Master in Teaching Program

THE EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE MASTER IN TEACHING PROGRAM ASSESSMENT OF PROFESSIONAL DISPOSITIONS

THE EVERGREEN STATE COLLEGE MASTER IN TEACHING PROGRAM ASSESSMENT OF PROFESSIONAL DISPOSITIONS

This assessment was developed to clarify the relationships among MIT program standards and expectations, the State of Washington's standards for teacher certification, and the dispositions that support effective teaching in a diverse society. The following indicators of dispositions that support effective teaching were drawn from Washington State Standards for teacher certification and from the conceptual framework and program expectations published by the Master in Teaching Program at the Evergreen State College. In this assessment tool, dispositions are evaluated through the knowledge and skills demonstrated by the teacher candidate. As NCATE indicated in a statement on June 6, 2006, "Institutions often identify dispositions that encourage pre-service educators to be caring teachers, collaborative partners, life-long learners, and reflective practitioners. Institutions are encouraged to measure dispositions by translating them into observable behaviors in school settings. The caring teacher creates a classroom in which children respect each other. The collaborative practitioner works with parents and other teachers to help students learn. The life-long learner reads education literature and the reflective practitioner re-thinks how she teaches the unit on geometric shapes." These statements reflect MIT's commitment to helping develop teachers who are willing and able to teach all people's children. Using the assessment that follows the description of Standards and Expectations, each teacher candidate and her/his seminar leader will individually complete, compare, and then discuss this assessment of the teacher candidate's professional dispositions quarterly during the MIT program. Please provide the evidence for your assessment of each indicator. For any indicator that is not met, the faculty member and teacher candidate will collaboratively create and write a plan for how the candidate will develop the ability to meet the indicator(s). Copies of these assessments will be kept on file.



Cohort Years: 2006-2008

Your Name:


INDICATOR 1: The teacher candidate demonstrates professional habits necessary to effective teaching: empathy, timeliness, participation, pursuit of knowledge, and completion of quality work.
STANDARDS/EXPECTATIONS:
  • MIT Program Covenant Students are expected to remain in good academic standing, which includes, but is not limited to: " Regular attendance and active participation in all program activities on time, for the full duration and with preparatory work fully completed. " Successful and timely completion of all program assignments . . .
  • Advancement to Candidacy Review Students must demonstrate through their program work, through their portfolios, and orally, that they have the knowledge and the writing, reading, and thinking skills to complete successfully the MIT program
  • Advancement to Student Teaching Portfolio . . . demonstrations of understanding of cultural encapsulation and the efforts and strategies you employ to monitor your own cultural filters . . .
  • Evergreen Student Teaching Rubric - Domain 1, Component 1a Teacher candidate displays a solid content knowledge
  • Standard IV: Program Design (State of Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Professional Education and Certification Office) Candidates who demonstrate potential for acquiring the content and pedagogical knowledge and skills for success as educators in schools are recruited, admitted and retained. These candidates include members from under represented groups.
  • Standard V: Knowledge and Skills (State of Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Professional Education and Certification Office) The residency teacher preparation provides candidates with solid preparation in the foundational knowledge for teachers including the state learning goals and essential academic learning requirements, subject matter coursework, foundations of education, technology, human growth and development, inquiry and research, school law and educational policy, professional ethics, responsibilities of the professions, issues of abuse and knowledge of the professional certificate.
Assessment on INDICATOR 1: The teacher candidate demonstrates professional habits necessary to effective teaching:
timeliness
Met
Not Met
Evidence/Comments


