1. Dispositions in Educator Preparation Programs
Renée A. Middleton, Dean
The Patton College of Education
Ohio University
Ohio Deans Compact Meeting
September 14, 2018

2. Dispositions Definition:
The habits of professional action and moral commitments that underlie an educator’s performance (InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards).
Education is wrought with terminology and every institution, state, and school district seems to have a litany of terminology and acronyms that vary greatly. One term that is universal is dispositions, a word that accrediting bodies fold into their standards. Despite the universal recognition of the term, best practices for effectively measuring dispositions is frequent topic of discussion for Education Preparation Providers. Debates occur over whether dispositions are innate or learned behavior and whether individuals possess the ability to change their disposition. School districts look for teachers with dispositions that match the needs of their districts. There is much talk of dispositions all around us, yet we sometimes struggle to pinpoint what term means and what should be included in teacher and candidate dispositions.
The Patton College of Education
Ohio University

3. Dispositions Definition:
The habits of professional action and moral commitments that underlie an educator’s performance (InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards).
noun
plural noun: habits
a settled or regular tendency or practice, especially one that is hard to give up. "this can develop into a bad habit" 
Synonyms: custom, practice, routine, wont, pattern, convention, way, norm, tradition, matter of course 
The Patton College of Education
Ohio University

4. Dispositions Definition:
The habits of professional action and moral commitments that underlie an educator’s performance (InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards).
Action, act, deed mean something done. 
Action applies especially to the doing, act to the result of the doing.
An action usually lasts through some time and consists of more than one act
The Patton College of Education
Ohio University

5. Dispositions Definition:
The habits of professional action and moral commitments that underlie an educator’s performance (InTASC Model Core Teaching Standards).
Morality governs conduct, tells us to follow the rules, and calls our attention to the fundamental commitments with which we order our lives. Morality is a precondition for ethics.
In any troubling case, we have an obligation to think about it, to examine all the options available to us. We must not simply act on prejudice, or impulsively, just because we have the power to do so. We call this obligation the commitment to reason.
The Patton College of Education
Ohio University

6. Morailty (cont.)
The commitment to reason entails a willingness to subject one's moral judgments to critical scrutiny oneself, and to submit them for public scrutiny by others; further, to change those judgments, and modify the commitments that led to them, if they turn out (upon reflection) not to be the best available.
We want to take everyone who has a stake in the outcome ("stakeholders," we will call them) into account. 
The commitment to the moral point of view entails a willingness to give equal consideration to the rights, interests, and choices of all parties to the situation in question. Thus, there is a commitment to impartial judgment.
The Patton College of Education
Ohio University

7. Disposition Questions to Reflect On
What do professional dispositions really mean to us?
What do they mean to our candidates?
What do they mean to practicing teachers?
We understand the requirements for CAEP, and we know that dispositions are important. But, what does professional dispositions really mean to us, to our candidates, and to practicing teachers in the profession?
Ohio’s accreditor, CAEP, the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation, requires we measure dispositions in several standards. However, before dispositions can be measured, we need to understand what measuring dispositions entails. Most think that a simple rubric, designed to measure one’s ability during specific points in time during their academic program, covers all the necessary boxes to check off for accreditation. While these rubrics may check off those boxes to show competence and alignment to accreditation requirements, Educator Preparation Programs must ask, Are we really getting to the root of understanding what appropriate and professional responsibility and dispositions truly entails?
The Patton College of Education
Ohio University

8. Dispositions in CAEP Standards
Candidates demonstrate an understanding of the 10 InTASC Standards at the appropriate profession level(s) in the following categories:
the learner and learning; content; instructional practice; and professional responsibility.
The Patton College of Education
Ohio University

9. Dispositions in CAEP Standards
The provider works with partners to design sufficient clinical experiences to ensure that candidates’ demonstrate their developing effectiveness and positive impact on all students’ learning and development. Clinical experiences are structured to have multiple performance-based assessments at key points within the program to demonstrate candidates’ development of the knowledge, skills, and professional dispositions, as delineated in Standard 1, that are associated with a positive impact on the learning and development of all P-12 students.
The Patton College of Education
Ohio University

10. Dispositions in CAEP Standards
Educator preparation providers establish and monitor attributes and dispositions beyond academic ability that candidates must demonstrate at admissions and during the program. The provider selects criteria and reports data that show how the academic and non-academic factors predict candidate performance in the program and effective teaching.  
The Patton College of Education
Ohio University

11. Dispositions in CAEP Standards
Before the provider recommends any completing candidate for licensure or certification, it documents that the candidate understands the expectations of the profession, including codes of ethics, professional standards of practice, and relevant laws and policies.
The Patton College of Education
Ohio University

12. Dispositions in CAEP Standards
The provider demonstrates, through structured and validated observation instruments and/or student surveys, that completers effectively apply the professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions that the preparation experiences were designed to achieve. 
The Patton College of Education
Ohio University

