|
© 2008 Eastern Michigan University.
All Rights Reserved.
|
John
W.
Porter
Building |
|
Print
this page
Exhibit
2.7
Description of Information Technology to Manage
Assessment System
Work is proceeding very rapidly in terms of the use of information
technology to support the management of the EMU professional
educator assessment system. This
work is expected to be at a very different place by mid-November,
2003 than it is as of this writing (September 2003). It is recommended that
the NCATE Board of Examiners team interview Ms. Joan Quinlan,
Dr. James Berry, and
Dr. Nelson Maylone, in particular, in order to ascertain the
status of this project at the time of the BOE visit.
The EMU College of Education, including its Office of Academic
Services (where the management of the assessment system is
housed), is well supplied with computers. In addition, much relevant information
is stored in the University's mainframe. The Banner system,
to which most university operations have converted in the recent
past or will in the near future, is new to this campus and conversion
from the former
system to Banner has posed the usual problems of data conversion,
personnel training to input and extract data, and the like. During approximately
the same period of time, the university's
Institutional Research function has expanded rapidly and new
personnel have joined that operation.
In the midst
of this highly dynamic campus environment, work is progressing rapidly
related to the management of the professional educator
assessment system in two major categories.
A. Information about individuals. A
number of computers in the COE Office of Academic Services have
been linked, permitting multiple individuals
to have access to common data. Existing data bases, formerly maintained
in different offices as "stand alone" data
sets, have been merged or linked--admissions to the initial
teacher preparation program, student teaching, certification,
certification test scores, etc. Underway at the present time is an attempt
to identify from university records all EMU students
who are allegedly in some (especially
initial) educator preparation program. This will permit the creation of
a very large data base from which the progress of candidates
through our program can be traced. It is anticipated that this will generate,
at the outset, a very large "exception
report" that will take much time to reconcile--removal of students who have functionally
dropped out, students who are mis-classified in university
records, and the like.
B. Information about groups. Assessment of various
portions of the program is new, especially for many of
the mid-program assessments. The
data reported in the Standard 2 Exhibits are, in many
instances, the first "public" reporting of these data. As
a result, the data are currently maintained in a very
decentralized manner in computers throughout the College
of Education, at least in part because
there has not been any place to "deposit" it. Further,
the emphasis to this point has been on the performance
of groups, as opposed to the performance of individuals.
As a place
to deposit information about individuals becomes available (point A above),
clearly steps will need to be taken
not only to collect information
about groups on various characteristics (point B above), but
mid-program performance information about individuals (and other
information about individuals,
including data from follow-up studies) will need to be added
to the electronic file for each individual along with the
existing "major milestone" information
(admission to the program, admission to student teaching, certification
test score information, recommendation for licensure information,
etc.) that is
rapidly becoming available.
It is expected
that the management tasks associated with the assessment system will have
a primary focus on the initial teacher preparation
program in the near future, with comparable tasks associated
with the advanced programs
given major attention at a later time.
Although
discussions have taken place with the leadership of the campus Institutional
Research and Information Management
Office about housing what will become a very large data
base as part of the university's "Data
Warehouse," decisions about when and how
to accomplish that remain to be determined.
Previous Page
For
additional
information
on the
accreditation/approval
process,
please
contact
Jerry H. Robbins,
Dean, at
734.487.1414
or by e-mail
at jerry.robbins@emich.edu.
If you
have any
questions,
comments
or problems
with these
web pages
or this
web server,
please
contact: coe_webmaster@emich.edu.
|
|
