Student Achievement Assessment Committee

Learning Outcomes:

1. Apply theories of human development and learning to their teaching through the

design of lessons and units of instruction.

2. Plan, implement and assess instructional strategies.

3. 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:

We assessed how students met learning outcomes 2 and 3.

2. Assessment Methods and Procedures:

Several methods were used to assess the outcomes. Student teaching is the capstone experience in the middle childhood program. We looked at the final evaluation reports completed by the cooperating teachers and the student teacher supervisors. We also looked at student surveys collected by the Office of Research and Field Experiences. Additionally we looked at the PRAXIS II scores for the Principles of Teaching — Grades 5-9. This test is taken in the senior year and reflects what the students have learned in the program.

3. Inferences from Assessments:

For the most part the data indicate that we are meeting our learning outcomes. The final evaluations demonstrate that the majority of students are performing at the exemplary or good level by the time they reach student teaching. The PRAXIS II scores indicate that our students are performing at or above national and state levels in most categories.

The data from the three different measures are summarized below.

1. The rubric used for the student teaching has 4 categories, Domain Organizing Content Knowledge for Student Learning, Domain B — Creating an Environment for Student Learning, Domain C — Teaching for Student Learning, and Domain D — Teaching Professionalism. Students are rated on a scale from 5-1 with 5 being exemplary and 1 unacceptable. The table below summarizes the results. The percentage of students in each score level is provided.

2. The PRAXIS report supplied by the Educational Testing Service also provided information about how students met the learning outcomes. All students in the middle childhood program take Principles of Teaching and Learning — Grades 5-9. The results for the testing period 9/02-8/03 are summarized in chart comparing BGSU average percent correct responses to national and state measures. The chart is reproduced below.

3. Graduating seniors were asked to complete a survey asking them to state what suggestions could be made to improve the program. The overwhelming response to the question was to introduce earlier field experiences.

4. Actions Taken/Program Improvements:

Several steps are being taken to improve the middle school program based on the data. First of all a sophomore level field experience was added to program last year due to student feedback. We are continuing to look for other ways to introduce more fieldwork into the program.

We do not think the overall scores on the PRAXIS test are as high as they should be so we are looking at ways to better prepare students. One recent decision is to no longer accept course substitutes for EDFI 303, Education Psychology of Young Adolescents. Until recently, students who had changed their majors were able to course sub another more general educational psychology course. The instructors of the EDFI 303 believe it is critical for students to take the more specific course to prepare them for the specific learner needs of middle school students. Therefore this is now the policy of the program.