1.1 Program Summary
1.1.1 Table
5.1 Course Matrix
The Riverside County Office of Education (RCOE) is proud to sponsor a Preliminary Administrative Services Credential (PASC) Program, first launched in September of 2017. The vision of our PASC program is to empower and equip ethical, equity-minded administrators who both understand and embrace the challenges of 21st century educational leadership. The program features a PASC curriculum 19/20 grounded in the California Administrator Performance Expectations (CAPEs). Running as a through-line through the program as the instructional model, are the Five Practices of Exemplary Leadership, our Building Equity text, and an introduction to the Model Code of Ethics for Educators. The book Building Equity serves as a foundation for discussions in each course. It centers on building on students’ strengths and assets for supporting all students. It has an added focus on historically underserved students, including English Learners, Students with Special Needs, and African-American students.
Program Design
The Director of the Administrative Credential Programs within the College of Education is responsible for the daily operation of the Preliminary Administrative Services Credential program. The Director is responsible for monitoring program completion throughout the year and confirms recommendations of teacher candidates for a California Preliminary Credential.
Staff include a project manager who handles admissions and advisement, two part-time consultants, one of whom manages implementation of the CalAPA. The consultant, under the guidance of the Director, documents the administration processes for all cycles. Instructors are hired from local districts and include both site and district administrators. As of October 2019, the program has twenty-five instructors.
Participants move through the program in a cohort model; two cohorts are served each school year, one starting in September and one starting in January. The program is crafted as a hybrid program with candidates meeting face-to-face one Saturday a month, or in the evening (two nights per week), with at least two hours of online work between classes, for the balance of the coursework. This 16-month schedule includes a one-month summer hiatus in July. There are seven consecutive courses. The three Leadership Cycles of the California Administrator Performance Assessment (CalAPA) comprise the bulk of the required PASC Fieldwork 19/20 required for PASC. CalAPA fieldwork and related content are found in five courses (101, 102, 103, 104, and 106). Additional fieldwork and related content is found in two courses (105, 107). Content in each course is connected to fieldwork in order to prepare the candidate for the expectations of fieldwork.
As program staff and stakeholders have analyzed program data over the last two years, the program has undergone changes in course content, leadership and organizational structure. The PASC program had been housed in our Leadership Institute of Riverside County. PASC is now part of the new RCOE School of Education alongside teacher induction, teacher intern programs, and the equity and access unit. With the reorganization also came a change in leadership, and a new director came on board on July 1, 2019. In terms of content, The Model Code of Ethics principles were embedded in the program in each course over a year ago. This year we also added a greater focus on equity in all courses. Ethics and a stronger focus on equity were added in order to provide a more focused program on CAPE 5 as related to all aspects of administration. In addition, all courses have additional content that prepares candidates for the CalAPA.
Stakeholder input has been critical to ensure continuous improvement over time. Productive working relationships are established through regular meetings with the Administrative Services Credential Governance Team and our Academic Review Committee. Each of these committees meet four times a year to provide updates and receive feedback and guidance as well as to guide academic decisions related to candidates. Members of these groups include county office and agency assistant superintendents and district and school representatives. A PASC Survey and Data Analysis Plan Matrix explains the surveys in the program, the purpose of data collected, and when it is analyzed and discussed by stakeholders. This is in addition to the collection and analysis of CalAPA data which occurs after each submission cycle. The program assesses the quality of services by sharing data at Governance meetings throughout the year. Data is also shared at least twice a year at the RCOE School of Education meetings. Analysis of these data points are used to make improvements in the program. In addition, regular instructor meetings are held, usually via an online venue such as Zoom, to collaborate, coordinate the courses, and determine instructor policies and guidelines, as well as determine how best to serve the needs of current candidates. Candidates have the opportunity to provide feedback through end-of-course evaluations and informal feedback to instructors and program staff. Completer data, from the State Completer surveys is another important data point. Monthly RCOE School of Education meetings provide additional opportunities to address any issues related to the credential programs to ensure that Common Standard requirements are implemented consistently across all programs.
