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The Teacher Work Sample (TWS) at Emporia State

Emporia State requires a TWS from ALL candidates in the teacher education program. Spring 2003 was the third semester for ALL candidates to complete the TWS requirement. ESU has collected and scored TWS data for 5 semesters. All elementary and secondary students in methods classes and in Professional Development Schools develop abbreviated versions of the TWS during their junior year. This is an effort to promote classroom connections to the TWS and familiarize candidates with the performance and evaluation process. Both elementary and secondary faculty members have taken a central role in integrating components of the TWS in their courses (See Research and Accountability section below). Although ESU has worked closely with the TWS Renaissance Group as a part of the consortium, ESU’s prompt and rubric is not the same evaluation tool used by the rest of the Group. Variations between the two versions are minor but significant.
To see ESU’s prompt and rubric, the readers should please go to: http://www.emporia.edu/teach/dean/twsm.pdf

Mentoring Program Report

During each semester, Dr. William Samuelson and Dr. Anthony Ambrosio hold a workshop with all of the Liberal Arts and Sciences and Business faculty who teach departmental methods courses or visit student teachers (Mentors). The purpose of the workshop is to provide feedback about the performance of students in their teaching majors on the TWS. Data is provided to compare their major students’ performance with that of all ESU students, elementary students, and all secondary students. The data and score sheets are used for feedback to individual University Supervisors.

The TWS continues to gain support from faculty across the university. Faculty members representing all of the departments in which methods courses are taught are supportive of the Teacher Work Sample both as an instructional tool as well as for instructional improvement strategies for the University’s teacher education programs. The subject matter methods teachers are actively promoting TWS in the specific methods courses taught in each discipline. The Dean of LA & S continues to be a solid promoter of TWS as a tool for improving instruction and improving and tracking student performance.

Scoring the TWS
Rater training sessions are conducted each semester at ESU. Raters are teachers and faculty recruited from diverse professional backgrounds. Mean years experience of raters in the Spring, 2003 semester were 18.0 (high school), 6.3 (middle school), 9.6 (elementary) and 5.6 (early childhood). The training process involves four stages: (1) an orientation to the TWS; (2) rater training (including practice scoring); (3) estimating reliability (retraining if necessary), and (4) individual rater scoring. Exemplars are critical to the training process. Analytic and holistic exemplars are being developed for future rater training sessions.
Emporia State has had excellent reliability ratings between our judges since the inception of the TWS as an evaluation tool. At the present time, ESU has used over fifty well-trained and experienced raters who have been recruited from the public schools, liberal arts faculty, and elementary and secondary teacher education faculty. They comprise a valuable resource pool. Future rater groups will be drawn from experienced raters in this pool together with an infusion of new untrained raters from the public schools and the university.

Research and Accountability
TWS/PDS Research
$ Emporia State University continued to conduct research during Fall 2002 and Spring 2003 to compare differences in TWS performance between PDS and “On-Campus” candidates. Comparisons are made on learning impact indices as well as on individual rubric factors. Results indicate a slight edge for PDS students on all learning impact indices, but no differences existed on individual factor scores. A new university supervisor student teaching observational assessment form (USAST) was created to examine TWS validity. The evaluation was completed by university supervisors while students conducted their TWS unit. Scores from the TWS rating session were compared to the USAST scores. A modest correlation (.43) was found between the USAST and TWS.

General Research Summaries
$ Past research has shown that no correlation exist between scores on state required writing ability tests and TWS scores. This challenges the allegation that students who write better, score higher on TWS.
$ Research at ESU shows a lack of correlation between individual factors of the TWS. This may indicate that each factor is measuring a unique quality, knowledge, or skill.
$ The Crocker Validity Study shows that faculty who have served as raters at ESU believe that TWS is a valid, meaningful assessment which is related to INTASC standards.
$ A Student Perception Survey indicates that (1) students like the yardstick of using student gain scores and objective mastery indices to gauge their impact on classroom learning and (2) they liked the aspect of being held accountable for individual learners. The writing requirement and redundant use of text with graphs were two common concerns indicated by our candidates.
$ Research on differences between elementary and secondary student TWS shows that elementary candidates outscore secondary candidates on the total TWS score, but this variance is mainly due to elevated scores by elementary candidates on Factor Six, the reflective piece.

