Measure 3

Candidate Competency at Program Completion (R3.3, RA3.4) - Initial Programs Candidate Preservice Assessment of Student Learning (CPAST) for Academic Year 2024-2025

This CAEP Accreditation Measure is also available online as a Microsoft Word document

BACKGROUND

SIUC began using the Candidate Preservice Assessment of Student Learning (CPAST) to assess student teachers in 2018. The CPAST is administered at mid-term and final evaluation conferences between the clinical supervisor, cooperating teacher, and teacher candidate. The CPAST is aligned to the edTPA, CAEP, and InTASC standards.

The CPAST Form was created as part of the Valid and Reliable Instruments for Educator Preparation Programs (VARI-EPP) Project. VARI-EPP is a group of Ohio EPPs who have collaborated since 2014 to develop instruments that meet CAEP accreditation requirements.

The CPAST assessment has two subscales: Pedagogy (13 rows) and Dispositions (8 rows). The CPAST Pedagogy assesses a student teacher’s pedagogical knowledge/skills as demonstrated in student teaching. The CPAST Dispositions assesses the professional dispositions of a student teacher, including behaviors toward students and other stakeholders, professionalism, and professional development.

QUALITY ASSURANCE

According to the CPAST Handbook, valid data from 1,203 teacher candidates from 23 EPPs in Ohio were collected during the academic year of 2015-2016. Of the 1,203 teacher candidates, 32 were recruited to participate in the inter-rater reliability study, in which each teacher candidate was evaluated by two supervisors – their primary university supervisor (i.e. the supervisor who was formally assigned by the EPPs to supervise the teacher candidate during the student teaching), and a secondary rater (i.e. a supervisor who completed a minimum of three observations of the teacher candidates throughout the semester). Analyses were performed on the CPAST Form regarding validity (content, construct, and concurrent) as well as reliability (internal consistency, inter-rater reliability) and met standards for instrument development. SIUC Clinical Supervisors and Cooperating Teachers participate in annual training sessions to ensure continued reliability.

CRITERIA FOR SUCCESS

The CPAST contains four performance levels: (3) Accomplished, (2) Proficient, (1) Developing, (0) Unacceptable. Educators are encouraged to use the CPAST as a coaching tool and as such, no particular “cut” score was recommended. For SIUC initial programs, a 2.0 mean target was set for all elements as a unit-wide benchmark, and those below become areas of focus.</p?

SUPPORT IMPROVEMENT

At the Program Improvement and Assessment Committee meetings, program coordinators and clinical supervisors analyze CPAST trends over time and make comparisons of data across programs. Once areas of strength and areas for improvement are identified, recommendations are brought to the appropriate stakeholders to be discussed and implemented.

UNIT RESULTS

CPAST items A-U are the focus elements for meeting the performance levels. The chart below is divided into content areas of each candidate demonstrating the final data point of each CPAST item. As a unit all candidates exceeded the benchmark percentage which is set at 80% with most candidates scoring between 88%-100% in the CPAST items.

CPAST PERFORMANCE LEVELS

SPRING 2025 CPAST DATA BY PROGRAM