CEAP Office of Assessment

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

Educator Preparation Program (EPP) Reports (These were previously known as the IHE reports)

These reports are generated in conjunction with the NC Department of Public Instruction (DPI).

DPI Archive: EPP Performance Reports (more extensive reports) | EPP Report Cards (just report cards)

Undergraduate Programs

• 2020-2021 - EPP Performance Report
• 2019-2020 - EPP Performance Report
• 2018-2019 - EPP Performance Report | EPP Report Card
• 2017-2018 - EPP Performance Report | EPP Report Card
• 2016-2017 - EPP Performance Report | EPP Report Card

Graduate Programs

• 2020-2021 - EPP Performance Report
• 2019-2020 - EPP Performance Report
• 2018-2019 - EPP Performance Report | EPP Report Card
• 2017-2018 - EPP Performance Report | EPP Report Card
• 2016-2017 - EPP Performance Report | EPP Report Card

Master's of School Administration Program

• 2020-2021 - EPP Performance Report
• 2019-2020 - EPP Performance Report
• 2018-2019 - EPP Performance Report | EPP Report Card
• 2017-2018 - EPP Performance Report | EPP Report Card
• 2016-2017 - EPP Performance Report | EPP Report Card

2021-2022 - Traditional Programs | Alternative Programs

2020-2021 - Traditional Programs | Alternative Programs

2019-2020 - Traditional Programs | Alternative Programs

2018-2019 - Traditional Programs | Alternative Programs

2017-2018 - Traditional Programs | Alternative Programs

 

2023

2022

2021

2020

2019

As our teacher and professional education programs are accredited through CAEP, we are required to submit an annual report and publicly present data on our programs. We encourage you to look through our data and analyses in each of the sections below.

This set of assessments aligns to CAEP Annual Report Measure 1: Completer Effectiveness (Component R4.1).

The graph shows data collected on beginning teachers (3 years of service or less) in public schools in North Carolina. The bars show the percentages of P-12 students taught by beginning teachers who do not meet, meet, or exceed their expected growth in learning for that year. Beginning teachers who graduated from WCU are compared to all beginning  teachers across the state.

Over these years of data, WCU alumni track closely with all beginning teachers in the state on their performance. Percentages of WCU alumni who do not meet expected growth has fluctuated over this time frame, but are generally close to beginning teachers across the state. One area of some improvement is in the percentage of WCU alumni who exceed expected growth. This rose from 16-17 to 17-18 academic years and was higher than the state percentage for 17-18 and 18-19. Due to COVID-19, NC DPI did not collect the Spring 2020 student assessment data that underlies this analysis. Thus, we expect no information for P-12 impact to be available for 19-20. Results for 20-21 are visibly different from previous years, likely due to the COVID-19 pandemic impact on student learning generally. We will monitor this data to see if our alumni data differs substantially from state data.

The graph below shows the most recent data available to us as of August 2022 (from AY 2020-2021).

Data source(s): NC DPI EPP Annual Reports

 

As of December, 2022 our state is shifting to providing this data in an online dashboard. To access the data for WCU, open the state's EPP Performance dashboard for Impact on Student Growth. This data is from the state's EVAAS system, a value-add model of teacher performance that results in the percentages of P-12 students taught by beginning teachers who do not meet, meet, or exceed their expected growth in learning for that year. In the filter bar on the right, select Western Carolina University from the drop-down menu under "epp." The graph in the bottom right of the dashboard shows the most recent ratings for WCU graduates by calendar year.  For comparison, under "epp" in the filter bar on the right, select All to see the ratings for all beginning teachers in the state. For the two years of data available (2021 and 2022), WCU graduates have less or nearly the same percentage of recent graduates that do not meet expected growth compared to the state average. This shows our graduates are either comparable or better at having their P12 students meet or exceed expected growth compared to beginning teachers across the state. This data is current as of February 2023. We will shift to referencing this standard data set rather than compiling data from the reports noted above.

This set of assessments aligns to CAEP Annual Report Measure 1: Completer Effectiveness (Component R4.1).

The graphs show data collected on beginning teachers (3 years of service or less) in public schools in North Carolina. The bars show the percentage of WCU alumni that are rated Proficient or higher on key performance areas compared to all beginning teachers in the state. The performance ratings are made by the principal. They key performance areas are aligned to state teaching standards:

• Standard 1: Teachers Demonstrate Leadership
• Standard 2: Teachers Establish a Respectful Environment for a Diverse Population of Students
• Standard 3: Teachers Know the Content They Teach
• Standard 4: Teachers Facilitate Learning for Their Students
• Standard 5: Teachers Reflect on Their Practice

The data show our alumni track closely with all beginning teachers in the state on their rated performance. In all five standards, the three years of data prior to the pandemic shows our candidates are rated the same or higher on average than all beginning teachers statewide.

Due to COVID-19, NC DPI did not collect the Spring 2020 performance assessments of teachers that underlies this analysis. Thus, we expect no information for teaching effectiveness as rated by principals to be available for 19-20. We also note that ratings of our alumni are slightly lower than the state overall. It remains to be seen if this is a trend. The graphs below show the most recent data available to us as of August 2022 (from AY 2020-2021).

Data source(s): NC DPI EPP Annual Reports

 

As of December 2022, our state is shifting to providing this data in an online dashboard. To access the data for WCU, open the state's EPP Performance dashboard for Teaching Performance.

The graphs show data collected on beginning teachers (3 years of service or less) in public schools in North Carolina by the NC Educator Effectiveness System (NCEES). This system collects principal ratings of teachers on five key performance areas aligned to state teaching standards:

• Standard 1: Teachers Demonstrate Leadership
• Standard 2: Teachers Establish a Respectful Environment for a Diverse Population of Students
• Standard 3: Teachers Know the Content They Teach
• Standard 4: Teachers Facilitate Learning for Their Students
• Standard 5: Teachers Reflect on Their Practice

In the filter bar on the right, select Western Carolina University from the drop-down menu under "epp." The graph in the top right of the dashboard shows the most recent ratings for WCU graduates by standard for the selected calendar year(s). The graph in the bottom right shows a composite rating across all items by calendar year.  For comparison, under "epp" in the filter bar on the right, select All to see the ratings for all beginning teachers in the state. For the most recent three calendar years of data available (2019, 2021, and 2022; data were not collected in 2020), WCU graduates are comparable to the state average ratings. We note that both the state and WCU ratings that are in the Developing range were lower in 2021 than the years surrounding it. We will monitor if there is an ongoing upward trend or if this shows data returning to typical levels after the pandemic. This data is current as of February 2023. We will shift to referencing this standard data set rather than compiling data from the reports noted above.

This set of assessments aligns to CAEP Annual Report Measure 2: Satisfaction of employers and stakeholder involvement (Components R4.2, R5.3, RA 4.1).

The NC Employer Survey has been developed by the North Carolina Department of Public Instruction and the Education Policy Initiative at Carolina (EPIC). The survey requires NC principals or assistant principals to rate all beginning teachers on 21 items that are aligned to the state's five professional teaching standards. See the graphs for average ratings for WCU alumni compared to teachers prepared by all other NC universities, universities outside NC, and alternative entry programs. The scale is from 1 to 5, with 5 being the highest rating.

This survey was first administered in 2016-2017. The current results show WCU as comparable to other preparation paths. WCU ratings rose from 2016-2017 to 2017-2018 in all five areas. In 2018-2019, all areas but Leadership either stayed comparable to the previous year or went up again. In 2019-2020, WCU ratings were slightly lower than the average ratings for other North Carolina preparation programs, though still higher than other sources of teachers. We conclude that this indicates employers of WCU graduates are overall satisfied with our graduates and that they compare favorably to other sources of teachers. It is difficult to determine how the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in March 2020, may have impacted the most recent cohort of graduates and therefore their employer's satisfaction.

The data presented here is the most recent data available as of August 2022 (unknown when 2020-2021 data will be available).

Data Source(s): NC DPI - NC Employer Survey

 

As of December, 2022 our state is shifting to providing this data in an online dashboard. To access the data for WCU, open the state's EPP Performance dashboard for Employer Satisfaction with Preparation. This data is from the same survey described above. In the filter bar on the right, select Western Carolina University from the drop-down menu under "epp." The "By Response" graph in the bottom right of the dashboard shows the overall effectiveness rating for WCU graduates compared to other beginning teachers.  For comparison, under "epp" in the filter bar on the right, select All to see the ratings for all beginning teachers in the state. The center graph indicates what percentage of beginning teachers from WCU were rated as comparable or better to their peers on all the items measured on the survey. For the three most recent years of data available (2020 through 2022), WCU graduates are rated comparably to completers of all EPPs. We note that the percentage of WCU graduates who performed comprably or better than peers has dropped from 2020 to 2022, but so has the percentage of all beginning teachers. We conclude that there may be forces outside our control involved, but we must still monitor this data to see if our ratings drop further below the state averages and would need to be addressed. This data is current as of February 2023. We will shift to referencing this standard data set rather than compiling data from the reports noted above.

This set of assessments aligns to CAEP Annual Report Measure 2: Satisfaction of employers and stakeholder involvement (Components R4.2, R5.3, RA 4.1).

In the 2019-2020 academic year, our advanced programs piloted a survey of the satisfaction of employers with our recent graduates (graduates in the range 2016-2019) they have hired. Questions were modified to be specific to programs, but aggregated by general concept. Results from our first administration of this survey are presented below. Note that this set of surveys has not been validated as this pilot is being reviewed by our faculty for revision. Our phase-in plans for advanced programs include validating the surveys used and establishing a regular schedule to collect them. These results indicate employers are overall satisfied with our recent graduates. These data do not indicate a clear area of weakness to address.

The data presented here is the most recent data available as of February 2023.

This graph includes the MAED, MSA, and EdD programs.

This graph includes the MAED and MSA programs. The EdD program is revising their instrument.

The SSP in School Psychology program is one of our advanced programs but had a low response rate with their initial survey, so we are not able to present these publicly.

New Survey Schedule - Starting 2023

As of Spring 2023, we have made a new schedule for collecting employer satisfaction data. As our programs do not have large numbers of graduates and so as not to increase survey fatigue, we have designated a cycle of three years over which we survey employers of each program's graduates once over that three year period. Our schedule is:

• Year 1 - MAED Comprehensive Education
• Year 2 - MSA School Administration and EdD in Educational Leadership
• Year 3 - SSP School Psychology

In addition, in the first year for each program in our cycle, we are reviewing the program's survey against the new CAEP survey criteria to ensure compliance.

We begin this cycle in spring 2023 so this is a "year 1" in the cycle. We reviewed the survey used for the MAEd program. We decided to revise it and the piloted it as required to ensure it meets the new CAEP criterial. This spring, we also surveyed the employers of graduates of our MAED program who have graduated in academic year 2019-2020, 2020-2021, and 2021-2022. Results from this survey are shown in the following graph. Employers were asked to rate each item on a Likert scale where 5 = Strongly Agree, 4 = Agree, 3= Neither agree nor disagree, 2 = Disagree, and 1 = Strongly Disagree.

Results indicate that on most items, the average ratings are "Agree" or higher. The two items below "Agree" are both rated an average of 3.9. These do not lead us to concern over these items, but we note that these issues of preparation for current employment in general and particular assigned responsibilities. We will review these results with the program at our fall program assessment meeting.

The advanced program data presented here is the most recent data available as of April 2023.

Data Source(s): Internal data collection/analysis

This set of assessments aligns to CAEP Annual Report Measure 3: Candidate competency at completion (Component R3.3), specifically for initial level programs.

Our initial level programs use multiple measures to determine if our teacher candidates are ready for the profession. See the following links and data tables for a summary of this data.

Licensure Exams

Our candidates must successfully pass one or more standardized exams to qualify for a North Carolina teaching license. The NC Department of Public Instruction maintains a data dashboard that allows you to examine performance on licensure exams. In the filter bar on the right, select Western Carolina University from the drop-down menu under "epp." The graph on the left indicates the pass rates on all exams on the first attempt and best attempt. For the three most recent years of data, WCU's first attempt and best attempt pass rates are slightly lower but comparable to those of all EPPs. In the top left, you can select test types to consider data by those categories.

For data on individual tests, the Federal Title II reporting process collects pass rates on these exams into one data report. See our most recent Title II report for Traditional Programs (starting on page 28) and Alternative Programs (starting on page 26). Note that pass rates are only given for licensure categories where there are at least ten graduates for privacy reasons. The key measure for each licensure exam is the Pass Rate column - the right-most column in the data tables.

This data is current as of February 2023.

edTPA

edTPA is an assessment of teacher education candidates’ skills in planning instruction, conducting instruction, and assessment of student learning. It is a nationally used assessment and is scored by professional educators external to WCU. The edTPA assessment is required for all Intern II teacher candidates and passing it is a requirement for a North Carolina teaching license. The graphs below present our recent edTPA results. Note that in North Carolina, candidates pass edTPA with a score of 38 or higher.

 

 

As seen in the graphs, our pass rates are high - close to 100% for the years of data available. Also, our average candidate scores are consistently higher than the average scores of all candidates in the state and nation. We consider these positive outcomes and demonstrate the value of our programs in preparing candidates for their professional career in teaching.

These data are current as of February 2023.

Certification of Teaching Capacity (CTC)

The Certification of Teaching Capacity (CTC) is an assessment of teacher education candidate’s capacity to teach according to the NC state teaching standards. This is assessed near the end of each candidates' Intern II experience. The assessment is aligned to the NC Teaching Standards:

1. Teachers Demonstrate Leadership
2. Teachers Establish a Respectful Environment for a Diverse Population of Students
3. Teachers Know the Content They Teach
4. Teachers Facilitate Learning for Their Students
5. Teachers Reflect on Their Practice

The graph below presents our recent CTC results. Note that candidates are required to rate a 3 or higher on all items on the CTC in order to be recommended for a license in North Carolina.

As seen in the graph, the average overall score and averages for ratings on each standard are all 3.5 or higher for candidates in all three years. We consider this to indicate a strong indicator of the quality of our candidates according to our state standards. As we present data by academic year, these data are current as of March 2023.

Educator Dispositions Assessment (EDA)

The Educator Disposition Assessment (EDA) is designed to assess dispositions of teacher education candidates as they progress through an academic program. The EDA consists of a nine-item rubric that is used to rate candidates on a scale of 0 (Need Improvement), 1 (Developing), and 2 (Meets Expectations). The EDA was created by researchers at Florida International University based on current dispositions research and aligned to the InTASC standards.

We assess candidates with the EDA at three gateways: entry to the program (at the time of admission to teacher education), at a midpoint (when they are applying for their year long internship), and at the endpoint (the final semester of internship). In the graphs below, these do not follow cohorts. They are the average disposition scores of all candidates going through that gateway in that academic year. Our expectation is that there will be a stairstep pattern of scores with entry at the lowest point and endpoint at the highest. We also expect that candidate scores will be at or very close to a 2 (Meets Expectations) by the endpoint gateway.

In most of our years, our expectations are confirmed in that we see a stairstep pattern. In 2019-2020, the entry point candidates were rated higher compared to the other years of data. Midpoint scores in 2020-2021 and 2021-2022 are slightly higher than previous years, so our conclusion is that a group of candidates joined our program in 2019-2020 who had dispositions that more closely align with the teaching profession than typical for our cohorts. This result (increased midpoint scores) has persisted across the two following years while entry point scores have returned to more typical levels. A scoring anomaly in 2019-2020 seems unlikely due to elevated levels at the midpoint in the following years. Thus, we consider this result a product of the nature of that group of students.

