9. What are the components of the Program Report?

REPORT TEMPLATE

The following outline is intended to assist institutions in preparing and submitting the program review report. Read carefully B1 and B2 before using this template.

The program report for ECIT programs must include a statement of context for the program (see section B.1) together with information demonstrating candidate knowledge and skills relating to the AECT standards (see section B.2).

Context Statement

Make sure that each of the key points in B1 are addressed in this narrative. The checklist on the cover sheet should also be helpful. Using each as a heading would aid clarity.

• Conceptual framework.
• Basic factual information.
• Courses and experiences. (Do not submit syllabi, as previously requested. The title, description, objectives, and candidate tasks of each course would be sufficient. URL links to websites with detailed syllabi may be included. This information should explain how the candidates are provided opportunities to learn and practice the knowledge and skills contained in the AECT standards. You may submit this information in narrative or table format).
• Description of the basis for faculty judgment that candidates are prepared to assume their professional responsibilities. (Do not submit faculty vitae, as previously requested. A summary including names, rank, tenure status, degrees, areas of specialization, and course responsibilities would be sufficient. URL links to websites with detailed vitae may be included. A table is attached for your convenience).
• Descriptions of the specialized technology facilities, equipment, and non-faculty staff.
• Descriptions of internships, practica, field, and clinical experiences.
• Relevant policies and practices affecting the institution’s ECIT preparation, including any unique state requirements that may impinge on implementation of the AECT standards or on candidate performances, with an explanation of how the unit accommodates differences between NCATE and state standards.
• The program’s own evaluation of its strengths, candidate proficiencies, and overall performance in relation to its mission and goals and in the context of the AECT standards.
• An overview of the program’s assessment plan as a context for the performance evidence/data.
• Quality assurance processes used for ECIT preparation.

Performance Evidence

Make sure that each of the key points in B2 are addressed in this section. You could submit this as a narrative (each standard as a heading with the data and information in paragraph form) or in a matrix format (one column for the standard and one for the data) — as long as you connect performance data with each standard.

• Aggregate and interpret candidate proficiency data from multiple data sources. Reviewers need to understand what the data say about the proficiencies of candidates through overall, summary descriptions.
• Articulate the relationship of the data to the program’s goals and objectives.
• Provide descriptions of candidate assignments.
• Describe the rubrics or criteria used to evaluate candidates’ proficiency levels for the assignments described above.
• Optional: A few samples of candidate work illustrating work in different standards, some of which illustrate work at different levels of performance as defined by the institution. [These materials must be provided either online or on CD-ROM and each sample must be identified by the standard for which it provides evidence.]
  
  You may find the following resources helpful as you prepare your report:
  
  http://www.ncate.org/resources/papers/aggregating_data.pdf
  http://www.ncate.org/resources/m_resources.htm

B1. Context Statement

One year prior to the expected Board of Examiners visit for unit accreditation, each institution offering an ECIT preparation program will submit a summary description of the context in which the program is conducted. This statement, ranging from 20 to 30 pages, will contain any information that institutional representatives believe reviewers should take into account while judging the quality of the program through candidate performance. Each institution has unique attributes that influence the ECIT preparation program. It is important that these attributes be considered when performance materials relating to the AECT standards are judged.

The context statement creates an opportunity for the institution to provide background information that will assist reviewers’ understanding of the candidate proficiency information.

Brevity in the context statement is recommended. It should be inclusive enough to provide what is requested, set the tone, and provide background information on factors influencing the environment in which the program exists. There should be evidence that the data are not just produced for NCATE purposes, but are integral to conduct of the institution’s program, and that they are analyzed and used by faculty to make improvements.

The context statement should include the following:

