Accreditation: Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP)
Valley City State University (VCSU) has been known for teacher education preparation since the institution began in 1890. VCSU was accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) from 1954 through NCATE’s transition into the Council for Accreditation of Education Preparation (CAEP). VCSU completed state accreditation reviews for each education major in the Spring of 2021 and a CAEP review for the teacher education program in the Spring of 2023. VCSU was among the 21 educator preparation providers (EPPs) to receive Frank Murray Leadership Recognition for Continuous Improvement from CAEP in 2023. The recipients were granted accreditation by providing a full complement of evidence and data without stipulations or areas of improvement.
4.1 EPP’s current CAEP (NCATE) Accreditation Status and Reviewed Programs
The programs that were reviewed and approved during the state/CAEP process in 2021 at the initial level included: Art Education, Biology Education, Business Education, Chemistry Education, Elementary Education, English Education, Health Education, History Education, and Social Science Education, Mathematics Education, Music Education (NASM approved), Physical Education, and Technology Education. Under the CAEP process, only the programs leading to initial licensure are reviewed. The VCSU Master of Arts program was approved by the state and CAEP.
4.2 CAEP Accountability Measures
This website is organized to follow the headings provided in CAEP AIMS for annual reports and to provide a direct link for CAEP Accountability Measures.
Measure 1 (Initial): Completer effectiveness – Completer impact contributing to P-12 student-learning growth and completer effectiveness in applying professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions
VCSU secured grant funding to conduct research related to CAEP standard 4.1. The NExT Final Report document attached to this webpage displays the type of work VCSU completed with three focus group cycles (external evaluator attachment). Each cycle included written responses and interviews from three groups of completers with 2-6 years of teaching experience. Each cycle included a focus group of elementary, secondary, and MAT teachers. VCSU will continue working with focus groups each year. VCSU displayed samples of learner growth and principal observation evaluations (principal evaluation attachment) in the CAEP Self-Study Report that relate to teacher effectiveness and impact on student learning.
The first cycle of focus group interviews included 29 teachers who fit into four categories: elementary (11), secondary (8), Master of Arts in Teaching (5), and Master of Education (5). The elementary and secondary teachers involved had 2-5 years of classroom experience. MAT teachers’ experience ranged between 1-3 years. M.Ed. degrees were earned in either 2018 or 2019. Between 4 and 14 years had elapsed since these teachers had earned their Bachelor of Science degrees, so this group had various years of teaching experience. The teachers represented various content areas, including library media specialists, science, language arts, social studies, health, family and consumer science, math, STEM, and technology. The teachers were selected to provide a mixture of rural, mid-sized, and urban communities.
The EPP believes the focus group interviews with alumni are great for learning about teacher effectiveness. The teachers’ impact on student learning extends beyond their learners’ state assessment scores (student growth examples attachment). The focus group interview process enables the EPP to learn about the strategies completers use for teaching and the types of assessments and student feedback utilized in their schools. The EPP is gaining insights into how schools and our completers are engaged in decisions about formative and summative assessments, how they determine if their assessments are authentic, and how our completers teach for learning. The EPP is learning about how our completers are being observed by principals and coaches and the types of evaluations and feedback the completers are receiving.
Documents linked below as evidence:
- 4.1.3 Evidence 70 External Evaluator Summary of Teacher Effectiveness
- External Evaluator Report Nov 2022
- Evidence for InTASC 4 Effectively Teach Subject Matter Varying Perspectives (Ratings from cooperating teachers, student teachers, completers, and employers)
- Employer and Completer survey data related to completer teaching effectiveness.
- Employer data are representative.