participation
Met
Not Met
Evidence/Comments


pursuit of knowledge
Met
Not Met
Evidence/Comments


completion of quality work
Met
Not Met
Evidence/Comments


INDICATOR 2: The teacher candidate demonstrates valuing effective communication through using clear and effective oral and written language, effective listening skills, and language appropriate for the particular context.
STANDARDS/EXPECTATIONS:
  • MIT Covenant: Advancement to Candidacy Review Students must demonstrate through their program work, through their portfolios, and orally, that they have the interpersonal communication and collaborations skills to support their successful work with children, parents, other teachers, and administrators
  • Evergreen Student Teaching Rubric: Domain 3 Communicating Clearly and Accurately: Oral and Written Language - Teacher Candidate's spoken and written language is clear and correct
  • State Pedagogy Assessment The teacher candidate plans and establishes effective interactions with families to support student learning and well-being. The plan's interactions with families are specifically adapted to the language and level of understanding of each student and his or her family, including low-status/historically marginalized families. The plan provides adequate opportunities for families to engage in communication or activities to support student learning and well being.
  • Standard V: Knowledge and Skills (State of Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Professional Education and Certification Office) Effective verbal, nonverbal, and media communication for fostering active inquiry, collaboration, and supportive interactions in the classroom.

Assessment on INDICATOR 2: The teacher candidate demonstrates valuing effective communication through using:
clear and effective oral and written language
Met
Not Met
Evidence/Comments


effective listening skills
Met
Not Met
Evidence/Comments


language appropriate for the particular context
Met
Not Met
Evidence/Comments



INDICATOR 3: The teacher candidate demonstrates a commitment to teaching all people's children by:
  • seeking and considering multiple perspectives about people's values, cultures, ethnicities, learning needs, and about the cultural, political, and historical contexts of teaching, learning, and schooling;
  • reflecting on her/his knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and practices;
  • analyzing the effects of her/his speech and action; and,
  • offering hypotheses for change when appropriate.

STANDARDS/EXPECTATIONS:
  • MIT Program's Conceptual Framework
    • Multicultural and Anti-Bias Perspective The curriculum reflects Evergreen's strong commitment to diversity because we believe that both teaching and learning must draw from many perspectives and include a multiplicity of ideas.
    • Democracy and Schooling Democracy is presented as a multidimensional concept as prospective teachers are guided toward professional action and reflection on the implications for the role of the teacher in enacting (a) democratic school-based decision making that is inclusive of parents, community members, school personnel and students and (b) democratic classroom learning environments that are learner-centered and collaborative.
  • Advancement to Candidacy Review Students must demonstrate through their program work, through their portfolios, and orally, that they are able to work with and respect gender differences, people of various ages, abilities and talents, ethnicity and race, sexual orientations, religion, etc.
  • Rubrics for seminar, integration, and teaching, learning, schooling papers A proficient paper includes a thorough exploration of claims and possible counter-arguments to build argument.
  • Advancement to Student Teaching Portfolio
    • demonstrations of your understanding of cultural encapsulation and the efforts and strategies you employ to monitor your own cultural filters
    • demonstrations of who you are as a person, including appropriate clarity of personal identity, values, moral commitments, and awareness of personal needs being filled through teaching
  • MIT Student Teaching Rubric Reflection and appropriate interactions with students, families and communities are woven throughout the student teaching rubric.
  • State Pedagogy Assessment
    • The teacher candidate sets learning targets that address the Essential Academic Learning Requirements and the state learning goals. The plan's learning targets are grounded in transformative multicultural knowledge, reasoning, performance skills, products, or dispositions.
    • The teacher candidate demonstrates knowledge of the characteristics of students and their communities. The plans reflects understanding of students' exceptionalities and special learning needs, . . students' cultural backgrounds, ethnicity, first language development, English acquisition, SES, and gender.
    • The teacher candidate plans and establishes effective interactions with families to support student learning and well-being.
  • Standard V: Knowledge and Skills: (State of Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Professional Education and Certification Office): Element A: Foundational Knowledge
    • The social, historical, and philosophical foundations of education including an understanding of the moral, social, and political dimensions of classrooms, teaching, and schools.
    • Different student approaches to learning for creating instructional opportunities adapted to learners of both sexes and from diverse cultural or linguistic backgrounds.
    • Areas of exceptionality and learning including, but not limited to, learning disabilities, visual and perceptual difficulties, and special physical or mental challenges
    • Effective instructional strategies for students at all levels of academic abilities and talents with an awareness of the influence of culture and gender on student learning
Assessment of Indicator 3: The teacher candidate demonstrates a commitment to teaching all people's children by:

