SACS Reaffirmation
| Objective | Leadership Skills | |
| Graduate candidates will demonstrate their developing leadership skills through mentoring paraprofessionals, designing staff development programs, and conducting school-wide literacy needs assessments Associated Goals: Constituency Satisfaction, Quality And Effectiveness, Visibility And Impact |
| Indicator | Leadership Development Implement, collect, and analyze literacy coaching projects in all appropriate courses. |
| Criteria | Projects for Leadership Development An analysis of Reading Specialist test domain level data, an examination of the new IRA sytandards, and an analysis of candidate products in 2005-06 prompted the reading faculty to establish this as an objective for the 2006-07 year. Implement, collect and analyze literacy coaching in RDG 675. |
| Finding | Analysis of Leadership Development An analysis of the rubrics related to leadership development indicates that 75% of the candidates exceeded expectations and 25% met expectations. |
| Action | Leadership Development Criteria indicate that we will continue to use the same rubrics and projects. |
| Objective | Professional Development | |
| Graduate reading students engage in continuing professional development. Associated Goals: Constituency Satisfaction, Quality And Effectiveness |
| Indicator | Professional Development Projects Implement, collect, and analyze Professional Change Projects in RDG 530. Implement, collect and analyze candidate inquiry projects related to professional development in RDG 598 and 590. |
| Criteria | Assessment of Professional Development Using the rubric for Professional Change 90% of RDG 530 candidates will meet or exceed expectations on the assignment. Using the Rubric for Professioanl Development Inquiry 90% of RDG 561 and 590 candidates will meet or exceed expectations on the assignment. |
| Finding | Analysis of Professional Development Ana analysis of the rubrics related to professional development indicates that 75% of the candidates exceeded expectations and 25% met expectations. |
| Action | Professional and Leadership Development During the implementation phase of this project it was noted that "buy-in" from school administrators varied greatly from school to school and some teachers had to modify their projects in order to meet the course requirements. The faculty determined that a more hands-on approach was needed between the university professor, the candidate, and his/her school administrator. The faculty determined that these assignments would be better suited to the new RDG 690, the Internship course in order that the professor, the student, and local school officials could work together to determine an appropriate internship project that would meet our program standards as well as meet needs of the local districts. This will lessen the large amount of professional development work required in the RDG 675 course, allowing a better focus on the Literacy School Profile and the Learner Assessment Profile. |
| Objective | Curriculum Alignment | |
| Graduate Reading Faculty will align the reading master's curriculum with state Reading Specialist standards and the International Reading Association's new standards for Reading Specialists. Associated Goals: Quality And Effectiveness |
| Indicator | Correlate Standards All master's level reading course syllabi will include a matrix that correlates state and IRA (international Reading Association) standards with instructional objectives. A matrix combining all master's level reading courses will be prepared. |
| Criteria | Correlate State and IRA Standards All master''s level reading syllabi will include a matrix that correlates state and IRA standards with learning objectives. The matrix of all courses will indicate that all state and IRA standards are covered in the master''s reading courses. |
| Finding | Correlate State & IRA Standards All Reading Master''s courses include a matrix of state and IRA standards matched by student outcome objectives. A composite analysis of these syllabi indicate that our program lacked 1) a necessary emphasis in opportunities for our candidates to develop literacy coaching skills, 2) our courses emphasized research and writing more than the state and national master''s level standards require. |
| Action | Curriculum Alignment As a direct result of the curriculum re-alignment with the International Reading Association Advanced Standards and the state reading specialist standards the faculty have modified the program curriculum by requesting to delete RDG 639, a second research course, and add a new internship course in its place, RDG 690. In addition, the faculty found that some course activities were repetitive and replaced them with activities that can be used to demonstrate candidate competence in lesson planning and student assessment. |
| Objective | Leadership Skills | |
| Graduate candidates will demonstrate their developing leadership skills through mentoring paraprofessionals, designing staff development programs, and conducting school-wide literacy needs assessments Associated Goals: Constituency Satisfaction, Quality And Effectiveness, Visibility And Impact |