Course of Study (Curriculum and Field Experience)
The RCOE PASC Program is delivered through a hybrid model and is comprised of seven courses. Each course has two instructors to serve approximately 25 candidates. Course instructors are required to attend three trainings: A 1-day Model Code of Ethics for Educators Workshop, a Cal-APA Training on cycles, rubrics, scoring and program implementation, and a 1.5 day Navigating Differences Workshop which focuses on culture and equity. All instructors receive a copy of the Assessment Guides and Templates along with a CalAPA Training PowerPoint Slideshow and a PASC Instructor Manual 19/20 that are used during the training. CalAPA training is held in person and via Zoom. All Zoom trainings are recorded. See Instructor Professional Development Matrix and Instructor Agreement to Attend Training. A strategy in the program is to connect courses to each other. Content and practices introduced in one course are explored further in other courses (See PASC Program Overview). To accomplish this, instructors are required to attend two meetings each year to stay updated on the key concepts of each course. Overall, the seven courses are offered in sequential and developmental order. Candidates are required to pass each course before moving on to the next. The list of courses is below:
PASC 101 -- Leading by Example: Who Am I?
PASC 102 -- Shared Vision: Where Are We Going?
PASC 103 -- Shared Leadership: Doing It Together
PASC 104 -- Systems and Systems Thinking: Making It Work
PASC 105 -- Regulatory Leadership: The Law
PASC 106 -- Instructional Leadership: The Work
PASC 107 – Family and Community: Engagement
Readings, activities, scenarios, and discussion in critical areas of instruction for English Learners, Students with Disabilities, and African-American Students and additional groups are included in each course. For example, in PASC 101 candidates are asked to apply the Taxonomy in the book Building Equity to the gap identified in three-year English Learner data collected. Readings, activities, scenarios, and discussions in critical areas of instruction for English. Additional examples for each course can be found in our Addressing Critical Areas Matrix.
Each fieldwork assignment is explicitly related to the content of the course it is situated in and provides an opportunity to apply theoretical concepts in authentic settings. In all courses, candidates are taken through guided practice as related to the content they will be assessed on in fieldwork assignments. For example, Cycle 1 requires data analysis. In PASC 101 which assesses Cycle 1, candidates are shown how to access data on Dashboard and DataQuest and then shown how to analyze both quantitative and qualitative data. They are then taken through a root cause analysis fishbone activity in PASC 102 before they are assessed on Cycle 1.
With the program’s focus on equity, we ensure that all candidates conduct fieldwork in diverse settings. The fieldwork assignments for each course take approximately 7-10 hours to complete, for an average of 60-70 hours of fieldwork over the course of the program. Some of the fieldwork is broken up across two classes. On-site fieldwork supervisors (site administrators of candidates) are responsible for meeting regularly with candidates to ensure that all aspects of each assignment is completed. The field placement for each candidate is his/her place of employment. Unless candidates change place of employment, candidates remain at one site for the duration of the program. As candidates complete the tasks associated with fieldwork, their immediate supervisors in the work context serve as fieldwork supervisors. As the beginning of each cohort supervisors are asked to sign a Fieldwork Supervisor Agreement 19/20. They agree to serve as the fieldwork supervisor and agree to complete the responsibilities outlined in the agreement. A Zoom session is held to provide a training and clear explanation of expectations to supervisors. Then, at the end of the program, supervisors are asked to complete an evaluation of the candidate’s implementation of the fieldwork for the program. Instructors and our program consultant advise and evaluate candidates’ coursework and fieldwork as part of their duties in teaching each course. The fieldwork supervisor supports the candidate through the program. Should candidates need extra support, a program consultant is available to meet one-on-one with the candidate in person or via zoom for advisement. Remediation support for candidates who do not pass an assignment or a cycle is offered by our program CalAPA/PASC consultant. This information is found in the PASC Candidate Manual 19/20. All candidates sign a form that verifies they have read the manual and they agree to the conditions within. Course instructors offer additional advisement and support when the support needed connects to a course. CalAPA Zoom sessions are held between course meetings to continuously support candidates with CalAPA. Additional Zoom sessions are set up depending on candidate need. In order to have consistent messages throughout the program, instructors and fieldwork supervisors also receive a manual that is read and agreed upon. A signed form is collected from each to verify this expectation has been met.
