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CSU
chancellor's office conducts teacher evaluations
By
Nick Porter
Daily Forty-Niner
Contributing Writer
The
Cal State University Chancellor's Office
recently conducted its fourth annual Evaluation
of Teacher Preparation at California State
Universities. This evaluation is conducted
yearly to show the CSU efforts in the direction
of accountability to the public in regards
to how well teaching students leave the
system prepared to teach elementary, middle
and high school. In addition to the findings,
the surveys helped to combat the contentions
of news stories and public policy discussion
arguing that a full 50 percent of graduated
teaching students around the nation do not
go into teaching at all.
"CSU
teacher preparation programs are improving
in effectiveness each year," said CSU
Executive Vice Chancellor and Chief Academic
Officer, David S. Spence. "In addition,
the majority, 93 percent, of CSU's newly
prepared teachers actually became teachers."
The
survey not only found out the numbers of
teachers actually employed in their profession
but also inquired about the effectiveness
of the teachers from their supervisors.
The program involved K-12 classroom teachers
who had completed their credential preparations
at CSU campuses during the 1999-2000, 2000-01,
2001-02, and 2002-03 academic years. It
was found that in the combined classes of
these years, 97 percent of CSU graduates
were teaching full- or part-time and 93
percent were teaching full time. In the
2003 class supervisors had very exciting
results. Reportedly 83 percent of graduates
were well prepared to teach grade K-8 reading-language
arts and 84 percent were prepared to teach
mathematics. On top of that a full 90 percent
of CSU teachers were prepared to teach California
high school curriculum standards in their
major subjects.
Success
in diversity was also accounted for with
76 percent being prepared to teach English
learners, 81 percent prepared to teach culturally
diverse students, and 72 percent prepared
to teach special learners. These numbers
say a lot about the depth and breadth of
the CSU's dedication to preparing teachers
to actually do their jobs. The graduates
themselves had the same to say about the
program reporting that they were prepared
to teach K-8 reading and mathematics at
rates of 91 percent and 90 percent respectively.
The graduates report that the CSU has done
an admirable job in increasing the usefulness
of preparation during the last three years
of their education.
The
CSU is the largest system of senior higher
education in the country. There are 23 campuses
with approximately 42,000 faculty and staff
and 400,000 students, and it has awarded
about 2 million degrees, or 82,000 annually,
since it was established in 1961. It claims
praise for the quality of its teaching and
the job-ready graduates it produces. Many
improvements in the quality of teaching
students have been made with devices such
as the annual evaluation report in place.
"This
report summarizes the most important findings
of the CSU Systemwide Evaluation of Teacher
Preparation from 2001-2004," Spence
said. "On each CSU campus, academic
leaders and faculty are using the evaluation
findings to continue making improvements
in teacher education."
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