Educational Outcomes of the MFT and MedFT Programs Angela Lamson Child Development & Family Relations College of Human Ecology East Carolina University ECU MFT and MedFT Mission Statements Introduction In 2006, the Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) master’s program and Medical Family Therapy (MedFT) doctoral program, both in the Department of Child Development and Family Relations within the College of Human Ecology began shifting curriculum from being input driven to outcome based. The first step in this process was to convene a meeting with all of the MFT/MedFT faculty to create student learning outcomes (SLOs) that we believed should showcase a student’s competency at the time of graduation. We also created faculty outcomes (FOs) and program outcomes (POs) that would ensure that high levels of student achievement and student learning could be sustained on a continual basis through appropriate institutional and programmatic organization, commitment, and resources. The collection of SLOs, FOs, and POs are known as the programs educational outcomes (EOs). Each EO was then tied to the University, College, and Department’s strategic plan to ensure that our focus at the program level was consistent with the mission and vision for ECU. (See select EOs in Figure 1). The next stage of development was to determine how each EO would be measured. In this case, the faculty met to determine which classes best coincided with each SLO. Then student outcomes were constructed for each syllabi (on all required courses) using Bloom’s Taxonomy. Each student outcome on a syllabus was tied to a student learning outcome pertaining to the overall program. Student outcomes were also tied to a predetermined list of core competencies that were created by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) in AAMFT also houses the division of the accrediting body that governs the MFT and MedFT programs, the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE). The MFT MS program was the first accredited COAMFTE program in North Carolina and the MedFT PhD program was the first COAMFTE MedFT program in the world. Results The faculty have established several methods of evaluating student, faculty, and program competency for both programs. The syllabi of all required MFT /MedFT courses include a grid at the bottom that link student learning outcomes to the following: (1) Professional Marriage and Family Therapy Standards and Educational Guidelines; (2) AAMFT Core Competencies; (3) AAMFT Code of Ethics; (4) AMFTRB Guidelines; and (5) the North Carolina Marriage and Family Therapy Licensure Act and Administrative Rules and for the doctoral program also include a link to the MedFT core competencies (Tyndall et, al, 2010) (see Figure 2). This example is from CDFR 8402-Advanced Family Therapy Theories in the MedFT PhD program. Method for Tracking and Reporting Conclusions Acknowledgments Accreditation is very important to the MFT and MedFT students and faculty. As such, it is important to recognize the faculty: Drs. David Dosser, Wayne Hill, Jennifer Hodgson, Angela Lamson, Damon Rappleyea, Lisa Tyndall, and Mark White as well as the students, community partners, and administrators who support our efforts to maintain rigorous and well respected programs. Figure 1. Sample Educational Outcome from the MFT program. Each is tied to the University, College, and Departmental strategic plans. Figure 3. All statistics for every class are entered into a Word document after each semester and include results to every student outcome (as seen on syllabi), student learning outcome (in relation to the program), faculty outcome, and program outcome (e.g., percentage of students who graduate within the advertised time frame). ECU MFT MS Program Educational Outcomes SLO 9) Illustrate use of a collaborative lens when working with clients, collateral contacts, supervisors, and other professionals. ECU Education Objective 1.2.1: Prepare students with an understanding of the variety of disciplinary perspectives that form the core knowledge base upon which all other scholarship is grounded. ECU Health Objective 3.2.2: Implement an approach to health that integrates health promotion and health care. CHE Education Objective 1.1.A1: Increase efforts to align and support learning opportunities that enlighten and nurture an understanding of diverse cultures and increase competence to address global challenges.CHE Health Objective 3.2.A2: Foster partnerships that integrate health promotion and health care. CDFR Education Objective 1.1: Contribute to student experiences that enlighten and nurture an understanding of diverse cultures and increase competence to address global challenges. CDFR Leadership Objective 1.1: Support partnerships and training opportunities for students and faculty. The measures and results of this SLO are tracked for unique Leadership Initiatives tracked for the university’s SACS accreditation. This SLO is linked to: Leadership Initiative #2: Collaborates effectively in diverse groups to promote successful outcomes. ECU MFT MS Program Educational Outcomes SLO 9) Illustrate use of a collaborative lens when working with clients, collateral contacts, supervisors, and other professionals. ECU Education Objective 1.2.1: Prepare students with an understanding of the variety of disciplinary perspectives that form the core knowledge base upon which all other scholarship is grounded. ECU Health Objective 3.2.2: Implement an approach to health that integrates health promotion and health care. CHE Education Objective 1.1.A1: Increase efforts to align and support learning opportunities that enlighten and nurture an understanding of diverse cultures and increase competence to address global challenges.CHE Health Objective 3.2.A2: Foster partnerships that integrate health promotion and health care. CDFR