ECU ASSESSMENT REPORT - Version 2. COE Program - Counselor Education (MS)

Transcription

1 ECU ASSESSMENT REPORT - Version 2 Department: Counselor and Adult Education Program Purpose - Unit Mission: In accordance with the American Counseling Association s consensus definition of counseling, the Counselor Education program prepares graduate students to establish and maintain professional relationships that empower diverse individuals, families, and groups to accomplish mental health, wellness, and career goals. In accordance with the ECU Mission Statement, the Counselor Education program: Utilizes innovative learning strategies, contemporary technology and multifaceted course delivery modalities to maximize access for a diverse student population; Provides curricular experiences designed to prepare counselors for successful professional practice in a global, culturally diverse society; Integrates leadership development opportunities and reflection on the importance of leadership for social justice throughout the curriculum and professional development opportunities provided to students; Encourages faculty-student research partnerships and scholarly pursuits in an effort to support the discovery of new knowledge and counseling innovations; Promotes wellness and works to reduce health disparities through education for counselors, local community partners, and the region; and, Promotes wellness and works to reduce health disparities through faculty research and the dissemination of scholarship. Outcome Evidence of Planning Candidates completing the MS in Counselor Education with a concentration in School Counseling should demonstrate an understanding of content material related to working effectively in a school setting. Outcome Types: Student Learning Outcome Start Date: 08/01/2008 Outcome Status: Currently Being Assessed Praxis II 07/27/2009 Criterion for : Ninety percent of candidates who take the Praxis II exam (required for school licensing) should pass the exam based on the standardized scoring. Candidates pursuing school licensure take this exam at the end of their studies. All candidates completing the degree with a professional specialization in School Counseling must take this exam and licensure is not granted without a passing score. Reporting Actions Taken: Faculty examined the uniqueness of the school counseling professional specialization (as compared to the other two professional specializations) and decided that the Praxis II exam was an effective measure of students' knowledge of material related to counseling in a school setting. Faculty discussed that students are typically prepared for this exam through coursework focusing their counseling within a school setting (i.e., COAD 6406). Faculty agreed that using clinical experience courses (i.e., COAD 6482, 6991 & 6992) as a place to further allow students to focus on counseling in school settings would give students additional opportunities to reflect and use content specific to school counseling, therefore better preparing them for the exam. 2. Results: During the AY , 100% of students (N=15) taking the Praxis II exam successfully passed the exam based on the standardized scoring. Year Program faculty will take the following curricular action in AY Counselor Education faculty will meet to identify potential courses/assignments that provide opportunities for students to relate the work specifically to a school counseling setting. Faculty believe that this will improve student learning because based on professional judgment, opportunities to apply knowledge specific to school counseling settings will better prepare students to perform well on this standardized exam. 3. Analysis of Results: While the Criterion for was met, faculty have decided that identifying 06/17/2014 Tomorrow Starts Here. Page 1 of 11

2 Evidence of Planning Outcome opportunities for students to incorporate discussions of counseling within their own unique settings (i.e., school counseling) across the curriculum will need to be targeted for improvement next year. Year Reporting Twenty-four out of 24 candidates (100%) who took the Praxis II during the assessment period passed the exam. Counseling faculty met and reviewed the Praxis II results of candidates who took the exam during the AY The faculty decided to continue to use successful completion of the Praxis II as a criterion for success. Faculty expressed that the Praxis II is a good measure of content knowledge for candidates pursuing school licensure. To improve student learning, faculty agreed to examine the student scores for each of the 4 content areas of the Praxis to determine if they scored weaker in certain areas. Based on this examination, if students scored weaker in one area, faculty decided they would enhance/increase instruction in that/those particular area(s) within the School Counseling course (COAD 6406). Reporting In an effort to align with national standards of professional effectiveness, the Counselor Education program transitioned from a departmentally developed comprehensive exam, created by program faculty, to a nationally standardized comprehensive exam, the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Exam. All students who took this exam over the past academic year successfully passed which indicates their professional effectiveness. Faculty determined that the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Exam (CPCE) was an appropriate indicator of students' readiness to work in a school setting. Given that the Counselor Education program made the recent change to using the nationally standardized exam (CPCE), it was decided that the program would continue to use this assessment as a measure of readiness for working in a school setting. 06/17/2014 Tomorrow Starts Here. Page 2 of 11