Curriculum Development
ESU has finished the 3rd year of data collection on the TWS. The data collected has not only been instrumental in driving the development of the TWS prompt and rubric, but it has led to classroom change. ESU’s award winning program is comprised of dedicated faculty who value the formative data feedback given by the TWS data. After scoring the TWS each semester, elementary faculty who had served as scorers make recommendations to their colleagues for changes in classroom activities, procedures and curricular integration, without the need for using standard curricular change mechanisms. Over the past three years, faculty have developed and implemented course specific methods to introduce the TWS to their students, and tie it into what was being learned in the classroom. In addition, Teacher Work Sample evaluation factors have been aligned with standards from the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, and TWS data collection and analysis continues to be an on-going part of the curriculum development process for accreditation.

Dissemination
In fall 2002 the Kansas State Department of Education developed a model for TWS based heavily on the ESU model. They will begin piloting the KSDE TWS each semester of the 2003-2004 academic year. They will use the TWS to assess teacher performance during the three-year conditional licensure in order to determine the candidate’s eligibility for the five-year professional license. The former ESU Associate Dean, Jerry Long, was been hired by the KSDE to assist them in their development and application of the KSDE TWS model. This assures continuous connection with the ESU philosophy and expertise.
ESU faculty presented TWS information at KACTE and Kansas Coalition of Professional Development Schools in Fall 2002 and Spring 2003.

TWS Training
Teachers:
Each semester, ESU trains public school teachers from Emporia, Topeka and the Kansas City area for their role as cooperating teachers of candidates who will be writing work samples in the coming year. The mentoring, support, and assistance that these teachers can now give will be invaluable to our student teachers. Emporia State has trained well over 600 public school teachers, administrators, and university personnel (including supervising teachers) in the TWS process since the grant began.
In late April 2003, a rater training session and TWS scoring session was held with 30 faculty and teachers scoring more than 139 work samples.

Students:
In addition to TWS training as a part of teacher preparation courses, during the first half of the Spring semester 2003, each elementary and secondary student teacher was given the opportunity to use an on-line TWS help line during student teaching as they write their work samples.

Fall, 2002

The Teacher Work Sample (TWS) at Emporia State

The TWS is a requirement for ALL candidates in the teacher education program. During the Fall Semester 2002 all elementary and secondary student teachers developed a TWS as a part of the requirements for student teaching. Fall was the second semester for all students to complete the TWS requirement. ESU has scored TWS from students for three semesters.

All elementary and secondary students in methods classes and in Professional Development Schools developed abbreviated versions of the TWS to promote classroom connections to the TWS and familiarize candidates with the performance and evaluation process. Both elementary and secondary faculty members have taken a central role in integrating components of the TWS in their courses (See Research and Accountability section below).

Although ESU has worked closely with the TWS Renaissance Group as a part of the consortium, ESU’s prompt and rubric is not the same evaluation tool used by the rest of the Group. Variations between the two versions are minor but significant. Refinements were made this semester to the ESU Rubric and prompt for factor five. The Glossary of Terms was also expanded based on recommendations from raters at the Spring scoring session. The revisions did not impact weighting or scoring of the student TWS.

To see ESU’s prompt and rubric, the readers should please go to: http://www.emporia.edu/teach/dean/twsm.pdf

Mentoring Program Report

During the fall semester, Dr. William Samuelson and Dr. Tony Ambrosio held a conference and workshop with all of the Liberal Arts and Sciences and Business faculty who teach departmental methods courses or visit student teachers (Mentors). The purpose of the conference was to provide feedback about the performance of students in their teaching majors on the TWS. Data was provided for them so they could compare their major students’ performance with that of all ESU students, elementary students, and all secondary students.

The data and score sheets as feedback to individual University supervisors is being used and supervisors will be asked for evaluation of the process in the Spring 2003.

