Standard A.3

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Standard A.3 requires the EPP to demonstrate that the quality of the candidates is monitored to ensure that completers are prepared to perform successfully upon graduation and obtain certification when applicable.

A.3.1 requires the EPP to set goals for admission and demonstrate an effort to address needs in the state. The admitted pool of candidates should reflect the diversity of America’s teacher pool and ultimately the diversity of p-12 students.

COEPD is committed to having diverse candidates in Advanced Level programs. The Marshall University Equal Opportunity/Affirmative Action Policy states that it is the policy of Marshall University to provide equal education and employment opportunities for prospective and current members of its student body, faculty and staff on the basis of individual qualifications and merit (http://www.marshall.edu/eeoaa/files/2013/10/EEO-Policy.pdf). As outlined in the CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK document, COEPD is committed to attain and maintain a broad perspective and representation of candidates, colleagues and community in all EPP efforts. As stated, we are committed to developing strategies to attract and retain diverse faculty and candidates. COEPD is invested in creating policy and mechanisms that result in inclusive and integrated learning opportunities which promote diversity (CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK p. 16-17).

COEPD is committed to recruiting a diverse and academically talented group of candidates. Our racial composition at the Advanced Level is 87% white for 2014-2015, 89% white for 2015-2016, and 88% white for 2016-2017 (RACE AND SEX). Currently West Virginia is 93% white, 3% black and 1% Hispanic (https://suburbanstats.org/population/how-many-people-live-in-west-virginia). The West Virginia Department of Education for the 2017-2018 year reports that the demographics for enrolled students are 90% white, 4% black, and 2% Hispanic. Our diversity is slightly better than our state population demographics, which shows that attempts to recruit diversity have had some effects.

Enrollment by gender in COEPD advanced level programs is as follows; 2014-2015 females 67%, males 33%, 2015-2016 females 60%, males 40%, 2016-2017 females 65%, males 35%.  This is slightly better than national composition reported by the National Center for Education Statistics for 2011-2012 (females 76%, males 24%). See https://nces.ed.gov/surveys/sass/tables/sass1112_2013314_t1s_002.asp.  Yet slightly higher than Marshall University (females 60%, males 40%). The West Virginia Department of Education for the 2017-2018 year reports that for currently enrolled students, 48% are female and 52% are male.

COEPD actively attempts to recruit racial minorities and male candidates. In addition to the Marshall University initiatives outlined in the Standard 3 Initial Level report, COEPD increases diversity at the Advanced Level by attending recruiting fairs, visiting classrooms in colleges, and sending literature to schools with larger undergraduate minority populations.

We also obtain economic diversity by recruiting from areas of the state with a greater proportion of lower income families. These areas also have significant educator shortages including classroom teachers, principals, and support personnel such as school psychologists and school library media specialists. This effort of reaching out to areas with shortages is an attempt to meet the needs of the state. We created 350 booklets in 2015 and 2016 highlighting our graduate programs and mailed them to 20 county school districts. As a result of our attempts at outreach, we have COEPD candidates from 23 high need counties. This demonstrates the breadth of our reach in serving the state.

We also form Third Party Contracts with school districts in order to provide professional development, certifications, specialized endorsements on teaching licenses, alternative certification programs for teaching, and master’s degrees. Third party contracts are agreements entered into with counties and Regional Education Services Agencies (RESAs) to provide education at a reduced cost. (Eight RESAs were established by the WV legislature to consolidate and more effectively administer existing regional education programs.) We work with many agencies such as the Center for Professional Development, WV Department of Education, and any county that wants to sponsor a course for discounted tuition rates. We also partner with private companies such as the Mountain Institute (we do PD courses for Science in outdoor classroom programs for science teachers) Carnegie Learning (math academies), WV chapter of the Lions Club, and many RESA offices to offer customized alternative certification programs. We partner with other colleges such as Glenville State University and Bridge Valley Community and Technical College to offer Professional Development credit and summer institutes at a discounted rate.  Additionally, we work within our own university to partner with the June Harless Center for Rural Educational Research to offer Professional Development credit for several courses. When providing Third Party Contracts, we especially target counties with educator shortages.  In the last three years we have entered into Third Party Contracts with 10 high need southern WV counties. We have partnered with RESA 2, 3, and 4 which are located in southern WV to provide instruction to educators. These collaborative activities help with recruitment of candidates from areas with educator shortages. We are able to offer certificates and advanced degrees to educators who want to improve their skills. During the last 3 years, 137 courses have been offered through Third Party Contracts with topics such as Teaching AP Calculus, American Sign Language, Teaching AP Chemistry, Improving Reading and Writing in the Classroom, and Application of Software in the classroom.  The Third Party Contracts enables COEPD to assist counties in enhancing the skills of their teachers and other support personnel. Additionally, it enables us to be responsive to state needs.

