Here, you will find the comprehensive annual report and detailed measures showcasing our commitment to maintaining the standards set by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). This information reflects our ongoing dedication to excellence in educator preparation and our continuous efforts to enhance the effectiveness and quality of our program.
CAEP 4 Annual Accountability Measures - Initial Programs |
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Analysis of Trends |
Source - Evidence # |
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1. Completer Effectiveness and Impact on P-12 Learning and Development (Component R4.1) |
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SC Teaching Evaluation Data: Graduate and Completer Observations of Teaching Effectiveness |
Contribute to P-12 Student Learning Growth and Apply Professional Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions: USCA completers performed at or above state averages across all three SCTS teacher evaluation 4.0 observation domains in AY2024-25. In Environment, USCA completers averaged 3.48, slightly below the state average of 3.51. In Instruction, completers averaged 3.21, also below the state average of 3.25. In Planning, completers averaged 3.14, compared to the state average of 3.18. These results indicate that USCA graduates are performing on par with their peers statewide on the SC Teaching Standards Rubric. SLO data from 2024-25 demonstrate that USCA completers are effectively producing measurable PK-12 student learning outcomes. The overwhelming majority of completers — 85.54% — were rated Proficient or higher, with 53.68% rated Proficient and 31.86% rated Exemplary. Only 7.9% of completers received a rating of Needs Improvement or Unsatisfactory, and 6.56% were marked N/A. Taken together, these results provide strong evidence that USCA graduates are positively impacting P-12 student learning at a high rate and are performing at proficient or exemplary levels in both observed teaching practice and student learning growth in their first years in the classroom. The overall completer data, based on 1,089 EPP alumni, indicates that 92.01% (1,002 individuals) met expectations, which is a strong indicator of system-wide success. Only 3.21% (35 individuals) did not meet expectations, while 4.41% (48 individuals) had incomplete evaluations. Breaking this down by employment category, Induction 1 educators made up 4.87% of the total, with 86.79% meeting expectations, 3.77% not meeting them, and 9.43% incomplete. These figures fall slightly below the overall average for “Met” and have a higher rate of “Incomplete,” indicating a need for additional support or clearer evaluation guidance for early-career educators. Induction 2, though a small group at just 0.28% of the total, had a perfect 100% “Met” rate. Annual 1 educators represented 4.78% of the total, with a high success rate of 96.15% “Met,” and only 1.92% each for “Not Met” and “Incomplete.” This group showed stronger-than-average performance. Annual 2 employees, comprising 1.47% of the data set, had a “Met” rate of 93.75% and 6.25% incomplete, aligning closely with the overall performance. Annual 3 included only one individual who met expectations, resulting in a 100% “Met” rate, though the sample size is too small for meaningful analysis. The Continuing category represented the largest group at 82.92% of the total. Within this group, 92.14% met expectations, 3.54% did not, 3.88% were incomplete, and 0.44% had no data. These results closely mirror the overall data and significantly influence the overall averages. Lastly, the Letter of Agreement group accounted for 5.60% of the total, with 90.16% meeting expectations and 9.84% incomplete. While their “Met” rate is only slightly below average, the higher rate of incomplete entries may indicate issues with documentation or clarity in the evaluation process. In summary, over 92% of all individuals met expectations, showing strong overall performance. The Induction 1 and Letter of Agreement groups may benefit from additional support, as they had the highest percentages of incomplete evaluations. Continuing employees, who make up most of the data, displayed consistent results with overall trends. To support the 1st year teachers, EPP faculty are exploring what practices and supports are most effective for novice teachers and integrating those practices into methods coursework and practicum lesson(s). We also mirror the 4.0 evaluation process with input from university evaluators and cooperating educators to identify pain points and refine practices. |
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Alumni Surveys |
