PROCESS OF CREATING ASSESSMENT TOOLS
FOR ELEMENTARY EDUCATION PROGRAM Spring 2002-Spring 2005
IN ORDER, BY DATE, WE PRESENT HERE MINUTES, E-MAILS, NOTES, AND DRAFTS OF
ASSESSMENT PROGRAM WORK AND PLANS DONE BY THE PERSONNEL OF THE CENTER FOR
DINÉ TEACHER EDUCATION.
THIS IS A REPRESENTATIVE SAMPLE SET OF THE DOCUMENTS FROM THIS PERIOD OF WORK.
MARCH 2002
Associate of Arts in Elementary Education
PROGRAM MISSION AND GOALS
Diné College • Tsaile, Arizona, Navajo Nation
MISSION STATEMENT
The mission of the Associate of Arts in Elementary Education program is to introduce students to
teaching, encourage their reflection upon and the pursuit of teaching as a career, and prepare them for
successful participation in BA level teacher preparation programs.
PROGRAM GOALS
More specifically, the goals of the Associate of Arts in Elementary Education program are to prepare
individuals:
Nitsáhákees: Who can think through...
• Academic concepts in education, communications, humanities/fine arts, math/science, social sciences,
and Diné studies in their application for understanding the growth and development of children.
� Be knowledgeable about Navajo civics and social studies as they relate to school curriculum.
Nahat’á: Who can plan for...
• Career options in K-12 teaching
� Becoming an instructional assistant
� Matriculating successfully at an upper-level teacher preparation programs
� Becoming better educators in all ways.
Iiná: Who have been introduced to...
� History and form of educational institutions both on and off the Navajo reservation.
� Issues of bilingual language and biliteracy.
• Instructional planning procedures including daily lesson plans, unit plans, and year plans.
• A variety of teaching methods.
• Procedures for assessing student progress.
• Classroom management procedures.
Siihasin: Who...
• Value Navajo language, culture, history, and philosophy.
• Value the importance of family in the education of children.
� Are serious, reliable, organized; have good planning skills; and solve problems.
• Have a good sense of humor and are reflective, flexible, courageous, and confident.
� Provide experiential learning activities in students’ surrounding environments
� Demonstrate enthusiasm for continued learning.
OCTOBER, 2002
Associate of Arts in Elementary Education
ASSESSMENT PROGRAM
Diné College • Tsaile, Arizona, Navajo Nation
CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK
Through Sa’ah Naagháí Bik’eh Hózh€€n, the assessment program of the associate of arts in Elementary
Education program (EE) enhances student learning, personal development, and ongoing program
improvement. The assessment program is designed to:
Nitsáhákees
• Offer criteria for and samples of excellent work that exemplify program goals and competencies.
• Encourage critical and creative thinking.
Nahat’á
• Provide multiple opportunities to meet program goals and competencies.
• Encourage the integration of disciplinary knowledge with knowledge about teaching, learning, students,
and communities.
Iiná
• Offer multiple and varied ways of displaying what is known and learned.
• Connect to challenges that are likely to be experienced in elementary teaching.
Siihasin
• Promote the attainment of competence, confidence, and stability in elementary teaching.
• Instill the confidence to reflect critically about teaching as well as the process of assessment itself.
PROCEDURES
Program assessment procedures for the EE program consist of the critical analysis of course syllabi,
teacher/course evaluations, practicum observations/peer critiques, student portfolios, academic tests,
survey questionnaires, and focus group interviews. Data from these instruments and activities are
analyzed by the EE program coordinators and the Director of the Center for Diné Teacher Education in
formative and summative ways, and presented to the faculty at semi-annual retreats and to the CDTE
Advisory Group at semi-annual meetings for program refinement and revision.
Course syllabi. With the teaching of each class, instructors (including all adjunct instructors) submit to the
CDTE Director course syllabi that develop relationships between course content, program goals, and
program competencies. Updated syllabi are also submitted to the College's Deans of Instruction, who
coordinate course transferability to Arizona and New Mexico colleges and universities, and then distribute
the syllabi to Community Campus Directors to ensure program coherence across all eight College
campuses.
