ITQ RTWS

Millersville News

Renaissance Partnership Members

Millersville University Colleges of Education and Arts and Science
School District of Lancaster

Mentoring and Student Involvement

Chief among our accomplishments since the spring 2003 update has been participation in piloting the Mentoring Manual. We had ten cooperating teachers, faculty members, and teacher candidates engaged in this pilot at the end of the spring semester. Their feedback about the usability and value-added dimensions of the Manual will be considered as this document undergoes revision across the participating universities.

We have reached our goal of involving the entire Elementary Education Professional Block Cohort in the Teacher Work Sample process. This semester the cohort numbers 150 candidates. The Professional Block faculty crafted a guideline for the students that aligns each TWS standard with its accompanying prompt and rubric. The School of Education Conceptual Framework objectives will be incorporated into the document, thus showing the alignment of goals across all levels of the university.

An increase in the number of candidates completing the TWS in the Professional Block results in an explosion of Student Teachers who must be mentored through the process. Faculty supervisors have been engaged in training sessions that range from a TWS overview to advanced scoring procedures. Two additional training sessions will be implemented in fall 2003 to accommodate new faculty from all participating departments.

Special Education teacher candidates continue to be fully engaged in the TWS process. Their Work Samples are written against the criteria of a modified prompt that incorporates unique specifications required in their discipline.

Art Education teacher candidates joined the ranks of TWSers under the guidance of a small cohort of faculty who have acted as supervisors, mentors, and seminar presenters. Other secondary education teacher candidates continue to follow a modified rubric that emphasizes the use of qualitative data to demonstrate the impact of teaching on learning.

*** Post-baccalaureate students are now among the ranks of those students completing a modified Teacher Work Sample during their pedagogy semester. In the absence of a formal field placement, students use dummy data outlining Contextual Factors, Unit Goals, and an Assessment Plan, to design a unit of instruction.

Scope and Sequence of Learning the Teacher Work Sample Model

In Spring 2003, the introduction and guided practice of writing a Teacher Work Sample was embedded into virtually all courses required in the major. Mastery of each component is still reserved for upper level courses that immediately precede student teaching. The resulting benefits include an increase in faculty involvement, most notably content specialists from the Arts & Sciences departments who serve as expert mentors to Education majors to ensure content accuracy in the units of instruction. We continue to marvel at the generosity of these professors.

Beginning in fall 2003, “Teaching for Assessment” is a required course for all majors. We’re very proud of this new course because it closes a gap in our curriculum and offers students a concentration in methods of assessment and interpreting data.

Assessment

The assessment/accountability system is being designed to accommodate databases from the entire Professional Education Unit, in order to identify trends in student progress against criteria ranging from the University’s Mission Statement to the Professional Education Unit’s Conceptual Framework. We are taking a very broad view of assessment/accountability with an eye toward accommodating the various teacher candidate cohorts.

Spring, 2003

Expanding the Project: Scaling up...and out

Millersville University teacher candidates number in the hundreds each year. We face the challenge of broadening the scope of the R-TWS project to all candidates, without compromising the rigor of the process. To that end, our R-TWS cohort in Elementary and Early Childhood Education, for spring ’03, will increase threefold. An entire pedagogy class section will participate in completing a modified R-TWS during their pedagogy semester, and two complete R-TWS’s in the following student teaching semester.

Our goal is to have all 140 Junior Block Elem/Early Childhood teacher candidates engaged in the R-TWS process by fall 2003. Continued student engagement as “co-researchers” has shown its effects in an observable disposition of ownership and pride. Student suggestions are considered in determining realistic expectations for future candidates.

100% of the Special Education teacher candidates continue to participate in the design and implementation of two complete R-TWS’s during their student teaching practicum. Secondary Education majors in the content areas of history, mathematics, science, music, and art participate in developing R-TW’s that follow modifications specific to their respective disciplines. Modifications made to the core R-TWS template allow for greater University-wide participation and reinforce the notion that a sample of a teacher’s work is not governed by the template.

Course Revisions and Greater Faculty Involvement

In Fall 2002, Millersville University reported tremendous gains toward completing course revisions to meet the expectations of the Teacher Work Sample. Over the course of the last two semesters, we have embedded the introduction and guided practice of work sample components into virtually all courses that are required in the major and lead to teacher certification. Mastery of each component is still reserved for upper level courses that immediately precede student teaching. The profound benefit of this widespread inclusion of R-TWS expectations into programs of study has been the increased involvement of Arts and Sciences faculty. Cross-campus and cross-curricular communications are steadily on the rise.

Assessment

A primary focus of attention at Millersville University is the development of an overall accountability system that will merge several data banks related to student performance. One such data bank holds the benchmarked scores of R-TWS’s completed by our teacher candidates during their student teaching semesters. Other data banks are reserved for starters and completers in the major, performance scores on various standardized measures, and surveyed responses from graduates. The implementation of an all-encompassing accountability system is #1 on our priority list. It is a monumental task that involves the expertise of faculty from across disciplines. Phased-in implementation of such a system will roll out over the next two years.