Contribute to P-12 Student Learning Growth and Apply Professional Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions: Alumni and employer survey data from Spring 2025 reflect strong overall satisfaction with the quality of preparation provided by the USCA EPP. Among the 29 alumni surveyed, no respondents rated their preparation as "Needs Improvement," with most responses falling in the "Proficient" and "Exemplary" categories — particularly in areas such as fostering collaborative learning, encouraging student engagement, using assessment to monitor growth, and engaging in ongoing professional development. Similarly, 22 employers rated USCA graduates favorably across all measured competencies, with no ratings of "Needs Improvement" or "Approaching," and strong "Exemplary" ratings in areas such as collaborative learning environments, diverse instructional strategies, and professionalism. Both surveys identified opportunities for continued growth in content integration and instructional planning, and in response, USCA faculty have incorporated deeper work with content literacy, Bloom's Taxonomy, and higher-order questioning strategies into the program. Stakeholder feedback further affirms the strength of the EPP. The Teacher Educator Advisory Council (TEAC), comprised of faculty, district administrators, and mentor teachers, consistently highlights USCA graduates' familiarity with the evaluation process, professionalism, collaboration, and content knowledge, while recommending a continued focus on the science of reading and practicum experiences. These outcomes are supported by notable anecdotal evidence — over 90% of 2024-25 interns were offered teaching contracts, and the EPP has produced more than 50 First Year Teachers of the Year over the past five academic years. The EPP maintains mutually beneficial partnerships with school districts through professional development, research collaborations, advisory council participation, and professional development school partnerships in all program areas, ensuring that clinical experiences remain high quality and continuously informed by stakeholder input. |
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2. Satisfaction of Employers and Stakeholder Involvement (R 4.2; R 5.3) |
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Employer - TEAC (Teacher Educator Advisory Council) Feedback |
In Spring 2025, 22 employers representing various leadership roles across multiple school districts — including Aiken County, Colleton, Edgefield, and Lexington 3 — completed a survey rating USCA graduates from the past one to five years on their preparedness to teach. The results were strongly positive, with no respondents rating graduates as "Needs Improvement" or "Approaching" in any competency. Most feedback fell in the "Proficient" and "Exemplary" range, with particularly high marks in supporting collaborative learning environments, using diverse instructional strategies, and engaging in ongoing professional development. These findings align closely with alumni self-report data and reflect a consistent pattern of graduate readiness across program areas. Stakeholder engagement through the Teacher Educator Advisory Council (TEAC) further reinforces these findings, with faculty, district administrators, and mentor teachers consistently identifying professionalism, collaboration, content knowledge, and familiarity with the evaluation system as hallmark strengths of USCA graduates. TEAC members have also recommended a continued emphasis on the science of reading and expanded practicum experiences. These outcomes are supported by strong real-world indicators — over 90% of 2024-25 interns were offered teaching contracts, and the EPP has produced more than 50 First Year Teachers of the Year over the past five academic years. USCA maintains robust professional development school partnerships across all program areas, with methods courses co-taught in partner schools and clinical supervisors regularly evaluated to ensure ongoing improvement in field placement quality. |
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3. Candidate Competency at Program Completion (R3.3) |
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Final Evaluation Internship (Pre-service Teachers) |
On an annual basis, classroom teachers select a Student Learning Objective (SLO) and provide benchmarking pre and post data and artifacts to demonstrate their instructional impact on student learning. In addition, the teachers are evaluated using the SCDE 4.0 Rubric. For the AY 2024-25, 100% of USCA graduates evaluated (N= 48) passed their 4.0 and SLO evaluations. Upon review of the AY2024-25 SCTS 4.0 data, USCA teacher candidates demonstrated meaningful growth across all ADEPT domains from Fall 2024 to Spring 2025. The overall composite mean rose from 3.17 to 3.44, a 0.27-point gain that moves performance from the median toward the high average range. SLO data further confirmed that candidates met targets in all ADEPT domains, and all candidates and programs met or exceeded the benchmark score of 2.0. For the academic years 2015-16 through AY2024-25 100% of USCA student teacher