13. Challenges with Standard 3.3
Self-assessment as an admissions requirement?
The challenge in these standards lies with Standard 3.3. A self-assessment by the candidate as part of their admissions requirement often does not provide an accurate account of candidates’ true dispositions. While I know we will all comply with CAEP’s requirements, more discussion with CAEP needs to take place. We want meaningful, informative data to enhance our programs, not to check off boxes on tasks that do not lend themselves to program improvement.
The Patton College of Education
Ohio University

14. Ohio Standards for the Teaching Profession
Provide useful standards in presenting a clear picture of the requirements that our candidates will be expected to display in their professional careers as teachers.
In Ohio, we have the Standards for the Teaching Profession. InTASC and the Standards for the Teaching Profession touch on various dispositions that are relevant for teacher candidates. Though we are obligated to align to both InTASC and the Standards for the Teaching Profession, these tools are useful in presenting a clear picture of the requirements that our candidates will be expected to display in their professional careers as teachers. Our candidates demonstrate their proficiency in dispositions through multiple observations in the field throughout their program.
The Patton College of Education
Ohio University

15. Colleges of Education: A National Portrait
52% vs 25%
Despite concerted efforts to recruit diverse students, colleges of education are not nearly as racially and ethnically diverse as the PK-12 schools where we are preparing our candidates to work. In 2018, 52% of students in public schools are projected to be non-White, but only 25% of those earning undergraduate degrees and certificates from SCOE are people of color or racially/ethnically diverse.
At the bachelor’s degree level, colleges of education are also less diverse than higher education as a whole.
The Patton College of Education
Ohio University

16. Colleges of Education: A National Portrait
Despite concerted efforts to recruit diverse students, colleges of education are not nearly as racially and ethnically diverse as the PK-12 schools where we are preparing our candidates to work. In 2018, 52% of students in public schools are projected to be non-White, but only 25% of those earning undergraduate degrees and certificates from SCOE are people of color or racially/ethnically diverse.
At the bachelor’s degree level, colleges of education are also less diverse than higher education as a whole.
While necessary, diversity cannot be the only way we meet the learning needs and seek the welfare of the PK-12 learner. It is ALL our work.
The Patton College of Education
Ohio University

17. How do we measure true immersion or disposition?
An effective disposition should be able to gauge an educators understanding of the challenges of the community, of the families that live there, and the school and community culture.
Our candidates must have the ability to look past their personal experiences and gain an understanding of the community in which they work.
Surely, professional disposition means more than scoring a rubric during a field observation. For example, how does one measure true immersion in a school community? An effective disposition should be able to gauge an educators understanding the challenges of the community, of the families that live there, and the school and community culture. It should measure using that knowledge of a school community to connect with students and families. Not only must diversity be embraced, but our candidates must have the ability to look past their personal experiences and gain an understanding of the community in which they work. Across the United States, the majority of teachers are still White females. While institutions are enrolling more people of color and males, most classroom teachers do not look like their students. This has been a challenge for a long time and the gap is not closing quickly enough. It is imperative that we instill a sense of equity and equality into our candidates so that they can advocate for their students. Creating a culture where immersion into our partner communities as part of clinical experiences in teacher preparation programs must be a priority. In Education Preparation Programs, this must play a part in what we consider professional dispositions. Without an understanding of the partner communities we serve, we cannot fully understand what professional dispositions means.
The Patton College of Education
Ohio University

18. NBPTS 5 Core Propositions
Accomplished teachers base their practice on the fundamental belief that all students can learn and meet high expectations.
Both a commitment to the welfare and education of young people, and the commitment to subject matter is necessary.
Accomplished teachers maintain high expectations for all students.
Proposition 1: Accomplished teachers base their practice on the fundamental belief that all students can learn and meet high expectations. Acknowledging the distinctive traits and talents of each learner, teachers are dedicated to and skilled at making knowledge accessible to all students.
Proposition 2: If one cardinal principle of teaching is a commitment to the welfare and education of young people, another is a commitment to subject matter. Accomplished teachers are dedicated to acquainting students with the social, cultural, ethical, and physical worlds in which we live, and they use the subjects they teach as an introduction to those realms
Proposition 3: Accomplished teachers maintain high expectations for all students.  To achieve that goal, educators create vibrant, productive workspaces for their students, adjusting and improving organizational structures as needed while establishing effective ways to monitor and manage traditional and nontraditional learning environments. First and foremost, teachers facilitate the educational process by designing opportunities for learning—planning for and presenting students with inspiring material, promoting their participation, supporting substantive discourse, and sustaining long-term engagement by collaboratively working with students.
Proposition 4: As with most professions, teaching requires practitioners to remain open, eager for, and dedicated to the pursuit of continuous growth. Because they work in a field marked by evolving questions and an expanding body of research, teachers possess a professional obligation to become perpetual students of their craft.
Proposition 5: Accomplished teachers reach beyond the boundaries of their individual classrooms to engage wider communities of learning. They connect with local, state, national, and global groups in person or via technology to take advantage of a broad range of professional knowledge and expertise.
As with most professions, teaching requires practitioners to remain open, eager for, and dedicated to continuous growth.
Accomplished teachers reach beyond the boundaries of their individual classroom to engage wider communities of learning.

19. Closing Reflection
What do professional dispositions really mean to us, our candidates, and current teachers?
The Patton College of Education
Ohio University