Child Development Program Assessment

 

2011-2012

 

Program-Level Student Learning Outcomes (PSLOs)

 

At the completion of the Child Development Program, a student will be able to:

 

  1. Obtain,maintain, and advance in permit licensure and/or prepare for upper division transfer through appropriate academic preparation.

  2. Apply critical thinking to research, observe, assess, evaluate, analyze, and synthesize early learning and
    child development information.

  3. Utilize effective written and verbal communication techniques to ensure optimum communication with children, families, and professional colleagues.

  4. Select, develop, and/or use educational equipment, curriculum, assessments, materials, technology, and
    environments that are culturally relevant and developmentally appropriate.

  5. Demonstrate the skills and knowledge necessary to obtain employment or advancement in early care
    and education careers.

PSLO Assessment Report Summary

 

What we wanted to learn about our students:

 

What Institutional Student Learning Outcomes and/or Program Student Learning Outcomes does this project assess? 

 

PSLO #1: Obtain, maintain, and advance in permit licensure and/or prepare for upper division transfer through appropriate academic preparation.

What is the research question investigated by this project?

How many of our students in the bilingual cohort are continuing to take classes in the child development sequence? If students are not continuing, we hoped to gain some insight into why not.

 

Why is this research question of importance to the program? What background information is needed to understand the rationale for this project?

 

Our department began offering bilingual Spanish-English classes in 2006. We wanted to assess barriers that might exist for continuing students as well as what was most successful in the program.

 

What we did:

How was the research question investigated? What students were studied? (If sampling was used, how was the sample chosen? Did the sample adequately represent all students in the program? Explain.)      

 

Students that completed any of the bilingual courses between Fall 2006 and Spring 2010 were sent a survey.

 

Were direct, indirect, or qualitative measures used in the assessment?

 

Qualitative measures in the form of a student survey were used.

 

The survey was designed to give us results about how many students continued to the 6 unit       Assistant Teacher level and the 12 unit Associate Teacher level.

                       

What we learned about our students:

 

What are the findings or results of this project? Summarize the data.

 

The majority of our mailed surveys were returned for incorrect addresses.

 

Of the respondents, most enrolled in the first two classes of the series, making them eligible for the Assistant Teacher Permit.

 

Of the respondents, only 5 continued to the 12 unit Associate Teacher Permit level.

 

Students indicated the most common barriers to continue to study as: employment, family responsibilities and class offered at inconvenient time.

 

Students indicated they would like more videos and handouts in Spanish.

 

Students indicated supports they would like include: tutoring, links to their English/ESL class, supplemental texts and study groups.

 

What do the results mean? What hypothesis is the most plausible explanation for the results?

 

The majority of our mailed surveys were returned for addresses that were no longer valid. This indicates that we need an improved system for tracking and keeping in touch with our students.

 

The majority of the respondents were students in the current cohort (at the time of the study). They were completing the second class in the sequence Child Development 10. This could be the reason for the high number of students only completing the first two classes.

 

Students would like more supports in place, such as tutoring or links to their ESL classes.

           

What we plan to do next to improve student learning:

 

How will the results of this project be used to improve student learning in the program? What is the plan of action?

 

In this year's program review document, we have indicated as a goal that we would like an improved method for tracking our students' academic and employment progress. The system or tool we develop will help us keep current contact information of our students.

 

Erlinda Jones and Melissa Jackson are working together to provide more support for our bilingual cohort. In Fall of 2011, we offered informal tutoring/support before class, funded through the First 5 Program. Perhaps because of some of the barriers in the survey, students did not take advantage of this opportunity. We will continue to develop strategies for supporting our students.

 

As a department, we have engaged in conversations with Paula Gunder of the ESL department. We hope to find way to better link our programs.