Graduate Program Data Analysis Report
Program Name: Masters in Early Childhood Education
Date: September 4th, 2015
Contact Person: Karen Lindeman, Ph.D.
Program Assessment
ECED 700:
Case Study
ECED 715: Curriculum
Action Project
*Revised rubric used
for Fall 2014
Data Analysis
Only offered Summer 2014 (n=6).
All students met target or
acceptable for all areas.
Recommendations
Offer course; change textbook used (same as
UG); differentiate this assignment for masters
only students vs. students pursuing the masters
and certification to provide more depth to the
content for graduate students and more hands-on
experience to certification students.
Revised rubric for Fall 2014
(n=10). All students (100%) could
identify an appropriate curriculum
topic related to best practices for
young children. However only
between 50-60% of the students
could identify the key points; align
the needed practices to this
curriculum and then implement the
plan. Finally 90% of the students
were only proficient or developing
when it came to implementing
meaningful recommendations and
practices in classrooms.
A new assignment was created to remain
focused on curriculum features within EC
classrooms and best practices for young children
but also includes putting these curriculum
features into practice. The data from 2013-14
had almost all students mastering this
assignment. For graduate level students (many
practicing teachers) it is appropriate for them to
not only write about this but instead to put it into
practice in real classroom. The new assignment
includes a field experience based on a
curriculum feature which also aligns with
NAEYC standard 7 (not previously met). The
data presented her shows the students need the
hands-on approach to implementing these
theories- not just describing them on paper.
Identical assignment as UG- revise assignment;
Include field-based objectives (this center is
implemented in a classroom during the
residency) in final assessment rubric.
Many of the areas the students struggled with
include working with families- providing
recommendations and sharing summaries of the
assessment results. It is recommended that
ECED 740: Family and Community Partnerships
course be taken as a pre-requisite for this
assessment. Students this past summer shared
that they used what they learned in ECED 740
and ECED 700 to prepare for this course. Those
who had not taken 700 or 740 previously
struggled with the content.
ECED 720: Math and
Science Center
Summer (n=7) All students met
target and acceptable for all areas
of the rubric.
ECED 730:
Summer (n= 8). Students were at
target for professionalism, parent
permission, use of observation and
assessment tools. Students
however did not meet target on the
parent interview, letter to parents,
noting developmental concerns
and summaries of domains.
Child Study
ECED 740:
Family Literacy Project
Family Portfolio Project
*Revised assignment
used for Spring 2015
ECED 750: Action
Research
Spring 2015 (n=21). Students met
(86%) the standards dealing with
written communication to families
and designing events with a strong
parenting goal. Areas that were
fair to good (70%) included
choosing a parenting topic, using
community resources and
providing home extension
activities. The areas in need of
improvement (50% or less)
include using the NAEYC code of
ethics, using family resources and
‘funds of knowledge’ to expand
children’s knowledge and making
these experiences accessible to all
families regardless of SES or
diversity.
Only offered as an independent
study (n=1). The student met all
areas with target and acceptable.
This assessment was previously a “family
literacy project” however previous data show
students were struggling with the literacy portion
while the course’s content is family and
community partnerships, not literacy. There are
no literacy standards, objectives or content areas
in the course outline. The new assignment, the
family portfolio, is similar but instead allows
graduate students to create a program and collect
resources in the community based on a relative
EC topic. By moving the focus of the assessment
to parenting issues, communicating with
families, and using community resources, we can
now clearly see which areas (code of ethics and
funds of knowledge) need to be addressed the
next time this course is taught.
Continue assessment and offer course.
Scheduled for Spring 2015
A new program head started in the fall of 2015. Several program revisions/recommendations are
also made (or are in progress):
•
Courses are not offered as often (note the low numbers for 2014-2015, average n=8). By
offering some courses only every-third-semester, students will stay on a rotation and the
courses will fill. Current numbers are averaging around 18 students per course for the
2015-2016 semesters.
•
Rubrics need to be adjusted to meet the current NAEYC standards from 2011. The
rubrics for this and past PAR reports address standards from 2002-2009. Due to this
change some objectives do not clearly line up and need to be adjusted.
•
Find more qualified faculty to teach in this program. Over the course of one year 4
faculty who taught in this program retired. Five of the eight courses are currently taught
by the same person. Our graduate students need more variety and content knowledge (the
rest of the faculty in ECRD are adjuncts (no Ph.D) or hold Ph.Ds in reading not EC).