3 Evidence of Planning Outcome Year There were no glaring deficiencies on student scores on any of the 8 subscales of the CPCE. Therefore the program faculty decided that the approach to teaching the Counseling Theories course was appropriate and effective. The Integrated Data Driven Service Learning (IDSL) for students in the School Counseling specialization area. 01/30/2013 Criterion for : Grading of Integrated Data Driven Service Learning (IDSL) project should be at a B or higher for students in the School Counseling Specialization area. Reporting Actions Taken: Based on results from AY 12-13, faculty examined the uniqueness of the school counseling professional specialization (as compared to the other two professional specializations) and decided that the continued implementation of the Integrated Data Driven Service Learning (IDSL) would be beneficial. In order to better prepare students for working in the schools and within the Counseling profession, faculty required students to present findings in a professional manner for peers and faculty within the Counselor Education program and the College of Education. 2. Results: During the AY , 100% of students (N=23) taking the COAD 6406 course successfully passed the IDSL project with a grade of "B" or better. Program faculty will take the following curricular action in AY Counselor Education instructors who teach COAD 6406 will encourage students completing the IDSL assignment to submit the project for presentation at a statewide or national conference to better prepare them to work in the field. 3. Analysis of Results: While the Criterion for was met, faculty decided that students would benefit professionally from presenting their findings at either a statewide or national conference in addition to their peers and faculty. Related Documents: IDSL Rubric Reporting Students specializing in Clinical Mental Health Counseling completed the Community Counselor Assessment and Presentation assignment with a grade of B or higher. Students specializing in School Counseling completed the Integrated Data Driven Service Learning (IDSL) project with a grade of B or The Counselor Education faculty decided that because there are three specialization areas within the Counselor Education program, the program would use three criteria corresponding to three different assignments in each of the three areas. 06/17/2014 Tomorrow Starts Here. Page 3 of 11

4 Evidence of Planning Outcome higher. Student sspecializing in Student Affairs and College Counseling complete the Integrated Study Paper with a grade of B or higher. Year For students specializing in Clinical Mental Health Counseling, each student will be required to complete the Community Counselor Assessment and Presentation assignment in COAD 6415 with a grade of B or higher. For students specializing in School Counseling, each student will be required to complete the Integrated Data Driven Service Learning project in COAD 6406 with a grade of B or higher. For students specializing in Student Affairs and College Counseling, each student will be required to complete the Integrated Study Paper with a grade of B or higher. Impact on Student Learning Candidates completing the MS in Counselor Education should demonstrate a readiness to effectively work with diverse populations in the role of a counselor. Outcome Types: Student Learning Outcome Start Date: 08/01/2008 Outcome Status: Currently Being Assessed Counselor Education Comprehensive Examination 07/27/2009 Criterion for : Students completing the Counselor Education Comprehensive Examination for the MSEd degree should answer questions related to diversity in counseling at a satisfactory level as determined by the scoring rubric. All students completing the degree must take this exam and successful completion is based on a scoring rubric determined by the faculty. Reporting Actions Taken: Faculty discussed the importance of diversity within the Counselor Education curriculum and agreed that the topic should be addressed, albeit with varying levels of depth, within all of the Counselor Education core courses. During the current year, faculty addressed issues of diversity within each of the core courses in order to further develop students' understanding of diversity and its impact in counseling relationships. 2. Results: During the AY , 100% of students (N=31; 8 in Fall, 23 in Spring) taking the Counselor Education Comprehensive Examination answered questions related to diversity in counseling at a satisfactory level. 3. Analysis of Results: While the Criterion for was met, faculty decided that attention to diversity related materials across the curriculum would need to be targeted for improvement next year to determine if additional strengthening of assignments/curriculum was warranted. Program faculty will take the following curricular action in AY Counselor Education faculty will use one of its regular meetings to discuss the issue of diversity across the curriculum to determine if there are additional opportunities to infuse diversity into course materials. Faculty believe that this will improve student learning because based on professional judgment, continued infusion of the topic will emphasize its importance within the field, and help students better understand its impact on counseling relationships. 06/17/2014 Tomorrow Starts Here. Page 4 of 11

