What I Valued at AACTE’s Quality Support Workshop
This event is cancelled until further notice.
When I decided to attend the AACTE Quality Support Workshop last summer, I was a faculty member and assessment coordinator in a college of education. Armed with an already solid understanding of the principles and practices of assessment, I was not sure how much I would get out of attending the workshop, but as the sole representative from my institution, I registered anyway and made the trip to Minnesota. Over the next 3 days, my expectations were shattered, in a very good way!
The workshop was well organized and provided the opportunity to learn from engaging plenary session speakers and included multiple sessions covering a variety of topics related to assessment and accreditation. There was time and planned activities that allowed for ample opportunity to engage in dialogue and collaborate with others who share similar responsibilities at their institutions. It was through these opportunities that I found like-minded people who were tackling the same kind of work for educator preparation providers (EPPs) around the country.
Learning how others are approaching the same work provided me with new ideas to improve the work I was engaged in on my own campus. I selected to attend a series of sessions related to establishing reliability and validity of EPP-developed assessments; these sessions proved to be particularly useful. Reliability and validity are challenging concepts, but the sessions were delivered in clear language, and helpful resources were provided.
Little did I know that one year later I would be living a new state on the East Coast and thoroughly enjoying my new position as the assistant dean of enrollment management and accreditation at Rowan University (NJ). Many of the sessions I attended at the 2017 Quality Support Workshop made a connection to Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) accreditation. At the time, I was not at an institution that is CAEP accredited; now, I am. These sessions provided me with a solid foundation to understanding the CAEP accreditation requirements and ways in which EPPs can demonstrate, with clear evidence, how they are meeting the standards. This knowledge was beneficial to me both in my new position and in my former one, as the principles of strong assessment evidence and continuous improvement are the same regardless of the accreditation model followed.
This year, I am looking forward to attending the AACTE Quality Support Workshop again to continue learning with colleagues from across the country as we strengthen our assessment skills together.
I hope to see you in Columbus!
The 2018 AACTE Quality Support Workshop will be held August 2-4 in Columbus, Ohio–register here by July 10. Lori Kroeger is assistant dean of enrollment management and accreditation at the Rowan University (NJ) College of Education. The views expressed in this post do not necessarily reflect the views of AACTE.
Tags: accreditation, assessment, events