| Indicator | Leadership Development Implement, collect, and analyze literacy coaching projects in all appropriate courses. |
| Criteria | Projects for Leadership Development An analysis of Reading Specialist test domain level data, an examination of the new IRA sytandards, and an analysis of candidate products in 2005-06 prompted the reading faculty to establish this as an objective for the 2006-07 year. Implement, collect and analyze literacy coaching in RDG 675. |
| Finding | Analysis of Leadership Development An analysis of the rubrics related to leadership development indicates that 75% of the candidates exceeded expectations and 25% met expectations. |
| Action | Leadership Development Criteria indicate that we will continue to use the same rubrics and projects. |
| Objective | Professional Development | |
| Graduate reading students engage in continuing professional development. Associated Goals: Constituency Satisfaction, Quality And Effectiveness |
| Indicator | Professional Development Projects Implement, collect, and analyze Professional Change Projects in RDG 530. Implement, collect and analyze candidate inquiry projects related to professional development in RDG 598 and 590. |
| Criteria | Assessment of Professional Development Using the rubric for Professional Change 90% of RDG 530 candidates will meet or exceed expectations on the assignment. Using the Rubric for Professioanl Development Inquiry 90% of RDG 561 and 590 candidates will meet or exceed expectations on the assignment. |
| Finding | Analysis of Professional Development Ana analysis of the rubrics related to professional development indicates that 75% of the candidates exceeded expectations and 25% met expectations. |
| Action | Professional and Leadership Development During the implementation phase of this project it was noted that "buy-in" from school administrators varied greatly from school to school and some teachers had to modify their projects in order to meet the course requirements. The faculty determined that a more hands-on approach was needed between the university professor, the candidate, and his/her school administrator. The faculty determined that these assignments would be better suited to the new RDG 690, the Internship course in order that the professor, the student, and local school officials could work together to determine an appropriate internship project that would meet our program standards as well as meet needs of the local districts. This will lessen the large amount of professional development work required in the RDG 675 course, allowing a better focus on the Literacy School Profile and the Learner Assessment Profile. |
| Objective | Standards Of Profiency | |
| Graduate Reading Specialist candidates will meet or exceed the established standards of proficiency in the knowledge and skills required for Texas Reading Specialist Certification. Associated Goals: Quality And Effectiveness |
| Indicator | Candidates' Reading Specialist TExES Scores Global scores on all domains of the Texas Reading Specialist certification examination. |
| Criteria | TExES Reading Specialist Scores Candidates will successfully complete all required coursework prior to taking the Reading Specialist TExES examination. 90% of test-takers will pass the TExES exam for Reading Specialists at the initial administration. Candidates will meet or exceed state mean scores on the Reading Specialist TExES exam. |
| Finding | TExES Reading Specialist Exam 1. Graduates successfully completing all coursework and the portfolio defense were approved to register for the Reading Specialist exam. Two RDG MEd graduates took the state exam and both passed on the initial administration. 100% pass rate. |
| Action | Standardized Test Data Program faculty reviewed performance data for graduates on the TExES Reading Specialist Exam and were surprised to realize that 50% or less of our graduate actually take the state examination. Faculty will investigate the reasons in-state students do not take the exam. They will also develop more stringent measures for gathering data for all candidates since more than half are not participating in the state test. |
| Objective | Leadership Skills | |
| Graduate candidates will demonstrate their developing leadership skills through mentoring paraprofessionals, designing staff development programs, and conducting school-wide literacy needs assessments Associated Goals: Constituency Satisfaction, Quality And Effectiveness, Visibility And Impact |
| Indicator | Leadership Development Implement, collect, and analyze literacy coaching projects in all appropriate courses. |
| Criteria | Projects for Leadership Development An analysis of Reading Specialist test domain level data, an examination of the new IRA sytandards, and an analysis of candidate products in 2005-06 prompted the reading faculty to establish this as an objective for the 2006-07 year. Implement, collect and analyze literacy coaching in RDG 675. |
| Finding | Analysis of Leadership Development An analysis of the rubrics related to leadership development indicates that 75% of the candidates exceeded expectations and 25% met expectations. |
| Action | Leadership Development Criteria indicate that we will continue to use the same rubrics and projects. |