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4.2. CAEP Accountability Measures (2023-2024 Academic Year)

RTEC offers only initial level licensure programs.

Regarding CAEP Measures 1 and 2: RTEC participates with the Virginia Education Assessment Collaborative’s annual surveying of responses from completers and their employers regarding completer impact and effectiveness. Survey results for the 2023-2024 academic year are shown below, indicating alignment of survey items with InTASC standards and the Virginia Unified Performance Standards (VUPS). 

VEAC is a growing, grassroots partnership between EPPs in the Commonwealth of Virginia with the purpose of providing a centralized assessment structure for Virginia EPPs in order to standardize and reduce the complexity of data collection required for accreditation and program improvement. RTEC connected with VEAC beginning in 2022-2023; participating in the use of common instruments and data collection processes improves the EPP’s ability to further identify and understand our relative strengths and opportunities for improvement. Additionally, shared instruments provide a common language and prompt discussion around areas for collective improvement across the commonwealth.

CAEP Measure 1: Completer effectiveness.

VEAC Completer Survey responses 2023-2024

	VEAC Survey Item	InTASC	VUPS 2021	RTEC Mean	RTEC N
IA	Demonstrate an understanding of the curriculum, subject content, and the developmental needs of students by providing relevant learning experiences.	1,2,4	1	3.5	2
IB	Plan using state standards, the school’s curriculum, engaging and research-based strategies and resources, and data to meet the needs of all students.	1,2,7,8	2	3.0	1
IC	Effectively engage students in learning by using a variety of research-based instructional strategies in order to meet individual learning needs.	1,2,8	3	4.0	2
ID	Systematically gather, analyze, and use all relevant data to measure student academic progress, guide instructional content and delivery methods, and provide timely feedback to students, caregivers, and other educators.	6,10	4,8	2.5	2
IE	Use resources, routines, and procedures to provide a respectful, positive, safe, student-centered environment that is conducive to learning.	3	5	3.5	2
IF	Maintain a commitment to professional ethics, collaborate and communicate effectively, and take responsibility for and participates in professional growth that results in enhanced student learning.	1,2,9	7	3.5	2
IG	Engage in practices that result in acceptable, measurable, and appropriate student academic progress.	6,7,8	8	4.0	2
IH	Use content-aligned and developmentally appropriate instructional technology to enhance student learning.	7,8	3	2.5	2
IJ	Demonstrate a commitment to equity by providing instructional practices and classroom strategies that result in culturally inclusive and responsive learning environments and academic achievement for all students.	2,3,8	5,6	3.0	2
IL	Collaborate with the learning community (e.g. school personnel, caregivers, and volunteers) to meet the needs of all learners and contribute to a supportive culture.	3,9,10	7	3.0	2
IM	Use assessment results to inform and adjust practice.	6	4,8	4.0	2
IN	Engage in reflection on the impact of their teaching practice and adapt to meet the needs of each learner.	9	7	4.0	2
I_O	Overall, how satisfied are you with your preparation from ${e://Field/Institution}?	N/A	N/A	4.5	2

Table 1 provides responses to the 2023-24 VEAC Initial Licensure Survey. Items A through N ask program completers to rate their satisfaction on 13 VUPS/InTASC items. Specifically, these items ask, “How would you rate your preparation at RTEC for each of the following program competencies?.”Respondent can choose “Exemplary,” “Proficient,” “Developing/Needs Improvement,” or “Unacceptable.” To find the average rating, responses are coded, from 1 to 4. Higher values indicate more proficiency, and lower values indicate more unacceptability.

The last item in the VEAC completer survey asks “Overall, how satisfied are you with your preparation from RTEC”; respondents could respond “extremely dissatisfied, somewhat dissatisfied, neither satisfied nor dissatisfied, somewhat satisfied, or extremely satisfied.” To find the average overall satisfaction, responses are coded, from 1 to 5. Higher values indicate more satisfaction, and lower values indicate more dissatisfaction.

CAEP Measure 2: Satisfaction of employers and stakeholder involvement. 

VEAC Employer Survey responses 2023-2024

	VEAC Survey Item	InTASC	VUPS 2021	RTEC Mean	RTEC N
IA	Demonstrates an understanding of the curriculum, subject content, and the developmental needs of students by providing relevant learning experiences.	1,2,4	1	3.00	6
IB	Plans using state standards, the school’s curriculum, engaging and research-based strategies and resources, and data to meet the needs of all students.	1,2,7,8	2	2.67	6
IC	Effectively engages students in learning by using a variety of research-based instructional strategies in order to meet individual learning needs.	1,2,8	3	2.83	6
ID	Systematically gathers, analyzes, and uses all relevant data to measure student academic progress, guide instructional content and delivery methods, and provide timely feedback to students, caregivers, and other educators.	6,10	4,8	2.67	6
IE	Uses resources, routines, and procedures to provide a respectful, positive, safe, student-centered environment that is conducive to learning.	3	5	2.83	6
IF	Maintains a commitment to professional ethics, collaborates and communicates effectively, and takes responsibility for and participates in professional growth that results in enhanced student learning.	1,2,9	7	3.17	6
IG	Engages in practices that result in acceptable, measurable, and appropriate student academic progress.	6,7,8	8	2.83	6
IH	Uses content-aligned and developmentally appropriate instructional technology to enhance student learning.	7,8	3	3.17	6
IJ	Demonstrates a commitment to equity by providing instructional practices and classroom strategies that result in culturally inclusive and responsive learning environments and academic achievement for all students.	2,3,8	5,6	2.83	6
IL	Collaborates with the learning community (e.g. school personnel, caregivers, and volunteers) to meet the needs of all learners and contribute to a supportive culture.	3,9,10	7	3.00	6
IM	Uses assessment results to inform and adjust practice.	6	4,8	2.83	6
IN	Engages in reflection on the impact of their teaching practice and adapts to meet the needs of each learner.	9	7	2.83	6
I_O	Based on your experience with this teacher, what best describes the extent to which they were ready to meet the needs of students in your school?	N/A	N/A	3.67	6

