SLIDE 3 Employer Satisfaction Interviews: 2017-19 Cycle In order to assess employers’ satisfaction with our graduates, the College of Education (COE) conducts bi-annual employer interviews. The interview method is a good fit with our institution due to our size (relatively small number of graduates) and the fact that most of our graduates are employed within a 20-mile radius. The interview method with its mix of qualitative and quantitative data provides deeper and more comprehensive view of employers’ satisfaction with our graduates when compare to surveys. The construction of interview protocol included developing questions that are aligned with the InTASC Standards and that assess our candidates’ impact
- n PK-12 student learning. The personal face-to-face interviews allow us to
probe beyond just basic agreement or disagreement and determine specific areas of strength or areas for improvement. In addition, interviews provide an
- pportunity for triangulation and increased validity as areas of agreement or
divergence among employers and other measures can be observed. For the interviews, a purposive sample was used to collect a representative sample across all COE programs over the next five years. In order to select this cycle’s sample, the COE reviewed reports indicating where candidates who graduated within the past five years were employed. Schools and principals with more than one graduate employed were considered. Three schools were selected with graduates from the elementary (5), secondary math (1), and visual arts (1) programs.
Satisfaction of Employers and Employment Milestones
Demographics of the three schools included in survey
School Education Graduate
School Information
Grad Year PEL Type Race | Ethnicity Low- Income LEP Mobility
A.O. Marshall Joliet
2017 Elementary W 3.5% H 12.8% B 68.1% 99.8% 58.9% 8.5% 2017 Elementary + Bilingual 2016 Elementary + Bilingual
Jones Elementary Minooka
2015 Elementary W 59% H 8% B 27% 30.0% 5.0% 6.0% 2015 Elementary
Reed- Custer H.S. Braidwood
2013 Math W 91% H 0% B 6% 36.0% 1.0% 8.0% 2013 Visual Art
1Due to the Covid-19 crisis of 2020, the cycle of data collection was postponed.
The COE’s field experience coordinator contacted the principals to explain the process and request their cooperation in completing an anonymous survey and meeting for an in- person interview. All three principals agreed. Prior to the face-to-face interview, the survey was sent out via Survey Monkey. The survey asked the principals to, “Please respond to the statements regarding teachers at your school who completed an education degree at the University of St. Francis since 2013”. Then they were asked to indicate their level of agreement (Strongly Agree to Strongly Disagree) regarding several statements (see table below). After the principals completed the survey, the field experience coordinator arranged a meeting at each of the schools to conduct the interviews. At the interview, principals were asked to describe the performance of the recent graduates in the following categories: 1) The Learner and Learning, 2) Content Knowledge, 3) Instructional Practice, and 4) Professional Responsibility. The field experience coordinator asked follow-up questions for clarification and to gather more robust evidence of their respective performances. The interviews were recorded and notes were taken by the field experience coordinator.
