1. Evaluating Student-Teachers Using Student Outcomes
Jamin Carson, Karen Voytecki, & Patricia Anderson
Middle Grades, Special, and Elementary Education
College of Education
East Carolina University
Abstract
Excluding standardized tests, teacher effectiveness is rarely linked to student performance. Effectiveness is often evaluated via unreliable observations. Assessment of effectiveness should examine the degree to which the students learned lesson objectives. The presenters share ways to use student outcomes as part of the evaluation of pre- service special education teachers.
Why is this topic important to the field?
  One of the most important current trends in education is teacher accountability, specifically by linking teaching effectiveness to K-12 student outcomes (Goe, Bell, & Little, 2008). Yet, this is often not happening in special education teacher preparation programs on a systematic basis. This presentation highlights areas to consider when assessing pre-service special education teacher candidates utilizing multiple means of assessment that are directly connected to K-12 student learning outcomes.   
Introduction (continued
Student teachers in practica settings and in internship semesters were not always demonstrating adequate academic success from their students. We decided to incorporate student achievement into the evaluation of the student-teachers. Evaluations would now include: observations, instructional design (lesson plan), and student achievement.
It is imperative to first define what “student achievement” is. Eighty percent of students must pass the lesson assessment/attain the objective. Conditions of the assessment include:
pass/fail
at the end of the lesson
brief (e.g., less than ten minutes)
must reliably measure achievement of lesson objective
In order to assess student mastery of lesson objectives, the objectives must be designed to answer the essential question(s) of the lesson and clearly state what students will do at the end of the lesson (versus what the teacher will do or what the students should know). If students are to be assessed on mastery of lesson objectives, then it is critical that the lesson content and activities directly align with the lesson objectives. This includes utilizing various instructional materials and learning activities (e.g., class discussions, case studies, simulation exercises).
Now, applying this information, how can assessment occur?
Exit tickets
Poll Daddy survey at end of lesson
Quick quiz for students to self-score
Learning/response logs
Text message (or written version of one) summarizing lesson’s content
Daily journal of topic highlights
Graphic organizers
Reading journals
Peer assessments
Think-Pair-Share discussion with partners
Study We compared two groups of junior middle grades education majors teaching in inclusive classrooms. Using the same curriculum, with the exception that one group had their internship teaching grades based on observations and lesson plans alone while the other group had their internship teaching grades based on observations, lesson plans, and student outcomes, namely, we assessed what percentage of students passed the lesson assessment that was directly connected to the lesson objective (i.e., learned the lesson objective). We found that teachers who were expected to base their teaching on their students’ learning outcomes were able to attain higher student achievement than those that were not expected to reach this standard.
Key Components
Part I: Before Lesson
1.      Pre-service teacher selects an instructional goal (objective) to teach in consultation with the clinical teacher and university instructor.
2.      Pre-service teacher analyzes goal into a preliminary instructional sequence.
3.      Pre-service teacher defines the target audience (students) and the learning context and develops lesson plans based on the factors likely to influence the success of the lesson.
4.      Pre-service teacher develops review and lesson assessments.
5.      Pre-service teacher develops an instructional strategy (lesson plan).
6.      Instructor and clinical teacher provide corrective feedback on lesson plan.
7.      Pre-service teacher revises lesson according to feedback.
 Part II: During Lesson
8.      Pre-service teacher teaches lesson while clinical teacher and evaluator observe and complete observation instrument—searching specifically for aspects of the lesson that impede or facilitate learning.
9.      Pre-service teacher administers lesson assessment in appropriate conditions (e.g., no cheating, sharing, adequate time).
10.  Lesson assessments must be valid measurements of learning.
11.  Lesson assessment is a brief pass/fail measure that takes less than 10 minutes to complete.
12.  Appropriate criterion for passing lesson assessment is established.
Key Components (continued)
Part III: After Lesson
13.  Lesson assessments are evaluated or graded under instructor supervision during post-lesson conference (clinical teacher may also supervise).
14.  The goal is for a minimum of 80% (8 out of 10 students) to attain the learning objective. Less than 80% indicates developing teaching; 80% or more indicates proficient teaching.
15.  Lessons are analyzed and revised for improvement.  Attention is focused on how could the lesson increase student achievement, what students did not reach the learning objective and why, and how can those students succeed in the next lesson.
Student-teachers now teach to the content and student rather than the strategy. Lessons are more tightly aligned with what is taught and become more individualized to specific student characteristics and background knowledge. Student-teachers are more focused on student achievement than previous attempts at teaching. Instruction appears to have improved in terms of the results noted on the observation instrument. That is, higher observations scores were recorded this year relative to past years. Student instruction appeared more tightly focused on the knowledge and skills most essential to succeeding on the lesson assessment, which was directly related to the lesson objectives. Classroom management was improved. Also, more awareness of the class’s struggling learners occurred and more attention to their learning needs was identified. Lastly, improvement was noted as student-teachers defined objectives more clearly.
Additional Resources
25 Quick Formative Assessments for a Differentiated Classroom:
56 Samples of Formative Assessment:
Results
Introduction
The practice of evaluating the teaching effectiveness of special education pre-service teaching candidates will be targeted during this presentation.
  By having pre-service special education teachers focus on their K-12 students’ learning outcomes, the lesson objectives, instruction, and assessments are more tightly aligned to student needs and learning characteristics; resulting in improved K-12 student performance. This model of teacher evaluation has recently been implemented with pre-service middle grades teachers in inclusive classrooms.
In past years, pre-service teachers were evaluated using observations and lesson plans only. Student scores were not recorded, and there was little basis to compare student scores to previous years. Most teaching evaluations have been based on observations of the student-teacher. Historically, good evaluations were gained from observing “best practices”, but this did not always equal student achievement and vice versa.