interns passed their student teacher semester across all School of Education professional programs. Upon review and analysis of the AY2024-25 SCTS 4.0 data, our EPP found that USCA teacher candidates showed significant growth in all ADEPT domains from Fall 2024 to Spring 2025. Additionally, the SLO AY 2024-25 data indicated that our candidates have met in all the ADEPT domains. Our completers demonstrated growth across three SCTS 4.0 domains (Instruction, Planning, and Environment). Candidates and programs met or exceeded target (3.0) in all domains. SCTS Rubric 4.0 Positive Growth: There was notable improvement from Fall 2024 to Spring 2025, with the overall composite mean increasing from 3.17 to 3.44 - a substantial 0.27-point gain that moves performance from the median to approaching high average range. Domain-Specific Improvements: All four domains showed growth between semesters: - Instruction: 3.16 to 3.3 (+0.14) - Planning: 3.08 to 3.25 (+0.17) - Environment: 3.24 to 3.37 (+0.13) This data is consistent with the prior 5 years of data that demonstrated Professionalism and Learning Environment as our candidates’ area of strength. All four SCTS 4.0 domains showed improvement between semesters. Professionalism led with the most significant gain (+0.33), followed by Planning (+0.17), Instruction (+0.14), and Environment (+0.13), reflecting broad and balanced growth across all areas of candidate performance. At the program level, Special Education emerged as the strongest performer, maintaining high average performance with composite scores of 4.0 in Fall and 3.63 in Spring. Elementary Education demonstrated steady, consistent improvement, rising from a composite of 3.18 to 3.39 across multiple campus locations. Early Childhood Education showed the most remarkable growth of any program, with composite scores jumping from 2.92 to 3.27 — nearly a half-point gain — moving the program from below median to solid median performance. |
4. AY 2020-25 SCTS Rubric 4.0 and SLO Data |
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Praxis II Pass Rates – ETS and Title II |
Over the past three academic years, USCA program completers have demonstrated strong Praxis pass rates, though the data reflects a downward trend over time. In 2022-23, 56 of 58 candidates passed, yielding a 97% pass rate — the highest of the three-year period. In 2023-24, 43 of 48 candidates passed for a 90% pass rate. In 2024-25, 35 of 44 candidates passed, resulting in an 80% pass rate. While all three years reflect overall majority pass rates, the decline from 97% to 80% over three years warrants attention and may reflect changes in cohort size, preparation, or testing conditions. At the program level, Early Childhood Education candidates demonstrated particularly strong performance, achieving 100% pass rates in both 2024-25 and 2023-24, with a 97% pass rate in 2022-23. Elementary Education content area assessments — including Mathematics, Reading Language Arts, Science, and Social Studies — showed consistent test-taking across cohorts, with small group sizes in several subject areas. Special Education candidates also appeared regularly across the reporting periods. The detailed assessment-level data reflects a diverse range of content area tests administered across program areas, consistent with the breadth of USCA's educator preparation offerings. Considering the Praxis exam(s) pass rate data, our EPP and program areas worked to focus on content instruction and knowledge of the content area standards in the professional program math, science, social studies and ELA methods courses. The elementary program specifically revised the math and science program courses with a deeper focus on content literacy and content pedagogy. |
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Student Learning Objective (SLO) Assessment |
While SLO data indicates that most programs are meeting the 2.0 Target threshold, performance across most program areas remains at the baseline level, with significant room for growth. Specific areas requiring further development include understanding diverse student populations, using historical and trend data effectively, establishing appropriate baseline assessments, developing meaningful learning goals, aligning instruction with standards, setting realistic growth targets, and implementing effective instructional strategies. Progress Monitoring and Instructional Strategies emerge as the weakest components overall, with several programs scoring slightly lower in these areas relative to other SLO elements. Notable campus disparities also present a concern — while the Aiken campus generally outperforms other locations, the Sumter campus consistently scores at 2.0 across all measures, and the PC campus shows mixed results. At the program level, Early Childhood Education, Secondary Education, and Middle Level all demonstrate uniform 2.0 performance, suggesting systemic