Fall, 2002

Mentoring and Student Involvement

We have a groundbreaking template for Teacher Work Sample reporting due to the efforts of Drs. Lillie West and Donna Topping. Education majors who are completing their student teaching practica are required to complete two Teacher Work Samples. The first is done in the traditional manner: hard copy reporting at the end of the instructional unit. The change is in the way the students initiate and complete the reporting for their second Teacher Work Sample. Students follow a timeline that includes all components of the work sample, and report on each component as they occur during the instructional process. The reporting is done orally in a triad that includes the student teacher, the university supervisor, and the cooperating teacher. The feedback from students is very positive and we feel confident that this format more closely reflects real life in the classroom.

Our goal is to have all 140 Junior Block teacher candidates engaged in the R-TWS process by fall 2003. One way we are preparing for that benchmark is through engaging the students as “co-researchers” in the project. This is already resulting in a disposition of ownership and pride. Student suggestions have been considered as we tailor the process and the final product. They have become the mentors of future candidates by virtue of their involvement.

Course Revisions and Greater Faculty Involvement

Millersville University has made tremendous gains toward completing course revisions to meet the expectations of the Teacher Work Sample. Over the course of the last two semesters, we have embedded the introduction and guided practice of work sample components into virtually all courses that are required in the major and lead to teacher certification. Mastery of each component is still reserved for upper level courses that immediately precede student teaching. This broadened effort to revise courses has resulted in an increase in faculty involvement: education and arts & sciences. Notably, the involvement of arts & sciences faculty has taken on a “specialized” form. Students have begun to ask for arts & sciences professors who expertise is specifically aimed at the instructional unit. These generous faculty members have never turned us down.

The Department of Special Education has developed a new course structure for a required block course that is entirely based on the R-TWS. The Department of Educational Foundations has designed a distance-learning educational workshop that uses R-TWS as a learning tool for performance assessment. This course is offered to practicing professionals.

Taking the Pulse of the Teaching Community

A survey of the principals and cooperating teachers who participated in our field-based experiences during the fall of 2001 was geared toward finding out whether or not the broader teaching community shared our vision for our teacher candidates. Specifically, we wanted to know if practitioners and principals held our expectations for candidates that are apparent in the Teacher Work Sample process as integral to effective teaching. Were they realistic expectations at each level of experience?

The results of the survey indicated strong support for the direction we’re headed and included encouraging comments to help us improve our program. The practitioners who continually support our program are generous to a fault. Without them our program would perish.

Millersville University Website

We have begun developing an MU-specific website for our teacher candidates. The site features guidelines and examples of what a Teacher Work Sample might look like for each program at the university that culminates in a certification to teach. This is a very exciting development because it has enabled us to broaden the project to all corners of the campus. It has resulted in increased involvement from Arts & Sciences faculty, a heightened awareness of the project for all education faculty, and cross-program collaborations that model for our students how all the pieces of separate programs of study fit together.

Assessment

We have designed an assessment process that is directed at instituting R-TWS throughout the teacher preparation process as well as making a contribution to systemic improvement. The assessment process collects data on all completed R-TWS’s and compares the rating capacity to exemplars from the national project. The impact is to build inter-rater reliability at the local (Millersville University) level. MU is partnering with Middle Tenn. State University (MTSU) to complete qualitative pre and post questionnaires regarding the requirements of R-TWS. MU has collected pre-questionnaire data on all Special Education students who have completed their professional pedagogy courses. We have also contacted all MU teacher preparation completers from 2001 with a request to complete post-questionnaire data. The completed surveys will be collected by MTSU and a content analysis is preformed. MU will feed this information back to the faculty community engaging in the R-TWS processes.

In terms of systemic changes, our approach is to move toward making use of the R-TWS in pre-professional pedagogy semesters as well as during the student teaching practica. We are taking a systems approach that aims at all teacher candidates completing multiple R-TWS’s (some modified versions) in order to enhance whole university and faculty engagement. The Department of Special Education, for example, has built in a pre-professional pedagogy requirement for each teacher candidate to complete two R-TWS’s. One is completed in a group and one is completed individually. Further, the Department has committed to requiring that all teacher candidates complete two R-TWS’s during student teaching practica in the near future. The long-term intent is to create varying levels of student, faculty and community engagement in the process.

Spring, 2002

Accountability Systems

Progress continues in the development of a data collection system whereby we can follow up on our graduates as teaching practitioners. This is a multi-phase project that is in the design phase. Data are already being collected at strategic points in the teacher education programs, and will be included in the overall accountability system database. Among these data are:

admissions data
pre-professional semester screening data
student teaching internship assessments, and
Praxis tests results. Added to these sources will be survey data from cooperating teachers and principals and follow-up studies of graduates in their 1st, 3rd, and 5th years of teaching.

Curriculum Redesign

Beginning in spring 2002, selected components of the Teacher Work Sample prompt will be focus points of instruction in the early courses of the teacher education program. The importance of the Contextual Background and how to gather this information will be introduced and practiced in ElEd 100: Introduction to Elementary Education. In the sophomore year, emphasis will be placed on pre-assessment, planning objectives that meet state or local standards, post assessment, and reflection on teaching. The sophomore field experience provides the opportunity for students to implement their plans.