Measure 2 (Initial): Satisfaction of employers and stakeholder involvement. (R4.2|R5.3| RA4.1)
The employer survey data reveal many positive aspects of the readiness of the EPP's completers who enter the profession. Leading examples of positive employer ratings include effectively teaching subject matter, upholding laws related to student rights and teacher responsibility, and planning lessons with clear learning objectives/goals in mind. Areas for growth include designing long-range instructional plans that meet curricular goals, differentiating assessments, and engaging students in self-assessment strategies. The survey instrument is specific enough for the EPP to learn that employees believe the first-year teachers are designing and modifying assessments to match learning objectives well and that completers are using formative and summative assessments to inform instructional practices. The first-year teachers have more room for growth in differentiating assessments and engaging students in self-assessment.
Data from employer surveys can be viewed through the document posted as an attachment to this website.
Stakeholders from EPP's P-12 partner schools have made significant co-construction contributions to the validity, reliability, and quality of the EPP's assessment instruments. P-12 partners have provided subject matter expert advice on assessment items through surveys and Lawshe Method analyses. P-12 partners have utilized rubrics during field experience and provided feedback for improvement before the EPP's official implementation of the multiple assessments. The voice of cooperating teachers who provide opportunities for teacher candidates to gain experience in their P-12 classrooms is an important voice for the EPP to respect and hear.
Data is shared annually with P-12 stakeholders and faculty. The annual event is important for building positive relationships with P-12 stakeholders who communicate with the EPP faculty. Data gathered from exit surveys, student teaching final evaluations, completers, and employers are shared to provide feedback from student teachers, cooperating teachers, completers in their first year of teaching, and their employees. Feedback comments are gathered and compiled in a document to be shared with EPP faculty during Welcome Week each August.
Measure 3 (Initial): Candidate competency at completion. (R3.3)
Knowledge: Teacher candidates take exams for teacher licensure as they near completion of the program.
Praxis II subject matter exams to assess content knowledge:
Total for Praxis II Content Exams
Content for 5/11/17
% Passing for 5/11/17
Count for 5/9/18
% Passing for 5/9/18
Count for 5/9/19
% Passing for 5/9/19
Count for 5/7/20
% Passing for 5/7/20
Count for 5/25/21
% Passing for 5/25/21
Count for 5/23/22
% Passing for 5/23/22
Count for 5/17/23
% Passing for 5/17/23
Count for 5/13/24
% Passing for 5/13/24
Secondary
312
93.2%
361
93.9%
426
93.2%
481
91.9%
563
90.8%
577
91.9%
614
91.7%
640
91.7%
Elementary
832
97.1%
920
97.6%
1027
97.8%
1132
97.8%
1267
97.6%
1349
97.1%
1495
96.5%
1554
96.5%
Total for all Praxis II Content Exams
1144
96.1%
1281
96.6%
1453
96.4%
1604
96.0%
1830
95.5%
1840
95.5%
2006
95.1%
2194
95.1%
The overall passing rates of 95.1% are favorable. The passing rates for the secondary majors decreased from 93.2% in 2017 to 91.7% in 2023. The Elementary Education rates have dropped from 97.1% to 96.5%. Teacher candidates who do not pass the exam initially may pursue additional attempts to achieve a higher score, so the 2024 pass rates could increase as teacher candidates take the exam again. Some teacher candidates do not need to pass the Praxis II test for the state where they seek licensure and may choose not to take the Praxis II exams a second time.
Praxis II pedagogy exams for the principles of learning and teaching (PLT) 5624 for secondary and K-12 majors:
Data trends over the past seven years
7/26/16
5/11/17
5/9/18
5/9/19
5/7/20
5/25/21
5/23/22
5/17/23
5/13/24
PLT 5624 Test-Taker Count
143
171
215
261
319
385
440
473
497
Percent Passing
87%
88%
92%
93%
93%
92%
93.4%
93.4%
93.4%
The data indicates favorable passing percentages and a positive upward trend since 2016. The Elementary Education PLT passing rates are at 97% and have been consistently in the 96-97% range, so the data in the table above is focused on the secondary PLT results over time. The VCSU goals for improvement have called for continued success on the Praxis II exams and increases in the secondary Principles of Learning and Teaching (PLT) pedagogy exam. Praxis II data are shared twice annually with teacher education and secondary methods faculty members. Each program makes decisions for its content and considers ways to improve its scores. The secondary PLT 5624 pass rate increased by over 6% between May 2016 and May 2024.