Teacher/course evaluations. Teacher/course evaluations are completed anonymously by students and
collected at the end of each course. They are configured not only to assess instructor performance but
also to allow students to evaluate the relation between course content, program goals, and program
competencies. The data are compiled by the Deans and reported to the CDTE Director and the individual
instructors.
Practicum observations/peer critiques. In EDU 290, the capstone course in the program that contains a
tutoring practicum requirement, a developmentally appropriate Tutoring Practicum Scale is completed by
mentor teachers for each student. The scale measures personal and professional attributes that are
central to the development of competence and confidence in elementary teaching, and that follow from
program goals and competencies. For summative program assessment purposes, a random sample of
data from the Scale is evaluated to determine students' attainment of program goals and competencies.
Portfolios. Each student develops an EE program portfolio that contains five major student learning
projects, one from each course in the program. All five products demonstrate program competencies to
potential employers and/or admissions officials of upper-level teacher preparation programs. For
summative program assessment purposes, a random sample of portfolios is evaluated in relation to
program goals and competencies.
Academic tests. At the beginning of the students' matriculation, students are administered different
versions of the College's placement tests in reading, writing, and mathematics. The instruments are used
for placement purposes in general education courses. At the end of the students' matriculation, students
who plan to pursue BA degrees self-assess themselves as to overall academic preparedness for upper
level work and for a career as teachers. EE faculty and staff review the self-assessment data to establish
base-line understandings of the overall academic preparedness of EE program students, and to engage
College faculty in critical dialogue about the ongoing improvement of the general education progam.
Survey questionnaires and focus group interviews. At the conclusion of the program, students are asked
in structured and open-ended ways about their attainment of program goals and competencies. An
external evaluator follows up the survey questionnaires with focus group interviews.
PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT
With the help of an External Evaluator, all of the data from these procedures are summarized by the EE
program coordinators and CDTE Director, and are brought to the full CDTE faculty and staff and to the
CDTE Advisory Group at semi-annual meetings and retreats. After this report is shared with the faculty
and staff and Advisory Group, a critical analysis and possible revision of program goals and
competencies ensues. Where necessary, new program goals and competencies are incorporated into
assessment procedures, thereby modifying the procedures for program assessment efforts.
JANUARY 6, 2004
ASSESSMENT WORKSHOP – JANUARY 6, 2004
ACADEMIC DIVISION REPORT FORM
Name of Division: Center for Diné Teacher Education
1. What degree program(s) will your division focus on for program assessment this semester?
Associate of Arts in Elementary Education
Comment on the shape of—your satisfaction with—the program’s mission statement, statements of goals,
and statements of learning outcomes (use the guidelines if you wish to help identify statements that need
further work this semester)?
2. We already have goals and (some) competencies, but have not reviewed them in some time. That is,
we haven’t really cross-referenced them to the indicators of student products in our syllabi. Such a detailoriented discussion may be overly obsessive. It seems overwhelming to even consider putting in the
hours it would take to discuss even one course or any two or three goals. Perhaps we can begin to close
the loop by using a process such as the one described in #4 below.
Mission statement:
It is too wordy, and not memorable. We will boil it down to two factors we want to consider - Should this
student become a teacher? If so, we start them down that road. The memorable, re-written mission
statement, at this point, is:
“The Associate of Arts degree in Elementary Education introduces students to teaching, encourages their
reflection upon and pursuit of teaching as a career, and prepares them for successful participation in the
field of education.”
� Statements of goals: Already in Notebook. We need to reorganize to make digestible.
� We will make our goals more general than what we had previously, and will set them up in a chart,
such as:
Cognitive Behavioral Affective
Cognitive Behavioral Affective
Nts1h1kees
Nahat’1
Iin1
Sihasin
� Statements of learning outcomes:
After we are finished with making our goals more general, we will re-do learning outcomes.
3. What is the status of your division’s plan for assessing learning outcomes related to the goals of the
program?
� To what extent does the plan use multiple methods for assessing student achievement of the defined
learning outcomes (see Glossary for identification of different methods)?
