Standard 1. Element One: Content Knowledge for Teacher Candidates

The Unit’s conceptual framework, “The Reflective Practitioner: Creating Positive Learning Environments for all Students” outlines the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that candidates in the programs exhibit. The candidate proficiencies developed for the undergraduate and graduate candidates reflect the attributes of competence, caring, and effectiveness; these are the tenets of the conceptual framework. The assessment system developed by the Unit collects data on the performance of its candidates based on the aligned outcomes. The transition points ensure that data is collected and analyzed to monitor the candidates’ matriculation from admission to program completion. Candidates who complete the endorsement programs in the Professional Education Unit are prepared to assume the professional role for which they have been prepared.

Element One: Content Knowledge for Teacher Candidates

The programs in the Unit have been aligned with the professional, state and/or national standards. Table 3 details the programs and their affiliation. Nine (9) of the 12 programs are nationally recognized or state approved; the other thee programs have recently submitted revised program reports responding to feedback from their Specialty Program Association (SPA).

Candidates in the Initial Teacher Education Programs seeking endorsements have received instruction that increased their proficiency in basic skills and content knowledge. This is evidenced by a 100% passage rate on the Praxis I basic skills assessments. Candidates in the unit have demonstrated their in-depth knowledge of content through the Praxis II content assessment. Table 4 shows the passage rates for programs in the unit. Since the 2003-2004 academics year, the unit has had a 100% passage rate by candidate program completers.

The Unit also evaluates the content knowledge of its candidates at different phases of the program, beginning with pre-candidates and ending with graduate follow-up. The student teaching phase is a critical phase to observe candidate content knowledge. University supervisors, content faculty and cooperating teachers complete assessments to evaluate evidenced of content knowledge. The tables below represent selected items from the Student Teaching Assessment associated with candidate content knowledge.

At admission, candidates participate in an interview with faculty members from their endorsement area and administrators from the PK-12 school divisions. As indicated in Table 5, pre-candidates’ knowledge of their content area was at the proficient and exceptional levels for interviews conducted from fall 2004 through fall 2005.

Tables 6 and 7 indicate that during the student teaching experience candidates’ content knowledge was at the proficient to exceptional levels in knowing the facts and principles of the content area. Table 8 shows that cooperating teachers expressed satisfaction with their student teachers’ knowledge of the subject matter.

The combination of external standardized assessments from Praxis and the external assessments from cooperating teachers combined with the internal assessments conducted by the unit confirm that undergraduates have an in-depth knowledge of the content they plan to teach.