The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley (UTRGV), the second-largest contributor to the teacher workforce in the University of Texas system, is dedicated to helping students become leaders in and outside of the classroom — and data is vital to the school’s success, particularly in its educator preparation program (EPP).
To learn more about UTRGV’s data-driven approach, we sat down with Alma Rodriguez, EdD., dean of the College of Education and P-16 Integration.
Can you share your history with the Ed-Fi Alliance and the Ed-Fi Data Standard? What was your rationale for using the standard?
UTRGV’s involvement with Ed-Fi Alliance was motivated by a firm belief in continuous improvement through data-informed decision-making. It was important for us to give faculty timely data about candidate performance to inform their decision making. We wanted to ensure that faculty used this performance data to address questions that mattered the most to them.
We did not want faculty bogged down making sense of confusing ‘data dumps.’ By taking care of systematic data collection and visualization, our faculty’s time can be invested in using data for continuous improvement.
What type of data do you collect, and how does that information assist your teacher candidates on their journey to graduating and receiving their certification?
We monitor our candidate’s performance in the state certification exams using a visualization that leverages the formula the Texas Education Agency uses to calculate the Texas Accountability System for Educator Preparation (ASEP) pass rate.
Using that dashboard, we can monitor student performance by attempt, such as how well they are testing, and stay informed about where we stand as an education preparation program (EPP).
How do you use the Insight to Impact dashboards (powered by the Ed-Fi Data Standard), developed by the Texas Education Agency, for your education preparation program?
We use the Insight to Impact dashboards to determine EPP student growth, EPP employment and retention, and EPP initial employment. We report these data points to the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) for national accreditation purposes. We also share the employment and retention and initial employment data with our faculty during our annual data summit.
What type of organizational growth have you and your team experienced since implementing the education preparation data model? Have you seen an increase in data governance?
We have learned a lot about data protection and dissemination as we make data available to our faculty.
Our staff has also improved efficiency and productivity in creating the necessary data sets for timely data availability. In addition, our staff can customize dashboards, based on changing data needs, to answer relevant questions about candidate and EPP performance.
Can you share an example of how data helps you identify when it is time to make a shift in the program to help students in a particular way?
There’s a possibility that our state (Texas) will move from the pedagogy and professional responsibility certification exam to the edTPA (Educative Teacher Performance Assessment) certification exam, which is a performance assessment.
Currently, we are engaging our faculty in discussions about curriculum alignment. We also have an opportunity to look at current students taking the edTPA and assess their performance to determine where our courses provide the best support and where we may need to make changes to ensure student success.
Do you have any advice for EPP administrators who want to adopt a data standard but may be intimidated?
You can always start small and test it. Pick a question you want to answer — something that really matters to you and needs to be addressed. Try it out and see how starting conversations by putting data in front of people shows them that it is worth the effort and the investment to scale it.
Alma Rodriguez, EdD., is currently the dean of the College of Education and P-16 Integration at The University of Texas Rio Grande Valley. She received her doctorate degree in education from the University of Houston.
UTRGV by the Numbers:
- One of the largest Hispanic serving institutions in the U.S.
- Total university enrollment: 31,864*
- Total enrollment for the College of Education and P-16 Integration: 3,189*
- The University of Texas System’s second-largest contributor to the teaching profession.
- Among university-based teacher preparation programs (TPPs) in the state, it ranks as the seventh-largest producer of teachers over a five-year period.
- Over 71% five-year teacher retention rate.
*As of fall 2022
