P12 Student Learning Under the Tutelage of Clinical Practice Candidates

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P-12 Student Learning Under the Tutelage of
Clinical Practice Candidates

• The University of Portland
• Thomas Greene
• Jacqueline Waggoner

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Objectives

• Understand more about one institutions approach
  to monitoring P-12 student learning.
• Identify some of the challenges and limitations
  in attempting to monitor P-12 student learning.
• Identify some of the benefits in monitoring P-12
  student learning.

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the work sample is not for the university, the
cooperating teacher, or the supervisor, but for
the students in your classroom and you.UP
student teacher
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The Oregon Work Sample

• Required by law
• One for each level of authorization (ECE, ELEM,
  MS, HS)
• 10 lessons of at least two weeks duration
• Other elementsdemographics, focused on Oregon
  Standards, candidate designed, implemented, and
  taught, pre and post assessment, individual
  student progress tracked and reported

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Additional University Program Requirements

• Reflection essay on each lesson
• Reflection essay on the entire work sample
• Video documentation
• 20 observations over the clinical practice year
• Tracking NCLB-like categories on individual
  students
• Variety of instructional methods and formative
  and summative assessment practices appropriate
  for the development of the students

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How it looks for an individual candidate..

• and our candidates students. . .

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Work Sample
This is a high school Language Arts Work Sample
focused on the novel, The Secret Life of Bees.
The Title I school has an AYP designation of
Not Met for the All Students category in
Language Arts. The student teacher is a Master
of Arts in Teaching candidate.
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The Work Sample in Action

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Observations by Cooperating Teachers and
University Supervisors

• US Observation
• MK, you have learned to articulate high
  expectations and to allow some flexibility in how
  each student arrives at completion of the
  assignment.

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Observations by Cooperating Teachers and
University Supervisors

• CT Observations
• MK has earned the respect and trust of the
  students. Directions for the activity were clear
  and included goals and assessment points.
  Assessment included packet collection and student
  polling.

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Work Sample Results

• 21/24 (87) students demonstrated growth between
  pre and post assessment.
• All the ELL, African American/Black,
  Asian/Pacific Islander, and Hispanic students
  demonstrated growth
• Pre and post assessment were student- constructed
  responses targeted at knowledge, reasoning, and
  product levels.

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Work Sample Assessments Included

• Formative assessments in the form of packet
  check-in dates, and chapter quizzes.
• Quiz results show learning is occurring
• Packets check-in dates helped many students be
  successful
• Homework completion rate before student teacher
  20
• After candidate employed packets, expectations,
  and reinforcements 80
• (data from the university supervisor)

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Work Sample Results (cont.)
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Reflection on the Work

• While I recognize and respect the uniqueness of
  each student, I do not always know the best way
  to help them be successfulthroughout the program
  I have developed strategies to make learning more
  accessible. MK

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Reflection on the Work

• It was a challenge initially to balance
  structure and flexibility, content and
  instruction for all studentsI realized early on
  in my student teaching that what I teach does not
  supersede how I teach. These concomitant skills
  must complement and support one another for me to
  be an effective educator. MK

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Reflection on the Work

• Believing every student had the potential to be
  successful was a guiding force in my student
  teaching. The goals I set for myself as an
  educator and for my students as diverse learners
  united the knowledge and theoretical foundations
  built at the University of Portland. I am an
  advocate for my students and an educational
  leader in thought, word and action. MK

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Looking at Work Sample Results Collectively and
the Impact on P-12 Student Learning
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Overview of the Study

• About the University
• Study Questions
• About the Study
• Participants
• Context and Methods
• Results and Implications
• Limitations, Challenges, and Benefits

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About the University

• Private Catholic Institution
• 3000 students
• NCATE Accredited School of Education
• 4 year undergraduate teacher education
• 5th Year/MAT graduate teacher education

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Study Questions

• Do our candidates promote student growth?
• Do our candidates promote growth in all students?
  At all grade levels?
• Across candidates, are varied instructional
  approaches used to promote student growth?
• Do candidates use various assessment practices to
  capture student growth?

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Study Participants

• 88 candidates
• 32 Undergraduate candidates
• 56 Graduate candidates
• 1907 P-12 students
• 275 ESL
• 163 TAG
• 180 SPED

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More about the Study Participants.

• Race and Ethnicities of the 1907 students
• 8 Asian/ Pacific Islander
• Less than 1 American Indian/Alaskan
• 7 Black/African American
• 13 Hispanic
• 64 White
• 8 Unknown

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More about the Study Participants.

