What Every Must Know Special Educator - Council for Exceptional ...

Appendix 10: deVeloping A performAnCe-BASed progrAm
ASSeSSment SyStem
Joni L. Baldwin
University of Dayton
Carol A. Long
Winona State University
The special education preparation program performance
assessment system is designed to document
that teacher candidates have mastered the knowledge,
skills, and dispositions necessary for teaching students
safely and effectively with exceptional learning needs.
While challenging, it can also be a highly rewarding
and a powerful incentive for program improvement.
This article describes the basics for developing and
implementing the program-wide performance assessment
process with an eye on NCATE unit review.
Elements of a Successful Performance-
Based Assessment System
understand the 6 to 8 Assessment Rule
Several years ago, NCATE joined in a collaborative effort
with its specialty professional association partners
(SPAs) to develop a process by which all teacher education
programs could document candidate learning
for program recognition with not more than 6 to 8 program-wide
assessments. Under the new procedures,
six program-wide assessments are required by all
programs, with specific types of assessments specified
for the first five.
Licensure assessment or other content assessment:
most frequently this will be the state mandated Praxis
II. It may also be a state developed assessment, or
use of a commercial tool such as an NES assessment.
The assessment must be aligned with CEC standards
to document that the content of the test does address
CEC standards (Required).
Content assessment: The content assessment is an
assessment that documents candidates have the
content knowledge necessary to teach students with
exceptional learning needs. This can be any type of
assessment, such as a research report, child study, or
an essay (Required).
Assessment of planning: This assessment needs to
demonstrate that the teacher candidate documenting
pedagogical and professional knowledge, skills, and
dispositions can plan, taking into consideration all
variables of the students and content to be taught
(Required).
Student teaching/internship assessment: aligned with
CEC standards (Required).
Assessment of candidate impact on student learning:
This assessment must document that the students
learned what the candidate was teaching. This could be
the assessment plan and results from the unit planned
in Assessment 3 (if it actually is a different assignment
and/or grading template), a behavior change project,
or a case study.
Final Required Assessment: The last required assessment
is of the faculty’s choosing to document missing
standards or to clarify specific program standards.
Once the six assessments are determined, the faculty
may choose up to two additional assessments to document
a missing standards area (Optional).
To be considered program-wide, the assessment must
be required of all teacher candidates in the program.
For example, if a behavior change project, based in a
course only some of your candidates take, it is not a
program-wide assessment and cannot be used as such.
Typically, the six-to-eight program-wide assessments
each cover several CEC standards. However, faculty
should decide which standards are an assessment’s
primary focuses. While it is possible an assessment
to touch on each CEC Standard, the faculty should
review the assessments carefully to determine which
standard(s) are best represented.
Program Standards
The common core and applicable specialized program
standards must be addressed for all initial licensure
teacher candidates. For example, for categorical programs,
such as an Early Childhood Special Education
licensure program, the Early Childhood specialty standards
must be addressed as well as the Initial Common
Core. The same is true for any other categorical preparation
programs (i.e., Learning Disabilities, Deaf and
Hard of Hearing, Physical and Health Disability). The
specific standards for each category must be addressed.
For multi-categorical, or non-categorical programs, the
Individualized General Education standards (for mild/
moderate programs), or Individualized Independence
Appendix 10: developing A performAnCe-BASed progrAm ASSeSSment SyStem 283