A new course, Assessing for Instruction, has been approved as an experimental course for elementary education majors and is projected to be offered as a university approved course by spring 2003. It will eventually be a required course for elementary education majors. This course fills a void in the elementary education program and addresses the all-important issue of how to gather, represent, and interpret assessment data.

At the graduate program level, students will be introduced the Teacher Work Sample prompt in ElEd 502: Education in Today's Elementary School, and Educ 671: Curriculum Development in the School. Integrating R-TWS into the graduate studies is vital in insuring that cooperating teachers are knowledgeable and trained, and that the pool of mentoring teachers expands outside the city.

Teacher Work Samples

In spring 2002, 75 students in the elementary education professional block preceding student teaching will complete selected components of an R-TWS. A part of that number is a cohort of 15 students who will complete all components of a work sample.

Cohorts completing Teacher Work Samples continue to expand. In spring 2002, cohorts represent Special Education (30 candidates), Elementary Education (16 candidates), Secondary Education (5 candidates). In addition to the cohorts who are student teaching in the School District of Lancaster, student teaching supervisors are encouraging their candidates in other school districts to modify the required unit of instruction to include specified components of a teacher work sample.

Described in previous news updates, Millersville University uses a modified format for the final reporting of the second student teaching work sample. The components of the work sample are communicated verbally over the course of a seven-week period, in a 3-way conference format with the university supervisor and cooperating teacher. This completes a stepped approach beginning with close guidance in the Junior Bloc program, less guidance in the first student teaching experience, and reporting like "real teachers" in the final experience. It has proven to demonstrate and solidify the habit of mind that teaching is done with an eye toward its impact on learning.

Mentoring Teams

With the expansion of student cohorts comes the increase in the number of mentors. Our mentoring body includes practicing teachers and a growing number of Arts and Sciences faculty. A&S faculty have actively supported the teacher education programs by their mentoring in the areas of English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies. Practicing teachers in the elementary schools are initiating the phone calls…they want to be a part of this important project.

Training the faculty and supervisors

Millersville is developing an on-line training module for students, faculty, and cooperating teachers. The site is in the early stages of development, beginning with the elementary education pages. Plans include a multi-level interactive training session that will provide information, answer questions about curriculum expectations, and provide on-line simulations of pre-assessment activation of concept schema, formative assessment options, and summative assessment examples. This is a very exciting effort and involves every program in the school that culminates in teaching certification.

all, 2001

Project Activities for Fall 2001

All-out efforts continue in year three to implement the Renaissance Teacher Work Sample (R-TWS) as a measure of a teacher candidate’s effectiveness in teaching P-12 students. In fall 2001, over 150 students in the professional block preceding student teaching will complete selected components of an R-TWS. A part of that 150 is a core cohort of 16 block students who will complete all components of a work sample. As the semesters progress, the cohort will increase. All cohort teacher candidates are tracked through their student teaching semesters.

Training Activities for Fall 2001

Supervisor and faculty training was held spring 2001 to prepare for the increased number of students completing work samples. Fourteen additional classroom teachers are scheduled for training in late September 2001. We are now in five different city schools and the responses from the teachers continue to be positive.

Curriculum Alignment and New Course Design

The challenge to prepare teacher candidates in the art of assessment is being addressed through a new course design effort. The focus of the course will be assessment in the context in instruction, reinforcing the reciprocal relationship between these two components of teaching.

“Assessment and Instruction” will be delivered as an experimental course in spring 2002, evaluated for effectiveness of purpose, and modified for formal approval by the university curriculum committee. The addition of this course to the teacher preparation curriculum is a major step in the successful implementation of R-TWS across the School of Education.

The Renaissance Teacher Work Sample Team (R-TWS)

Presentation of the R-TWS project to school superintendents (fall, 2000)

Attendance at the January Assessment Session in St. Louis, at which the new prompt and rubrics were written.

Presentation of Year I efforts to implement R-TWS: Association of Teacher Education (ATE), February 2001, New Orleans.

We are proposing an oral version of the work sample to satisfy the second placement during student teaching. The prompt has been modified to serve as a guideline for “conversation” among the student teacher, supervisor, and cooperating teacher. The rubric will be modified to serve as a “checklist” for the supervisor and a guideline for scoring the student teacher’s work following the “conversation” meeting.

Renaissance Teacher Work Sample

Cohort #1 students are now student teaching and have completed their first placement.

This cohort is made up of five elementary education, five special education, and five secondary education students.

Cohort #2 has been identified and will soon participate in an initiation session to acquaint them with the task. Cohort #2 is made up of nine elementary education, ten special education, and five secondary education students.

Performance Assessment at the University Level

This area continues to be a challenge. Faculty is continuing discussion about what specific data to collect, the process for data collection, and ideas for rich performance data beyond survey data.

Project Contact: Jane Bray <jane.bray@millersville.edu>