University of St. Francis College of Education Joliet, Illinois Institution Comment Comments submitted by: Dr. John Gambro, Dean, College of Education
The University of St. Francis (USF) has been preparing educators for 90 years and has earned and maintained a reputation for excellence based on the high quality teachers it has developed and placed in area schools. This reputation has resulted in USF teacher candidates being highly sought after for employment after graduation. The College of Education (COE) and its teacher preparation programs are nationally accredited and recognized by the National Council of Accreditation for Teacher Education (NCATE) and have been fully approved by the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) to prepare teachers since 1926. These accreditations, recognitions, and approvals involve an extremely rigorous process that includes a high stakes site visit. The visit includes a team of evaluators from around the country who meet with faculty, staff, students, mentor teachers, area principals, and observe teacher candidates in their field placements. In addition, accreditation requires programs to produce evidence that demonstrates the positive impact our teacher candidates have in the classroom. In order to ensure that candidates acquire appropriate content knowledge and are well prepared to teach in their particular areas of certification, the COE utilizes a comprehensive performance–based assessment system that is aligned with professional and state standards. The system is designed to regularly and systematically collect, analyze, and share data regarding candidate performance and unit operations. In conjunction with ongoing performance assessment, candidates are formally assessed at levels in their program in order to ensure they are qualified to continue into the next phase of the program. Key transition points include entry into program, entry into field experiences, and program completion. Each level includes required assessments such as performance–based field experience assessments, standardized tests, and disposition assessments. Criteria are more rigorous at each successive level and candidates must progress sequentially through the levels. A candidate who does not successfully meet the requirements needed to progress to the next level may be dismissed from the program. Throughout field experiences, candidates’ knowledge, skills, and dispositions are assessed using instruments and observation forms which are aligned with state and national standards. The instruments evaluate candidates’ ability to assure all students learn, including students with exceptionalities and students from diverse ethnic, racial, and socioeconomic groups. Multiple assessment strategies are used to evaluate candidates’ performance including direct observations by cooperating teachers and supervisors, portfolio assessment, and a student work sample project. The project is a demonstration of candidates’ teaching performance that provides direct evidence of their ability to design and implement standards–based instruction, assess student learning, and reflect on the teaching and learning process. For all indicators, 94–100% of candidates met or exceeded outcomes demonstrating that they are able to successfully perform the responsibilities of a teacher. Another key indicator of the quality of our candidates is the satisfaction of the principals in the schools where our alumni teach. Principals consistently indicate that USF graduates are well prepared in regard to their content knowledge, instructional delivery, classroom management, assessment strategies, and numerous other areas with agreement in the 92–100% range for the standards.
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