A.3.2 Each advanced program sets admission standards. While previously many of the programs employed Graduate Record Examinations (GRE) or Miller Analogies Test (MAT) scores in addition to the undergraduate GPA, the additional value of the GRE/MAT to predict successful graduate college performance was not evident. Consequently, nine of the 16 licensure programs have removed the GRE or MAT as an admissions requirement. ADMISSION GPA AND TEST SCORES shows the mean admission GPA scores for the licensure programs. It also has the nationally normed assessments for the licensure programs that continue to use it for admission decisions. The GPA overall mean for COEPD degree programs is 3.36 in 2015, 3.49 in 2016 and 3.42 in 2017. Thus COEPD is meeting the CAEP required undergraduate GPA admission minimum of 3.0.

All of the admission data are separated by licensure programs on the ADMISSION GPA AND TEST SCORES except for Autism, Deaf and Hard of Hearing, Preschool Special Needs, Special Education Multi-Categorical and Visually Impaired., These programs are combined under MA Special Education and have the lowest required GPA of 2.5. Additionally, these programs also require 286 on the combined verbal and quantitative sections of the old GRE or combined score of 800 on the new GRE. An alternative for candidates is to take the MAT and minimum scores required are a raw score of at least 30 or a scaled score of 378. ADMISSION GPA AND TEST SCORES show that candidates are achieving above the required minimum scores on the MAT but barely or just under meeting the set requirements for the GRE.  In addition, the scores are below the CAEP defined minimum of 50% for national standardized assessments. The 50th%ile for current GRE scores is 150.75 on the Verbal and 152.75 on the Quantitative. The 50thile for older GRE scores is 470 on the Verbal and 640 on the Quantitative.  For the MAT 400-404 is at the 50th percentile.

Social Service and Attendance also requires a Master’s Degree or GRE/MAT scores. Candidates must score at least a 392 on the MAT. Students who take the Graduate Record Examination must have a combined score of 800 verbal and quantitative (tested prior to November, 2011) or a 286 (November, 2011 or after). An examination of admission scores for the last 3 years indicate that Social Service and Attendance candidates do not meet the MAT score minimum nor the requirement for the new GRE scores. Candidates meet the old minimum requirement scores on the GRE for 2016 and 2017. In addition, Social Service and Attendance candidates are below the CAEP defined minimum of 50%ile for national standardized assessments.

Since all of the standardized scores reported for Special Education and the Social Service and Attendance are below the 50th percentile, this is an area COEPD will need to review and address. When admission scores were collected, it became apparent that we were unable to separate the licensure areas under Special Education. We have created a new database in April 2017 to address this so all admission scores for licensure programs can be reviewed separately and used for program improvement. This will aid in making program decisions separately to decide how to address the lower standardized scores set for admission into the programs. Additionally, faculty from the Social Service and Attendance program will review admission criteria to determine what changes need to be made to ensure high quality candidates are being admitted into the program.

A.3.3 and A.3.4 As shown in the Transition Points: Advanced programs chart on page 23 of the QAS, each program monitors the performance of the candidates and collects data to ensure candidates are ready to enter the field experience, exit the field experience and complete the program. Successful grades in prerequisite coursework are the main way that candidates are monitored to determine if they are ready to enter into the field experience. Ratings from field supervisors, faculty observations and successful completion of field related coursework are used to determine successful completion of the field experience. Program completion is determined by successfully completing capstones such as portfolios, comprehensive research papers, reflective essays, theses, program evaluations, and comprehensive examinations. These data are monitored and evaluated by each program. Annual reports completed by programs monitor candidate progression and indicate performance in comparison to program set benchmarks (See PROGRAM REVIEWS). The Annual Reports are reviewed each fall by the dean and provost.

Grades are used to monitor candidate progress throughout the program. COEPD requires that candidates maintain a cumulative GPA of 3.0. This is monitored by the Graduate Dean. If a candidate falls below the 3.0, the program will be notified and the candidate will be placed on academic probation. Following notification of probation and prior to subsequent registration, candidates will be counseled by their advisor or the program director. During this session, the candidate will be advised of his or her deficiencies and the requirements for removing the deficiencies within the next nine semester hours of enrollment. Candidates may repeat courses for which they earned a low grade. Candidates will not be permitted to register without the written approval of the Dean of the Graduate College or the Dean of COEPD. A second counseling session will follow the first semester or term of subsequent enrollment and will be a review of the student’s progress. If probationary status is not removed within a satisfactory time period, the Dean of the Graduate College in consultation with the graduate department will determine if the student is to be retained or recommended for dismissal and what counseling or remediation steps will be required of the student as a condition of retention (See policy in Graduate Catalog, http://www.marshall.edu/catalog/files/Gr_2017-18_published_10-13-17.pdf).

Summary

COEPD is committed to recruiting diversity and is currently more diverse than the state of WV. COEPD strives to meet the needs of the state through partnerships and outreach in areas with shortages. COEPD is meeting the CAEP required undergraduate GPA requirements. GRE and MAT standardized test scores are below the CAEP required minimum for Special Education and Social Service and Attendance. Further examination of these programs to determine needed changes is currently being conducted. Already a system is in place to disaggregate Special Education majors by licensure area to determine strengths and weaknesses by area. Systems are in place to monitor the performance of the candidates from entry into the program to completion. Data is available in PROGRAM REVIEWS.

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