What direct methods are used? Indirect methods?
The data that we use for assessment come from course syllabi and the examination of related student
products, teacher/course evaluations done by students, practicum observations/peer critiques when we
have students in classrooms, academic tests. survey questionnaires, and instructor collaboration.
� Discuss what assessments have already been done: that is, what data have been gathered, and what
is the status of analysis of such data?
�
All of the data from these procedures are available to the EE program coordinators and CDTE Director to
be brought to the full CDTE faculty and staff and to the CDTE Advisory Group at semi-annual meetings
and retreats. The data should be shared with the faculty and staff and Advisory Group, resulting in a
critical analysis and possible revision of program goals and competencies. Where necessary, new
program goals and competencies should be incorporated into assessment procedures, thereby modifying
the procedures for program assessment efforts. In this, we are picturing the CDTE as a unit, overseeing
Elementary Education. Perhaps, as offered below, we should just be having the El Ed AA teachers
meeting, more often by less formally.
� Discuss ways, if any, in which assessment results have been or are being used to improve student
learning.
� List the steps that need to be done to get to the Higher Learning Commission’s Level 2 with regard to
this program.
The most important next step is to regularize our program meetings, that is, the meetings of those faculty
members who are teaching AA Elementary Education courses. On a regular basis, such a meeting needs
to include everyone teaching El Ed courses at all campuses. From these meetings, we must find out what
data these faculty members want to examine and discuss so as to improve student learning. Then we can
begin to close the loop by focusing on those data the real teachers have asked for.
4. What kinds of support or assistance does your division need to get to Level 2 by the end of this
semester with regard to this program?
If we are going to include adjunct faculty members, we will need travel funds, and money to pay them to
come in for meetings. Some things can be done by Polycom, Picture Tel, or over the phone. The difficulty
is one of scheduling usually, and our DC administrative / authority structure does not allow for the main
campus divisions to have any control over academic affairs in our widely dispersed settings. Thus, each
of us feels like the Lone Ranger. This is probably really just up to us, but it is going to require some
cajoling.
MAY 13, 2004
Elementary Education A.A. Assessment Plan
Mission: Din4 Teacher Education Program 47 S2'ah Naagh17 Bik'eh H0zh00n binidii'a'. Nits1h1kees,
nahat'1, iin1, d00 siihasin bee nizh0n7go d00 bidziilgo na'nitin d00 0hoo'aah yily44[. D77 bee 0[ta'7 sh1
0lta' doolee[ daan7n7g77 boh0n4edz32go b1'0lta'7 dadoolee. Y1'1t'4ehii y7na'ni[tin7g77, [33g00 bi[
44h0zin7g77, d00 bina'nitin y1'1t'4ehgo yaa nits7kees d00 yaa 1h1ly1n7g77 danil98 doolee[. K0t'4ego
1[ch7n7 K-8j8' day0[ta'7g77 bits'33d00 0hoo['aah doolee[ d00 bits'33d00 Din4k'ehgo d00
Bilag1anak'ehgo iin1n7g77 yaa 1kod7n0oz88[.
The mission of the Associate of Arts in Elementary Education program is to prepare individuals for
responsible learning, living, and teaching according to Sa’1h Naagh17 Bik’eh H0zh00n. The program
promotes thoughtful reflection about careers in education and prepares students for successful
participation in bachelor-level teacher preparation programs.
Goals:
1. Articulate what it means to be a teacher. (Informed commitment)
2. Support students’ transfer to a B.A. program of their choosing
3. Prepare students to teach on Navajo Nation
The current goals are structured based on S2'ah Naagh17 Bik'eh H0zh00n and will be furthered clarified
in Fall 2004.
Assessment Artifacts:
Pre-test (Baseline) Post-test
EDU 238 Children’s Literature 1st student-authored children’s book with supporting material 2nd
children’s book with supporting material
Initial critique of professional author’s children’s book Later critique of children’s book
EDU 290 Methods & Materials in Navajo Education Bulletin Board
EDU 111 Foundations Initial Essay on “What it means to be a Teacher.” Final Essay on “What it means to
be a Teacher.”
