Public
Disclosure Information for ESU
Teacher Education Program Completers
The
provisions of the 1998 Amendments to Title II of the Higher Education Act of 1965 require
East Stroudsburg University
to provide the information to the public about students who complete
our teacher education program. For further information on Title II and
state reports, visit www.title2.org
The
questions we are expected to answer are marked with a bullet, followed
by our ESU answer in red.
-
What is the passing rate for ESU students who take the required teacher
certification tests in Pennsylvania? What has the rate been for the past
three years?
ESU
Response: This is the
second year these provisions have been in place.
The law stipulates we must provide information on those persons who
completed our teacher certification program during the year immediately
preceding August 30, 2001. Click
here for test data from the 1999-2000 cohort. The legally required assessment in Pennsylvania
is the Praxis Test Series published by Educational Testing Service. Readers
should keep in mind that the legally required assessment and the minimum
score set for passing each test vary from state to state.
Praxis
Test Summary of Passing Rates for ESU 2000-2001 Cohort
|
Test
Area
|
No.
Taking Test
|
Number
Passing
|
ESU
Pass Rate
|
PA
State Pass Rate
|
Basic Skills
|
|
|
|
|
|
Communication
Skills
|
257
|
257
|
100%
|
99%
|
|
General
Knowledge
|
259
|
259
|
100%
|
99%
|
|
Aggregate
Basic Skills
|
267
|
267
|
100%
|
92%
|
|
Professional
Knowledge
|
|
|
|
|
|
Principles
Learning & Teaching K-6
|
147
|
137
|
93%
|
93%
|
|
Principles
Learning & Teaching 7-12
|
118
|
113
|
96%
|
92%
|
|
Aggregate
Professional Knowledge
|
265
|
250
|
94%
|
92%
|
Academic Content Area
|
|
|
|
|
|
Elementary
Education
|
107
|
95
|
89%
|
88%
|
|
Early
Childhood
|
17
|
17
|
100%
|
98%
|
|
English
|
21
|
20
|
95%
|
95%
|
|
Social
Studies
|
19
|
17
|
89%
|
87%
|
|
Aggregate
Academic Content
|
201
|
185
|
92%
|
90%
|
|
Other
Content Areas
|
|
|
|
|
|
Health
and Physical Education
|
37
|
37
|
100%
|
98%
|
| Aggregate-Other
Content Areas |
43
|
43
|
100%
|
99%
|
|
Content
Areas for Special Populations
|
|
|
|
|
|
Special
Education Knowledge Base Core Principles
|
54
|
53
|
98%
|
94%
|
|
Special
Education Application of Core Principles
|
53
|
48
|
91%
|
91%
|
|
Aggregate
for Teaching Special Populations
|
55
|
49
|
89%
|
89%
|
|
Summary
Total
|
271
|
246
|
91%
|
84%
|
-
Do these data reported in the table above include scores for all students
or only some of the students?
ESU Response: The information provided includes all programs for which there
were 10 or more program completers. Scores
for programs with fewer than 10 completers are not reported for the teaching
specialty but are included in the aggregate calculations and are also included
in the summary total.
-
What is the number of students in the program, the average number of
hours of supervised practice teaching required for those in the program,
and the faculty-student ratio in supervised practice teaching?
ESU Response: Our program includes 1838 students enrolled in
initial teacher education
from September 1, 2000, to August 31, 2001. In
our programs, all students participate in no less than 15 weeks or a full
semester of full-time student teaching. An ESU faculty member and a cooperating
teacher selected by the partner school in which the student teaching is
completed supervise each student teacher. The 23 full-time and 5 part-time
faculty members supervised our 1999-2000 cadre of 322 student teachers
for a ratio of 11.5: 1 faculty per student. At ESU, we do not use generic
faculty supervision. A faculty member selected by the department of the
academic major supervises each student teacher. ESU student teachers complete
15 weeks of student teaching for a full teaching day of approximately seven
clock hours. This is an average of 525 hours of student teaching. This
exceeds the requirements of the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania by three weeks
or 105 hours.
-
Does the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania approve teacher education programs,
and is ESU an approved program?
ESU Response: ESU is an approved program designated by the Pennsylvania Department
of Education. It has been approved by the state since the founding of ESU’s
teacher education program in the 1890s.
-
Can the Praxis scores be used with validity to rank teacher education
institutions on the quality of their programs?
ESU Response: The standards for the
achievement of children are closely allied with the standards developed
by the national associations that also accredit our programs for teacher education. Mathematics
standards,
for example, that are used for K-12 learning are closely allied with the
standards we meet in preparing our teachers. This kind of relationship does not exist for the Praxis Tests.
-
Is ESU’s program approved beyond the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania?
ESU Response: ESU’s teacher education program also has the distinction of being
nationally accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher
Education. ESU is one of only 21 of the 91 state-approved teacher education
programs in Pennsylvania to have the distinction of being nationally accredited.
-
Are there other groups that have accredited or approved ESU’s teacher
education programs?
ESU Response: A large number of highly regarded national associations that
have rigorous standards for the design and conduct of teacher education
programs approve ESU’s programs. Included in this group of organizations
are: National Science Teachers Association; National Council of Teachers
of Mathematics; National Council for the Social Studies; National
Association for the Education of Young Children; National Council of Teachers
of English; Association for Childhood Education International; National
Association of Sport and Physical Education; American Association of Health
Educators; International
Reading Association; and the Council for Exceptional Children. Expert faculty who enjoy membership, endorsement, or certification of the above-named
professional associations carefully develop ESU’s programs.
-
In what ways do the Praxis Tests and their scores relate to the standards
of the national or international associations that accredit ESU’s programs?
ESU Response: There is no clear relationship between the standards of the organizations
that accredit our programs and the selection of questions that appear on
the Praxis Tests. There is also no clear relationship between the teaching
skills of a person and his or her test scores.
-
Does the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania have a system to designate
teacher education programs as being “low performing” based on the passing
rates of its students who take the Praxis Tests?
ESU Response: ESU’s passing rate is well above the Pennsylvania designated
annual passing rate, “70 percent or below for a low performing program.”
Teacher-preparing institutions are expected to maintain passing rates in
each of Aggregate Professional Knowledge and Aggregate Content Knowledge
above 70 percent.
-
How should the public understand the Praxis Test scores and the quality
of teacher education programs? Can programs be faithfully compared on the
basis of these scores?
ESU Response: Teacher education programs vary a great deal in their content
coverage from university to university. Our programs are specifically designed to meet the rigorous standards of a
number of very well-known and recognized professional organizations of
professional educators. These organizations specify in their standards
exactly what our students should know and be able to do. On the other hand, there
is no clear guide on what should be learned or studied to pass the Praxis
Tests.
-
Is there a relationship between the new Commonwealth of Pennsylvania
standards for the achievement of k-12 children and passing rates of newly
educated teachers at ESU?
ESU Response: The standards for the achievement of children are closely allied
with the standards developed by the national associations that also accredit
our programs for teacher education. Mathematics standards, for example,
that are used for K-12 learning are closely allied with the standards we
meet in preparing our teachers. This kind of relationship does not exist
for the Praxis Tests.
If you would like a printed copy of this report, please contact The School
of Professional Studies at:
nancym@po-box.esu.edu or call the office at
570-422-3377.
Page Maintained by: Sam Hausfather
Copyright, East Stroudsburg University
Last revised: 04/28/03