The 16 faculty members representing all of the departments in which methods courses are taught across the campus are supportive of the Teacher Work Sample both as an instructional tool for their students as well as its application as an instructional improvement strategy for the University’s teacher education programs. The subject matter methods teachers are actively promoting TWS in the specific methods courses taught in each discipline. We in the Teachers College continue to be impressed with their acceptance of and enthusiasm for the Teacher Work Sample, and believe that with each passing semester their ability to integrate the six work sample factors into their courses will improve. Furthermore, the Dean of LA &S continues to be a solid promoter of TWS as a tool for improving instruction and improving and tracking student performance.

Mentors and teacher education faculty have been asked to turn in references, resources, teaching aids, materials, and instructional techniques related to assessment and evaluation. Knowing what they teach about assessment/evaluation and how they teach it can be a valuable shared tool within the teacher education at ESU.

Scoring the TWS

Rater training sessions are conducted each semester at ESU. Raters are teachers and faculty recruited from diverse professional backgrounds. The training process involves four stages: (1) an orientation to the TWS; (2) rater training (including practice scoring); (3) estimating reliability (retraining if necessary), and (4) individual rater scoring. Exemplars are critical to the training process. Analytic and holistic exemplars are being developing for future rater training sessions.

In fall semester we experimented with pair scoring and determined that after scoring a student’s work individually, the opportunity to critique and discuss was valuable. The raters were under no obligation to change scores as a result of any discussion.

As a point of interest, there were rater pairs which, independently, both rated work samples in the high nineties (on ESU’s 100 point scale) and other pairs who also rated different student work in the forties. At the present time ESU has trained and used over fifty well-trained and experienced raters who have been recruited from the public schools, liberal arts faculty, and elementary and secondary teacher education faculty. They comprise a valuable resource pool. Future rater groups will be drawn from experienced raters in this pool together with an infusion of new untrained raters from the public schools and the university.

Research and Accountability

TWS/PDS Research

Emporia State University continued to conduct research during Spring and Fall 2002 to compare differences in TWS performance between PDS and “On-Campus” candidates. Comparisons are made on learning impact indices as well as scores on individual rubric factors. The study uses a matched pair design. There is also research underway to correlate performance on TWS with other available indices.

No correlation was found between scores on state required writing ability tests and TWS scores. This challenges the allegation that students who write better, score higher on TWS.

Research at ESU shows a lack of correlation between Scores on Work Sample factors, leading us to believe that each factor may measure a unique quality, knowledge, or skill.

The Crocker Validity Study shows that faculty who have served as raters at ESU believe that TWS is a valid, meaningful assessment which is related to INTASC standards.

A Student Perception Survey indicates that (1) students like the yardstick of using student gain scores and objective mastery indices to gauge the impact they are having on their pupils. They also indicated that (2) they like aspects of being held accountable for individual learners, which the structure of the TWS provides.

Research on the Fall 2002 TWS performance of PDS students and students in the regular on-campus ESU preparation program showed a slight (but statistically significant) advantage for PDS students in overall scores and student gain scores.

Research on differences between elementary and secondary student TWS shows that elementary candidates outscore secondary candidates on the total TWS score, but this variance is mainly due to elevated scores by elementary candidates on Factor Six, the reflective piece.

Curriculum Development

ESU has finished the 2nd year of data collection on the TWS. The data collected has not only been instrumental in driving the development of the TWS prompt and rubric, but it has led to classroom change. ESU’s award winning program is comprised of dedicated faculty who value the formative data feedback given by the TWS data. After scoring the Spring 2002 TWS, elementary faculty who had served as scorers made recommendations to their colleagues for changes in classroom activities, procedures and curricular integration, without the need for using standard curricular change mechanisms. Over the past two years, faculty have developed and implemented course specific methods to introduce the TWS to their students, and tie it into what was being learned in the classroom. In addition, Teacher Work Sample evaluation factors have been aligned with standards from the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, and TWS data collection and analysis continues to be an on-going part of the curriculum development process for accreditation.

Dissemination

ESU faculty presented the ESU TWS model to the KSDE in spring 2002. In fall 2002 the Kansas State Department of Education developed a model for TWS based heavily on the ESU model. They will use the KSDE TWS to assess teacher performance during the three-year conditional licensure in order to determine the candidate’s eligibility for the five-year professional license.

