1g.1. What professional dispositions are candidates expected to demonstrate by completion of programs?
Candidates are expected to demonstrate professional dispositions that reflect the core values of the unit: intellectual vitality, inclusiveness and equity, leadership, and collaborative spirit (Std1g.Exh13). Candidates who demonstrate intellectual vitality are able to examine diverse perspectives, engage in inquiry, and utilize new technologies effectively. Those who demonstrate inclusiveness and equity are able to create learning communities that ensure the development, support, and inclusion of peoples' abilities, values, ideas, languages, and expressions. Candidates who demonstrate leadership engage in ethical practices, use their professional expertise to enhance the places where they live and work, and strive to improve their own practice. Those who demonstrate collaborative spirit generate, welcome, and support collaborative relationships among students, colleagues, families, and community members.
Adherence to the Alaska Code of Ethics of the Education Profession and the UAA Student Code of Conduct are minimum expectations for candidates in all interactions with peers, University and school-based personnel, students, families, and community members.
Catalogs, brochures, and handbooks highlight the unit's core values. Course syllabi show the connection between the unit's core values and the course goals and objectives. The unit annually awards plaques to candidates selected as exemplars of these values.
Fairness and the belief that all students can learn are professional dispositions inherent within our vision and core values. Thus, as we assess our core values, we also assess these two dispositions. Our vision illustrates our focus on transforming the beliefs and practices of educators, families, and communities in order to address the wide spectrum of human abilities in compassionate and innovative ways, as well as our relentless focus on student learning. Example indicators from internship evaluation forms display our commitment to these positive behaviors and provide performance data for our candidates (See Dispositions - By Core Values Std1g.Exh15). Several programs utilize other instruments and collect data on additional dispositions. See Dispositions – Other in the same exhibit to view these outcomes.
1g.2. How do candidates demonstrate that they are developing professional dispositions related to fairness and the belief that all students can learn?
Candidates in initial teacher preparation programs have multiple opportunities to demonstrate that they are developing the professional dispositions related to fairness and the belief that all students can learn. These opportunities include field experiences prior to the internship year, course assignments before and during the internship year, internship evaluations at specified checkpoints during the internship year, and the final portfolio. These opportunities occur over a period of 2-3 years for early childhood and elementary candidates and 1-2 years for secondary candidates. Likewise, in advanced programs and those for other school professionals, candidates have opportunities through various course assignments, internship experiences, and portfolios to demonstrate that they are developing these important professional dispositions. In Dispositions - By Core Values (Std1g.Exh15) faculty have linked the core values to professional standards and identified those that reflect fairness and the belief that all students can learn.
In addition to the above, effective Fall 2008, initial programs in the Department of Teaching and Learning (Early Childhood, Elementary, and Secondary) collect candidate data from clinical faculty on fairness and the belief that all students can learn. The ratings are based on classroom observations, conversations, and candidate performance on key assessments during the internship. Clinical faculty report these data in TaskStream at 3 evaluation points during the internship. The 2009 spring summative (end of internship) data may be found under the program area’s name in Dispositions - Other (Std1g.Exh15). Candidates generally perform well by demonstrating these two dispositions in practice, and these data show that 96% of the candidates were rated as acceptable (meets standard) or target (exceeds standard) on both dispositions. Selected comments from clinical faculty are also included in the table. Similarly, candidates in the Early Childhood Special Education program do quite well on these dispositions with an average score of 2.9 out of 3 from the university supervisor.
1g.3. What data from key assessments indicate that candidates demonstrate the professional dispositions listed in 1.g.1 as they work with students, families, colleagues, and communities?
Coursework embeds readings, discussions, and assignments that build candidate knowledge, skills, and dispositions for working with students, families, colleagues, and communities. The data, summarized in Standard 1G Exhibit 15 Summary of candidate performance on assessments of dispositions, and obtained from disposition instruments (Std1g.Exh14), internship evaluations, and portfolio reviews, provide the most compelling evidence that candidates demonstrate intellectual vitality, inclusiveness and equity, leadership, collaborative spirit, and fairness and the belief that all students can learn as they work with students, families, colleagues, and communities.
