TCOP Attitudes and Beliefs Survey
Each semester, students enrolled in courses with embedded Teaching Children of Poverty (TCOP) standards complete a 14-item TCOP Attitudes and Beliefs Survey. The survey is designed to gauge their perceptions of the alignment of course content and instruction to teaching children of poverty standards as well as their preparation to teach children of poverty based on completion of the specific course. Survey items are grouped to calculate three scores: Course Score (7 items), Instructor Score (4 items), and Preparation Score (1 item). Students rate each item from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 4 (Strongly Agree).
Center of Excellence Attitude & Belief Survey
Francis Marion University Student Teacher Focus Group
A student teacher focus group is conducted annually with Francis Marion University student teachers. The primary purpose of the focus group is to understand the perceived quality of teacher preparation at Francis Marion University, specifically related to teaching children of poverty. The focus group facilitator begins with questions related to student teachers’ perceived preparation and then, questions are specifically focused on perceived preparation in teaching children of poverty.
Professional Learning Evaluations
The Center of Excellence to Prepare Teachers of Children of Poverty evaluates on-site and off-site professional learning events, including service and scholarly presentations, and sustained outreach projects in schools and districts. Survey items are grouped to calculate scores in five areas: Professional approach and style, High-Quality Presentation, Respectful of Audience, Credible, and Ability to Keep Interest. Participants rate each item from 1 (Strongly Disagree) to 4 (Strongly Agree).
Center of Excellence Professional Learning Evaluation
TCOP Mastery Assessment
The Teaching Children of Poverty (TCOP) Mastery Assessment is used to understand students’ knowledge, understanding, and application of strategies and practices related to teaching children of poverty. This 48-item assessment was developed by outside assessment experts with input from content area specialists. Francis Marion University faculty members implementing Teaching Children of Poverty standards and assessment experts from the University of South Carolina engaged in a bookmarking process to determine proficiency (number of items correct) for each standard based on students’ performance on mastery assessment. Mastery assessments are scored by standard (eight items per standard), and then the number of students proficient is determined. Standards 1, 2, and 5 require six or more correct responses (out of eight) to be considered proficient in the material. Standards 3, 4, and 6, require five or more correct responses (out of eight) to be considered proficient in the material.
TCOP Longitudinal Survey
The Teaching Children of Poverty (TCOP) Longitudinal Survey, a 15-item Likert-scale survey, is administered once per academic year to Francis Marion University students in six courses of varying levels. Administering the survey in six courses allows evaluators to gauge change in knowledge, skills, confidence, and preparedness of students over time for future work with children of poverty.
Center of Excellence Longitudinal Survey
The Center uses an evaluation form after each event or milestone via Survey Monkey. Please contact us if you would like to see a sample survey. The following are examples of surveys:
Center of Excellence Research Consortium Survey
Center of Excellence Summer Institute Session Evaluation
Francis Marion University Alumni Survey
Francis Marion University Student Teacher Survey