Candidate Measures of Success

Grace College School of Education program completers effectively contribute to the learning growth of P-12 students. This learning growth is demonstrated through the School of Education’s Action Research Case Study, and through NWEA student-growth data as well as the kindergarten & 1^st grade student growth data provided by Warsaw Community Schools, a partner school district.  Further, Grace completers are able to apply within P-12 classrooms the professional knowledge, skills and dispositions that the preparation experiences were designed to achieve as demonstrated through Indiana’s Principal Surveys and Teacher Surveys.

*The term “completer” within the context of Impact Data refers to a candidate who successfully satisfied all program requirements of a preparation program at least six months previously and who is employed in a position for which they were prepared for state licensure.

MEASURE 1a. COMPLETER IMPACT CONTRIBUTING TO P-12 STUDENT-LEARNING GROWTH

ACTION RESEARCH PROJECT:

Gathering student impact data has been a challenge for Indiana Educator Preparation Programs (EPPs). Given the state of Indiana does not provide to EPPs the student test data connected to specific teachers, it falls on the EPP to generate meaningful data in order to demonstrate the effectiveness of individual completers’ instruction on P-12 student learning and development. In response to this need for impact data, the EPP developed an action research project in which program completers who are in their first, second or third year of in-service teaching would complete a Professional Teacher Work Sample (PTWS).  The PTWS Project is based on a modified version of the undergraduate Teacher Work Sample project and is executed annually by a new cohort of professional teachers (program completers) at differing grade levels, school districts, and content areas. The PTWS is then presented to the cadre of participants as well as School of Education faculty and student-growth data is highlighted. The assessment employs a range of strategies, and professional teachers provide credible evidence of their ability to facilitate learning-growth for all students.

In the PTWS, participating teachers employ a range of strategies and build on each student’s strengths, needs, and prior experiences. Participants provide evidence of their ability to facilitate learning and document student progress throughout a unit of study aligned to state standards. PTWS participants systematically plan, document and analyze student learning, and reflect on practice to produce student-learning growth.

A sample of 13 (total) completers were evaluated over the course of three applications of the PTWS. Data for spring 2021 (n=4), spring 2022 (n=5), and spring 2023 (n=4) participants demonstrate that professional teachers who have been prepared by Grace School of Education have the knowledge and skills to improve student-learning growth. Across all applications, completers’ ability to link contextual factors and research-based strategies to produce significant student-learning growth is illustrated by all participants scoring at or above target in all categories.

(See link to PTWS assessment and data for more information)

NORTHWEST EVALUATION ASSESSMENT (NWEA) GROWTH DATA:

Warsaw Community Schools (WCS) is a partner school district that employs on average 25-40% of Grace School of Education graduates each year. WCS teachers implement NWEA MAP Growth assessments for obtaining an accurate measure of student growth and proficiency through NWEA’s RIT (Rasch Unit scale) scale. RIT scales are stable, equal interval scales that use individual item difficulty values to measure student achievement independent of grade level (across grades). RIT scores allow teachers to identify students’ missing skills, connect instructional resources with student instructional needs, track student growth over time, differentiate instruction, plan effectively, and set student growth goals. In NWEA’s norm, approximately 50% of students meet or exceed their growth projection.

Through a sampling of sixteen Grace completers’ student-growth data (completers who are within three years of graduation and employed in various grade levels and subject areas throughout WCS), Grace School of Education demonstrates a positive impact on student learning. In 63 of 96 data-point instances (63%), as seen in the tables below, the students of Grace completers met or exceeded their expected growth levels and NWEA’s norm of 50% (combined).

*Growth scores include the number of students meeting predicted NWEA MAP Growth scores throughout the school year and fall within the margin of error.

KINDERGARTEN & FIRST GRADE GROWTH DATA:

WCS teachers of kindergarten students measure student growth through letter sound (LS) and high frequency words (HFW) assessments. WCS teachers of first grade students measure student growth through letter and sound knowledge to decode (LSKD), through blend sounds (BS), and through identifying and producing sounds in words (IPSW).

When considering a sampling of seven Grace alumni K-1^st grade classrooms and the percentage of their students who met expected levels of proficiency, Grace College School of Education demonstrates a positive impact on student learning.

Teachers Q-S outperformed district averages in 2 out of 6 data points. Teachers T-W matched or outperformed the district proficiency levels in 8 out of 12 data points. The sampling of Grace completers’ student-proficiency data is shown in the following data tables:

KINDERGARTEN GROWTH

Letter Sound Fluency: Students are asked to produce the sound for each of the 26 letters.
Decoding Words: When given a word, students must state the word.