preparation gaps that require targeted intervention. Taken together, these patterns point to broader needs in data literacy, standards-based lesson planning, assessment design, student growth measurement, and differentiated instruction across the EPP. In response to these findings, the EPP has undertaken several continuous improvement efforts to strengthen SLO preparation across all programs and campuses. All programs have enhanced coursework in assessment, data analysis, and standards alignment, including the integration of a pre-internship mini-SLO assessment and additional performance tasks such as data notebooks, science of reading intervention training, case studies, and FBA/BIP development — all designed to measure candidate impact on student learning. To address campus disparities, all locations are now replicating the assessment tools and training practices developed on the Aiken campus. The EPP also provides specialized professional development for faculty and requires that all cooperating teachers be SCTS 4.0 trained and possess a minimum of three years of South Carolina teaching experience, ensuring that candidates receive mentorship from educators with deep understanding of SLO development and implementation. |
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USCA 2024-25 Graduate Surveys |
Post-internship survey data from both Fall 2024 (n=11) and Spring 2025 (n=30) reflect strong overall satisfaction with the USCA educator preparation program. In Fall 2024, 91% of respondents reported being satisfied or very satisfied with the overall program, and faculty accessibility received an average rating of 4.64 out of 5. Spring 2025 results were similarly positive, with 83.3% of respondents reporting combined satisfaction with the overall program and faculty accessibility averaging 4.47 out of 5. Secondary Education completers reported the highest program satisfaction in Spring 2025 at 80% very satisfied, and Elementary Education showed solid results at 53.8% very satisfied. Across both semesters, 83.3% of Spring 2025 completers and 73% of Fall 2024 completers planned to enter full-time teaching immediately upon graduation, reflecting strong career readiness and program-to-profession alignment. Candidates consistently identified Professionalism, Diverse Learners preparation, and Instructional Strategies as the strongest areas of their preparation, with combined satisfaction rates reaching 93% or higher in Spring 2025. Short-range planning and assessment planning also earned high marks. These results align with the SCTS 4.0 and ADEPT data showing strength in professionalism and overall teaching performance. Qualitative feedback highlighted Senior Seminar, Classroom Management, Assessment, and content-specific Methods courses as among the most valuable learning experiences, with several faculty members named specifically for their impact on candidate development. Areas identified for improvement were consistent across both semesters. Working with Parents emerged as the most significant gap, with only 10% of Spring 2025 respondents rating this area as very satisfied and 0% among Special Education completers. Classroom Management and Technology Integration were also flagged as persistently underprepared areas, with Technology Integration drawing criticism in both semesters for relying on outdated tools and course content. Additionally, candidates reported insufficient guidance on Praxis and certification processes and noted inconsistent course quality across instructors as an ongoing concern. These findings point to several clear priorities for continuous improvement. The EPP should redesign parent communication training across all program areas, update the Technology Integration curriculum to reflect current classroom tools, and provide earlier and more comprehensive certification guidance to candidates. Enhanced practical training in classroom management and stronger alignment between general education coursework and the needs of special populations — particularly for ELL students — were also identified as actionable next steps. The consistency of these themes across both Fall and Spring surveys suggests these are systemic areas warranting deliberate program-wide attention. In conclusion, across both semesters, the USCA School of Education received strong commendation for its emphasis on professionalism, instructional support, and faculty dedication. By refining key areas such as ELL instruction, parent collaboration, and practical application, the EPP continues to grow and better prepare future educators. Students’ feedback provides a clear direction—one that emphasizes real-world readiness, compassionate guidance, and actionable knowledge. Based on the survey data, the SOE faculty implemented continuous improvement efforts to include enhancing ELL preparation through integrated modules and assessments focused on teaching multilingual learners. The EPP has integrated culturally relevant teaching strategies, assessments, and assignments throughout the professional program over the past three academic years. In addition, working with diverse families has become a focus of our EPP. Many programs have assignments directly aligned to working with diverse families (e.g., equity issue project in elementary). To promote teacher-candidate parent communication skills we have added AI simulations and diverse family modules in senior seminar. The teaching and technology course has been completely revised for AY2025-26 to align with current classroom educational technology. There is clear alignment to our continuous improvement efforts in response to the data. |