The former ESU Associate Dean, Jerry Long, has been hired by the KSDE to assist them in their development and application of the KSDE TWS model. This assures continuous connection with the ESU philosophy and expertise.

ESU faculty presented TWS information at KACTE and Kansas Coalition of Professional Development Schools in Fall 2002 and Spring 2003.

The Associate Dean, Phil Bennett, made a presentation in Oklahoma for the State Department of Education to familiarize university faculty there with the implementation of a TWS based performance assessment design.

The Associate Dean also made a presentation in Kansas City sponsored by the Jones Institute at ESU to familiarize university faculty from Kansas and Missouri with the implementation of a TWS based performance assessment design.

Five ESU faculty, including the LA &S Dean, are presenting at AACTE on the topic of the use of TWS as part of meeting requirement of NCATE assessment.

Looking Ahead

We are continuously refining the processes for preparing our candidates, training TWS raters, and integrating performance results into decision making. The following activities have occurred or will occur during the 2001-2002 academic year.

TWS Training

Teachers:

In spring of 2002 ESU completed training of one hundred thirty area public school teachers for their role as cooperating teachers of candidates who will be writing work samples in the coming year. The mentoring, support, and assistance that these teachers can now give will be invaluable to our student teachers.

In the fall of 2002 we trained fifty-eight additional cooperating teachers from Emporia, Topeka, and the Kansas City area for their role. This brings the grand total of public school teachers, administrators, and university personnel (including supervising teachers) who have received training related to the TWS since the grant began at ESU to well over 600.

In late April 2003, a rater training session and TWS scoring session will be held with approximately 30 faculty and teachers scoring more than 140 work samples.

Students:

In addition to TWS training as a part of teacher preparation courses, during the first half of the Spring semester 2002, each elementary and secondary student teacher was given the opportunity to use an on-line TWS help line during student teaching as they write their work samples.

Curriculum Development

All teacher candidates:

Since the elements of TWS are now thoroughly integrated into the elementary and secondary teacher education programs, a Matrix of TWS Knowledge and Skills is under development in which elementary and secondary teacher preparation faculty will identify the specific courses in which the TWS knowledge and skills are covered. Furthermore, the instructors will also analyze the “coverage” as being introductory, developmental, or application. Thus, the alignment of TWS knowledge and skills and the ESU teacher preparation program can be tracked and analyzed. Use of the matrix has great implications for reporting on student performance to NCATE and for internal curricular assessment and alignment.

Secondary:

Pre-student teaching students in a generic methods course are introduced to the elements of the TWS and each developed a teacher work sample based upon their observation experience. The TWS was integrated into the fabric of the course and served both as a focal point for delivery of instruction and as a culminating activity for much of the instruction in that course.

Instructors in specific content methods courses continue to improve the integration of various TWS skills and knowledge into their courses.

Elementary:

A continuous process beginning two years ago for integrating and strengthening TWS factors and elements into four semesters of on-campus pre-student teaching classes for non-PDS students has resulted in major changes in classroom activities. These students are now familiar with the format and intention of the TWS and are quite capable of building a TWS during Student Teaching.

Training in TWS for elementary students in the PDS program has accelerated and the work samples done in the fall of 2002 demonstrated even more improvement in all six factors of the TWS over work samples completed in the fall of 2001.

Research

Research in Spring and Fall 2003 will focus on the validation of the TWS, university supervisors will rate the candidates during their classroom site visit at a time in which one or more of the TWS unit lessons are being delivered. Supervisors will rate the candidate on items similar to the TWS factors to determine construct/concurrent validity.
At the secondary level, research in 2003 will be conducted to attempt to establish predictive validity by having principals rate our first year post-graduates using the same instrument mentioned above.

Fall, 2002

The previous academic year has been a busy one for the personnel involved in the Renaissance Teacher Work Sample (TWS) project at ESU. In addition to attending Renaissance meetings and grant-related training in St. Louis, training and implementation of the TWS concept has been an on-going activity gaining momentum and stature at ESU and within the State of Kansas.

