Master of Science in Reading
Assessment Plan
Approved 04/30/03

The Master of Science in Reading Program is located within the Elementary and Early Childhood Education Department but has its own Coordinator. The literacy core of the program includes courses both in reading and in literature for children and young adults. The Program allows students to select Plan A, for which they write a thesis, or Plan B for, which they conduct and write up a piece of action research. All students take the same written comprehensive exams and an oral exam based upon their theses or action research projects. Students work with a faculty director of their research, who chairs their respective committees. Students choose their Committee members, including the Chair. Committees are composed of two additional members of the core faculty and one outside member; After initial exploration of and research on their chosen topics, students present a proposal for their theses/ action research projects to their Committee and receive their suggestions for and approval to go ahead.

The attached assessment plan is organized around Student Outcomes, which grow from the Conceptual Framework for the M.S. in Reading Program.

Included in the attached materials are:

1. A copy of the Conceptual Framework for the M.S. in Reading Program

2. Copies of the Goals and Student Outcomes for both the reading and literature components of the Program

3. A description of Assessment Components

4. Table of Student Outcome for both Plan A and Plan B

5. A copy of the Rating Form for the Masters Written Comprehensive Examination

6. A copy of the Rating Form for the Final Oral Examination

7. Table of Student Outcomes for Literacy Courses based on the Program Goals with the relevant Assessment Component(s) for each Outcome

8. Copy of Rating Form for literacy courses: Oral/Written Assignments

9. Table of Student Outcomes for Literature Courses based on the Program Goals and the relevant Assessment Component(s) for each Outcome

10. Copies of the following Rating Forms for Literature Courses:

1. Critical/Analytical Essays

2. Unit Plan

3. Oral Presentations

11.  Institutional Effectiveness Goal

Conceptual Framework

Graduates of the Master of Science in Reading program at Minnesota State University Moorhead are professionals who are knowledgeable, reflective, humanistic, and creative.

Knowledgeable: Graduates of the Master of Science in Reading program display knowledge in developmental diagnosis,literacy instruction and assessment, literacy in the content areas, literature for children and young adults, and literacy in the curriculum and in society. They integrate theory and the wisdom of experience in their classroom practice.As life-long learners, they engage in research and in complex thinking. They keep abreast of current research, issues, and practices in all aspects of literacy education. They use accrued knowledge and wisdom to go beyond the classroom to take leadership roles in local, regional and national professional organizations.

Reflective: Graduates of the M. S. in Reading program bring a questioning spirit to received wisdom and conventional practice. From a variety of theoretical and practical perspectives, they think about what they are doing, how they are doing it, and what that means. Graduates implement new ideas, effective methodologies, and continually improve their instructional strategies for a diversity of learners. They discover new ways and means of getting students into and excited about books in many genres of literature. Building upon their philosophy of reading education and critical thinking skills, they take advantage of professional opportunities in addition to classroom teaching.

Humanistic: Because they believe in each person’s potential and innate ability to develop that potential, graduates of the M .S. in Reading program value each individual. They create language-rich environments that promote freedom, compassion, and success for all learners. Grounded in knowledge of different cultural and ethnic groups within the local community and the world, they are aware of the impact that culture and history, ethnicity, gender, socio-economics, and language have on an individual’s life. Graduates respect the proliferation of languages and language systems in a multicultural society. They enable non-native speakers of English and others with language difficulties, as well as English-speaking students, to improve their ability to speak, read, and write English and, so, to become effective communicators in an English-speaking culture. Graduates include in their curricula literature from and about many cultures and nations, emphasizing, too, the esthetic dimensions of language and form. Graduates of the M. S. in Reading program foster resiliency in the students with whom they work, and model those qualities in themselves and their own work.

Creative: Graduates of the M .S. in Reading program understand the powerful resources of literature and language and their impact on the education of the imagination and on creativity.  This understanding is manifest in their design of language-rich classroom environments and instruction, rooted in a well-defined personal theory of teaching literacy. They are willing to take risks. Realizing that learning is ongoing,  graduates work productively and collaboratively with colleagues. They meet, and help their students to meet, new situations with curiosity, an investigative attitude, and resourcefulness. Graduates of the M. S. in Reading program draw upon their cognizance of the aesthetics and patterns in language and literature to help students think about the world at large.   