FIRST GRADE GROWTH

Letter Sound Knowledge to Decode: When given a word, students sound it out appropriately.
Blend Sounds: When given four sounds, students blend the sounds into one word.
Identifying and Producing Sounds in Words: When given a word, students will repeat the word by saying the beginning, middle, and last sound heard.

MEASURE 1b: COMPLETER EFFECTIVENESS IN APPLYING PROFESSIONAL KNOWLEDGE, SKILLS, AND DISPOSITIONS

PRINCIPAL SURVEY:

The Indiana Principal Survey of New Teachers addresses Knowledge Preparation, Pedagogical Preparation, and Professional Disposition of Initial Practitioners. The survey consists of 20 elements that reflect both national professional standards (Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation) and model standards for beginning teacher licensing and the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC). The Principal Survey is an opportunity for principals to assess the quality of instruction by an Indiana teacher preparation program for teachers who received his/her first Indiana teaching license in the previous two (2) years.

Principals rate how well a new teacher was prepared for service by selecting one of the following four statements:  Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree or Strongly Agree.  Results are as follows:

• For the 2023 Principal Survey, fewer than 10 Grace completers were assessed and so no Principal Survey data was available in the 2023 report.
• According to the 2022 Principal Survey, 86 -100% of the principals assessing the preparation of Grace School of Education completers (n=14) Agreedor Strongly Agreed with each of the performance statements, affirming Grace School of Education did an outstanding job of preparing teachers in areas of Content Knowledge, Pedagogical Preparation and Professional Disposition. An Overall Assessment statement is included at the end of the Principal Survey and asks how satisfied the principal was with the training the teacher received from the EPP. In the 2022 Principal Survey, 93% of principals indicated they were Satisfied or Very Satisfied. One principal indicated dissatisfaction in the teacher’s training.
• The 2021 Principal Survey showed 19 principals reporting. In 18 of the 20 knowledge, disposition, and performance statements, principals agreed or strongly agreed that completers were well prepared. One principal disagreed with two statements in the pedagogical preparation category.  In the overall assessment all principals were either satisfied (n=9) or very satisfied (n=10) with the training their teachers received from Grace School of Education.
• For the 2020 Principal Survey, fewer than 10 Grace completers were assessed and so no Principal Survey data was available in the 2020 report.

In all items surveyed, new teachers (graduates of Grace School of Education) consistently score highest in areas of ethical practice and working effectively with stakeholders (teachers, parents/guardians, administration), demonstrating that they have been impacted by the School of Education’s conceptual framework.

TEACHER SURVEY:

The Indiana Teacher Survey addresses Knowledge Preparation, Pedagogical Preparation, and Professional Disposition of first- and second-year in-service Initial Practitioners (similar to the Principal Survey of New Teachers).  The survey consists of 21 elements that reflect both national professional standards (Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation) and model standards for beginning teacher licensing and the Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (INTASC).  The Teacher Survey is an opportunity for teachers to assess the quality of instruction by their Indiana teacher preparation program.

Teachers respond to 21 items regarding how well the new teacher was prepared for service by selecting one of the following four statements:  Strongly Disagree, Disagree, Agree or Strongly Agree.  Teachers are also asked to give an Overall Assessment rating of how well they were prepared to teach by the EPP by selecting either “Poor”, “Fair”, “Good”, or “Excellent.”  Results are as follows:

• For the 2023 Principal Survey, fewer than 10 Grace completers were assessed and so no Principal Survey data was available in the 2023 report.
• According to the 2022 Teacher Survey in which the 2020-2021 Initial Practitioners were asked to rate the preparation provided to them by Grace School of Education (n=11), 100% Agreedor Strongly Agreed that Grace prepared them in areas of Knowledge Preparation, Pedagogical Preparation, and Professional Disposition. In the Overall Assessment statement, 100% (n=14) of teachers indicated Grace School of Education did a Good or Excellent job in preparing them to teach.
• Of the 2019-2020 Grace School of Education completers participating in the 2021 Teacher Survey (n=22), 95-100% Agreedor Strongly Agreed that Grace prepared them in areas of Knowledge Preparation, Pedagogical Preparation, and Professional Disposition. In the Overall Assessment statement, 95% (n=21) of teachers indicated Grace School of Education did a Good or Excellent job, while 5% (n=1) indicated Grace did a Fair job in preparing them to teach.  No completers rated Grace in the “Poor” category.
• According to the 2020 Teacher Survey in which the 2018-2019 Initial Practitioners were asked to rate the preparation provided to them by Grace School of Education (n=16), 100% Agreedor Strongly Agreed that Grace prepared them in areas of Knowledge Preparation, while 94-100% Agreed or Strongly Agreed that they were well prepared in areas of Pedagogical Preparation. In the Overall Assessment statement, 94% (n=15) of teachers indicated Grace School of Education did a Good or Excellent job, while 6% (n=1) indicated Grace did a Fair job in preparing them to teach.  No completers rated Grace in the “Poor” category.