The TWS has been fully implemented in both the pre-student teaching and student teaching semesters throughout the entire teacher education program at ESU for elementary, secondary, and special education. It is imbedded in the preparation program and culminates in student teaching for all teacher education candidates. Approximately 250 candidates complete a TWS each academic year. Specific activities this year include(d):

Training for public school Mentors of teacher education candidates who will be completing Teacher Work Samples during their student teaching placement. Training occurred late summer and early fall of 2002 for personnel in three locations: Emporia, Olathe, and Topeka. These cities and their surrounding areas are ESU’s largest centers for student teacher placement. This type of training will be on-going.
Training for LA & S faculty who are members of the university Teacher Education Council as well as those LA & S mentors who teach subject specific methods courses and/or visit student teachers. Training focused on implementing and supervising the TWS in their respective disciplines.
Training and scoring sessions for all Spring 2002 Teacher Work Samples. A team comprised of public school teachers, Teachers College faculty, and LA & S faulty were trained as raters and scored all Spring 2002 Teacher Work Samples in April. The results of that scoring indicated consistently high reliability and validity estimates.
Revising courses that impact Teacher Education. A revision meeting is planned for October, 2002 to provide feedback and renewal for all involved LA & S faculty regarding the TWS performance of teacher education candidates in their respective disciplines during the Spring, 2002 semester. The Dean of LA & S is fully on board and supportive of the TWS process. He has attended all local training for his faculty and much of the training for the faculty in the Teachers College.
Researching similarities and differences in learning gain, objective mastery impact and TWS performance between PDS and on-campus teacher education candidates. Results from a matched-pair study show strengths and weaknesses of each type of program and will be used to increase the impact of teacher preparation in elementary, secondary, and special education classrooms.
Creating an ESU TWS data base. This effort is nearing completion and will be used connect TWS performance indicators with accreditation standards..
Using TWS as a tool for accountability at the state level. The Kansas State Department of Education (KSDE) is reviewing the ESU Teacher Work Sample approach for possible future use in a modified form. Interest in the ESU TWS is also being expressed by sister institutions in the State of Kansas.
Consulting with outside sources. The staff of the Oklahoma State Board of Regents has resulted in the implementation and completion of their Title II grant pilot year in which over 100 first year teachers were trained in TWS. Forty Oklahoma first year teachers submitted Teacher Work Samples which were scored in April. Revisions have been made to the Oklahoma rubric and student prompt based on that pilot experience and Oklahoma State Board of Regents staff are now field testing and training university personnel from all Regents colleges and universities in Oklahoma as well as providing training to personnel from private institutions because their Title II grant goal is to tie the TWS to certification of all probationary year teachers in Oklahoma.

Spring, 2002

The Teacher Work Sample (TWS) at Emporia State

The TWS is a requirement for ALL candidates in the teacher education program. All elementary and secondary student teachers develop a TWS as a part of the requirements for student teaching.

All elementary and secondary students in methods classes and in Professional Development Schools develop abbreviated versions of the TWS to promote classroom connections to the TWS and familiarize candidates with the performance and evaluation process. Faculty takes a central role in integrating components of the TWS in their courses (See Research and Accountability section below).

Although ESU has worked closely with the TWS Renaissance Group as a part of the consortium, ESU's prompt and rubric is not the same evaluation tool used by the rest of the Group. To see ESU's prompt and rubric please go to: http://www.emporia.edu/teach/dean/twsm.pdf

Mentoring Program Report

During the fall semester, Dr. William Samuelson held conferences with all of the Liberal Arts and Sciences and Business faculty who teach departmental methods courses or visit student teachers. These conferences were a follow-up to the group training that was done in April 2001. The primary rationale for the fall conferences was to introduce the Mentor faculty to the last revision of the prompt and rubric and to clarify administrative issues.

After meeting with 16 faculty members representing the departments in which methods courses are taught across the campus, we are confident that all are willing to support the Teacher Work Sample both as an instructional tool for their students and in its application as an instructional improvement strategy for the University's teacher education programs. We are impressed with their acceptance and enthusiasm for the Teacher Work Sample, and believe that with each passing semester their ability to integrate the six work sample factors into their courses will improve. Dr. William Samuelson assured each of them of our continuing willingness to be contacted about issues, suggestions, or problems that may occur.