Education Objective 1.1: Contribute to student experiences that enlighten and nurture an understanding of diverse cultures and increase competence to address global challenges. CDFR Leadership Objective 1.1: Support partnerships and training opportunities for students and faculty. The measures and results of this SLO are tracked for unique Leadership Initiatives tracked for the university’s SACS accreditation. This SLO is linked to: Leadership Initiative #2: Collaborates effectively in diverse groups to promote successful outcomes. ECU MFT MS Program Educational Outcomes SLO 9) Illustrate use of a collaborative lens when working with clients, collateral contacts, supervisors, and other professionals. ECU Education Objective 1.2.1: Prepare students with an understanding of the variety of disciplinary perspectives that form the core knowledge base upon which all other scholarship is grounded. ECU Health Objective 3.2.2: Implement an approach to health that integrates health promotion and health care. CHE Education Objective 1.1.A1: Increase efforts to align and support learning opportunities that enlighten and nurture an understanding of diverse cultures and increase competence to address global challenges.CHE Health Objective 3.2.A2: Foster partnerships that integrate health promotion and health care. CDFR Education Objective 1.1: Contribute to student experiences that enlighten and nurture an understanding of diverse cultures and increase competence to address global challenges. CDFR Leadership Objective 1.1: Support partnerships and training opportunities for students and faculty. The measures and results of this SLO are tracked for unique Leadership Initiatives tracked for the university’s SACS accreditation. This SLO is linked to: Leadership Initiative #2: Collaborates effectively in diverse groups to promote successful outcomes. Sample ECU MFT MS Program Educational Outcome SLO 9) Illustrate use of a collaborative lens when working with clients, collateral contacts, supervisors, and other professionals. ECU Education Objective 1.2.1: Prepare students with an understanding of the variety of disciplinary perspectives that form the core knowledge base upon which all other scholarship is grounded. ECU Health Objective 3.2.2: Implement an approach to health that integrates health promotion and health care. CHE Education Objective 1.1.A1: Increase efforts to align and support learning opportunities that enlighten and nurture an understanding of diverse cultures and increase competence to address global challenges.CHE Health Objective 3.2.A2: Foster partnerships that integrate health promotion and health care. CDFR Education Objective 1.1: Contribute to student experiences that enlighten and nurture an understanding of diverse cultures and increase competence to address global challenges. CDFR Leadership Objective 1.1: Support partnerships and training opportunities for students and faculty. The measures and results of this SLO are tracked for unique Leadership Initiatives tracked for the university’s SACS accreditation. This SLO is linked to: Leadership Initiative #2: Collaborates effectively in diverse groups to promote successful outcomes. ECU MFT MS Program Educational Outcomes SLO 9) Illustrate use of a collaborative lens when working with clients, collateral contacts, supervisors, and other professionals. ECU Education Objective 1.2.1: Prepare students with an understanding of the variety of disciplinary perspectives that form the core knowledge base upon which all other scholarship is grounded. ECU Health Objective 3.2.2: Implement an approach to health that integrates health promotion and health care. CHE Education Objective 1.1.A1: Increase efforts to align and support learning opportunities that enlighten and nurture an understanding of diverse cultures and increase competence to address global challenges.CHE Health Objective 3.2.A2: Foster partnerships that integrate health promotion and health care. CDFR Education Objective 1.1: Contribute to student experiences that enlighten and nurture an understanding of diverse cultures and increase competence to address global challenges. CDFR Leadership Objective 1.1: Support partnerships and training opportunities for students and faculty. The measures and results of this SLO are tracked for unique Leadership Initiatives tracked for the university’s SACS accreditation. This SLO is linked to: Leadership Initiative #2: Collaborates effectively in diverse groups to promote successful outcomes. The mission of the Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) program is “to prepare Marriage and Family Therapists who are well grounded in systems theory and its application to clinical practice.” The mission of the Medical Family Therapy (MedFT) program is “to advance student’s learning in the areas of research, theory, clinical practice, leadership, supervision, and teaching in order to prepare and qualify them to pursue employment as researchers, educators, administrators, and/or clinicians in the field of medical family therapy.” In 2006, the Marriage and Family Therapy (MFT) master ’ s program and Medical Family Therapy (MedFT) doctoral program, both in the Department of Child Development and Family Relations within the College of Human Ecology began shifting curriculum from being input driven to outcome based. The first step in this process was to convene a meeting with all of the MFT/MedFT faculty to create student learning outcomes (SLOs) that we believed should showcase a student ’ s competency at the time of graduation. We also created faculty outcomes (FOs) and program outcomes (POs) that would ensure that high levels of student achievement and student learning could be sustained on a continual basis through appropriate institutional and programmatic organization, commitment, and resources. The collection of