Assessment Checklist
Grades
- If GPA is used, can you provide evidence to support that GPA is an accurate
predictor of student success? (Does GPA predict the number of times taken to
pass the certification test, success in subsequent courses, success in student
teaching, etc.?)
- If GPA is used, can you make a case in writing how the courses/course grading
align with the SPA standards. (Reading and Foreign Languages don’t accept
grades right now.)
Reporting Data
- Disaggregate data for different cohorts or semesters.
- Disaggregate data for different sites (on-campus, off-campus students).
- It is not sufficient to say that candidates must pass a given assessment before
student teaching—you should be looking at subscores.
- Data tables should be self-contained readable documents (specify N’s, year,
acronyms, etc.).
- Report data on each rubric element for SPA program report.
Assessment Instruments
- Assessments must align to SPA standards (even on student teaching forms). You
can do this by embedding the standards in the assessment document and/or the
scoring rubric or including a separate table showing which SPA standards align
with various elements/items, and also making a written argument along, in the
assessment.
- Each possible rating in the rubric for each item of the assessment needs to be
specified in terms of what that rating would look like in the given subject
area/grade level (what makes someone a “5” v. a “1” or “excellent” v. “poor”).
Students should be made aware of these criteria before they are assessed using
them.
- Programs for teachers continuing their education must reflect National Board for
Professional Teaching Standards (rather than a SPA).
- Consistency needs to be tested by different raters and/or different times.
- Accuracy of the assessment in measuring what is intended to measure can be
established in the following ways: 1) the same or consistent categories of content
appear in the assessments that are in the SPA standards; 2) the assessments are
congruent with the complexity, cognitive demands, and skill requirements
described in the SPA standards; and 3) the level of effort required, or the degree
of difficulty is consistent with SPA standards and reasonable for candidates who
are ready to teach or take on other professional responsibilities.
- Freedom from bias should be demonstrated by an effort to avoid anything in the
assessment environment or assessment documents that might adversely affect
candidate performance.
Dispositions
- Items must be listed in terms of observable behaviors.
- A description of what the behavior would look like at each rating level (what
makes someone a “5” v. a “1” or “excellent” v. “poor”) must be included (on the
instrument itself or on an attached document).
- Should minimally be assessing dispositions listed in the conceptual framework
(collaboration, diversity, caring, lifelong learning, scholarship, creative and
critical thinking).
- Should also assess fairness and the belief that all students can learn (part of new
NCATE dispositions definition).
- Students should be informed of the procedure for dealing with instances where
dispositions are not satisfactorily met.
Resources