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4. Ability of completers to be hired in education positions for which they have prepared |
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Graduate - Completer Employment Data |
USCA teacher preparation completers demonstrate consistently strong initial employment rates across the last five academic years, with rates ranging from approximately 91.8% to 97.5% — all exceeding the 90% benchmark. The most recent data point (2024-25) reflects the highest rate in the five-year period at approximately 97.5%, indicating an upward trend in graduate employment. When averaged across all cohorts, 94.5% of completers secured initial teaching employment, reflecting robust placement outcomes for the program. Retention data further affirms the quality and staying power of USCA graduates in the classroom. The one-year retention rate has remained consistently strong, ranging from 91.9% to 100% across the reporting period, with an all-cohort average approaching 98.8%. Three-year retention data, available for earlier cohorts, shows rates of approximately 84.2% (2020-21) and 86.7% (2021-22), with an all-cohort three-year average of approximately 91.0%. The 2021-22 cohort retention funnel is particularly illustrative — of 49 completers, 45 were initially employed (91.8%), 45 were retained at one year (91.8%), and 39 remained in the classroom at the three-year mark (79.9%). Taken together, these results reflect a strong and stable pipeline of USCA-prepared educators entering and remaining in the teaching profession. For USCA EPP graduates in the academic year 2018-19, 83% of SoE graduates earned initial licensure status. In 2019-20, 82% or 45/55 of candidates earned initial certification status. In 2020-21, 92% (60/65) earned initial licensure by September 2021. In 2021-22, 79% (46/58) of USCA completers earned SC initial licensure by August 2022. In 2022-23, 54 or 86% of completers had earned their initial SC licensure in their certification area. In the AY 2023-24, 92% (44/49) earned full licensure, and during AY 2024-25, 80% of completers (38/48) earned licensure. |
11. SC Report Card Data - Employment and Retention Charts |
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Enrollment / Graduate Data & Candidate Milestone Data |
Graduation data from the USCA School of Education over the past six academic years reflects a fluctuating trend in the number of candidates completing the professional program. After a 20% decline in AY2019-20 (n=55), completions rose 15% in AY2020-21 (n=65), then fell 11% in AY2021-22 (n=58), before rising again in AY2022-23 (n=63). The most recent years show a continued downward adjustment, with completions falling 16% in AY2023-24 (n=49) and remaining relatively stable in AY2024-25 (n=48). While these fluctuations reflect broader trends in teacher education enrollment nationally, the EPP continues to monitor completions closely and work toward sustained pipeline growth. Over the same period, the EPP has maintained a steady commitment to recruiting and retaining diverse and male candidates. Across the six-year span, the proportion of diverse candidates has ranged from 14% to 24%, while male candidates have represented 8% to 16% of the professional program each year. To strengthen these numbers, the EPP has partnered with Aiken County Public Schools, Aiken Technical College, and the Call Me MISTER scholarship program, with CMM candidates enrolled across both the Aiken and Sumter campuses. Additional recruitment and retention efforts include a focus on critical shortage areas such as special education, science, math, literacy, middle level, and ELA; the development of dual degree programs in science and teacher education; and a well-established Teaching Fellows program that attracts high-achieving high school seniors. EPP-wide diversity initiatives, ongoing dispositional monitoring, and proactive mentoring further support candidate success and the continued growth of a diverse, well-prepared educator workforce. |
12. USCA AY 2024-25 SoE Enrollment and Completion Data Tables |
CAEP 4 Annual Accountability Measures - Advanced Programs M.Ed. |
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Measure |