• The conceptual framework for the program. This includes the program’s mission, philosophy, purposes, focus, and knowledge base(s). It is the underlying structure which provides direction both rationale and direction for the program.
• Basic factual information on the program such as the program emphasis and philosophical perspective, its goals and objectives, the number of candidates enrolled and completing the program each year, and the degree level.
• An explanation of the ECIT preparation program, including courses and experiences the institution offers candidates. Do not submit syllabi, as previously requested. The title, description, objectives, and candidate tasks of each course would be sufficient. URL links to websites with detailed syllabi may be included. This information should explain how the candidates are provided opportunities to learn and practice the knowledge and skills contained in the AECT standards. Describe also the basis for faculty judgment that candidates are prepared to assume their professional responsibilities. Do not submit faculty vitae, as previously requested. A summary including names, rank, tenure status, degrees, areas of specialization, and course responsibilities would be sufficient. URL links to websites with detailed vitae may be included.
• Descriptions of the specialized technology facilities, equipment, and non-faculty staff.
• Descriptions of internships, practica, field, and clinical experiences.
• Relevant policies and practices affecting the institution’s ECIT preparation, including the relationship of the framework for the program with the conceptual framework used for unit accreditation. Include any unique state requirements that may impinge on implementation of the AECT standards or on candidate performances, with an explanation of how the unit accommodates differences between NCATE and state standards.
• The unit’s own evaluation of its program strengths, candidate proficiencies, and overall performance in relation to its mission and goals and in the context of the AECT standards. Is the program in educational communications and instructional technologies (ECIT) initiated, developed, and implemented by faculty members whose own preparation is in this field of specialization? How does the ECIT program contribute to the knowledge base through research? How does the program incorporate formal efforts to address the future of a highly dynamic field including the systematic review and program implementation of current and emerging theory, research, practice, and development?
• Provide an overview of the program’s performance assessment plan as a context for the performance evidence/data. Describe how the ECIT program collects, analyzes, and interprets candidate and graduate performance data to modify and improve the program curriculum and policies. Indicate the level of compatibility with the assessment principles in Appendix A.
• Quality assurance processes used for ECIT preparation, the continuing efforts to assure credibility—accuracy, consistency, fairness, and avoidance of bias—of the assessment and evaluation system, and the manner in which results of assessments are used to evaluate and improve programs and teaching.

B2. Performance Evidence

One year prior to the Board of Examiners site visit for unit accreditation, each institution offering an ECIT preparation program will submit performance data, not exceeding 100 pages including attachments, that summarizes the knowledge and skills proficiencies of candidates as a group. This information constitutes the primary evidence upon which a judgment of national program recognition will be made.

The performance data must be comprehensive in its breadth, yet concise and deep in its contents. The intent is to inform reviewers about candidate proficiencies in relation to the standards. Even though the upper limit of this material is set at 100 pages, it may be possible to convey the necessary information in 50 to 75 pages. This would be possible, especially, if an institution regularly synthesizes data from its monitoring of candidate progress and puts the results into forms useful for discussions about how the program can be strengthened.

The bulk of the institution’s submission should provide information demonstrating candidate proficiencies. It is achievement of candidate proficiencies in the standards that will be the basis for judgments about program quality and national recognition. Is the institution preparing ECIT candidates with the appropriate knowledge, skills, and dispositions in technology to strengthen the quality and effectiveness of teaching and learning?

An institution’s candidate proficiency information might best be organized around the five domains in the AECT standards. These are:

• Design
• Development
• Utilization
• Management
• Evaluation
• The narrative should cover each of the 5 standards and the relevant performance indicators, even though an institution may give more emphasis to some than to others.

The following is additional guidance for preparation of the candidate proficiency information:

• Aggregate and interpret candidate proficiency data. The submission should aggregate the data for candidates enrolled, and for candidates completing, the ECIT program. Reviewers need to understand what the data say about the proficiencies of candidates through overall, summary descriptions.
• Articulate the relationship of the data to the program’s goals and objectives.
• Provide descriptions of candidate assignments.
• Describe the rubrics or criteria used to evaluate candidates’ proficiency levels for each assignment described above. Rubrics and/or evaluation criteria should be included in the data submission together with information on the proportion of the program enrollees or completers who attain each level of performance defined by the institution.
• Exhibit multiple data sources in the submission, illustrating different points during the preparation program, the scope of the standards, and the breadth of candidate performance.
• OPTIONAL: You may include a few samples of candidate work representing the program’s assessment criteria, some of which illustrate work at different levels of performance as defined by the institution (such as best in the program, acceptable in the program, and below the institution’s standard). These samples should reflect the variety of ways that proficiencies are assessed in the program, should be selected from different points during a candidate’s progress through the program, and should be chosen from assessment information gathered on several different standards. The total number of samples should be limited to three or four. The call for such samples is not intended as a request for sampling candidate work for each of the standards. The intent of the samples is to add depth to the aggregated and interpreted summaries of candidate knowledge and performance by demonstrating the quality of candidate responses, and by illustrating the multiple types of information that the program gathers about candidate proficiencies. [These materials must be provided either online or on CD-ROM and each sample must be identified by the standard for which it provides evidence.]

ELECTRONIC SUBMISSIONS

AECT encourages institutions and states to submit reports electronically. The Accreditation Committee, in conjunction with NCATE, will continue to work on a standard format or template for web-based documentation with hyperlinks.

This is the form that Reviewers will use as they make recommendations based on the Program Report.

_____ First Review
_____ Second Review
_____ Special Review

NCATE/AECT
Evaluation of Initial ECIT Program Report
Based on ECIT Specialty Performance-Based Standards

Institution Submitting Program Report ________________________________________
Program Name _____________________________ Date of Review __________
Degree Level ______________________________

QUALITY OF THE PROGRAM REPORT

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