Table 1 provides responses to the 2023-24 VEAC Initial Licensure Survey. Items A through N ask program completers’ employers to rate their performance on 13 VUPS/InTASC items. Specifically, these items ask, “Please rate [Field-C.FirstName] [Field-C.LastName]’s performance on each of the following.”Respondent can choose “Exemplary,” “Proficient,” “Developing/Needs Improvement,” or “Unacceptable.” To find the average rating, responses are coded, from 1 to 4. Higher values indicate more proficiency, and lower values indicate more unacceptability.

The last item in the VEAC employer survey that asks, “Based on your experience with this teacher, what best describes the extent to which they were ready to meet the needs of students in your school?” Respondent employers could respond “Fully ready (able to have an immediate impact on student learning), Mostly ready (able to successfully meet the needs of most students,” “Moderately ready (in order to be successful, needed additional training, support, and coaching beyond what is typically provided to beginning teachers),” “Minimally ready (limited success meeting the needs of students and improving outcomes even with additional supports)” or “Not ready (unable to meet the needs of students even with additional supports).” Higher values indicate more satisfaction, and lower values indicate more dissatisfaction.

As a small, personalized program with a small number of completers RTEC opts to further examine completer effectiveness and impact and employer satisfaction through a focus study approach. Beginning Fall 2022 RTEC held a focus group inquiry of completers using multiple sources of evidence: completer and employer surveys, a completer forum, and phone conversations with principals including details of how teachers are evaluated, and samples of pre- and post-assessment data shared by RTEC completers. 

This focus study approach will be carried out every three years and is oriented around the Danielson Framework for Teaching, which is foundational to RTEC. This coming Fall 2025 we will carry out the focus group inquiry with modifications made based on: input from our RTEC Leadership Team–a group of K-12 teachers from partnering school divisions, input from our RTEC Advisory Council, results from VEAC surveys and from the initial focus inquiry of Fall 2022.

The Danielson Group’s offers a common language for teachers and teaching and a vision of instructional excellence. The FFT is an evolving instructional resource that provides a roadmap for effective teaching, outlining 22 components and elements of success organized into four domains of teaching responsibility that apply to teacher professional learning across the career continuum – from pre-service teacher preparation through teacher leadership and beyond, shown in Figure 1 below (from https://danielsongroup.org/framework/ ).

The Framework for Teaching is aligned with RTEC’s values and beliefs for teacher preparation, providing a framework, language, and scale for identifying and assessing indicators of teaching effectiveness. It is woven throughout RTEC’s work with teacher education students, directly influencing the objectives and content of RTEC educator preparation courses, practicum and student teaching, and measures of program completer success. FFT domains are found in RTEC clinical faculty training, collaborative assessment logs used for practicum and peer teaching, in coursework, in lesson planning, in directed teaching and DT evaluations, and in completer/employer surveys. RTEC-designed prompts for the completer focus group and for phone interviews with employers are oriented around Framework for Teaching competencies, aligned with InTASC standards, with each competency evaluated on a scale of one to four (1=unsatisfactory 2=basic 3=proficient 4=distinguished).

On the Danielson Framework for Teaching scale of 1 to 4 (1=unsatisfactory 2=basic 3=proficient 4=distinguished) for measuring teacher competencies, employers are satisfied with completers’ preparation for working with diverse P-12 students and families. On 15 of 18 FFT competencies, employers rated completers as proficient (3) or higher, with the highest average ratings of 3.2 for 1) ability to provide for differing learning styles and ability, and 2) ability to communicate and interact with parent/guardians, families, colleagues, and the community to support student well-being. Interestingly, on this latter item regarding communication with families, completers rated themselves lower (2.8) than principals rated them (3.2).

Qualitative comments made by employers about completers’ work with P-12 students and their families are positive. For example: “Completer A is a quick study and is making a positive difference in the lives of her students–academically, social, and emotionally.” “Completer One takes time to reflect on her lessons and has really worked to make connections with her students and their families.” “Completer Three has grown a lot this year in the area of classroom management… This summer, Completer Three is focusing on responsive classroom training.

CAEP Measure 3: Candidate competency at completion.

In 2023-2024 100% of RTEC candidates demonstrated competency at completion of the program and readiness for initial licensure by the state of Virginia Department of Education by completing all program and initial licensure requirements including but not limited to:

Receiving scores of proficient on all student teaching competencies; receiving scores of proficient on their professional Cumulative Assessment Portfolio (capstone teaching portfolio with Teacher Work Sample); passing all Virginia-required Praxis exams for their endorsement area(s) and certifications for a Virginia teaching license.

CAEP Measure 4: Ability of completers to be hired (in positions for which they have prepared).

2023-2024 RTEC Completers (6)	Endorsement area	Current status
A	Elementary	Teaching locally, VA
B	Elementary	Teaching locally, VA
C	Elementary	Teaching in VA
D	Elementary	Teaching outside of VA
E	Elementary	Teaching locally, VA
F	Mid/Secondary History	Teaching in VA