EDU 292 Bilingual/Bicultural Education
Bulletin Board
Interview
EDU 240 Special Education Posterboard presentation
Initial Philosophy Statement Compiling Vocabulary Book Later Philosophy Stmt
Each of these artifacts are student products identified in each course syllabus.
(To close the loop)
In Fall all EDU A.A. faculty will meet and finalize details of assignments that will produce artifacts and
review a sample of the artifacts. In applying Grounded Theory we will identify and strengthen the
categories to be used for assessment. This meeting is tentatively scheduled as a workshop for early
November 2004.
Elementary Education B.A. Assessment Plan
The portfolio process used in the B.A. program was reviewed. All participants critiqued the process and
noted the labor intensive nature and lack of time to review along with the need to create student products
that are meaningful beyond an assignment.
SEPTEMBER 28, 2004
Subject: Assessment notes
Date: Tue, 28 Sep 2004 16:31:50 -0600
From: Clay Slate <cslatejr@dinecollege.edu>
Organization: Din* College
To: "Hinrichsen, Janel" <janel@dinecollege.edu>,
"Haskey, Glennita" <ghaskey@dinecollege.edu>,
"Brown, Glo" <gbrown@dinecollege.edu>,
"Wilson, Brenda" <bbwilson@dinecollege.edu>,
"Benally, Thomas" <tbenally@dinecollege.edu>,
"Sells, Afton" <asells@dinecollege.edu>,
"Nakai, Tulley" <tnakai@dinecollege.edu>,
"Barney, Ben" <bbarney@dinecollege.edu>,
"Adakai, Vale" <vadakai@dinecollege.edu>
As I understand it, we are here on El Ed AA Assessment 1. Amelia and Janel will do one more draft of the 111 essay assessement
rubric. Then Amelia and Clay will assess their essays using it.
2. Glennita will prepare a draft of a 240 bulletin board rubric.
3. Janel will prepare a draft of a 238 computer book rubric and pilot
it.
4. Ben will prepare a draft of a 290 interview rubric.
5. We will meet again on October 8 during the Intercampus Day to review
this stuff.
Are Clay and Thomas supposed to be prepping something for 292?
If this is wrong, tell me. Clay
October 8, 2004
CDTE
Assessment work, October 8, 2004 - Report (Slate)
At our CDTE assessement workshop in Shiprock, we met in Room 229.
Attendance: Morning session, 11-12:00 PM: Black, Benally, Hinrichsen, Sells, Haskey, Slate. Afternoon
session, 1-3, Black, Benally, Hinrichsen, Slate.
Task: Finalize assessment instrument for use on all artifacts for assessement of AA in Elementary
Education outcomes.
Results: We finalized the instrument, and all agreed to apply it to one piece of data, a composition from
EDU 111, from Amelia Black’s class. We will meet again on Friday, Oct. 15 to compare our analyses.
Then we will fine tune the instrument and make decisions about its use with other artifacts.
OCTOBER 19, 2004
todos: cs send essay to you, ab grades 5 essays, cs grades five essays, cs sends ab assignment and ab
re-drafts assignment, cs re-writes form and re-dis., cdters apply new form to their artifacts
cs writes notes to assess cf. what we’re doing, include progress toward feedback loops
feedback level
collect docs. with ab
OCTOBER 21, 2004
Shitsi'
My laptop quit on me Tuesday night, so I'm sending this from a public
library. Please forward to CDTE and appropriate others.
Meeting on Assessment, CDTE, Friday, October 15, 2004 Tsaile
Ben Barney, Amelia Black, Glennita Haskey, Afton Sells, Janel Hinrichsen,
Clay Slate.
We are continuing to work on the Elementary Education Associate of Arts
program Assessment plan. We finalized our instrument for assessing all
artifacts (format is attached), and are now using it. Slate, Barney,
Hinrichsen, and Begay have applied it to a student essay from Begay's EDU
111 class, and discussed results. Slate has given Begay an essay from his
EDU 111 class, which she is now examining (using the assessment
instrument). Slate is applying the instrument to five selected essays from
his EDU 111 class. Begay is applying it to five more of her EDU 111 essays.
