CTC Team Questions

10/24 Questions

Please see USU responses to the questions received from the review team on 10/24/25.

Review Team Question #1: Do the cooperating BILA teachers overlap with the general ed. cooperating teachers? It would be helpful to have them identify their role in their Zoom name

USU Response: We will make this request of the participants. We have had four graduates since 2025 and as of 10/2025 I have not been able to confirm the attendance of the cooperating teachers. At this time, 2 emails have bounced back to us, and the other contacts have not responded. We do have two bilingual completers that will be attending the student sessions confirmed at this time.

Review Team Question #2: For the Monday 8:30 meeting with the Academic Advising and Dean of Students, we want to confirm that both Common Standards reviewers will be meeting with that group. The schedule shows each reviewer in their own room, but lists the same people to be interviewed (except that Bridgett Magpayo is not listed in the group under the second CS reviewer).

USU Response: This is confirmed- the same zoom link will be included for both reviewers

Review Team Question #3: At your earliest convenience, could you add expected number of participants to the interview schedule?

USU Response: The number of participants contacted and requested to participate is currently listed. The number of anticipated participants has been added to the schedule for each session. This information can be found at: https://sites.google.com/view/usu-coe/ctc-accreditation/2025-site-visit?authuser=0

As confirmations continue to be received we will update the expected number of participants for each session.

Review Team Question #4: Reviewers were unable to find the literacy update. Also - are there any other updates since the addenda?

USU Response: Yes, all of the documentation received is included on the “2024 Literacy TPE Work” page. The various phases, feedback, and the final CTC SB488 Literacy Certification letter received on 10/7/2025 are included there as well.

On the home screen of the website, you will see the dropdown option pictured below and the link circled in orange.

For ease, here is the direct link as well: https://sites.google.com/view/usu-coe/ctc-accreditation/2024-literacy-tpe-work?authuser=0

Review Team Question #5: Throughout the submission, there are several documents that contain comments that may or may not have been acted upon. Some documents, such as the student teaching and CT handbooks, appear to be drafts. Please provide final versions.

USU Response: The handbooks have been updated in September and October, 2025 - New links and finalized and updated handbooks are included.

Review Team Question #6: Multiple links are ‘broken’ or lead to evidence that does not appear to support the element. Please check links throughout to ensure they are going to the intended evidence. The link for “slide decks for orientation” goes to a google folder without clear indication of where reviewers should look for the slides.

USU Response: Our most sincere apologies for the broken links and draft documents. From our view, these things were working and all drafts had been replaced with final versions. Clearly we were not seeing the same things as the reviewers and again, we apologize for this. At this time, all links should be working.

Review Team Question #7: From Common Standards Reviewer

Common Standard 3: 3.1: Please describe why the Unit requests verification of diversity by the Site following a placement. Please describe what happens when a Site indicates NO that their site does not meet CTC's definition of diversity. Is there a verification by the Unit if a Site checks YES that the site does meet CTC's definition of diversity? If so, please describe. Once a Site has, do they do so again in the future if another candidate is placed there? Does the Unit "track" which Sites meet CTC's definition of diversity and if they do, is this information available?

USU Response: The College of Education implemented the diversity request form to ensure that we are meeting the standard for candidates to experience a diverse school setting. If a site states that it does not meet the diversity requirement, we look for another opportunity for the student. We also utilize the public websites for the schools to review the diversity of the school population. We have not encountered this as a concern in the public school systems, but there are times when we have concerns with the diversity of a private school. We do request the diversity confirmation every time we make a placement, even if it is a repeated placement. We can share our overall student tracking sheet that does demonstrate all conditions have been met before a placement is confirmed.

Review Team Question #8: 3.1 Reviewer feedback requested additional information on opportunities to experience issues of diversity related to school climate. The provided EDU 501 syllabus appears to address diversity but not school climate. Please elaborate or point me to the location in the syllabus. Please describe how the Unit ensures school climate is addressed in the context/in addition to diversity.

USU Response: In reviewing the syllabus, it is clear that we have utilized the terms school climate and school culture interchangeably. A focus on school climate will need to be added and the course updated. We will commit to completing this prior to the next term start, January 6, 2026.

Review Team Question #9: 3.4 Supervisor Recognition. New opportunities were introduced in 2025. Please elaborate/describe in more detail these opportunities. Please provide a copy of the nomination form mentioned. Please clarify - is the tuition discount & access to Unit library resources for all supervisors, nominees only, "winners" only, other?

USU Response: The tuition discount and library resources are extended to all cooperating teachers and site supervisors. Since this was just introduced, and discussed at our summer data retreat, we have not yet implemented or awarded any of the supervisors or cooperating teachers. We have added the notification of the library resources and the tuition discount to the required training for the cooperating teachers and the site supervisors. We look forward to introducing the award nominations to our students during the 2025-2026 school year. Here is a link to the sample survey that will be sent out to intern completers at the completion of their program. https://forms.gle/SSmuigvdAZMEgfSD9 A similar nomination form will be utilized for the nomination of Cooperating Teacher recognition.

Review Team Question #10: 3.5 Please request a copy of the Student Handbook that is not 'in process.' The link leads to a live edited document with comments & strikethroughs. I'd like to be linked to current version provided to Candidates.

