(Page 2 of 3) - Using Action Research to Evaluate Candidate Performance Impacting Student Learning: An Outcome Assessment of Teacher Education in Special Education authored by Xin, Joy. and Wallace, Deborah.

2. What kind of problems do our candidates usually select as focus areas?
3. Do candidates show an evidence of their growth as reflective practitioners?
4. What changes should occur to improve our course pertaining to candidates’

outcomes performance?

Research Focus Areas:
Following the action research format provided by Mills (2003), all participants were
required to select one area as their instructional focus, finding a research-based best
practice to replicate the strategy and implement in their own classroom. They were also
required to collect data on their student performance and to document the results. Finally,
they reflected on their implementation to see if it might impact their student’s learning.

Results:
Analyzing student responses on their reflection, we found that 90% of participants
indicated that the action research project provided them an opportunity to evaluate their
students’ learning, not only evaluate themselves as what they usually do to meet the
requirement of field practice after implementing a lesson. This action research required
them collecting data in a systematic, consistent time frame i.e. one semester or one
unit/quarter. It facilitated their decision to develop an outcome assessment either of a
traditional (e.g. paper pencil test) or authentic/alternative nature (e.g. observation,
portfolio), and to evaluate their learners consistently across different skills (e.g.
phonetics, spelling, math) and different settings (e.g. special education classroom,
resource room, inclusive setting). In addition, it facilitated candidates to research best
practices in the field, make decisions and accommodations to meet student needs in their
own classrooms. Subsequently, they reflected on their practice based on their experience
and their students’ performance. This learning process enhanced their knowledge and
skills in both content and pedagogical areas.

Contribution to the Conference. This presentation will discuss outcome assessment to
evaluate our candidates’ performance impacting their learners using an action research
approach. The results will be shared, and issues regarding ways to evaluate teacher
education programs, especially our candidates’ performance in the field will be
discussed. This presentation will be related to Strand I: Imagining Future Students, Future
Teachers, to address: What are students going to have to know and be able to do in the
future, and know what these skills and knowledge will or should be? It will also be
related to Strand V to answer the question: “What really makes a difference in the
learning of P-12 students?” to address the issue of methodologies enabling a return to a
sense of trust for traditional teacher preparation (one of the key questions in Strand V).

Relevance & Action. This presentation will be relevant to the conference content by
presenting the qualitative and quantitative evidence in our practice. By analyzing
candidates’ reflections in their field practice, we can revise our teacher education
program. Meanwhile, sharing with other educators, we would enhance our assessment
system to evaluate our candidate performance.
Learner outcomes. We will present our findings, then discuss and share with
participants in an interactive way.