5 Outcome Year Impact on Student Learning Reporting Of 47 students taking the CPCE in the academic year , only 2 students (4.3%) failed to score at least within one standard deviation of the national mean on the subscale corresponding to Social and Cultural Foundations. The Counselor Education Faculty decided to continue to use the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Exam (CPCE) as the criterion for success. In addition, faculty decided to require students who score lower than one standard deviation below the national mean on the Social and Cultural Foundations subscale of the CPCE to complete a remediation activity designed by the faculty. Reporting In an effort to align with national standards of professional effectiveness, the Counselor Education program transitioned from a departmentally developed comprehensive exam, created by program faculty, to a nationally standardized comprehensive exam, the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Exam. All students who took this exam over the past academic years successfully passed which indicates their ability to work with diverse populations. Faculty believe the successful completion of the CPCE exam was an effective way to measure students' readiness to work effectively with diverse populations. For this reason this measure would be used again for AY Reflective Practitioner Candidates completing the MS in Counselor Education should demonstrate an analysis of various counseling theories and how they relate to the practice of counseling. Outcome Types: Student Learning Outcome Start Date: 08/01/2008 Counselor Education Comprehensive Examination for the MSED degree 02/03/2010 Criterion for : 80% of students completing the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Examination Reporting Actions Taken: Faculty acknowledged the importance of students to have a basic understanding of counseling theories prior to graduation. Students taking the CPCE were currently enrolled in Internship courses. These courses required students to present case studies in which they demonstrated an understanding of theories and how to appropriately apply them to counseling situations. Program faculty will take the following pedagogical actions in AY : Faculty teaching the clinical experience courses will emphasize the need for students to be able to articulate and demonstrate the use of counseling theories when working with clients. Faculty believe this will improve student learning because it will provide students 06/17/2014 Tomorrow Starts Here. Page 5 of 11

6 Outcome Reflective Practitioner Outcome Status: Currently Being Assessed (CPCE) should answer questions related to counseling theories at a satisfactory level as determined by the scoring rubric, Students take this exam after all of their core courses have been completed (the semester of or the semester before their scheduled graduation). All students completing the degree must take this exam. Students completing the CPCE should pass the subscale corresponding to the Counseling Theories content area. That is a student's score on this subscale should be no lower than one standard deviation below the national mean for this subscale. 2. Results: During the AY , 100% of students (N=31; 8 in Fall, 23 in Spring) taking the Counselor Education Comprehensive Examination answered questions related to counseling theories at a satisfactory level. 3. Analysis of Results: While the Criterion for was met, faculty decided that students' articulation of the application of counseling theories needed to be targeted for improvement next year. Reporting Forty-four out of 47 students (93.6%) taking the CPCE scored at the criterion level or better for the subscale related to counseling theories; three failed to score within one standard deviation of the national mean. Year with an opportunity to connect the learning of the theories with the implementation of those theories in their practice. The Counselor Education faculty decided to continue to use the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Exam (CPCE) as the criterion for success. In addition, faculty decided to require students who score lower than one standard deviation below the national mean on the "Helping Relationships" subscale of the CPCE to complete a remediation activity designed by the faculty. Reporting In an effort to align with national standards of professional effectiveness, the Counselor Education program transitioned from a departmentally developed comprehensive exam, created by program faculty, to a nationally standardized comprehensive exam, the Counselor Preparation Comprehensive Exam. All students who took this exam over the past academic year successfully passed which demonstrates their understanding of various counseling theories and how they relate to the practice of counseling. Faculty believe that the CPCE exam was an effective means by which we were able to measure students' understanding of various theories. Given that the change to the CPCE occured during academic year 11-12, the program faculty decided to use this as a measure for the upcoming AY /17/2014 Tomorrow Starts Here. Page 6 of 11

