University of Nebraska Kearney

Special Education Graduate Program Assessment Plan (Replaced F06)

Direct Measures

Schedule  

Students will be assessed over the course of their 18 hour endorsement classes.  Competency indicators will consist of required projects from each class.  Selected projects will be assessed using the evaluation method listed in the course syllabus. (A list of the designated projects is provided in this packet of information.)  Data will be collected from all students each semester the class is taught.

Six program objectives were identified based on state endorsement requirements which were in turn developed to meet national standards set forth by the Council for Exceptional Children (CEC).  Assessment tasks and rubrics were developed to demonstrate those standards. A precise assessment cycle for these objectives could not be specified because it is dependent on departmentally determined class rotations.  The revised Mild/Moderate program began with Summer 2004 classes. The Advanced Practitioner program is a newer program and began with the Fall 2004 classes. A minimum of at least one class has usually been offered each semester; fall, spring, and summer. However, the graduate faculty of this program also teaches a Teacher Education Masters degree core class and therefore, there were some semesters in which a special education specialization course was not taught (i.e., Spring 2005).

Process  

The assessment tasks are incorporated into the regular endorsement class requirements.  Students will complete the various assessment tasks in the process of completing each required course in the endorsement.  The class instructor will be responsible for evaluating each assessment task according to the assessment guidelines included in the course syllabus.  At the end of each class, a Special Education Graduate Program team will evaluate all of the assessment task results using the Graduate Special Education Program Rubric appropriate for each specialization. This team will consist of the no less than three graduate special education faculty. If the minimum number of graduate special education faculty is not available, the required number of team members will be drawn from the departmental Graduate Committee.  Each semester, the members of the special education faculty will review the results of the assessment of the program objectives and recommend program changes.

Indirect Measures

Schedule 

The Alumni Survey will be administered electronically to all Master’s students upon the completion of their Master’s program. The schedule of administration will depend on the individual student’s completion of the program.

The Critical Friends Survey will be administered electronically to the supervisors of all Master’s students during their second and fifth years of employment after the completion of their programs in special education: Mild/Moderate Disabilities or Advanced Practitioner.

Process 

A link to an electronic version of the Alumni Survey will be emailed to each recent graduate of the Master’s program on a weekly basis for one month or until the survey has been completed.

A link to an electronic version of the Critical Friends Survey will be emailed to supervisors of all Master’s students two times after the completion of their program in gifted education.  The link will be emailed on a weekly basis for one month or until the survey has been completed.

Results will be tallied and evaluated in conjunction with the direct measures.  Results will be used to strengthen the endorsement classes and in advisement if applicable.

Alumni Survey

Survey instruments will be administered that assess each of the six program objectives and the alumni's perceptions of their accomplishment of these program objectives using a Likert-type scale

Critical Friend Survey

Local school administrators, teachers, members of professional groups, and other advisor groups, a group we collectively refer to as our "critical friends," will also be administered a similar Likert-type survey.