Then Slate and Begay will talk about their findings. SEE NEXT MESSAGE
Subject: [QUAR]NEXT
Date: Thu, 21 Oct 2004 13:49:08 -0400
From: "cslatejr@cptnet.com" <cslatejr@cptnet.com>
To: aiblack@dinecollege.edu
CC: abbegay@dinecollege.edu
Slate has given Begay a copy of the paragraph he used to assign the EDU 111
composition. Begay will re-draft this so that the assignment given for this
EDU 111 artifact will be regularized. Slate has re-drafted and
re-distributed the assessment instrument to all CDTE faculty. Now other
CDTE faculty who are teaching courses in Elementary Education AA program
will apply the assessment instrument to an artifact from the class that
they are teaching. The artifact to be used has already been selected. In
terms of feedback loops, we have now begun to close the loop, in that we
have now examined and discussed some data among ourselves (the first essay
from Begay's class), and are now examining ten more essays from EDU 111. We
are also examining the artifacts from the other AA El Ed classes, and will
be discussing our findings in our next CDTE assessment meeting.
Shitsi'
Please get this out to CDTE folks also, since it says that they will apply
the instrument to their artifacts. I can be reached, if necessary, at
256-237-2972.
OCTOBER 29, 2004
Diné College
ACADEMIC ASSESSMENT - DIVISION REPORT
Program
Division
A. PROGRAM NOTEBOOK. Use the Program Notebook rubric to self-assess the work. Provide
comments as needed.
ELEMENT PTS (0-6) COMMENTS
1 Mission statement
2 Program goals
3 Learning outcomes
4 Program matrix
5 Assessment plan
B. ASSESSMENT MEASURES. Fill in the table below that lists the program's Assessment Measures and
the status of their implementation.
ASSESSMENT MEASURES (FROM THE ASSESSMENT PLAN) STATUS
1
COMPLETED
IN PROGRESS
STALLED DUE TO:
WON'T BE COMPLETED
2 COMPLETED
IN PROGRESS
STALLED DUE TO:
WON'T BE COMPLETED
3 COMPLETED
IN PROGRESS
STALLED DUE TO:
WON'T BE COMPLETED
4 COMPLETED
IN PROGRESS
STALLED DUE TO:
WON'T BE COMPLETED
5 COMPLETED
IN PROGRESS
STALLED DUE TO:
WON'T BE COMPLETED
6 COMPLETED
IN PROGRESS
STALLED DUE TO:
WON'T BE COMPLETED
C. ASSESSMENT DATA. List the data gathered.
ASSESSMENT DATA
1
2
3
4
5
6
D. FEEDBACK LOOPING. In the space provided, describe:
1. Based on your analysis of the assessments, what program improvement has your division
implemented to improve student learning?
PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT STEPS
a
b
c
d
e
f
2. What decisions about modifying the assessment methods are being considered and/or implemented?
ASSESSMENT MODIFICATIONS
a
b
c
d
D. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. Please add any comments or additional information that you believe
may be helpful for improving Academic Assessment at the College.
NOVEMBER 12, 2004
Associate of Arts in Elementary Education ¢¶ S™’ah Naagh¡¶ Bik’eh Hºzhººn binahj•’ b¡’ºlta’¶
adoodlee¬gi bee ahi¬ nahane’go ºhoo’aah bi¬ haz’£.
The mission of the Associate of Arts in Elementary Education program is to advise and prepare students
for careers as educators utilizing S™’ah Naagh¡¶ Bik’eh Hºzhººn.
The goals of the Associate of Arts in Elementary Education program support students to
I. articulate what it means to be a teacher
II. become educators of Navajo students
III. transfer to a BA program of their choosing
3. We also developed a draft of the Learning Outcomes for the AA in Elementary Education.
For goal #1 (1. articulate what it means to be a teacher), they are:
a. Student will be able to express her/his own philosophy of education.
b. Student knows what schools and education systems are.
c. Student has beginning skills and knowledge that are used in a learning environment.
d. (tentative) Student can participate in rich, professional, critical talk.
