CAEP Accreditation

The Graduate School of Education and Human Development (GSEHD) at the George Washington University (GW) is accredited by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), the national agency that accredits P-12 educator preparation providers. In May 2022, GSEHD underwent an accreditation review by CAEP, and on November 18, 2022, the CAEP Actions Council announced its final decision confirming that GSEHD's Educator Preparation Program (EPP) met all accreditation standards, with a stipulation (Standard 5.2) at the initial-licensure level and full accreditation at the advanced level. CAEP conducted a stipulation visit in Spring 2024 to assess GSEHD’s progress in addressing the stipulation and will share a formal response in October 2024. The EPP is committed to continuous improvement, with a focus on P-12 practitioner quality.
 

Measure 1 (Initial). Completer effectiveness and Impact on P-12 learning and development (Component R4.1)

Data must address: (a) completer impact in contributing to P-12 student-learning growth AND (b) completer effectiveness in applying professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions. The EPP utilizes data about impact and effectiveness through a combination of quantitative and qualitative data. The EPP is also working to extend data sharing agreements with school systems to more systematically track these measures over time.

From a quantitative perspective, the EPP receives data from the Office of State Superintendent of Education in Washington, DC (OSSE) that provides aggregate information about completers in their system. Additionally, the EPP uses EPP created surveys to collect data about how completers rate their preparation and how employers rate graduates of EPP programs in the field.

From a qualitative perspective, the EPP has an EPP Advisory Board, which comprises practitioners, including graduates, with whom they consult. In addition, there are formal Memoranda of Understanding with school system partners. Both of these provide  opportunities to collect data on the impact of EPP graduates in interviews and focus groups. Faculty who research in teacher and leader preparation are also collecting data through completer case studies and will report to the EPP during Spring and Fall data retreats.

Office of State Superintendent District of Columbia - GSEHD EPP Report (Section 4)
Alumni Survey Assessment Report
Employer Survey Assessment Report
 

Measure 2. (Initial and/or Advanced). Satisfaction of employers and stakeholder involvement (Components R4.2|R5.3 | RA.4.1)

The EPP created an employer and stakeholder satisfaction survey that utilizes existing partnerships and our EPP Advisory Board to collect completers’ employment data. The survey was piloted in Fall 2023, analyzed in Spring 2024, and revised for the next deployment in Fall 2024. Results from the Employer Survey are available below. The internal and external stakeholders who inform the work of the EPP also help to measure and understand satisfaction. These include the Quality Assurance Systems Committee, faculty, staff, and current students as internal stakeholders. The EPP also utilizes the EPP Advisory Board made up of administrators, school counselors, cooperating teachers, university supervisors, and expert faculty in content areas. Their collective expertise impacts data collection, analysis, and utilization, and these partnerships help our EPP stay current with issues of K12 education.

Employer Survey Assessment Report
 

Measure 3 (Initial and/or Advanced). Candidate competency at program completion (Component R3.3 |RA3.4)

The EPP collects and analyzes data on candidate competency through Praxis exams (Content and Principles of Learning and Teaching) and GPA at the time of graduation.

The following data encompasses the 2022-2023 Academic Year for all EPP programs:

• Completer GPAs (N=83) corresponding to each program can be seen in Table A.
• 93.75% of completers who took the Praxis Content Exams (N=32) successfully met score requirements for D.C. licensure (see Table B).
• 90% of completers who took Praxis Principles of Learning and Teaching (PLT) exams (N=21) successfully met score requirements for D.C. licensure (see Table C).

Table A - Completer GPAs
Major	# of Graduates	Average GPA at Completion
Early Childhood Special Education	6	3.93
Educational Leadership and Administration (M.A., Ed.S., and PMC)	42	3.56
Elementary Education	8	3.9
GW Teach - Secondary Math	1	3.87
GW Teach - Secondary Science*	3	3.62
Special Education for Children with Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities	6	3.86
School Counselor	17	3.93
Total	83	3.81

*Secondary Science for AY22-23 consists of 2 Biology completers and 1 Physics completer.
 

Table B - Praxis Content Exam Scores
Major	Status
	Not Passed	Passed	Total
Early Childhood Special Education	1	5	6
Educational Leadership and Administration (M.A., Ed.S., and PMC)*	0	11	11
Elementary Education	1	7	8
GW Teach - Secondary Math	0	1	1
GW Teach - Secondary Science**	0	3	3
Special Education for Children with Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities	0	2	2
School Counselor*	0	1	1
Total	2	30	32

 

*School Counseling and Educational Leadership and Administration completers are not required to submit Praxis/SLLA scores as part of their studies, contributing to the low response rates (N=1, N=11, respectively)

** Secondary Science for AY 22-23 consists of 2 Biology completers and 1 Physics completer

 

 

 

Table C - Praxis Principles of Learning and Teaching (PLT) Exam scores
Major*	Status
	Not Passed	Passed	Total
Early Childhood Special Education	1	5	6
Elementary Education	1	7	8
GW Teach - Secondary Math	0	1	1
GW Teach - Secondary Science**	0	3	3
Special Education for Children with Emotional and Behavioral Disabilities	0	3	3
Total	2	19	21

* School Counseling and Educational Leadership and Administration completers are not required to take the Praxis PLT exam in order to pursue licensure in D.C.
**Secondary Science for AY 22-23 consists of 2 Biology completers and 1 Physics completer

 

Measure 4 (Initial and/or Advanced). The ability of completers to be hired in education positions for which they have prepared.

The EPP has gathered information through three surveys. The first is the EPP-Created Alumni Survey, and the other two are university administered and called the  “Life at GW” and “GW Graduation” surveys. Detailed results can be found on the two assessment reports. General findings are included here:

• 90% of graduates (N=35) indicated they are employed in positions relevant to the preparation they received.
• 100% of graduates (N=35) indicated an above average satisfaction with their preparation to meet their current teaching and administrative responsibilities.
• The highest ratings on the Graduation Survey were for “Course content is relevant to current issues in my field”, and “Students in my program are treated with respect by faculty”, and “Faculty and students are respectful of one another when discussing controversial issues or perspectives.”
• In the EPP-Created Alumni Survey (2023), the means and standard deviations for the Likert items aligned to Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (InTASC) were all collected, and all means were above 3.44, indicating consistent agreement that preparation programs were effective in preparing educators for their current roles. Additionally, in aggregate, across all InTASC standards, 86 % or more of respondents indicate agreement or strong agreement regarding their preparation for each item.
   

Office of State Superintendent District of Columbia - GSEHD EPP Report (Section 3)
Graduate Student Survey Assessment Report
Alumni Survey Assessment Report