• Grade Levels Collapsed in Authorization Levels
• ECE 35
• ELEM 32
• MS 3
• HS 30

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Study Context and Methodology

• 88 work samples created and taught in spring
  semester 2006 during 15 weeks of full-time
  student teaching
• Distribution of P-12 Students by Discipline
  Taught in these Work Samples
• Science 26
• Social Science 24
• World Languages 1
• Health and PE 4
• Language Arts 24
• Math 21

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Study Context and Methodology

• 1/3 of the students were in Title 1 Schools
• Candidates submitted a summary report on the work
  sample including grade level, subject matter,
  common curriculum objectives, types of
  assessments, types of instruction, and student
  performance data

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RESULTS

• the 88 candidates and their students collectively

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Do our candidates promote student growth?

• 92 of the P-12 students in the study made
  academic growth

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Do our candidates promote growth in all students
?

• 89 of IDEA/SPED students made academic progress
• 89 of ELL students made academic progress
• 92 of TAG students made academic progress
• 92 of the students in Title One Schools made
  academic progress

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Do our candidates promote growth in all students ?

• Percentage of Students Making Growth by Race and
  Ethnicity
• 92 of Asian/Pacific Islander
• 93 of African American/Black
• 90 of Hispanic
• 100 of American Indian/Alaskan
• 92 of White
• 93 of Unknown

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Do our candidates promote growth in all students ?

• Students Making Growth by Level of Authorization
• ECE 89
• ELEM 93
• MS 92
• HS 95

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Instructional Approaches

• Three instructional approaches
• Teacher-centered (e.g. presentation, lecture,
  guided practice)
• Student-centered (e.g. cooperative learning,
  Think-Pair-Share, experiments, learning centers)
• Project-centered (e.g. independent research,
  poster boards, portfolios)
• More than 90 of students achieved growth across
  all instructional strategies.

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Instructional Approaches

• Percent of Students Experiencing Selected
  Instructional Approaches
• Teacher-centered 27
• Teacher-student centered 6
• Student-centered 62
• Student-project centered 1
• Project-centered 4

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Do candidates use various assessment practices to
capture student growth?

• 100 of the teacher candidates reported using
  more than one form of assessment.
• Achievement Targets
• Know
• Reason
• Performance Skills
• Products
• Dispositions

Assessment Methods Selected/Fixed
Response Student Constructed/Essay Performance
Assessment Personal Communication Adapted from
Richard J. Stiggins, Student Involved Assessment
FOR Learning, 2005.
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Varied Assessment Practices

• The most frequently used forms of summative
  assessment were
• 1. Selected fixed-choice response at the
  knowledge level
• 2. Student-constructed response at the knowledge
  level
• 3. Student-constructed response at the reasoning
  level

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Observation and Reflection

• Over 1780 observations of the 88 candidatesdata
  still under analysis
• Reflections of the 88 students reveal these early
  dominate trends
• Differentiation is challenging
• Relationship, including classroom and school
  climate, is critical
• Lifelong learning is essential to maintaining
  effective practice

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Implications

• What do these data suggest for program
  improvement?
• -While roughly 92 of the students in the study
  made growth, 8 of students did not progress.
  Why?
• -Are varied assessments and instructional
  approaches varied enough?
• - Why greater percentage of students
  demonstrated growth in HS than ECE?

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Limitations

• The assessment practices in the Work Sample vary
  widely, therefore measures of growth are not
  consistent across samples.
• The information is self-reported, although it is
  consistent with the Work Sample P-12 student
  performance data.
• Terms for instructional and assessment practices
  could be misunderstood by candidates.
• Binary assignment of growth

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Some challenges in attempting to monitor P-12
student learning.

• In attempting to secure more quantitative
  information, will assessment practices become too
  narrow? Will best practice in assessment be
  redefined?
• Work sample design and quality is compromised by
  curriculum, instructional and assessment
  limitations in some schools.
• How do teacher education units create a culture
  of best practice regarding assessment, yet gather
  manageable data for meaningful use in program
  improvement?

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Benefits of monitoring P-12 student learning

• Benefits for P-12 Students
• Candidates provide their students with clear and
  appropriate learning targets
• Candidates formative and summative assessments
  inform instruction for the benefit of students
• Benefits for Candidates
• Creates a climate of clear expectations,
  accountability and inquiry for candidates
• Helps candidates develop a sense of efficacy
• Benefits to Parents
• Helps parents recognize their childrens academic
  growth while building the credibility of the
  candidate

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Benefits (cont.)

• Benefits to the School/Principal
• Accountability for P-12 student learning enhances
  relationship between school and university
• Unintended staff development for P-12 teachers
• Benefits to the Unit
• Documents value added by teacher education
  programs
• A consistent element in all Oregon teacher
  education programs that facilitates dialog, such
  as OCRI.
• Using an assessment practice directly related to
  authentic teacher work

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• In Oregon
• and at the
• University of Portland,
• its about student learning.

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It is all about assessment!
Which means

• Lyrics and Performance by Michael Connolly, Ph.D.
• Chair, Performing and Fine Arts Department
• The University of Portland

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Comments? Questions?

• Thank you and have a great day.