seeking and considering multiple perspectives about people's values, cultures, ethnicities, learning needs, and about the cultural, political, and historical contexts of teaching, learning, and schooling;
Met
Not Met
Evidence/Comments


reflecting on her/his knowledge, beliefs, attitudes, and practices;
Met
Not Met
Evidence/Comments


analyzing the effects of her/his speech and action
Met
Not Met
Evidence/Comments


offering hypotheses for change when appropriate
Met
Not Met
Evidence/Comments


INDICATOR 4: The teacher candidate demonstrates meaningful purposes for creating effective learning interactions with children and youth by:
  • actively seeking knowledge and ideas about theories and practices, and
  • consistently seeking to apply and test her/his knowledge in order to positively impact student learning.
STANDARDS/EXPECTATIONS:
  • Advancement to Candidacy Portfolio Who Am I As A Learner in This Graduate Program? Purpose: To demonstrate graduate level academic skills and knowledge. Required Elements: An evaluation of your ability to help children and adolescents achieve the appropriate EALR Benchmarks and your final seminar paper are required in this section.
  • Advancement to Student Teaching Portfolio Teacher as Reflective Practitioner Demonstration of a balanced blend of personal theory-building through experience and the questions, ideas, and theories of others. Demonstration of a reflective, critical view of educational practices and a growing understanding of one's own educational vision. Teacher as Facilitator of Learning: Demonstration of movement toward socially responsible practice as shown in designs and activities for classroom use. Reflection of awareness of human development, learning theories; multicultural perspectives; learning styles; age and content appropriate methods and materials; principles of integrated curriculum; authentic assessment; classroom organization, structure and dynamics; modifications for special needs; cooperative learning; technology in the classroom.
  • Essential Academic Learning Requirements Project (EALR Project) Through the EALR Project the Teacher Candidate systematically documents the learning of a representative sample of students during a unit of instruction. The planning of the curricular unit, its assessment, and the teacher candidate's reflections are documented through this project. The purpose of this project is to demonstrate positive impact on K-12 student growth in the chosen EALR's as a result of the Teacher Candidate's teaching.
  • MIT Student Teaching Rubric: Domain 1 The entire domain speaks to this indicator.
  • State Pedagogy Assessment The teacher candidate designs instruction based on research and principles of effective practice.
Assessment of Indicator 4: The teacher candidate demonstrates meaningful purposes for creating effective learning interactions with children and youth by:
actively seeking knowledge and ideas about theories and practices
Met
Not Met
Evidence/Comments


consistently seeking to apply and test her/his knowledge in order to positively impact student learning.
Met
Not Met
Evidence/Comments




INDICATOR 5: The teacher candidate demonstrates the value of working both independently and collaboratively to learn new ideas and to solve problems. STANDARDS/EXPECTATIONS:
  • MIT Program Conceptual Framework Community building, seminars, collaborative learning, group problem-solving, extensive field experiences and critical and reflective thinking are not just ideas MIT students read about and are then directed to use when they teach. Rather, these are the processes used daily in the program to help graduate students learn to become skilled, competent professionals who can assume leadership roles in curriculum development, child advocacy, assessment, and anti-bias work.
  • Advancement to Candidacy Portfolio Who Am I as a Colleague and Academic Learning Community Member? Purpose: To demonstrate your engagement in, and contributions to, our learning community, as well as your understanding of group development, collaboration, and group process.
  • Standard V: Knowledge and Skills: (State of Washington Office of Superintendent of Public Instruction, Professional Education and Certification Office) Element C: Professional Development: Strategies for effective participation in group decision making.
Assessment of INDICATOR 5: The teacher candidate demonstrates the value of working both independently and collaboratively to learn new ideas and to solve problems.
Met
Not Met
Evidence/Comments