7 Outcome Year Reflective Practitioner Global Perspective Candidates completing the MS in Counselor Education communicate, interact and work positively with individuals from other cultural groups. Outcome Types: Institutional Learning Outcome Start Date: 10/01/2009 Outcome Status: Currently Being Assessed All students completing COAD Social/ Cultural Issues in Counseling will participate in an approved diversity experience and complete a reflection paper. Suggested diversity experiences are reviewed and approved/denied by instructor of COAD 6407 course. A requirement of this experience is that students will engage in experiences which place them in situations that are potentially outside of their comfort zones in terms of engaging with diverse populations. This experience examines a student's ability to communicate, interact and work positively with individuals from other cultural groups. 02/03/2010 Related Documents: COAD 6407-DiversityRubric.docx COAD 6407-DiversityRubric.docx Criterion for : As part of this requirement, students are required to successfully complete a reflection paper in which they are able to examine the experience, analyze what was learned, and apply those lessons to their counseling abilities. ful completion of the assignment is determined by acquiring approval of the experience and writing an acceptable paper analyzing what occurred (based on a scoring rubric). Students should score a B or higher on this paper (related to content, not grammatical errors) in order to be deemed successful. Reporting Faculty, having decided that the assignment was important for the continued reflection of Counselor Education students, wanted to increase the directions and information that was being shared with students regarding the assignment to help them better understand the purpose and goals for the assignment. Therefore, the instructor spent more time addressing and discussing the assignment in the weeks leading up to the assignment's due date. For example, the instructor spoke in more detail about the assignment in video messages included in the course, as well as sent out two additional s to the class to better explain the process for selecting an experience to make it meet the goals of the assignment. All students were to receive approval from the instructor prior to participating in the experience. 2. Results: 100% of the students (N=16) who took COAD 6407 during the academic year successfully completed the paper with a "B" or better. One student did not initially receive permission for the chosen diversity experience and points were deducted, but the experience was deemed to be acceptable. 3. While all of the students taking COAD 6407 successfully completed the assignment, not all of the students received the appropriate approval prior to participating in the experience. Faculty decided that more consistent reminders about the approval process would be targeted for improvement next year. Reporting All students (27) enrolled in COAD 6407 in AY successfully participated in an approved diversity experience and earned at least a grade of B on a reflection paper analyzing what they learned from the diversity experience. All students were able to relate the experience to their counseling roles and the impact such an experience had on their development. Program faculty will make the following pedagogical changes in AY Due to the importance of choosing an appropriate experience to participate in, receiving faculty approval is critical for this assignment. Additional weekly reminders (both in video and form) of the necessity for experience approval will be integrated into the course schedule for COAD These reminders will be included in a variety of places including weekly announcements and weekly correspondence from the instructor to all students in the weeks leading up to the assignment due date. Faculty met and reviewed the results of the data collected from AY The faculty decided that the Counselor Education program would continue to use participation in an approved diversity experience and earning at least a grade of B on a related reflection paper as the criterion for success. Faculty determined 06/17/2014 Tomorrow Starts Here. Page 7 of 11

