Cumberland University announced today that its Education Preparation Program meets the state’s expectations in each category, and exceeds the state’s expectations in the employment category.
The state report card, which has recently changed formats, assesses institutions on the effectiveness of teacher training programs in three domains: candidate profile, employment, and provider impact. Each domain includes specific metrics including percentage of endorsements in each cohort, rate of employment in Tennessee public schools, retention rates, classroom observation scores and overall effectiveness scores.
Cumberland was scored on the three-year cohort of teachers from 2016-2018, which included 134 total students. The program overall was ranked in the category of “meets expectations,” an endorsement that the programs produce graduates at or above the state department of education’s requirements for new teachers. The program exceeds expectations in the employment category.
The employment domain evaluates a program’s performance in preparing educators to begin and remain teaching in Tennessee public schools. The program had a first year employment rate in Tennessee public schools of 85.1%, nearly 8% higher than the state average. The program also had a second-year retention rate of Tennessee public school teachers of 91.1%, slightly lower than the state average, and a third year retention rate of 84.2%, higher than the state average.
The candidate profile domain evaluates the program’s ability to recruit strong, diverse candidates and prepare them to teach in the content areas with the greatest need. Cumberland’s program meets the expectations of the state in this domain. Cumberland’s percentage of racially diverse completers was 14.2%, while the state average was 15.6%. The program was also scored on the percentage of high-demand endorsements issues, in which Cumberland scored 33.6%, higher than the state average of 27.8%.
The provider impact domain reports on the effectiveness of the university’s completers in Tennessee public school classrooms. This measure uses classroom observation scores, student growth scores and overall Level of Effectiveness (LOE) scores to determine a program graduate’s teaching effectiveness. Cumberland’s graduates scored above the state average in four areas: percentage of cohort members with observation scores of at least 3, student growth scores on TVAAS tests, and LOE scores of both 3 or better, and 4 or better.
Dean of the Cumberland School of the Humanities, Education and the Arts, Dr. Eric Cummings, is pleased with the overall results.
“I’m pleased with the work this program continues to do to prepare future teachers throughout our state.” Cummings said. “We’re above the state average in seven out of the twelve metrics. Our scores are largely due to our strong partnerships with both Lebanon Special School District and Wilson County Schools, our excellent practitioner-focused faculty, and our dedicated students.”
To view the full report card, visit https://teacherprepreportcard.tn.gov/teacher-prep/1146-T.