Curriculum in the College of Education is designed to be student-centered and intellectually challenging, while preparing students through field and internship experiences.
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Art K-12
Basic Business 6-12
Biology 7-12
Business Marketing Information Tech 6-12
Chemistry 7-12
Curriculum & Instruction Transition to Teaching
Early Childhood
Elementary Ed K-6
English 7-12
English as a Second Language K-12
French 7-12
Geography 7-12
Health and Physical Ed K-12
Health and Physical Ed PK-12
Health Ed 7-12
History 7-12
Language Arts 7-12
Mathematics 7-12
Middle grades 5-9
Modern Language 7-12
Music Ed K-12
Physical Ed 7-12
Physics 7-12
Political Science 7-12
Psychology 7-12
Social Science 7-12
Spanish 7-12
Special Ed 7-12
Special Ed K-12
Special Ed K-6
Speech Communication 7-12
Theatre 7-12
Business 7-12
German 7-12
Sociology 7-12
Principal
Superintendent
Special Education Supervisor
Reading Specialist
School Counselor
School Psychologist
School Librarian
Speech-Language Pathologist
Each section represents a CAEP annual reporting measure. Measures are a mix of those described in CAEP Annual Reports, and other measures that the EPP uses for data-based decisions.
Impact on P-12 Student Learning / Indicators of Teaching Effectiveness The Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) regularly collects data from first and third-year teachers as well as employers of those teachers. Data collected is an indicator of teacher effectiveness in the classroom across InTasc Standards. The scores collected and used for overall assessment are reflected on a 4.0 scale. The mean score reported by first-year teachers across standards for the 2021/22 year was 3.15. The mean score of Principals evaluating first-year teachers on their impact on student learning was 3.48. In 2021-22, employers of third year teachers rated their UNK employee highest at 3.54 (on a 4-point scale) with regard to their impact on student learning.
Review of data from measures of student abilities within the Charlotte Danielson framework was completed. Mean scores across the 4 domains of abilities demonstrated similar scores as to the previous four years. On a three-point scale, completers demonstrated 2.867 across all four focus areas. Completers demonstrated a score of 2.85 as a mean score in the area of abilities addressing Learning and the Learner. Students demonstrated a mean score of 2.84 in the area of Content Knowledge. The area of Instructional Practices demonstrated a mean cohort score of 2.86 and the area of Professional Responsibility provided a mean score of 2.92. Each of these scores is comparable to the previous three years of data. Similar findings were found for the completer cohort for students’ previous year of clinical work.
When principals at schools where first-year students were employed were asked to rate the faculty member on his/her impact on student learning, 55% identified the teacher as “Highly Effective” and 41% as “Moderately Effective”. Only 3% identified the first-year teacher as “Somewhat Effective”. When Principals were asked if the first-year teacher was effectively prepared for continued employment, 98% (61) said “Yes”.
When first-year teachers were asked how they would rate their impact on student learning, 19% responded as “Highly Effective” while 71% responded with a “Moderately Effective” answer and only 10% responded “Somewhat Effective:. When teachers were asked if they believed that they were prepared to be an effective first-year teacher, 81% (47) said “Yes”. 19% (11) said “No”.
The GPA for students admitted into Teacher Education remained high (3.57) The number of students admitted (n=438) increased from the previous two years. The numbers of students admitted to clinical practice (n=254) and completing the program (n=224) were increases from the last couple of years. Grade point average of students matriculating and completing the program remained steady at 3.73.
There were some changes first-time pass rate for the Praxis I examination. The first-time pass rate for the reading portion dropped slightly from 84.74% in 2020/21 to 81.16% in 2021/22. The first-time pass rate on the writing portion also dropped from 72.37% to 70.45%. The change on the math section was a slight decrease in pass from 86.27% to 82.77%.
All outcome measures for each of the 9 Educator Dispositions identified by program faculty demonstrated scores above the program benchmark. The 2020-21 range of scores for completers was 3.37-3.7 on 4-point scale. The overall mean for the completers across all 9 professional dispositions was 3.59.The 2021-2022 range of scores was 3.46-3.70. Interestingly, measures of professionalism (3.7) was the highest of the categories while the disposition that identifies Positive/enthusiastic attitude, was the next highest score (3.67). The lowest score came from the disposition that identified effective written and communication skills (3.49). Mean scores across dispositions throughout their academic career for the cohort of students graduating in 2021/22 showed a steady rise from 2019/20-2020/21.
Ability of completers to be hired in education positions for which they have prepared is reliant upon passing the Praxis II Content area examination. Measures of first-time pass rate for the Praxis II Subject Assessment were also analyzed in comparison to previous years. The percentage of students passing the subject specific examination was 88.6%. The mean percentage of students passing on their first attempt over the last 5 years was 90.03%, ranging from 74.94-94.84. The percentage passing on the first attempt clearly lies within the range of scores for the last 5 year period. The subject area with the highest subject test scores for completers included Art, El Ed, English, HPE, Music, PE, Soc studies, SPED, Hist. There were no subject area scores below the 80% first time pass rate.
The process for tracking retention has been discussed among the College of Education administration. We have found inconsistencies across the institution. Consequently, data collected does not accurately reflect genuine retention rates for Teacher Education for persons accepted into and completing the program. Consequently, we are pursuing changes in how we track students matriculating through and completion that results in degree or certification. We can report that there were 438 students accepted into the Teacher Education. Two-hundred and twenty-four students graduated in 2021/22 while 341 were accepted into Teacher Education for the 2020/21 year. We are unable to report retention by person or cohort and would instead rather report completion by numbers in a given class of students. This does not accurately report for a cohort the number of graduates who were accepted in the 2018/19 year and does not accurately reflect true retention. Thus, we are unable to report retention by person or cohort and would instead rather report completion by person. We are working to correct this process in order to better report retention and attrition of program enrollment. We can report that 207 of the 236 (88%) of the students that challenged the Praxis II Subject Assessments, past. This would suggest that these students were able to become certified, a requirement for being hired as a teacher in Nebraska. This data does give us some insight into completer leading to employment. We are working to help all programs across COE, including those that are not Teacher Education, to develop and implement a process for better tracking employment rates by program. It is the COE administration’s hope that we can have that in place at the conclusion of the 2022/2023 academic year.
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Initial certification programs are all approved by the Nebraska Department of Education (NDE) and accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP).