CAEP Accountability Measures

There were a total of 268 responses to our 2022 Completer Survey.  Of those 268 responses only, complete responses were analyzed (n=195).  There was a 4-point Likert scale (1-not effective, 2-somewhat effective, 3- effective, and 4-very effective).

Of the 20 questions, only 3 averaged above a 3.0 indicating completers felt that MSU was effective in their preparation of those areas.  Completers felt that their teacher education program was most effective in preparing them for implementing instruction aligned with Montana State Content Standards (M=3.09, SD=.85), demonstrating accurate content knowledge (M=3.06, SD=.77), and engaging with colleagues in a professional manner (M=3.06, SD=.79).  In contrast, their teacher education program was less effective in preparing them for differentiate instruction effectively for English Learners (EL) (M=1.88, SD=.86), responding productively to negative behavior (M=2.10, SD=.91), and initiating professional conversations with supervisors (M=2.54, SD=.99).

Click chart to enlarge.

Completer Survey 2022
	Mean	SD	N	% Not Effective	% Somewhat Effective	% Effective	% Very Effective
Design instruction based on learners' development.	2.71	0.73	195	6%	29%	55%	11%
Differentiate for English Learners (EL).	1.88	0.86	195	39%	38%	18%	5%
Collaborate to meet needs of all students.	2.79	0.81	195	5%	31%	44%	20%
Actively engage students in learning.	2.98	0.79	195	3%	23%	47%	27%
Respond productively to negative behavior.	2.10	0.91	195	29%	39%	24%	8%
Purposefully use instructional technology.	2.91	0.84	195	4%	28%	41%	27%
Demonstrate accurate content knowledge.	3.06	0.77	195	2%	22%	45%	31%
Encourage critical thinking for problem solving.	2.91	0.79	195	3%	28%	45%	25%
Analyze assessment data to improve instruction.	2.74	0.84	195	7%	31%	43%	19%
Plan instruction based on knowledge of community context.	2.61	0.80	195	8%	34%	46%	12%
Implement instruction aligned with Montana State Content Standards.	3.09	0.85	195	4%	21%	38%	37%
Use a variety of instructional strategies.	2.95	0.82	195	4%	25%	44%	27%
Participate in ongoing professional development opportunities.	2.79	0.85	195	7%	29%	44%	21%
Reflect on how instructional choices affect students.	2.89	0.85	195	5%	28%	41%	26%
Respect beliefs, norms, and expectations of families.	2.97	0.87	195	7%	19%	44%	30%
Apply knowledge of the legal responsibilities of teachers.	2.65	0.90	195	10%	34%	37%	19%
Initiate professional conversations with supervisors.	2.54	0.99	195	19%	26%	38%	17%
Engage with colleagues in a professional manner.	3.06	0.79	195	3%	19%	47%	31%
Accurately incorporate the 7 Essential Understandings of Indian Education for All.	2.63	0.96	195	13%	33%	32%	22%
Relevance of preparation for job	2.66	0.81	195	6%	37%	42%	15%

Montana Rural Teacher Project

We value our stakeholders and utilize their feedback through a variety of ways in our Educator Preparation Program.

Field Placement

For in-area placements, administrator approval is collected via emails sent from the MSU Field Placement Office with lists of all pre-service/in-service teacher matches for practicum and student teaching. In this way, placement partnerships are verified at both district and building levels. Currently, MSU FPLO houses MOUs with districts in 20 states, and in 2021-22, began a systematic process of updating all local, in-state, and out-of-state MOUs to reflect stakeholder feedback. Feedback from CTs is also highly valued. Each spring, CTs are included in the Partner Survey. This survey openly invites a variety of feedback from all partner stakeholders.

Employer Survey

We participate in the state-wide Continuous Improvement Cooperative in collecting data from employers of our program completers.

Stakeholders’ Breakfast

Each spring, local administrators and district leaders are invited to campus for the annual Stakeholders' Breakfast.  Although curtailed during the pandemic, this meeting was renewed in Spring 2021. The event is a valued opportunity to meet, discuss policy, elicit feedback, and build relationships.

Montana State University - Bozeman

Employer Survey

Survey sent to 133 employers of MSU-Bozeman teacher education program graduates.

48 started the survey (36.1%)

36 completed the survey (27.1%)

Locations where surveys were completed according to reported longitude and latitude data.

Please indicate the type of school which you currently lead. Please select the option(s) which is most representative of your school.	N	N Reply*
[no response]	1	0
Elementary P/K-5	11	6
Elementary P/K-5, Middle School 6-8, High School 9-12	1	1
Elementary P/K-8	6	5
Elementary P/K-8, Middle School 6-8	1	1
Middle School 6-8	6	4
Middle School 6-8, High School 9-12	3	2
High School 9-12	9	9
Full District P-12	10	8
Totals	48	36

 

Please identify grade band in which your teacher(s) is assigned. Choose all that apply.	N	N Reply*
[no response]	1	0
Preschool P, Elementary K-5	3	2
Preschool P, Elementary K-5, Middle School 6-8	1	1
Elementary K-5	17	10
Elementary K-5, Middle School 6-8	5	5
Elementary K-5, Middle School 6-8, High School 9-12, K-12 Subject-specific	1	1
Elementary K-5, High School 9-12	1	1
Middle School 6-8	4	2
Middle School 6-8, High School 9-12	5	4
High School 9-12	9	9
K-12 Subject-specific	1	1
Totals	48	36

*Surveys links were emailed to 133 school adminstrators known to have hired MSU graduates. Of those, 48 began the survey, while 36 completed the evaluative questions.

Nineteen items were evaluated on a scale from Very Satisfied (1) to Very Unsatisified (4). Note that lower scores indicate more satisfaction.

Seventeen respondents evaluated our graduates with a mean Very Satisfied (1.00 to 1.47) including five respondents evaluating our graduates with Very Satisfied on all nineteen items.  Eighteen respondents evaluated our graduates with a mean Somewhat Satisfied (1.53 to 2.39). One respondent evaluated our graduates with a mean Somewhat Unsatisfied (2.53).

The most common response from all respondents on all items was Very Satisfied.

Response	Score	N
Very Satisfied	1	340
Somewhat Satisfied	2	265
Somewhat Unsatisified	3	70
Very Unsatisfied	4	4

 

The overall mean from all respondents on all items was Somewhat Satisfied.

N	Mean	SD
679	1.61	0.69

 

The mean scores on each of the nineteen items were as follows:

Question	N	Mean	SD
Design instruction based on learners’ development.	36	1.58	0.69
Differentiate instruction effectively for English Learners (EL).	34	1.91	0.75
Collaborate to meet the learning needs of all students.	36	1.47	0.61
Actively engage students in learning.	35	1.57	0.70
Respond productively to negative behavior.	36	1.78	0.76
Purposefully use instructional technology.	35	1.29	0.46
Demonstrate accurate content knowledge.	36	1.39	0.60
Encourage critical thinking for problem solving.	36	1.64	0.59
Analyze assessment data to improve the effectiveness of instruction.	36	2.03	0.81
Plan instruction based on knowledge of students in their community context.	36	1.83	0.74
Implement instruction aligned with Montana State Content Standards.	36	1.36	0.49
Use a variety of instructional strategies.	36	1.64	0.64
Participate in ongoing professional development opportunities.	36	1.53	0.61
Reflect on how instructional choices affect students.	36	1.75	0.73
Respect beliefs, norms, and expectations of families.	35	1.54	0.74
Apply knowledge of the legal responsibilities of teachers.	36	1.56	0.77
Initiate professional conversation with supervisors.	36	1.61	0.60
Engage with colleagues in a professional manner.	36	1.44	0.61
Accurately incorporate the 7 Essential Understandings of Indian Education for All.	36	1.75	0.81

Each year, the Department of Education, partnered with the Field Placement and Licensure Office, hosts Stakeholder Meetings. We invite K-12 administrators and teachers from our local area (all public and private schools from Livingston, Bozeman, Belgrade, Manhattan, Three Forks, and Willow Creek), our current students, Department of Education staff and faculty, the EHHD Dean’s office, and our University Teacher Education Committee partner faculty to meet and discuss our Teacher Education Program.  We provide updates to the program, talk about student trends, receive input and perceptions of our students in the field, and talk about ways our program can be bolstered via work the districts are undertaking.

 

Call for Comments - The Department of Education at Montana State University—Bozeman hosted an accreditation visit by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) on September 23, 2023. Programs under review were the undergraduate Teacher Education Program, the graduate Master of Arts in Teaching, the graduate Master of Education in Educational Leadership/Principal Preparation and the graduate Superintendent Certificate. Interested parties were invited to submit third-party comments to the CAEP evaluation team on or before August 12, 2023. Laudatory, critical, and merely observational comments were all welcome. Details at this link.