As a follow-up in the Spring, each of those departmental mentors will critique a student Teacher Work Sample using a critique form. They are working on those critique forms now and will return them by April 1st.

Scoring the TWS

Rater training sessions are conduced each semester at ESU. Raters are teachers and faculty from diverse professional backgrounds. The training process involves four stages: (1) an orientation to the TWS; (2) rater training (including practice scoring); (3) estimating reliability (retraining if necessary), and (4) individual rater scoring. Exemplars are critical to the training process. Analytic and holistic exemplars are being developing for future rater training sessions.

Research and Accountability

TWS/PDS Research

Emporia State University will conduct a study during Spring and Fall 2002 to compare differences in TWS performance between PDS and "On-Campus" candidates. Comparisons will be made on learning impact indices as well as scores on individual rubric factors. The study will use a matched pair design.

Curriculum Development

ESU is in the 2nd year of data collection on the TWS. The data collected has not only been instrumental in driving the development of the TWS prompt and rubric, but it has led to classroom change. ESU's award winning program is comprised of dedicated faculty who value the formative data feedback given by the TWS data. Often, the orientation meetings produce change in classroom activities, procedures and curricular integration, without the need for standard curricular change mechanisms. Over the past year, faculty developed course specific methods to introduce the TWS to their students, and tie it into what was being learned in the classroom. In addition, Teacher Work Sample evaluation factors have been aligned with standards from the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education, and TWS data will be a part of the curriculum development process for accreditation.

Looking Ahead

Teachers:

One hundred thirty area public school teachers were given training for their role as cooperating teachers of candidates who will be writing work samples in the coming year. The mentoring, support, and assistance that these teachers can now give will be invaluable to our student teachers.

In late April 2002, a rater training session and TWS scoring session will be held with approximately 15 faculty and teachers.

Students:

In addition to TWS training as a part of teacher preparation courses, during the first half of the Spring semester 2002, each elementary and secondary student teacher was given the opportunity to attend 6 ½ hours of training specific to the writing of the final TWS.

Curriculum Development

All teacher candidates:

The math class required of all teacher education candidates that is offered by the math department now includes a series of activities related to graphing and graphic representations, analysis of data, and reporting of data as well as activities requiring the computation of gain scores.

Secondary:

Pre-student teaching students in a generic methods course were introduced to the elements of the TWS and each developed a teacher work sample based upon their observation experience. The TWS was integrated into the fabric of the course and served both as a focal point for delivery of instruction and as a culminating activity for much of the instruction in that course.

Elementary:

A continuous process beginning two years ago for integrating and strengthening TWS factors and elements into four pre-student teaching classes for non-PDS students has resulted in major changes in classroom activities. These students are now familiar with the format and intention of the TWS and are capable of building a TWS during Student Teaching.

Training in TWS for elementary students in the PDS program has accelerated and the trial work samples done in the fall of 2001 demonstrated great improvement in all six factors of the TWS over work the samples completed in the fall of 1999.

Dissemination

ESU faculty will present the TWS process to 22 Kansas institutions of higher education during the Kansas State Department of Education meeting on March 28th, 2002 in Topeka, Kansas. Teacher Work Sample components, the use of the TWS as an assessment, institutional results, and databased curriculum change are among the topics of presentation and discussion.

Information about the use of the TWS as a performance assessment tool in the PDS schools will be shared in a presentation by Dr. Jean Krows and Dr. Anthony Ambrosio at the Kansas Professional Development Schools Alliance conference in September 2002.

Fall, 2001

Teacher Work Sample

The TWS will continue to be a requirement for ALL elementary teacher education candidates in PDS schools. In addition, ALL elementary teacher education candidates in non-PDS schools will pilot the TWS before it becomes a requirement next Spring.

In July and August, 2001, thirty-eight Professional Development School mentor teachers were trained in using the Teacher Work Sample with P. D. S. interns. The mentors learned strategies for assisting the interns with instructional design and assessment strategies. Training was also provided in rating Teacher Work Samples using products developed by Emporia State interns during the spring, 2001 semester according to the Emporia State rubric that was revised in June.