At the end of the program, candidates fill out a fieldwork experience survey in which they give feedback related to both fieldwork structures and the supervisor. The program uses this feedback to evaluate the effectiveness of the supervisor and the program’s ability to prepare supervisors. Responses are on a scale of 1-5 and open-ended. Questions asked are the following: Did you feel supported by your supervisor? Was the supervisor informed about the main aspects of your program? Did the supervisor support you in gaining access to areas needed for assignments and fieldwork? If the program were to provide additional preparation materials for supervisors what should we include? The program evaluates the supervisors through Zoom meetings and through feedback from candidates.
Assessment of Candidates
Candidates are assessed regularly throughout the program. Please see the PASC Formative and Summative Assessment Matrix here. In their first course, they are required to self-assess using the CAPEs Descriptions of Practice (DOP) 19/20 to assess their beginning understanding of each of the CAPEs. They write a self-improvement goal to be worked on for the duration of the program.
In each course, they self-assess again on the CAPE’s DOPs covered in the course. At the end of the program, they complete the CAPE’s DOPs self-assessment and present on the progress of a goal set. In addition, they submit a one-page reflection on their progress with evidence to support their case. This is assessed with our program assignment rubric. Candidates take a Critical Consciousness Self-Reflection Survey which helps them develop a critical consciousness toward demonstrating administrator behaviors that embrace diversity, justice, and equity for all, overcome institutional barriers, demonstrate ethics and integrity in decision making and demonstrate your openness to engage all stakeholders' linguistic and cultural differences. This survey is taken at the beginning of the program, mid-point in the program, and again at the end of the program. In PASC 102, candidates write a goal in relation to the results for self-improvement. They assess their progress again in PASC 104, with the results of a 360 assessment. They receive feedback from three others and consider this feedback in relation to their own self-assessment results. In PASC 107, candidates present the progress of the goal they set and write a one-page reflection with evidence. This is assessed with our program assignment rubric.
In each course, instructors assign fieldwork. These assignments are aligned to the CAPEs taught in each course and help prepare candidates for the CalAPA. In each course where CalAPA Cycles are assessed (101, 102, 103, 104, 106), candidates go through a peer review formative assessment using CalAPA rubrics. They are then assessed by the instructors using Program Rubrics for CalAPA Fieldwork 19/20. All Cycles are assessed in this manner by the program. They are then assessed by Pearson. Non-CalAPA fieldwork and other assignments are assessed using the Non-CalAPA Fieldwork and Assignment Rubric 19/20. The PASC Candidate Manual 19/20 explains how candidates will be assessed in the program both through CalAPA and through non-CalAPA fieldwork and assignments Candidates are informed of how they will be informed of the results of the assessments through the PASC Candidate Manual 19/20 and in courses. The Manual is posted on the course website in PowerSchool Learning. See the specific PASC assessment information page here. All candidates sign a form stating they have read the information in the manual and they agree to the conditions.
In courses where CalAPA is not assessed (105,107), candidates are assigned fieldwork and additional in-course assignments. In PASC 107, candidates have a Final Presentation 19/20 designed to allow candidates to demonstrate the depth of their learning throughout the program. This presentation is scored with a Final Presentation Feedback Form 19/20. Fieldwork assignments are uploaded to a PASC Google Portfolio 19/20 which is summatively assessed at the program’s completion using the Portfolio Rubric 19/20. In addition, the fieldwork supervisor completes a Confidential Fieldwork Supervisor Evaluation 19/20 at the end of the program covering all fieldwork completed under his/her supervision.
One of the expectations for the instructor is that he/she provide timely feedback to candidates as related to coursework and fieldwork, including CalAPA Cycle work. All assignments and assessments are returned to the candidate within three working days of the due date. Candidates access their feedback via PowerSchool Learning, our electronic system for courses.
For further program details, access the Course Matrix here.
Access this Program Summary narrative here.