Analysis of Trends |
Source – Evidence # |
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2. Satisfaction of Employers and Stakeholder Involvement (RA 4.1) |
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Employer and TEAC (Teacher Educator Advisory Council) Feedback |
The master’s in education (M.Ed.) Educator Leadership (Teacher Leader) program was approved by the South Carolina Commission of Higher Education in 2019. It does not lead to licensure. All add-on endorsements were approved by the state of South Carolina. The M.Ed. in Educator Leadership does not lead to licensure and there are no national accreditation standards specifically aligned to Educator Leadership. An Educational Leadership M.Ed. that leads to licensure (administrative leadership – principal tract) has been approved by the South Carolina Department of Education and is set to begin its first cohort in Fall 2025. Therefore, there were no completers in the Educational Leadership MEd. Program in 2024-25. In AY 2024-25 there were 4 completers and a total of 8 graduate students enrolled in the M.Ed. Educator Leadership program. The diversity of the AY 2024-25 enrolled students (N=8) included 5 White females and 3 Black females. There were no male students enrolled in the M.Ed. program in AY 2024-25. The M.Ed. in Educator Leadership program that does not lead to licensure had its first cohort of completers in 2020-21. As a minimum of 6 months is required to begin collecting completer data and the completers in AY2021-22 were only 5, employer surveys were sent out in AY 2023-24 covering completers in 2020-21, 2021-22, 2022-23, 2023-24; N=23 but the response rate was 0%. Another survey was sent in 2025 with 0% response rate. The TEAC (Teacher Educator Advisory Council) made up of USCA faculty, school district administrators and teacher leaders met in the Spring of 2024. TEAC feedback on M.Ed. program completers included strengths in the following areas: *Preparation for being a Classroom Leader, Grade Level Leader, Instructional Coach, Mentor, Curriculum Specialist *Demonstration of administrative skills such as management, supervision and decision-making *Improving instruction and student learning |
1. MEd Leadership Program Overview 2. Educator Leadership Program Data
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3. Candidate Competency at Program Completion (RA3.4) |
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Completer/ Recent Alumni Surveys |
The USCA Educator Leadership M.Ed. Exit Survey for Spring 2025, prepared by the Office of Institutional Effectiveness, captured responses from 3 graduating students at a 75% response rate. Quantitative ratings were consistently strong across all dimensions, with no category falling below 4.00 out of 5.00. Highlights included overall program quality, advising, course scheduling, and the action research experience, each scoring 4.67. Career preparation and coursework relevance to leadership both rated 4.33, while learning experiences, preparation as a Teacher Leader, and scheduling flexibility each earned a 4.00. Most notably, all three respondents said they would choose the program again and would recommend it to colleagues, with highlights including small class sizes, strong professor support, an accessible online format, and competitive pricing. Qualitative feedback reinforced the quantitative results while also pointing to areas for growth. Students praised the depth and value of the action research process, the flexibility of online coursework through Blackboard, and the sense of community built through peer interaction. The professional website development component was also cited as a meaningful self-reflective exercise. Students also expressed interest in adding a principal or administrator certification pathway and suggested that a formal orientation on the scope of action research be included early in the program. It is worth noting that with only 3 respondents, these findings should be interpreted directionally rather than as statistically definitive conclusions Capstone projects indicate 100% were on Target (n=4) with 3 scoring in the “Accomplished” range and 1 earning “Target” scores. The data indicate that MEd Educator Leadership completers are well prepared to take on educator leadership roles in their school contexts and districts and areas of endorsement. Publications:
Presentations:
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4. Ability of completers to be hired in education positions for which they have prepared |
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All completers in the M. Ed. Educator Leadership (Teacher Leader) program in AY 2024-25 (N=4) were practicing educators and/or administrators seeking a Master’s in Educator Leadership with specialization or add-on endorsement in one or two of the following areas:
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