SLOs, FOs, and POs are known as the programs educational outcomes (EOs). Each EO was then tied to the University, College, and Department ’ s strategic plan to ensure that our focus at the program level was consistent with the mission and vision for ECU. (See select EOs in Figure 1). The next stage of development was to determine how each EO would be measured. In this case, the faculty met to determine which classes best coincided with each SLO. Then student outcomes were constructed for each syllabi (on all required courses) using Bloom ’ s Taxonomy. Each student outcome on a syllabus was tied to a student learning outcome pertaining to the overall program. Student outcomes were also tied to a predetermined list of core competencies that were created by the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy (AAMFT) in AAMFT also houses the division of the accrediting body that governs the MFT and MedFT programs, the Commission on Accreditation for Marriage and Family Therapy Education (COAMFTE). The MFT MS program was the first accredited COAMFTE program in North Carolina and the MedFT PhD program was the first COAMFTE MedFT program in the world. MedFT Competency Primary Domain Secondary Domain How taught in the course How evaluated for competency SOsSLOs — MedFTs should have a personal theoretical approach to working with individuals, couples, families, and larger systems. Admission to Treatment ConceptualReadings, article readings, in class discussions, Final exam Theory of change rubric, final interview rubric; #1; #2; #3; #4 SLOs 3, 7, 8, Evaluate and design intervention and program research associated with biopsychosocial- spiritual health issues and collaborative care models. Research and Program Evaluation EvaluativeReadings, Module, final paper Rubric for Module, Rubric for final paper #1, #2,#4SLOs 3,7,10 AAMFT Core Competency Primary Domain Secondary Domain How taught in the course How evaluated for competency SOsSLOs # ^Research and Program Evaluation ConceptualCQC Readings, article readings, in class discussions, final interview Rubric for modules, midterm examination, theory of change paper rubric, attendance, final interview rubric; rubric literature review #1; #2; #3; #4 SLOs 3, 7, 8, # ^Research and Program Evaluation ExecutiveCQC Readings, article readings, in class discussions, final exam Rubric for modules, midterm examination, theory of change paper rubric, attendance, final interview rubric; rubric final paper #1; #2; #3; #4 SLOs 3, 7, 8, 10 Figure 2 Sample of the grid at the bottom of every syllabi that pairs SLOs, SOs, and Core Competencies (Created by AAMFT or via a Delphi Study created by ECU MedFT students and faculty (Tyndall et. al, 2010). The measures, results, and action required from the student learning outcomes, faculty outcomes, and program outcomes are then transferred into 1) a Word document (see Figure 3) 2 ) an Excel document, and in TracDat. Three formats are available for housing the data given the diverse needs for program, college, and university accreditation reports. It is through these methods that we capture student performance and program effectiveness. Program effectiveness is an ongoing process as denoted in the “action and follow up” sections of the Word and TracDat documents. The faculty continue to improve our outcome assessment methods, strengthen our curriculum, and demonstrate competency in the students that we graduate based on student, faculty, administrative, client, and community partner input. Currently any measure that results in an outcome of less than 83% Pass with Honors or Pass rate in the MS program or less than a 90% Pass with Honors or Pass rate in the PhD program must have a follow up/plan of action denoted in TracDat. All other action plans are determined by evaluations completed by stakeholders (e.g., recommendations from students, community partners, administration). MFT SLO 9: Illustrate use of a collaborative lens when working with clients, collateral contacts, supervisors, and other professionals. As Measured BY: CDFR 6407 SO6: Students will be able to appraise and compare various major family therapy theories. As measured by: Written exams-Exam 1=83% Pass with Honors, 17% Pass, Exam 2=100% Pass with Honors Review of literature paper- 92% Pass with Honors, 8% No Pass Genogram assignment-No statistics for this year. CDFR 6409 SO8: Students will be able to demonstrate competence working within the model of family therapy education and practice utilized at the ECU Family Therapy Clinic including treatment teams and live- and video-supervision. As measured by: Role Play-100% Pass with Honors Final exam-75% Pass with Honors, 25% Pass Clinical paperwork file-100% Pass with Honors Papers-75% Pass with Honors, 25% Pass SO9: Students will be able to understand therapy from the client’s perspective as a collaborative enterprise that is done with clients and not to clients. As measured by: Role Play-100% Pass with Honors Final exam-75% Pass with Honors, 25% Pass Clinical paperwork file-100% Pass with Honors SO10: Students will be able to describe a model for working collaboratively with larger systems including mental health, medical, schools, juvenile justice, psychiatry, social service, and religious. As measured by: Role Play-100% Pass with Honors Final exam-75% Pass with Honors, 25% Pass Clinical paperwork file-100% Pass with Honors Papers-75% Pass with Honors, 25% Pass Our programs were the first to undergo the outcomes based accreditation standards for COAMFTE in 2006 (Version 11.0) and we successfully sustained our programs with no stipulations aligned with either program. As such, several MFT and MedFT programs from across the nation have looked to ECUs MFT MS program and MedFT PhD program as models of success. For more information about our accreditation materials please contact Dr. Angela Lamson at