Teacher Education Unit Teacher Education Programs Office phone: 570-422-3377 Fax: 570-422-3506  Email: pkramer@po-box.esu.edu

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: The law stipulates we must provide information on those persons who completed our teacher certification program during the year immediately preceding August 30, 2005. Click here for test data from the 1999-2000 cohort, 2000-2001 cohort, 2001-2002 cohort, 2002-2003 cohort, 2003-2004 cohort, 2004-2005 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 2005-2006 Cohort  

 

   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 1860 students enrolled in initial teacher education from September 1, 2005, to August 31, 2006. 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 33 full-time and 11 part-time faculty members supervised our 2005-2006 cadre of 366 student teachers for a ratio of 8:1 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 at least 15 weeks of student teaching for a full teaching day of approximately seven clock hours. This is an average of at least 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 18 of the 93 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 the Aggregate Content Knowledge areas 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 College of Education at:

nancym@po-box.esu.edu or call the office at 570-422-3377.

 

Page Maintained by: Pamela Kramer

Copyright, East Stroudsburg University
Last revised: 03/21/07