Our other expectation, that candidates at the endpoint will be at or close to a 2 (Meets Expectations) rating is borne out in the data over all years. This, plus the general stairstep pattern in the data indicates that our programs move our candidates closer to a pattern of dispositions necessary to be a professional teacher.

As these data are presented by academic year, the data are current as of March, 2023.

Data Source(s): Federal Title II report, Pearson edTPA data reports, Internal data collection/analysis

This set of assessments aligns to CAEP Annual Report Measure 3: Candidate competency at completion (Component RA3.4)

Our advanced level plans are proceeding with their phase-in plans as presented in our CAEP site visit in fall 2021. Status on these measures is indicated for each program below.

MAED in Comprehensive Education

Three rubrics have been created and validated and preliminary data has been collected. The three assessments are: Methods of Educational Research Rubric, Leadership/Influencing Action Plan Rubric, and Specially Designed Instruction Rubric.
We have investigated reliability for all three rubrics. As of Spring 2023, the Specially Designed Instruction rubric has been found reliable based on our investigation. We are presenting data from the most recent academic year since validation: 2021-2022. See the graph below.

Students are rated on a scale of 1=Unsatisfactory, 2=Developing, 3=Proficient, and 4=Exemplary. As the graph shows, average ratings of students fall between Proficient and Exemplary. No individual item seems to indicate a significant issue for this construct. We will continue to college and monitor this data but no action seems indicated at this time. This data is the most recent cycle available as of March, 2023. 

 

Our attempts to establish reliability for the Methods of Educational Research Rubric have not been successful so far. For this rubric, we established strong internal consistency using student rating data but inter-rater reliability of our faculty after training is not strong. As of Spring 2023, we are reviewing and revising the training to determine if this will improve inter-rater reliability. With these caveats, the following graph is our data from academic years since the validity of the rubric was established.

Students are rated on a scale of 1=Unsatisfactory, 2=Developing, 3=Proficient, and 4=Exemplary. As the graph shows, most average item scores are in the proficient to exemplary range. One item, Demonstrate Use of Research fell below the Proficient level in 2021-2022. The program is reviewing this result and considering if changes are needed in the course where this is assessed or in other areas of the program. This is the most recent data available as of March 2023.

Our faculty decided to revise the Leadership/Influencing Action Plan rubric as we were not able to establish reliability. Also, we wish to ensure it aligns with the requirements of CAEP Standard RA1.1 as this has been revised since our self-study report. Through two rounds of revision, we have not established validity on the new version. As of Spring 2023, we are making additional revisions to this rubric and will continue to pursue establishing validity. 

SSP in School Psychology

The program has created evaluations of students in their field practicum and internship experiences, their clinic-based practicum, and use of psychological assessments. Validity has been established for these measures as of Summer 2020. However, cohorts in the program are small and we are not able to maintain privacy by presenting data on a single cohort. We plan to collect two cohorts of data, aggregate them, and report on them in May/June 2023.

The PRAXIS exam for School Psychology is required to be licensed in North Carolina. Candidates are required to achieve a passing score of 147 for a license. Again, due to small numbers in our cohorts, we are not able to present data on individual cohorts and maintain privacy. Combining all cohorts from 2019-2020 through 2021-2022, we can compare our results to results for the whole state.

WCU mean exam score (all three years combined): 167.02

All NC mean exam score (all three years combined): 173.53

100% of WCU students passed the exam, as did 100% of all in North Carolina. Though the WCU mean score is slightly lower than the state’s overall, it remains substantially higher than the required passing score of 147. This, along with our 100% pass rate for these years, indicate the strength of our program in preparing candidates. This is the most recent data available as of March, 2023.

 

All candidates must complete a field-based practicum and a clinic-based practicum and be evaluated at a proficient level to be ready to practice in the field. Data from supervisor evaluations of these experiences is presented in the tables below.