                                                                                              9/26/02

Goals and Student Outcomes

General

Goal: Students will write a thesis or conduct and write up a piece of action research.

            Student Outcome:  Students will:

---Conduct research
---Evaluate research
---Communicate research

Literacy

Goal: Graduates will become competent reading professionals, through discussion of and reflection on literacy research and theory; the cultural dimensions of literacy; knowledge of theory and beliefs about reading, instruction, and assessment, organizing and enhancing reading programs.

             Student Outcomes:  Students who graduate with an M.S. in Reading will:

---Know literacy research and theory
---Know cultural dimensions of literacy
---Understand theories and beliefs about reading, instruction, and assessment
---Organize and advance reading programs

Literature

Goal: Through close reading and oral and written discussion of selected literature, literary theory, and literary criticism, students will become more knowledgeable and skilled readers, literary critics, and literature teachers.

            Student Outcomes:  Students who graduate with an M.S. in Reading will:

---Know a significant body of literature for children and young adults, including literature in many genres and from a diversity of cultures

---Apply several critical and theoretical approaches to interpretation of literature for children and young adults
---Apply strategies for reading literature
---Know techniques that film uses to tell a story
---Design units that focus on the teaching of literature as a discipline

 
Assessment Components

Master’s (M.S.) in Reading Written Comprehensive Exam: The exam consists of four questions, three of which are individual to each student based upon his/her course work; the fourth is a more general question and common for all students. On the first day, the student responds to two one-hour questions and one two-hour question. On the second day, all students respond to the same question over four-hours. Students must pass each question with an average rating of 3 (on a scale of 1-5) from four readers. Should a student not pass one question, he/she may rewrite just the one question. Should a student not pass two or more questions, he/she may repeat the exam a second time.

Master’s (M.S.) Thesis/ Action Research Project and Oral Exam.  The oral exam

focuses on the Thesis or Action Research.  Because all Committee members have read the candidate’s paper before the oral, the candidate is expected to explain how his/her interest in the topic was generated; to present a brief summary of the thesis/action research; then to answer all questions with explanation and elaboration; and to engage as ‘the expert” professional in conversation with Committee members about his/her work and other related, relevant topics.

Oral/Written Work  (Literacy) A variety of formal and informal assignments, both written and oral, in the courses focused on literacy theory, research, and instruction. Assignments include, among others, position papers, reflective papers, and demonstrations of instructional strategies.

Critical/Analytic Essays about Works of Literature. Both short and long essays require that

students apply critical theory to specific works of literature and/or to analyze literary works, sometimes incorporating the works of other literary critics, sometimes demonstrating only their own interpretations.

Unit Plan (Literature): To insure that literature is taught as a discipline in its own right and not just as a vehicle for learning to read or for knowledge of another discipline, the unit is plan for teaching a work or several works of literature as literature. based upon identified literary theory, to an elementary, middle school, or high school class over several weeks. The Unit also includes several sample daily lesson plans indicating specific strategies for implementation.

Oral Presentations (Literature): To an audience of the entire class or to small groups, oral presentations include, in addition to participation in class discussions and among others, reports on published critics’ interpretations of specific works; students’ own criticism of and responses to specific works; book talks on individual and/or several related works.

 
 List of Student Outcomes and Assessment Components

General:  (for both literacy and literature)

 List of Student Outcomes and Assessment Components

Literacy

Goal:  Graduates will become competent reading professionals through discussion of and refection on literacy research and theory; the cultural dimensions of literacy; knowledge of theory and beliefs about reading, instruction and assessment; organizing and enhancing reading programs.

 List of Student Outcomes and Associated Assessment Components

    List of Student Outcomes and Assessment Components

Literature

Goal:  through close reading and oral and written discussion of selected literature, literary theory, and literary criticism, to become more knowledgeable and skilled readers, literary critics, and literature teachers.

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