8 Global Perspective Outcome Related Documents: COAD Diversity Rubric Year that the use of this assignment provides students a critical experience related to diversity and cultural competence that otherwise might be absent from their curriculum. Faculty believe it is important to provide students this opportunity to interact with cultures different from their own, and to reflect on those experiences and how it might impact them as individuals as well as professionals who will soon enter the field of counseling. This type of experience will better prepare our students to engage in the process of reflection and working with diverse cultures. Reporting All students enrolled in COAD 6407 for the past academic year successfully completed the Diversity Experience Assignment. All students completed the faculty approval process and scored a "B" or higher on the reflection paper component of the assignment. Students were able to appropriately relate the experience back to their counseling roles and the impact such an experience had on their development. Faculty reviewed Diversity Experience reflection papers from students and determined that this assignment was an effective measure of their ability to self-reflect and promote cutlural competency development. Faculty decided to continue to use this assignment as a way to examine the way students interact and work positively with individuals from other cultural groups. This assignment was an intentional project aimed at facilitating interaction and allowing students to increase their competence working diverse clients. Leadership Development Candidates completing the MS in Counselor Education will utilize personal reflection as a Students enrolled in COAD Introduction to Counseling will complete a reflection paper using a model known as Reporting Actions Taken: Faculty discussed the importance of reflection as a part of the growth process among Program faculty will make the following pedagogical changes in AY : 06/17/2014 Tomorrow Starts Here. Page 8 of 11

9 Outcome Leadership Development way to promote growth as a counseling professional. Outcome Types: Institutional Learning Outcome Start Date: 08/25/2011 Outcome Status: Currently Being Assessed the Life Matrix. Students will engage in personal reflection using the matrix and address personal information as a means of better understanding their progression as an individual and a professional counselor. 10/13/2011 Related Documents: Life Matrix Chart Life Matrix Description Criterion for : It is expected that 90% of students will successfully pass the Life Matrix reflection assignment based on the scoring by the instructor of record. A grade of at least a B (i.e., at least a score of 80) on the assignment is required in order to pass. counseling students. As a result of these discussions, the instructor of COAD 6400 spent time explaining to students the role of reflection in a counselor's development. Given that the students in this course were new to the program, faculty felt it was important to let them know that self-reflection would be a part of their experience in the Counselor Education program and gave them some understanding of why it is infused within this particular course. These explanations were given in both video and text formats as a part of weekly video messages or announcements. 2. Results: During the AY , 96.6% of students (N=29) who took COAD 6400 successfully passed the Life Matrix reflection assignment with a "B" (score of 80 or above) or higher. 3. Analysis of Results: While the Criterion for was met, faculty decided that a greater emphasis on the explanation and directions for the Life Matrix would be targeted for improvement next year. Year Instructor of COAD 6400 will spend more time on the explanation of the Life Matrix assignment by discussing the various sections of the matrix and how they can be applied to an individual's life. Program faculty believe this will improve student learning because, based on professional judgment, some of the lower scores were caused due to inadequate application of the Life Matrix. Related Documents: Life Matrix Chart Life Matrix Information Life Matrix Handout Reporting Twenty-nine out of 29 students (100%) completing COAD 6400 during the academic year earned a grade of at least a B or greater on the Life Matrix reflection assignment. The faculty decided to continue to use a grade of at least a B on the Life Matrix assignment in COAD 6400 as the criterion for success. In this first semester course, the goal is for students to build an understanding of the usefulness and importance of reflecting by professional counselors throughout their careers and better link this particular assignment with students' future work as counselors. The faculty determined that effectively reflecting on experiences and self is an important skill for professionals counselors to possess. In an effort to increase student understanding of the assignment and process of reflecting, it was decided that instructors for COAD 6400 would spend additional time in class explaining 06/17/2014 Tomorrow Starts Here. Page 9 of 11

10 Outcome Leadership Development Year the details and purposes for the assignment. Reporting All students completing COAD 6400 over the past academic year successfully completed the Life Matrix assignment by earning a passing grade of B or above (score of 80 or higher). Faculty determined that the completion of the Life Matrix reflection paper was an effective means of having students self-reflect. The consensus was that the engagement in this personal reflection promoted personal growth as a counseling professional. The faculty decided to continue to use this assessment for another year. This assignment promoted student self-awareness which is an essential aspect of counselor development as noted in the CACREP standards and was included in other required courses in the Counselor Education program. 06/17/2014 Tomorrow Starts Here. Page 10 of 11

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