Learning Outcomes:

Upon completion of the baccalaureate degree, students in the adolescent/young adult teacher education program are expected to:
• Demonstrate competence of subject matter in the content area of specialization;
• Demonstrate competence in the theories and practices of sound pedagogy
• Apply theories of human development and learning to plan, implement and assess daily lessons and units of instruction
• Exhibit professional and ethical behavior when working with students, their parents, other educators and community members.

Annual Report

1. Learning (or Service) Outcomes assessed this year:

? Competence of subject matter in mathematics;
? Competence in the theories and practices of sound pedagogy
? Demonstration of professional and ethical behavior when working with students, their parents, other educators and community members.

2. Assessment Methods and Procedures:

Subject Matter – Praxis II Content Specialty Text (Mathematics Content Knowledge)
? Data from Institution Summary Report (Praxis II) – 100.0% Pass Rate for the 35 students who were program finishers in the 2003-2004 academic year. (The state’s passing rate for the same period was 92.0%.)
? The area in which students performed the highest was Probability and Statistics. This has been the highest performance area for two of the last three years but was also the second highest area in the state and national averages as well.
? The area in which students performed the lowest was Functions and Their Graphs. This was the lowest area of performance for two of the past three years. However, this content area was also the lowest scoring area in both state and national results during the same time period.

Sound Pedagogy – Praxis II – Principles of Learning and Teaching
? The overall passing rate for the P.L.T. examination in 2003-2004 was 84.0%, based on 332 students, program-wide, who took the test. The National passing rate for the same time period was 76.6%.
? No breakdown detail is available for Integrated Mathematics students who took the P.L.T. examination.
? In general, the areas of lowest performance were in students as learners and in communication techniques.
? In general, the areas of highest performance on the P.L.T. examination were in the areas of instruction and assessment and in teacher professionalism.

Professional and Ethical Behavior
? 95% of the student teachers in the spring of 2004 scored a 4.0 or higher on a 5-point scale in the area of Professionalism, as measured on the Student Teaching Final Evaluation.

3. Inferences from Assessments:

Subject Matter
? On the subtest including Arithmetic/basic algebra/geometry/trigonometry/analytic geometry, BGSU students scored higher than the national average but slightly lower than the state average. In the area of Functions and their graphs/calculus, BGSU students outperformed others at both the state and national levels. On the subtest including probability/statistics/discrete math/linear algebra/computer science/modeling/proofs, BGSU students outperformed others at both the state and national levels. So, while “functions” was the lowest content area for BGSU, test scores even in this area were still higher than state and national levels.
? Mathematical preparation of students in the AYA Integrated Mathematics program continues to be strong.

Sound Pedagogy
? Since the Praxis II P.L.T. results are lumped together for all programs, no direct conclusions can be drawn specific to Integrated Mathematics students. Data are not provided to program area coordinators that would enable us to make appropriate instructional decisions regarding appropriate coursework, instructional practices, practicum experiences, etc. Any decisions made to change the program would be shortsighted since about one-third of the scores are reflective of graduate student performance and, of the remaining undergraduate scores, at least 25% of them are not related to the Integrated Math, Integrated Science, Integrated Social Studies, Integrated Language Arts, Life Science, or Physical Science programs.
? In general, our AYA students’ performances on the P.L.T. examination were roughly the same as the state level performance and equal to or higher than the national results in all areas. In the area of students as learners: development, diverse learners, motivation, environment, BGSU students scored lower than the state average and equal to the national average.
? In a general way, the results do suggest that students in our program need a more intense study of learning psychology (including the study of child development, diversity of learning styles, and motivation). One might speculate that, since most Integrated Mathematics majors take the educational psychology course in their sophomore year, the two-year delay between this course and taking the P.L.T. examination may account for some of the difficulties. However, other avenues of addressing the student as a learner need to be explored and infused in the program.

Professional and Ethical Behavior
? As seen in the Student Teaching Final Evaluations, Integrated Mathematics students are performing very well in this area.

4. Actions Taken/Program Improvements:

Subject Matter
? Beginning in February of 2005, BGSU has developed a one-day test preparation workshop for students taking the Mathematics Content Praxis II examination. This workshop was highly successful, and the plan is to offer it again in the fall and then twice per academic year thereafter. The program is funded by students paying a fee, as well as the School of Teaching and Learning and the College of Education and Human Development subsidizing the cost.
? Recognizing that students need to continue to sharpen their basic algebra, trigonometry, and geometry skills, a new sophomore-level course is under discussion with the Department of Mathematics and Statistics. Tentatively numbered as MATH 280, this course would review and extend basic ideas of high school mathematics to more adequately prepare teachers in the content area, both for teaching and for performance on the Praxis II Content examination.

Sound Pedagogy
? We continue to anticipate changes being made in the reporting of Praxis II P.L.T. results so that adjustments can be made specific to the needs of AYA Integrated Mathematics majors.
? Three new key assessments that measure the students’ ability to effectively (a) plan a lesson, (b) assess student progress, and (c) implement the appropriate use of technology in teaching have been developed and will be used for gathering and analyzing data for this report in the future.

Professional and Ethical Behavior
? A new key assessment has been developed to measure students’ dispositions in the teaching and learning of mathematics. Data from this assessment will be used to generate this report in the future.
? No other changes are planned at this time.