U.S. News & World Report and the National Council on Teacher Quality National Education School Review Survey This is an outline of the questions and documents that will be requested during the review. Requests will be handled through websites specifically designed for each school where questions can be answered, and materials uploaded and explained.
PART I: Program Requirements and Syllabi For each preparation program included in the U.S. News/NCTQ project (in many cases, not all programs at a particular education school will be included), we will ask schools to verify our understanding of the professional coursework requirements and upload a syllabus for each course. A) For each program listed below, please confirm the required professional courses. Some of your programs may not be listed because we have only listed certification programs that are part of this review. We are interested in the requirements specific to the certification program only not general university education requirements. Space is provided beneath each course for corrections, and extra rows are included at the bottom of the chart in case we have omitted any required courses. B) For each listed course, please include a syllabus from an actual section taught in the 2009-2010 or 2010-2011 school year. We are looking for an actual course syllabus, not a departmental course outline or example course. Program: <TYPE - UG Elementary, G Elementary, UG Special Education, etc.> Course number Name Credits Requires field work? (Y/N) Syllabus attached EDU 106 Foundations of Education 5 N EDU 101 Foundations of Education 3 N EDU101.doc EDU 100 Introduction to Education 3 Y EDU100.doc EDU 102 History of Education in the U.S. 3 N EDU 200 Methods in Elementary Teaching 3 Y Other Required Courses
Part II: Student Teaching We are collecting a series of data and documents relating to student teaching program expectations and design. For the document requests, we are asking schools to upload enacted policies or instruments relating to various aspects of student teaching or explanations regarding their absences. When do student teachers start their K-12 school experience in (1) the fall terms and/or (2) the spring terms? Please note if teacher candidates who begin student teaching in the spring are required to spend several days in a K-12 school during its opening days in the fall. 1) During the fall term, student teaching begins: [] At the start of the education school semester [] When the K-12 school year begins [] Other (please explain below) Explanation of timing: 2) During the spring term, student teaching begins: [] At the start of the education school semester [] When the K-12 spring semester begins [] When the K-12 school resumes after winter break [] Other (please explain below) Explanation of timing: [] Student teachers scheduled for a spring experience are required to spend some time in their placement school at the start of the K-12 school year.
Please provide copies or samples of the following documents, or confirm that they are not available. If documents vary by program type (elementary, secondary, special education), please attach relevant documents for each type of program included in this NCTQ review of your institution. If a single document (e.g., the student teaching handbook or Standard 3 material submitted for NCATE accreditation) contains more than one type of program information requested, please provide the document once and tell us where to look within that document for each piece of information. Student teaching documents (check yes or no) Attached (explain where to find the information) Documentation not available (explanation if relevant) Does your school have a student teaching handbook that is provided to teacher candidates? Does your school have a policy regarding teacher-candidate enrollment in coursework concurrent with student teaching? Does your school have a letter, or other document, that is sent or given to principals or districts specifying minimum criteria for cooperating teachers and/or explaining the process by which cooperating teachers are provided? Does your school provide forms that principals or districts return to you, providing information about cooperating teachers or applications completed by prospective cooperating teachers?
Student teaching documents (check yes or no) Attached (explain where to find the information) Documentation not available (explanation if relevant) Does your school have a policy detailing whom within the education school is responsible for any aspect of the selection of cooperating teachers and what those responsibilities might be? Does your school have a contract that is used with the supervisors of student teachers? Does your school permit teacher candidates to complete out-of-state student teaching (e.g., in a Department of Defense school or abroad)? If so, please attach details, including the program length in weeks.
Student teaching documents (check yes or no) Attached (explain where to find the information) Documentation not available (explanation if relevant) Does your school have formative and summative student teaching evaluation forms used by the cooperating teacher and/or university supervisor to evaluate and provide feedback on practice instruction? If so, please attach the forms making clear whether the form is completed by the cooperating teacher, the supervisor or both as well as any technical reports or work conducted by the school regarding inter-rater reliability of the evaluation forms. Does your school have policies guiding student teaching evaluation requirements (e.g., number of observations, grading practices) that are given to the cooperating teacher and/or university supervisor? Does your school provide lesson and/or unit planning templates that teacher candidates must use for planning instruction in culminating experiences, such as student teaching or exit portfolios?
Student teaching documents (check yes or no) Attached (explain where to find the information) Documentation not available (explanation if relevant) Does your school provide scoring rubrics for lesson and/or unit planning that are used to evaluate teacher candidates instructional planning in culminating experiences, such as student teaching or exit portfolios? Does your school have policy guidelines describing the consequences of failing to complete student teaching? Does your school have policy guidelines around the selection of partner K-12 schools?
Student teaching documents (check yes or no) Attached (explain where to find the information) Documentation not available (explanation if relevant) Does your school have policy guidelines that show how teacher candidates are exposed to teachers of high-poverty students in effective and high-performing K-12 schools, and/or high-performing teachers of high-poverty students who teach in schools that are generally not high performing? Documents might refer to: (a) purposeful observations in placements under university supervision for field work; (b) student teaching partner school selection criteria; (c) experiences in a lab school connected to the university; and/or (d) virtual placements using videos of actual teachers or schools in action.
