The DESE-mandated Principal of First-Year Teachers Survey Questionnaire routinely provides the most trustworthy evidence demonstrating the effectiveness of Truman completers. The measure includes 37 items mapped to the various MEES standards but also includes some holistic items that are strong evidence of the effectiveness of the Truman completer(s) a given administrator evaluated over the preceding year, which was the completer’s first year of teaching. In the 2020 report, in response to the item in which administrators were asked to indicate completers’ impact on students, 89% of administrators who completed the questionnaire indicated that Truman completers were effective (29%) or highly effective (60%). The remaining 11% indicated that our completers were ‘minimally effective,’ but no administrators indicated that Truman completers were ineffective. Further, in response to the item in which administrators were asked how they would rate their Truman completer’s ability to achieve the expected level of student growth 91% indicated that Truman completers were effective (37%) or highly effective (54%). The remaining 9% indicated that our completers were ‘minimally’ effective and, again, no administrators reported that our completers were ‘ineffective.’ While administrators overwhelmingly reported that Truman completers were effective, the primary growth area that emerged from the data related to differentiation, specifically the ability to utilize various instructional strategies relevant to diverse learners, such as students with IEPs, English language learners, and gifted learners. This need was further confirmed through analysis of responses to the First-Year Teacher Questionnaire from 2015-2018 (data is included through 2021 on the table but only the data through 2018 were analyzed by the full faculty). In response, we have implemented a relatively new course ED 624G: Instructional Intervention/Reading Deficiencies and we offer ED 550G Introduction to Gifted as an elective. These areas have also become the focus of departmental retreats and initiatives aimed at program improvement by examining where in the existing curriculum these topics can be explored in more depth.
Historically, the MAE has researched retention and effectiveness in the field. For example, Dr. Perrachione completed a study that focused on why teachers stay in the profession and Dr. Miner conducted a separate 11-year study following MAE completers. More recently, Dr. Strange has been responsible for conducting the MAE Completer Survey and MAE Completer Focus Groups to gather more detail about areas in which completers feel they are effective, indicating strengths in the MAE, and areas in which completers feel less effective, indicating areas of needed program improvement.
Tracking our completers once they are in the field, and especially if they move to other states, has presented and continues to present a challenge. Every semester Truman MAE graduates must complete an employment card on which they indicate where they are employed for the following year. The Certification Officer maintains these records and collects the data to determine the rate at which certified initial program completers are employed in teaching or other positions after program completion. For example, 95% of completers for Fall 2019, Spring 2020, and Summer 2020 were employed in school districts for the 2020-2021 academic year.