AASL SPA session

Friday –
Ran into Carrie Gardner at breakfast. She is also here as a member of the ALA Board of Directors. Eileen and I attended an AASL/NCATE Program Review Training. Although I have served as a reviewer before, I wanted an update on new procedures. We heard a presentation, Preparing a Successful SPA report by Patricia Antrim and Jennifer Robins from the University of Central Missouri. They stressed the importance of collecting data for each indicator in a rubric assessment. The committee also discussed how important it is to have SPA standards delineated within each indicator. This makes it much easier for the program reviewer to check if all standards have been assessed. A second presentation by Lesley Farmer of California State University, Long Beach, discussed tips for report writers and reviewers. She offered the following suggestions:
· If the program has both face-to-face and online options, the report should show how the delivery and student performance is equitable.
· Need to align the standards with key courses and the degree to which the standard is addressed, i.e., introduced, mastered, or reviewed.
· The assessments must be aligned with courses that are required of all students in the program.
I have copies of handouts if anybody is interested.