Historic totals for Praxis II Principles of Learning and Teaching (PLT) pedagogy exams:
Totals for Praxis II Pedagogy Exams
Count
Passing %
Secondary PLT 7-12 (both 0524 and 5624 versions)
497
93.4%
Elementary PLT K-6 (both 0522 and 5622 versions)
1569
96.0%
Total for all PLT exams
2066
95.7%
Skills: Student teachers are ready to teach units and lessons to impact student learning in the classroom. The Teacher for Learning Capstone (TLC) unit completed by student teachers near the end of their experience provides an opportunity for teacher candidates to demonstrate their skills as student teachers demonstrate their performance on InTASC skills in K-12 classrooms and earn favorable ratings from cooperating teachers.
Dispositions: Teacher candidate dispositions develop and are strengthened by the time of completion. Cooperating teacher ratings of student teachers’ dispositions are much stronger than the ratings of teacher candidates in their early courses and field experiences. A document titled Dispositions at the time of completion displays student teaching disposition data compared to disposition ratings earlier in the teacher candidates’ experiences in the program.
Measure 4 (Initial): The ability of completers to be hired (in positions they have prepared).
Not every teacher candidate who enrolls in an introductory course continues to completion. Many variables exist from personal to financial reasons or a candidate’s decision about whether the profession is the right fit or if a candidate’s performance meets the program’s expectations. The graduation rate for VCSU teacher candidates who take an introductory education course and apply for program admittance is 67% (percentage of completers attachment).
A list of the number of completers and admitted teacher candidates is available below. A document related to percentages of teacher candidates who complete an EDUC 250 introductory course and continue to complete the full program is also available below.
Employment after Program Completion
Over 70% of completers are employed as full-time teachers in the field in which they are prepared while an additional 20% are employed in other education-related positions. Approximately 10% accept employment in a non-teaching area during their first year after completion. In the past three years, nearly 80% of completers have been employed as full-time teachers and another 15% have attended graduate school or have been employed as substitute teachers, paraeducators, or accepted another education-related position. Almost all the MAT and Advanced candidates are full-time teachers while completing their MAT or M.Ed. degree.
Third-Party Comments
The School of Education and Graduate Studies at Valley City State University hosted an accreditation visit by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) on October 16th-18th, 2022. Interested parties were invited to submit third-party comments to the evaluation team on June 2, 2022, more than 16 weeks prior to the official visit. Please note that comments must address substantive matters related to the quality of professional education programs offered and should specify the party's relationship to the provider (i.e., graduate, present, or former faculty member, employer of graduates).
We invite you to submit written testimony to:
CAEP
1140 19th Street NW, Suite 400
Washington, DC 20036
Or by email to: callforcomments@caepnet.org
Such comments must be within the specified period and based on the core tenets of CAEP accreditation standards of excellence, which recognize that:
- In CAEP's performance-based system, accreditation is based on evidence that demonstrates that teacher candidates know the subject matter and can teach it effectively so that students learn. In the CAEP system, EPPs must prove that candidates can connect theory to practice and be effective in an actual P-12 classroom.
- A professional education provider that is accredited by CAEP is expected to be involved in ongoing planning and evaluation; engaged in continuous assessment and development; ensure that faculty and programs reflect new knowledge, practice, and technologies; and be involved in continuous development in response to the evolving world of education and educational reform.
- Comments must address substantive matters related to the quality of professional education programs offered and should specify the respondent's relationship, if any, to the institution (i.e., graduate, present or former faculty member, employer of graduates). Copies of all correspondence received will be sent to the university for comment prior to the review.