Part III: Programmatic Data Gathering/Surveying We are asking schools to upload and characterize instruments used to gather information about graduate performance. Please outline below the efforts the education school undertakes to gather alumni performance and job data for the purposes of program planning and improvement. Be sure to provide samples of each instrument utilized by the education school. Data gathering/survey type Collected? (Y/N) Target audience (e.g., alumni, districts, principals) Timeline for the survey (e.g., annual, every 3 years, 5 years after graduation) Instrument attached Survey of recent alumni regarding preparation and job status 2010_Alumni.doc Survey of all alumni regarding preparation and job status Survey of K-12 employers (principals or districts) on alumni as a group, not as individuals, regarding classroom performance, evaluation and/or retention (e.g., how satisfied are you with the graduates of <UNIVERSITY>? )
Data gathering/survey type Collected? (Y/N) Target audience (e.g., alumni, districts, principals) Timeline for the survey (e.g., annual, every 3 years, 5 years after graduation) Instrument attached Survey of K-12 employers (principals or districts) regarding specific alumni classroom performance, evaluation and/or retention Data regarding the performance of students of alumni as a group (may include value-added data) Data regarding the performance of students of individual alumni (may include value-added data) Other (please describe):
PART IV: Topic to Coursework Map We are asking institutions to map their professional coursework requirements (identified in Part I) to categories relevant both to our analysis and some of the broad knowledge areas identified as important for educator preparation]used in the literature as important for educator preparation. Not every category is used in our analysis. Program: <TYPE - Elementary > For each topic below, please indicate the coursework you believe is relevant. Only include courses if the listed topic is a major part of the course. Topic and description Courses (if any) Reading - courses in which teacher candidates learn the theory and practice of early reading Mathematics - courses in which teacher candidates learn elementary mathematics content Assessment - courses in which teacher candidates learn about instructional assessments Methods - courses in which teacher candidates learn contentspecific pedagogy (e.g., English/language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, art, music) Classroom Management - courses in which teacher candidates learn techniques of classroom management Diverse Learners - courses in which teacher candidates learn instructional strategies to enable learners with special needs, or for whom English is a second language Developmental Sciences - courses in which teacher candidates learn cognitive science, neuroscience, and the science of child and adolescent development
Program: <TYPE - Special Education > For each topic below, please indicate the coursework you believe is relevant. Topic(s) and description Courses (if any) Reading - courses in which teacher candidates learn the theory and practice of early reading Mathematics - courses in which teacher candidates learn elementary mathematics content Assessment - courses in which teacher candidates learn about instructional assessments Design Instruction - courses in which teacher candidates learn to modify or design instruction for students with special needs Classroom Management - courses in which teacher candidates learn techniques of classroom management Diverse Learners - courses in which teacher candidates learn instructional strategies to enable learners with special needs, or for whom English is a second language Developmental Sciences - courses in which teacher candidates learn cognitive science, neuroscience, and the science of child and adolescent development
Program: <TYPE - Secondary > For each topic below, please indicate the coursework you believe is relevant. Topic(s) and description Courses (if any) Assessment - courses in which teacher candidates learn about instructional assessments Methods - courses in which teacher candidates learn contentspecific pedagogy (e.g., English/language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, art, music) Classroom Management - courses in which teacher candidates learn techniques of classroom management Adolescent Literacy - courses in which teacher candidates learn the theory and practice of the developing literacy in adolescents Diverse Learners - courses in which teacher candidates learn instructional strategies to enable learners with special needs, or for whom English is a second language Developmental Sciences - courses in which teacher candidates learn cognitive science, neuroscience, and the science of child and adolescent development
Part V: Miscellaneous Finally, we ask a few other questions regarding program requirements and ask the education schools to describe their innovation efforts. Please provide the following information. 1) <UNIVERSITY> uses the [quarter, trimester, semester] system with [12, 15, etc.] week terms. 2) The typical full-time course without a laboratory component is worth [1, 3, 4] credits. 3) For each program listed below, please note when the first field experience occurs and how many field hours are required prior to student teaching? Program <PROGRAM TYPE> First field experience (year and term) Total field hours required (before student teaching) 4) Describe any state-mandated 2+2 articulation agreements requiring <UNIVERSITY> to accept transfers from state community colleges. Please provide copies of these agreements if available, or explain where they can be found online. Does the education school have requirements for these transfer students separate from adequate grades on a transcript from the community college?
5) Describe any local education school admissions assessments developed by the school or university (distinct from the state s basic skills tests for teachers and national tests like the SAT or ACT). If any such assessment is used, please send the technical report describing the cut-score development process. 6) What is unique, innovative or revolutionary about the teacher preparation programs at <UNIVERSITY>?