In 2022, the Montana Office of Public Instruction released new licensure requirements which made Praxis exams optional rather than mandatory for our graduating teacher candidates seeking licensure in Montana. We strongly encourage students to complete a Praxis as part of their licensure journey. Praxis is required for licensure in many states, especially states bordering Montana where many of our graduates have moved in the past several years.  It is advised to take a licensure exam, like a Praxis, as close to completion of coursework as possible, but the dropping of the mandate has reduced the percentage of our graduates taking a Praxis exam.

Praxis is an external exam administered and assessed through the Montana Office of Public Instruction and the national Educational Testing Service. A pre-service teacher (PST) seeking a K-8 or P-3 licensure answers content questions related to Math, Language Arts, Social Studies and Science, while those seeking K-12/5-12 licensure complete the exam designated for their specific content area. For example, an undergraduate PST seeking Secondary Science Broadfield licensure will complete an exam containing questions in the fields of Biology, Chemistry, Physics and Earth Science.

The US Median score here is the median of all scores on that test taken between August of 2020 and July of 2023. This gives us a national benchmark to compare with MSU's average score for tests taken by completers who finished in the four academic years between 2020-21 and 2023-24. If too few completers from that period take the test in an area, those low-N scores cannot be reported for reasons of student privacy as well as statistical validity. Some completers elect to delay the taking of the Praxis test, so scores may change over time as more come in.

Praxis Test of Content Knowledge Scores Undergraduate Teacher Education Program
Praxis Test Code	Praxis Test	N	MSU Mean Score	US Median
5018	Elementary Education	142	176	167
5038	English Language Arts	29	179	178
5701	Agriculture	27	166	166
5081	Social Studies	26	169	166
5435	General Science	17	173	161
5134	Art	16	164	163
5113	Music	11	170	166
5857	Health and Physical Education	11	170	164
5161	Mathematics old test	11	163	157
5025	Early Childhood Education	10	180	169
5941	World and U.S. History	8	163	160
5051	Technology Education	7	180	178
5195	Spanish: World Language	6	167	176
5204	Teaching Reading old test, minor only	4	*	170
5122	Family and Consumer Sciences	4	*	162
5235	Biology	3	*	162
5174	French: World Language	2	*	170
5165	Mathematics new test	2	*	167
5245	Chemistry	2	*	159
5183	German: World Language	0	*	182
5931	Government/Political Science minor only	0	*	166
5652	Computer Science minor only	0	*	166
5206	Teaching Reading new test, minor only	0	*	164
5571	Earth and Space Sciences minor only	0	*	161
5265	Physics	0	*	152
5911	Economics minor only	0	*	152

* Not enough scores to report valid statistic

This data was last updated 7/17/2024.

Unlike undergraduates whose program includes their subject area content knowledge, graduate students in the Master of Arts in Teaching (MAT) program must already possess that knowledge. They take their Praxis content knowlege tests as part of their admission process to the program. Elementary level candidates take the four-part Elementary Education: Multiple Subjects test. Secondary level candidate take the content knowledge test appropriate to their subject area. Statistics here are for MAT completers from 2019-20 to 2022-23. The US Median score here is the median of all scores on that test taken between August of 2020 and July of 2023. If too few completers from that period take the test in a area, those low-N scores cannot be reported for reasons of student privacy as well as statistical validity.

 

Praxis Test of Content Knowledge Scores Master of Arts in Teaching
Praxis Test Code	Praxis Test	N	MSU Mean Score	US Median
5002	Elementary Education: Reading and Language Arts	30	179	169
5003	Elementary Education: Mathematics	30	181	171
5004	Elementary Education: Social Studies	30	184	165
5005	Elementary Education: Science	30	183	169
5081	Social Studies	14	176	166
5435	General Science	13	176	161
5038	English Language Arts	6	187	178
5018	Elementary Education	3	*	167
5161	Mathematics	3	*	157
5174	French: World Language	1	*	170
5235	Biology	1	*	162

* Not enough scores to report valid statistic

This data was last updated 7/18/2024

The Title II Report reflects our number of completers, their academic majors, their subject area, and the EPP’s annual goals.

Reports required by Title II of the Federal Higher Education Act of 1965

2024

• Title II 2024 Report (Academic Year 2022-23) Traditional Program
• Title II 2024 Report (Academic Year 2022-23) Alternative Program

2023

• Title II 2023 Report (Academic Year 2021-22) Traditional Program
• Title II 2023 Report (Academic Year 2021-22) Alternative Program

2022

• Title II 2022 Report (Academic Year 2020-21) Traditional Program
• Title II 2022 Report (Academic Year 2020-21) Alternative Program

2021

• Title II 2021 Report (Academic Year 2019-20) Traditional Program
• Title II 2021 Report (Academic Year 2019-20) Alternative Program