This evaluation instrument provides feedback on the progress of student teachers as they complete their student teaching experience. For the 2013 – 2014 academic year, candidates were rated overall as 84% advanced proficient and 16% proficient by their college supervisors, 83% advanced proficient and 12% proficient by their cooperating teachers. Candidates rated themselves as 92% advanced proficient and 6% proficient.
Portfolio (Claim 1, Claim 2, Claim 3)
Undergraduate candidates develop a portfolio during their time in the program that demonstrates their practical mastery of the TEAC and CAEP claims and the New Jersey Standards. Thirty five portfolios were evaluated and all earned an A, indicating skills of proficient or above. The pilot for the rubric had 91% far exceed expectation and 9% exceed expectations and students scored a mean GPA of 3.77.
Lesson/unit plans (Claim 2)
Candidates are assessed on lesson plans and unit plans, with rubrics based on the work of Madeline Hunter and on Wiggins & McTighe, respectively. For the 2013 – 2014 academic year, candidates were rated as follows: On the advanced lesson plan students had a mean score of 2.77 out of 3 (92%).
Praxis (Claim 1)
New Jersey requires passage of the Praxis for all content area licensing. In 2013 -2014, the overall pass rate of Caldwell candidates was 100%.
Reflections (Claim 3)
Reflections are required on the student teaching experience and students are rated on the following criteria: pedagogy, evidence of caring teaching, course content integration and the quality of writing. For the 2013 -2014 academic year, 84% of candidates were rated as far exceeds expectations and 14% were rated exceeded expectations and 1% meets expectations. The mean GPA for this was 3.77.
This reflection and rubric was piloted in the 2014-2015 academic year and will be reviewed.
Surveys (Claim 1, Claim 2, Claim 3)
At the end of each semester, students in student teaching seminar complete a survey about their experiences in the education program. For the 2013 -14 academic year 47 students completed the survey. The survey results indicate that 94% reported that the program prepared them for student teaching, 99% reported that they had adequate field experiences prior to student teaching, and 100% would recommend the program to other students. Faculty review the responses and consider student suggestions for change.
Plans for program improvement
Education Division faculty reviewed the artifacts and the data from the rubrics associated with the artifacts. The pilot rubrics will be analyzed to determine if adjustments need to be added to program to align with any new NJ state regulations or standards.