By: Mike W. Wallace
Director of Assessment, Testing and Certification, Lamar University

Why I’m a SPA Reviewer

Twice every year, around the day faculty begin finalizing plans for exams, graduation, and the break between semesters, my thoughts focus on spending time with grandchildren -- Oreos & milk, Lego castles, and reading books with a silly voice. On that day, the email arrives:

Dear ACEI Lead Reviewers,

Thank you for serving!  As a lead reviewer, you are responsible for ensuring that the team completes its work on time, and you are the only reviewer who can submit the Final Team Report. In order for CAEP to meet the deadline for providing the Recognition Report to the institution, it is critical that you meet the deadline . . . 

How did I get into this?

After 20 years of P-12 service, I took a grant-funded position at Lamar. When the grant ended, I was selected to fill an opening in the Assessment Division. I was sent to a conference and while wandering the halls searching for the breakout session I had planned to attend, I passed by the room where the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) was scheduled to provide reviewer training. The presenters were in the hall to conscript an audience when I wandered by. I was nowhere near the room I was seeking and their room had plenty of seats available.

While trying to refuse their offer to attend that session, it dawned on me that in just a few semesters I would be responsible for supporting faculty authoring SPA reports. This session was training on reviewing those reports I would be responsible for helping to prepare. In that AHA! moment I recognized this was a serendipitous opportunity for professional development. Obviously I stayed. 

As the session ended, I was encouraged to serve as reviewer. My lack of experience was not important. First I was paired with an experienced lead reviewer, later as lead reviewer paired with an auditor.

Every review has been a learning opportunity with the safety net of experienced experts looking over my shoulder. There were “calibration reviews” to establish inter-rater reliability by ensuring we each applied the Professional Association standards reliably. When my review did not cite conditions clearly, the lead reviewer/auditor who received my work took the time to explain why a decision was changed or clarified. 

Why do I keep doing this?

For me, reviewing program reports is the single best professional training I have received. This experience prepared me for responsibilities at the institution and the program faculty I support. This twice yearly activity continues to hone my skills while I continue serve education.

My parents are both retired teachers and I love teaching. My career began in a public school elementary classroom. Teaching assignments have included middle levels and high school.  Now, as Assessment Director and part-time higher education faculty, my role is different but I still serve the students who attend public schools.

The program review process is about providing evidence to demonstrate SPA standards are met. The evidence to demonstrate meeting SPA standards is a trustworthy measure of candidate knowledge, skills and dispositions. Program review process begins when the EPP designs an assessment plan to deliver preparation and examines each candidate to measure mastery of SPA standards. Next the program uses candidate performance data to inform and drive improvement. Finally, program review is an external examination of the EPP to ensure their product, the knowledge, skill, and dispositions of new teachers they prepare meet the quality required by the profession.

I am a program review volunteer because review is vital to ensure the quality of future educators prepared for the classrooms our candidates serve. I do this to ensure P-12 students like my grandchildren receive the quality education they need and deserve.