For goal #2 (become educators of Navajo students), they are:
a. Student knows the Navajo Nation schools and communities
b. Student knows Navajo students and their families
c. Commits herself/himself to be an advocate for quality education
NOVEMBER 18, 2004
Diné College
ACADEMIC ASSESSMENT - DIVISION REPORT
Program: Associate of Arts in Elementary Education
Division Center for Diné Teacher Education
A. PROGRAM NOTEBOOK. Use the Program Notebook rubric to self-assess the work. Provide
comments as needed.
ELEMENT PTS (0-6) COMMENTS
1 Mission statement
Associate of Arts in Elementary Education ¢¶ S™’ah Naagh¡¶ Bik’eh Hºzhººn binahj•’ b¡’ºlta’¶
adoodlee¬gi bee ahi¬ nahane’go ºhoo’aah bi¬ haz’£.
The mission of the Associate of Arts in Elementary Education program is to advise and prepare students
for careers as educators utilizing S™’ah Naagh¡¶ Bik’eh Hºzhººn.
6
2 Program goals
The goals of the Associate of Arts in Elementary Education program support students to
I. articulate what it means to be a teacher
II. become educators of Navajo students
III. transfer to a BA program of their choosing
6
3 Outcomes
For goal #1 (1. articulate what it means to be a teacher), they are:
a. Student will be able to express her/his own philosophy of education.
b. Student knows what schools and education systems are.
c. Student has beginning skills and knowledge that are used in a learning environment.
d. (tentative) Student can participate in rich, professional, critical talk.
For goal #2 (become educators of Navajo students), they are:
a. Student knows the Navajo Nation schools and communities
b. Student knows Navajo students and their families
c. Commits herself/himself to be an advocate for quality education
For goal # 3 a.Courses transfer successfully
b. Student performs well in BA program
6
4 Program matrix
6 See Program Notebook. Profile
5 Assessment plan 6 See Assessment Plan
B. ASSESSMENT MEASURES. Fill in the table below that lists the program's Assessment Measures and
the status of their implementation.
ASSESSMENT MEASURES (FROM THE ASSESSMENT PLAN) STATUS
1 Rubric for examination of artifacts that provide evidence of student learning has been developed, fieldtested, and finalized. This Rubric will be used to assess all learning outcomes from Goals 1 & 2 as
evidenced in an artifact from each EDU course. COMPLETED
2 A chart showing transferability of courses from DC’s AA Elementary Education program into regional BA
programs has been developed and posted. It is being used both as a live advisement tool and as a
program evaluation tool to measure our success in providiing complementary programs for those going
forward after DC. This instrument is being used to assess our success with Goal 3. COMPLETED
C. ASSESSMENT DATA. List the data gathered.
ASSESSMENT DATA
1 First two rounds of use of our artifact assessment rubric (see B1 above) have been completed, with
discussion of results. Rubric is now being used to examine artifacts from all EDU classes Data from rubric
analyses to be discussed 12/04
2 Transferability chart has been developed and will soon be posted. Elements of chart to be discussed
12/04.
D. FEEDBACK LOOPING. In the space provided, describe:
1. Based on your analysis of the assessments, what program improvement has your division
implemented to improve student learning and student professional progress?
PROGRAM IMPROVEMENT STEPS
a On a course by course basis, we are more and more closely identifying what it is that we want the
student to emerge with. For example, the idea of having a student express his or her own philosophy of
education has been much more thoroughly defined, allowing for more focused teaching.
b Our advising is improving, and, as a result, our recruitment into DTEP and placement into other BA
programs is more successful.
2. What decisions about modifying the assessment methods are being considered and/or implemented?
ASSESSMENT MODIFICATIONS
a During this semester, we focused our tasks onto the doable and the more revealing methods of
assessment.
E. ADDITIONAL INFORMATION. Please add any comments or additional information that you believe
may be helpful for improving Academic Assessment at the College.