During the fall, 2001 and spring, 2002 semester, all elementary and secondary students in methods classes and in Professional Development School assignments will develop a practice Teacher Work Sample to become familiar with the process and with the rubrics which are used in the Emporia State process.

All elementary and secondary student teachers will develop a Teacher Work Sample as part of the requirements for student teaching during the spring, 2002 semester.

Margaret Davidson, a fourth grade teacher in the Butcher School, the laboratory school for Emporia State, is creating a Teacher Work Sample to model for elementary education students. The Teacher Work Sample created by Ms. Davidson aligns with one of the Kansas standards for social studies. Ms. Davidson pre-tested third graders to create baseline data and designed the Teacher Work Sample over the summer. She is teaching the fourth graders in her class this fall and will discuss the process of making instructional decisions relating to the Teacher Work Sample in elementary methods classes this fall.

Information about the use of the Teacher Work Sample as a performance assessment tool in the elementary Professional Development School program at Emporia State will be shared in a presentation by Dr. Tony Ambrosio and Dr. Larry Lyman at the Kansas Professional Development Schools Alliance conference in Olathe, KS on September 24.

Accountability and Research

Faculty working with students who will be required to create a Teacher Work Sample have been trained in the process and philosophy of the Teacher Work Sample. Suggestions from faculty and from mentor teachers who worked with the process during the spring, 2001 semester were used to revise the rubric that will be used for fall.

Additional training of cooperating teachers will be provided during the fall semester for teachers who will be working with methods students and student teachers who are creating Teacher Work Samples.

Student teaching supervisors and university faculty gathered to develop a series of research proposals involving the TWS. Participants identified links between PDS program learning/teaching outcomes and TWS indicators. The research is scheduled to be completed during the 2001-2002 academic year.

The Use of TWS as Measures for NCATE Standards

Faculty and project personnel met in August to identify links between TWS indicators and specific NCATE performance criteria. Faculty will be surveyed in the fall about specific classroom activities that address each link.

LOOKING AHEAD

Spring 2002

Teacher Work Samples and Assessment Training

Emporia State University is developing an assessment training seminar for supervisors of teacher education candidates. Once established, the seminar will be expanded to include student teacher candidates. The Teacher Education Resource Center will contain various faculty and teacher submitted resources specifically related to the TWS requirement. Resources will be cataloged by each rubric factor of the TWS so that students will be able to reference specific areas of weakness prior to constructed their teaching unit.

Contact person: Phil Bennett <bennettp@emporia.edu>

Spring 2001

During the spring of 2001, all thirty students at the Olathe and Emporia PDS sites are developing work samples and will submit them by late April.
In late April or early May of 2001, a training session will be held for those faculty and others who will be scoring the thirty work samples.
In early May, a scoring session will be held and all PDS work samples will be scored.
As a result of that scoring session, both the rubric and the prompt will be revised for use in academic year 2001-2002.
Secondary faculty began planning for the integration of key elements of the teacher work sample methodology into the secondary teacher education program.
By May both elementary and secondary teacher education faculties should complete the redesign of the Emporia State University teacher education program to embrace the principles of the work sample.

Fall 2000

During the fall of 2000, four of the teachers who contracted to write a teacher work sample using the Renaissance prompt completed their task before November. The fifth teacher completed her work sample using a revised version of the prompt in December. Those teachers provided feedback regarding the prompt, the process, the product (teacher work sample) and aided in the development of a scoring rubric.
During the fall of 2000, Phase One level (first semester in PDS) students in the Olathe site piloted the initial writing of a full work sample that they submitted in December.
During the fall of 2000, Phase One level PDS students in Emporia wrote elements of the work sample comprising about half of the full work sample.
A scoring session was held at which time all of the work samples completed by the Olathe PDS students were scored and feedback given to the students. Elements developed by the Emporia PDS students were scored by the PDS coordinators. Feedback from these sessions further drove the development of a version of the rubric and prompts to use with students in the spring of 2001.
Elementary faculty began planning for the integration of key elements of the teacher work sample methodology into the elementary teacher education program.

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