USU Response: New links and finalized and updated handbooks are included here. Link to handbooks on website.

Review Team Question #11: 3.6 (related to 3.1). Please provide a description of how the "unit monitors" diversity beyond Site self-report after a candidate is placed.

USU Response:

Candidates must write a reflection about their experiences as part of their coursework
Upon ST or Internship placement, we confirm the site and district are diverse.
- The College of Education implemented the diversity request form to ensure that we are meeting the standard for candidates to experience a diverse school setting. If a site states that it does not meet the diversity requirement, we look for another opportunity for the student. We also utilize the public websites for the schools to review the diversity of the school population. We have not encountered this as a concern in the public school systems, but there are times when we have concerns with the diversity of a private school. We do request the diversity confirmation every time we make a placement, even if it is a repeated placement. We can share our overall student tracking sheet that does demonstrate all conditions have been met before a placement is confirmed.

Review Team Question #12: Common Standard 4:

4.1 Links do not work for: Senior Director of Institutional Research, Executive Director for Academic Compliance, or SVP Legal and Regulatory Affairs.

USU Response: Since the date of this submission these position titles have changed.

Here is an updated screenshot of the Org Chart

Review Team Question #13: 4.2 Given your recent move to WATERMARK Tool, Eval Kit - please provide a descriptive narrative and if possible, screenshots for data collection & reporting. Note: I applaud their candor in describing their frustration with systems to collect and analyze data and am looking forward to learning more about their WATERMARK solution.

USU Response:

Course Evaluations and Surveys (previously branded as “EvaluationKIT”) is a cloud-platform built specifically for higher education to manage both course evaluations and broader institutional and/or program surveys (e.g., students, faculty, staff, alumni). USU has used this product for End of Course Surveys and Annual Student and Faculty Surveys with success for over 5 years.
When thinking about ways to improve response rates, this product was discussed at length due to its efficient administration, user-friendly interface for evaluators, ability to store raw data, and reporting options.

Step One:

First, a survey is designed. In this case, we built the existing survey into the platform. An example is shown to the left.

Step Two:

Next, a Project is built. This allows for the creation of an evergreen link and QR code to the survey that can be emailed to the evaluators.

Step Three:

Finally, the platform allows for quick snapshots by question (see to the left) as well as the ability to download the data into an Excel spreadsheet for further analysis.

Review Team Question #14: 4.3 Please elaborate on when the Employer Survey is distributed (to who, when, etc.). While they have linked to the results for an Employer Survey, please describe if there are any other sources of data, including from Community Partners, as the standard requires multiple sources of data.

USU Response: With the support of the Office of Educational Partnerships and Placements we work diligently throughout the year to collect the employment data of our completers. The dean assumes responsibility to reach out personally to the employers and request that they complete the employer survey twice a year, once in late January and again in June. Previously, we have utilized a google survey form to collect this information. Working with institutional research, we have moved this to Eval Kit and will utilize a survey link sent by the dean. We did try to send out the link to the employers via “mail chimp” last summer as part of an effort to further automate the process but the results were disappointing. A more personalized approach coming from the dean has resulted in a higher response level. At this time, we do not collect specific data from any of our community partners such as the LA School District or the San Diego County Office of Education. We collect data from our students and faculty annually.

Review Team Question #15: Common Standard 5: 5.2 Quotes are provided from the Employer Survey (mentioned in CS 4). Are there additional sources of data in addition to the Employer Survey? Describe when the Unit and programs review this data.

USU Response: All sources of data are reviewed with the unit at our annual data summit held annually in July. Additional data received throughout the year is reviewed with the faculty and the Program Advisory Committee at meetings. The additional data includes the faculty satisfaction survey, the student satisfaction survey, EdTPA data, and RICA data. Each end of the semester, cooperating teachers are asked to complete a review of the student teaching and the university supervisor. The University supervisor completes a review of the student teacher (or intern), the cooperating teacher or the site supervisor. In our data review, we have focused on areas where we see patterns of lower performance or less evidence of the implementation of the TPE. Data in SIBME also supports our ability to see where specific standards are tagged.

For example, this year we identified that we had not collected as much evidence as needed for the demonstration of competence in TPE7 so we modified the requirements to include an observation of literacy instruction.

Review Team Question #16: Common Standard 5: 5.2 The quotes focus on Candidate competence and performance. Please describe the "impact" and that the "unit and its programs evaluate and demonstrate that they are having a positive impact on candidate learning and competence and on teaching and learning in the schools that serve California's students." That is, please connect the dots from the quotes (as essentially the quotes are raw qualitative data points).

USU Response: We added the question: Please provide some examples of how your teacher/intern has contributed to your school via extra activities, involvement, student support, etc.in an effort to better understand and document the positive impact of our candidates in their classrooms and schools. This is the data that was shared with you in the survey results. At this time, we do not have additional data but are open to ideas for how to best demonstrate the positive impact of our candidates.

Review Team Question #17: MS/SS Program: There is evidence of 40 hours of virtual fieldwork, but mention in the handbook about Supervised Early Fieldwork. I do not see a description of this, hours, placement information, etc.

USU Response: Given the recent HB revisions the statement regarding the Supervised Early Fieldwork has been removed as this was not an accurate reflection of this element of the program. All early fieldwork is virtual and aligned with the specific courses.

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