2.1.a

2.1.a Assessment System

Summarize content, construct, process, and evaluation of the unit assessment system, its key
assessments in relation to professional, state, and institutional standards, and its use in monitoring
candidate performance, program quality, and unit operations.

The Educator Preparation Program (EPP) has a Unit Assessment System (UAS), which reflects state and
national standards for candidate performance and was designed for data collection and analysis,
facilitating continuous program improvement. The UAS allows the EPP to regularly review candidate
performance data at the program, departmental and unit levels for purposes of curricular improvement,
improved candidate performance, and overall process for improvement. This established data collection
system underscores candidate and faculty understanding of unit and program expectations, while
providing valuable information to inform unit, program, and course improvements. The EPP utilizes a
secure web-based data management system, TK20, for the collection, maintenance, and utilization of
data collected in initial and advanced programs.

The most current version of the UAS was initially piloted in 2012. The UAS was informed by the EPP's
conceptual framework (currently being re-aligned to CAEP standards and our Candidate Learning
Outcomes), the 2010 Connecticut Common Core of Teaching (CCCT) standards, and the Connecticut
State Department of Education's Team Education and Mentoring (TEAM) outcomes, in part. Each is
also aligned with the InTASC standards and individual programs have aligned these with the standards
of their respective Specialized Professional Associations (SPAs). The EPP's UAS continues to evolve
via a culture of evidence-based, continuous improvement, the availability of resources, policies and
procedures of the Connecticut State Colleges and Universities (CSCU) system, and in light of
developments within the profession at-large.

In addition, the EPP recently adopted (2015) a philosophy by which candidate dispositions are to be
assessed in an integrated fashion through performance-based assessments and reflective practice rather
than isolated instrumentation. In 2014, the advent of new leadership in the School and the infusion of
resources designed to enhance the implementation of the UAS and to leverage technology to implement
the Unit Assessment System resulted in significant changes. During this period the EPP began to further
refine its unit-wide key assessments for initial (undergraduate and graduate) and advanced (master's)
programs, as they are experientially and/or clinically embedded to facilitate and monitor the progressive
development of candidates. These assessments are responsive to the needs of partner P-12 schools, by
way of feedback from regional cooperating teachers, principals and superintendents, and are aligned
with the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) standards.

As of 2014 and central to the implementation and sustainability of the Unit Assessment System, the
EPP's Assessment Team was redesigned to include two sub-committees: an ad hoc assessment pilot
committee to oversee the pilot of newly developed key assessments and the previously established
assessment committee. The following positions include membership on the EPP Assessment Team: The
NCATE/CAEP Coordinator, Program Coordinators, Director of Unit Assessment, Director of
Educational and Clinical Experiences, Certification Officer, TK20 coordinator, and the ad hoc
assessment pilot committee, which reports to the assessment committee. The Dean of the Educator
Preparation Program (Head of the EPP) serves on the Team on an as-needed basis. Additionally,
members of the Information Technology Services and Institutional Research work collaboratively with
the Assessment Team to implement the UAS, as needed.

The Unit Assessment System (UAS) is comprehensive and integrated. Initial and Advanced candidates
are systematically monitored throughout their matriculation through the EPP to ensure they gain the
requisite knowledge, skills and dispositions required to complete the program. There are three data
transition points for candidates in all initial teacher certification preparation programs and advanced
(non-certification) programs alike. Each transition has one or more key assessment(s). Candidates are not
able to progress in programs unless they have successfully met assessment standards at a satisfactory
level.

Data from all these assessments are reviewed by the CAEP Coordinator and Assessment Committee
prior to being shared with the EPP and programs. The EPP faculty have established a cycle of three
retreat meetings each academic year to discuss data from assessments and to plan programmatic
improvements. The first retreat meeting for the upcoming academic year will be on August 26, 2016.

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