For both rubrics, candidates are rated on a four-point scale on multiple items relevant to the respective experience. The scale is: 1=Unsatisfactory, 2=Developing, 3=Proficient, and 4=Exemplary. As seen in both graphs, the average ratings on each item are in the proficient to exemplary range for all cohorts. We consider this a positive outcome and do not see a clear need for change to the program. We will continue to monitor this data. This is the most recent data available as of March, 2023.

 

MSA in School Administration

The MSA program created an evaluation of candidates for Leadership for Social Justice. The program has established reliability and validity for this assessment. In the MSA School Administration program, candidates are evaluated in their Intern I and Intern II experiences. We present here the percentage of candidates who are rated Moderate or higher on average on the rubric elements, disaggregated by phase of internship experience. We are presenting all data available on this rubric since validity was established.

In both available years, we see growth in MSA students from their Intern I experience to their final Intern II experience. The starting points and ending points for each cohort differ and the program is examining this for possible reasons, yet growth is evident in the data available. This is the most current data available as of March, 2023.

The MSA program also created an evaluation of candidates on Strategic Leadership. The program has established reliability and validity for this assessment. In the MSA School Administration program, candidates are evaluated in their Intern I and Intern II experiences. We present here the percentage of candidates who are rated Moderate or higher on average on the rubric elements, disaggregated by phase of internship experience. We are presenting all data available on this rubric since validity was established.

In the one cohort of data available, we see large growth between Intern I and Intern II. No immeidate action seems warranted. We will monitor this data for future cohorts. This is the most recent data available as of March, 2023.

EdD in Educational Leadership

In the EdD in Educational Leadership program, candidates are evaluated on their Disquisition, which is their final product in the program. We present here the average ratings of the most recent three cohorts in the EdD program. Some items are rated on a four point scale, and some on a seven point scale.

As can be seen in the graph, candidates’ evaluations are overall positive. Sustainability is the lowest rated item. The program is aware of this and is considering what changes are needed to improve this aspect of the program. As of March 2023, this is the most recent data available.

The NC Department of Public Instruction maintains a data dashboard that allows you to examine the percentage of our graduates who are employed in North Carolina public schools within three years of completion of their program. In the bar at the top, select 3 from the "Employed W/I 'N' Years" selector. Ensure under "Years to Include" that "Last 3" is selected.  The bottom left graph indicates the percentage of graduates in each year that obtained employment in a North Carolina public school within 3 years of completing the program. The bottom right graph indicates retention of program completers by showing the percentage of WCU completers who are still employed in a North Carolina public school after two years of employment. Comparing WCU graduates to other completers, our completers are employed at comparable rates to all EPPs across the state. One area of concern is for the completers in 2020 from WCU. Of this group, 66% obtained initial employment with NC public schools while across all EPPs, 75% obtained such employment. This representes a relatively large drop from previous years for us. Anecdotally, we are aware a number of our students pursue employment in bordering states. Given our geographic proximity to several other states with higher pay this may partly explain this trend. We will monitor this statistic to determine if this trend is indicative of a single cohort or relfects a larger trend. This data is current as of March 2023.

Fall Strategic Planning Day - September 15, 2023

CIRs due to college - September 22, 2023

Spring Strategic Planning Day - January 26, 2024

Our college established an Annual Assessment Day beginning in January 2013 to examine assessment data and identify strengths and areas for improvement. All faculty, staff, and stakeholders are invited to participate in the day-long activities for the purpose of assessing our programs.

Assessment Day Agenda 2022

Assessment Day Agenda 2021

Assessment Day Agenda 2020

Assessment Day Agenda 2019

Assessment Day Agenda 2018

University Faculty Resources

CEAP College Assessment Site and Resources (requires WCU login)

Advanced Licensure Portfolio Documentation

WCU Assessment and Strategic Program Review

 

The following are links to campus, state and national resources regarding assessment preparation, the latest news and legislation on education-related issues, plus tools and information for ongoing learning.

AACTE - American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education

NC DPI - North Carolina Department of Public Instruction

CAEP - Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation

SACSCOC - Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges

SACSCOC at WCU

WCU University Factbook

NCTEAN - North Carolina Teacher Education Assessment Network