Watermark Announces Partnership with the EDA, LLC to Support Formal Dispositions Assessment

Watermark has partnered with the EDA, LLC in support of a research-based, valid and reliable measure of assessing teacher candidate dispositions.

NEW YORK – March 16, 2018 —Watermark is pleased to announce its partnership with the Educational Dispositional Assessment Consultants, LLC in support of a valid and reliable rubric measure of teacher candidate dispositions. The EDA, LLC is composed of three research professors from the University of Tampa who developed this measure, called the Educator Disposition Assessment, as a way to better track and develop dispositional behaviors as teacher candidates progress through educator preparation programs.

As part of this partnership, Watermark will license and distribute the EDA to educator preparation programs, as well as support its technical implementation. Based on over 700 hours of research by the EDA, LLC – an endeavor too time consuming and costly for most programs to take on – the EDA provides programs with a valid and reliable measure of assessing educational dispositions to meet the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) and state accreditation requirements.

“At Watermark, we seek to put better data into the hands of administrators, educators, and learners everywhere so they can more easily connect information and gain insights into learning which will drive meaningful improvements – and when we’re talking about preparing future teachers, this becomes all the more important,” said Kevin Michielsen, CEO of Watermark.

“Our partnership with the EDA, LLC underscores that mission and demonstrates our commitment to meeting the needs of educator preparation providers, as we work together to support an intentional approach to learning and candidate development. Our roots are in educator preparation, so we feel a great sense of responsibility when it comes to supporting these programs with the tools and technology needed to better assess candidate readiness.”

CAEP Standards require teacher preparation programs to address and assess candidate dispositions. The EDA is structured across a 0 to 2 Likert scale and is aligned to CAEP and InTASC (Interstate New Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium) standards in order to provide programs with the evidence needed to meet CAEP and state-level accreditation requirements.

“We’ve always known that successful teacher candidates do more than just know content and teach it well. In our teacher education program, we found using the EDA to be imperative for preparing teachers to do more than just deliver content. Our candidates will be better prepared to possess high-quality professional dispositions, which we know strongly influences their impact on student learning and development in the classroom,” said Dr. Gina M. Almerico, EDA, LLC member and Director of the Educator Preparation Program at the University of Tampa.

“In addition to our own desire to better assess candidate dispositions, CAEP requires educator preparation programs to develop appropriate assessment devices to measure and document teacher candidate dispositions. This tool will help programs do this more easily. The EDA impact at The University of Tampa has been transformative, and when we were asked to present our work at a recent CAEP conference, the response was overwhelming.”

The EDA’s validity was measured through a series of steps aimed at procuring a collective understanding of dispositional meaning, which includes indicators to judge consequential attributes, well-defined scoring criteria, estimates of reliability, and evidence of construct validity that move toward predictive validity. The EDA is intended to be used at multiple points throughout a program to monitor and improve candidate dispositions during coursework and subsequent clinical experience as they progress through programs.

To learn more about Watermark’s partnership with the EDA and how the EDA package can support educator preparation programs, visit www.watermarkinsights.com/eda.

About Watermark™
Watermark’s mission is to put better data into the hands of administrators, educators, and learners everywhere in order to empower them to connect information and gain insights into learning which will drive meaningful improvements. Through its innovative educational intelligence platform, Watermark supports institutions in developing an intentional approach to learning and development based on data they can trust.

About Educational Dispositional Assessment Consultants, LLC
The EDA, LLC is composed of researchers professors from the University of Tampa’s College of Social Sciences, Mathematics and Education. Developed by the EDA, LLC and based on over 700 hours of research, the Educator Disposition Assessment is a formal approach to track and monitor candidate dispositional behaviors as they progress through teacher preparation programs. These dispositions are aligned to CAEP and InTasc standards in order to provide programs with the evidence needed to meet accreditation requirements.

Contact:
Victoria Guzzo
708.588.1735
vguzzo@watermarkinsights.com