UPDATE OF PERFORMANCE ASSESSMENT TRANSITION
What follows is the original plan for the performance assessment transition. Any changes/additions to this plan will be listed in italics.
I. Assessments upon entry to the Master's in Reading program.
Students accepted into the Master's in Reading program meet the requirements for admission to the Graduate School at Eastern Michigan University. These requirements are already in place and no further assessments are planned at this time.
There are no changes/additions to this assessment.
II. Assessments prior to beginning clinical practice.
Students will complete 15 hours in reading before starting their clinical practice. This fifteen-hour sequence concludes with RDNG 678: Literacy Assessment. The culminating project for this course is an assessment plan for a child with a reading problem. This assessment will be developed during the academic year 2002-2003. The first time this course will be offered is in the fall of 2003. Data will be collected and analyzed at this point. The data will be used to determine who proceeds to the next course in the sequence: RDNG 686: Designing Literacy Intervention Programs which houses the clinical experience. Students who do not meet criteria will be asked to meet with the instructor to develop a plan of action.
The following additions are being made to this assessment plan.
· Performance assessments have been developed for the first four reading courses: RDNG 655, 656, 657, 658. These assessments have been linked to the IRA standards. For the match of assessment to standard and the course in which this occurs, please refer to the matrix. At this time there are no plans to formally collect these assessments for the following reasons. First, many of the students enrolled in these courses are using the courses as electives on other MA program e.g. Early Childhood, Curriculum. Secondly, many of the students have not yet declared reading as the focus of their MA studies and often do not do so until they have 10 credit hours of graduate work, which is the policy of our graduate school. Because of the difficulty in identifying our MA students at this point in their program, we are not collecting the assessments assigned to these four courses.
· Students must be admitted to the MA program in order to enroll in RDNG 678: Literacy Assessment. It is at this point that the data collection will begin. In addition to the assessment plan for the a child with a reading problem described above, the MA student will complete Part One of the capstone experience which is described below.
Capstone Experience: Part One
Graduate Students seeking the MA in Reading will:
1. Conduct a literacy needs assessment of their school. This includes:
· Review of the current curriculum
· Examination of Standards/Benchmarks
· Identification of the curriculum/instructional materials used
· Organization of instructional delivery systems
· Assessment data per grade including strengths and weaknesses
· Accreditation
· Demographics of students: SES, ethnicity, ESL
2. Survey teachers regarding:
· Needs of the students
· Curriculum weaknesses
· Professional development needs
· Professional preparation
· Years of teaching
3. Survey Paraprofessionals
· Use of paraproprofessionals
· Professional training of paraprofessionals
· Paraprofessional needs
Graduate students will analyze data from these surveys, summarize them a report and make recommendations. This part of the capstone experience meets the following IRA Competencies: (IRA 1.6, 2.14, 3.1, 3.4, 4.1,4.2,10.1, 10.2, 11.1, 11.2, 11.2)
This assessment is being piloted fall semester, 2003. The assessments will be collected and analyzed. The rubrics used to evaluate these assessments will be revised as needed.
III. Assessments prior to exiting clinical practice.
Students enrolled in RDNG 686: Designing Literacy Intervention Programs will be responsible for the development, implementation and evaluation of an intervention program for their client, with an accompanying progress report. The course is scheduled to be offered in the winter of 2004. At this time data will be collected and analyzed. The data will be used to determine who proceeds to the final Master's course in reading: RDNG 695: The Reading Professional. Students who do not meet criteria will be asked to meet with the instructor to develop a plan of action.
In addition to this assessment, students will be asked to complete Part Two of the Capstone experience, which is described below.
Capstone Experience, Part Two
Based on their school’s literacy needs, which were identified in the Literacy Assessment course: Capstone Experience, Part One, students will survey federal, state and local grants that support literacy development. They will select a grant that meets the needs of their school population and prepare a rough draft of this grant for this part of the capstone experience. (IRA 3.5, 11.2, 11.3, 11.4, 11.5, 12.3, 12.5, 12.6)
This assessment is being piloted winter semester, 2004. The assessments will be collected and analyzed. The rubrics used to evaluate these assessments will be revised as needed.
IV. Assessments upon completion of the program.
RDNG 695: The Reading Professional is the final course in the MA in Reading program. During this course students will be asked to complete Part Three of the Capstone Experience, which is described below. This course will be offered in the summer of 2004. Data will be collected and analyzed after this course is completed. Students who do not meet criteria will meet with a faculty advisor.
All computerized data collected will be stored in the office of the Graduate Reading Coordinator.
All students seeking the MA in Reading degree with the accompanying Reading Specialist Endorsement are required to complete a three-part capstone experience. The final part of this performance-based assessment is completed in RDNG 695: The Reading Professional. The requirements are described below. As with the course objectives, the notation following the assessment indicates the IRA competency that is met.
1. Using the data from the teacher surveys that were conducted in the assessment course, students will design a professional development program for their staff. This will include a formal presentation of the first professional development meeting. (IRA 13.1, 13.2, 13.3, 13.4, 13.5, 13.6, 14.1, 14.2 14.3, 16.1,16.2,16.3.16.6.
2. Using the data from the paraprofessional surveys that were conducted in the assessment course, students will design a professional development program for paraprofessionals. This will include the development of an evaluation instrument. 14.1, 14.2, 14.3, 15.1, 15.2, 15.3, 15.4.
3. Students will use the material developed in assessments 1, 2, and 3 to write an article for publication or for presentation at a literacy conference. (IRA 16.5, 16.7,16.8)
This assessment is being piloted fall semester, 2003. The assessments will be collected and analyzed. The rubrics used to evaluate these assessments will be revised as needed.
Program Evaluation:
In addition to these assessments, students seeking the Reading Specialist endorsement from the state of Michigan will be asked to take an endorsement test. Data on the pass rate of our students will be collected. There will also be a follow-up evaluation sent to our students a year after program completion to determine satisfaction with our program and its impact upon their student learning. This evaluation will be developed during the winter semester, 2004. It will be sent to the first group of students who have completed our program.
Conclusion:
This completes our rejoinder to the International Reading Association. Since being notified that we did not pass our initial review, the reading faculty has spent the better part of winter, spring and summer terms revising our program and assessments in a sincere attempt to regain our status as a nationally recognized program. We hope that we have been successful.