In the two applications of the Teacher Survey in which data was available, items relating to ethical practice were rated among the highest in EPP performance, suggesting Grace College School of Education completers were in sync with principal ratings and illustrate their preparation is both relative and current, especially as relates to ethical practice in the workplace.

Link to PTWS

Link to Principal Survey

Link to Teacher Survey

ANNUAL RISE EVALUATION SYSTEM:

Indiana P-12 School corporations participating in the annual RISE evaluation system assess teachers on areas of Professional Practice and Student Learning. Teachers receive a rating at the end of the school year in one of four performance levels:  Highly Effective, Effective, Needs Improvement, or Ineffective. The Indiana Department of Education provides an annual Effectiveness Ratings Matrix (ERM) to EPPs regarding completers who are in their first, second or third year of in-service.

Ratings are as follows:

• According to the 2023 ERM, 100% of assessed Grace completers (n=32) were rated as Effective (81%) or Highly Effective(19%).
• The 2022 ERM indicated 100% of assessed Grace completers (n=11) were rated as Effective(82%) or Highly Effective (18%).
• In the 2021 ERM, 100% of assessed Grace completers (n=10) were rated as Effective(90%) or Highly Effective (10%).

These ratings demonstrate that Grace College School of Education program completers are well qualified to teach in the area(s) for which they have been prepared.

Link to Teacher Effectiveness Ratings

In order to ensure candidates have met program completion requirements, the EPP has identified the overall GPA as the final measure of competency at completion.  All candidates must achieve an overall GPA of 2.5 as a graduation requirement. In addition to individual GPA monitoring, the EPP is responsible to demonstrate each graduating cohort has attained a grade point average of 3.0 or higher as required by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP, the professional accrediting organization of Grace College School of Education).

The Praxis Content and Pedagogy licensure tests measure knowledge of specific subjects that K-12 educators will teach, as well as general and subject specific teaching skills and knowledge. Individuals entering the teaching profession take the Praxis Subject Tests as part of the teacher licensing and certification process required by Indiana.

Before the start of the professional internship semester, candidates are required to attempt the appropriate developmental and content assessments aligned to their program of study and grade level in which they plan to teach. While candidates are expected to take the assessments, a passing score is not required for degree attainment (a passing score, however, is required for initial licensure). The assessment attempt prior to the student teaching experience allows the EPP the opportunity to assist with remediation of content and/or pedagogical knowledge prior to program completion if the candidate does not pass licensure assessments at first attempt.

The table below shows, in corresponding years, a snapshot of candidate competency at completion.

* <10 indicates fewer than 10 completers during a reporting cycle. 

**Aggregate pass rate for secondary education programs; For more information regarding this report or to receive specific secondary education passage rates, contact the Grace College School of Education.

Link to Praxis Licensure Exams

Link to Title II Report (2023)

Grace College Center for Career Connections conducted a First Destinations Survey of 2021-2022 Grace College graduates. Of the 25 survey responders who identified themselves as School of Education completers, 100% were successful in their “first destination” with 24 of 25 completers employed in full-time positions and 1 completer pursuing graduate studies.

The School of Education collects ongoing employment data on graduates through surveys, personal contact, and social media. Of the thirty-six 2021-2022 completers, 33 (92%) have been licensed either with the Indiana Department of Education or the Department of Education of their home state. Most 2021-2022 completers (94%) are working within their field of study with 31 of 36 completers (86%) teaching full-time in P-12 schools, 3 completers (8%) working as support staff, 1 completer (3%) pursuing further education, and 1 completer (3%) pursuing alternate employment

Results from the First Destination Survey as well as ongoing School of Education data collection demonstrate Grace School of Education successfully prepares teachers to be hired in the positions for which they have been prepared.

Link to 2023 First Destinations Report