1g.4. What do follow-up studies of graduates and employers indicate about graduates'
demonstration of professional dispositions? If survey data have not already been reported, what was the response rate?
Candidates are expected to demonstrate professional dispositions that reflect the core values of the College: intellectual vitality, inclusiveness and equity, leadership, and collaborative spirit. Alumni, employer, and graduate exit surveys indicate that COE graduates demonstrate the professional dispositions valued by the college (Std1g.Exh16). Alumni surveys show that more than 85% of those who responded to the survey agree# that their programs influenced their professional practice with regard to the core values. Employer surveys show that 97% of those who responded agree that COE graduates exhibit in their professional practice the dispositions valued by the College. Exit surveys show that more than 93% of the graduates agree that they demonstrate the professional dispositions associated with the COE core values.
#Agree = somewhat agree, agree, or strongly agree
1. What does your unit do particularly well related to Standard 1?
The College of Education is particularly effective at preparing elementary and secondary educators who have strong content knowledge. The requirement for a baccalaureate degree in the candidate’s chosen content area for secondary education and the rigorous liberal studies foundation for elementary education significantly contribute to the solid content knowledge base of these program candidates. While the Alaska Department of Education and Early Development does not require a content exam for initial licensure, it does require the Praxis II for advancement to professional licensure. All of UAA’s elementary and secondary graduates receiving an institutional recommendation for initial teacher certification have passed the Praxis II at a level that exceeds the requirement established by EED for professional licensure.
The College of Education also does a particularly good job of preparing early childhood, elementary, and secondary candidates to meet the 8 Alaska Beginning Teacher Standards. The program faculty consistently focus on helping candidates meet these standards from the candidate’s first education course through the final internship. Candidates are provided multiple opportunities to demonstrate proficiency in these standards and must meet all 8 standards to receive an institutional recommendation for certification.
2. What research related to Standard 1 is being conducted by the unit or its faculty?
The development of candidate knowledge, skills, and professional dispositions consistent with COE core values is a fundamental goal. Faculty are committed to the importance of ongoing research efforts addressing intellectual vitality, inclusiveness and equity, collaboration, and leadership. Below is a partial list of scholarly work related to research activities in which faculty engage.
Bailey, J. G. (2004). The validation of a scale to measure school principals' attitudes toward the
inclusion of students with disabilities in regular schools. Australian Psychologist, 39, 76-87.
Bunsen, T. D., & Pendleton, J. (in press). Integrated classroom strategies: Case study of a young
girl with autism.
Capuozzo, R. (2008, January). A study of preschool student teachers. Paper presented at the
local conference for the Anchorage Association for the Education of Young Children,
Coulter, C., Michael, C., & Poynor, L. (2007). Storytelling as pedagogy: An unexpected outcome
of narrative inquiry. Curriculum Inquiry, 37(2), 103-122.
Coulter, C., & Smith, M. L. (2006). English language learners in a comprehensive high school.
Bilingual Research Journal, 30(2), 309-335.
Dybdahl, C. S., & Black, T. (2010). "Rock n' Thyme." In D. Lapp & B. Moss (Eds.), Teaching
the Texts Students Need to Succeed in the Elementary Grades (4-6). NY: Guildford
Fickel, L. H. (2006). Paradox of practice: Expanding and contracting curriculum in a
high-stakes climate. In S. G. Grant (Ed.), Measuring history: Cases of state-level testing
across the United States, 75-103. Greenwich, CT: Information Age Publishing.
Schoenfeldt, M., Powell, J., & Marchant, G. (2005). LAMP: The Learning Assessment Model
Project. In N. Hall & D. Springate (Eds.), European Teacher Education Network
Conference: Vol. 15. (pp. 174-179). London: University of Greenwich.
Walker, B., & Dybdahl, C.S. (in review). Helping struggling readers in the classroom. Norwood,