What is an EOCA?
An End of Course Assessment (EOCA) for Foundational courses is comprised of a series of short-answer and essay-based questions designed to assess mastery of the key concepts presented in the respective course. There is one unique EOCA per Foundational Course for each direct care (Infant & Toddler, Preschool, School-Age, and Family Child Care) Track.
Nearly all currently enrollable Focused Topics contain an EOCA. EOCAs for Focused Topics courses contain either multiple choice only questions or a combination of multiple choice and short answer questions to assess mastery of key course concepts. The type of EOCA depends on the enrolled course and the role of the VLS user. The Social Emotional Learning for Teachers (SELF-T) course is the only Focused Topics course that does not contain an EOCA. The SELF-T course is self-certified upon completion of all Demonstrate questions.
End of Course Assessments are only available to registered users of the Virtual Lab School.
When to Administer
Foundational Courses
Once a direct care staff member has satisfactorily completed all the lessons within a particular course, the trainer, coach, or administrator will then administer and proctor the End of Course Assessment.
Completion of a lesson for center-based direct care staff and home-based providers includes viewing, reading, and understanding all materials presented in the Learn, Explore, and Apply sections; correctly completing the Demonstrate questions; completing any required activities; reviewing activities with trainers or coaches; and having the trainer, coach, or administrator certify that the user has achieved competency within the lesson topic.
All lessons within a course should be satisfactorily completed before a trainer, coach, or administrator proctors an EOCA for a direct care user. Each EOCA contains a set of essay-based questions. To help trainers, coaches, or administrators evaluate the strength of direct care users' responses, the VLS offers a set of suggested answers for each EOCA. The suggested answers provide guidance for trainers, coaches, and administrators on what to look for when reviewing learners' EOCA responses. There are no points assigned to each answer. Installations, Services or programs may have more specific guidance regarding how to evaluate the EOCA as it relates to the user's appropriate display of knowledge.
Focused Topics Courses
Once an enrolled user has satisfactorily completed all the lessons within the course, the End of Course Assessment will automatically be made available to the user.
Completion of a lesson for all registered users includes viewing, reading, and understanding all materials presented in the Learn, Explore, and Apply sections, and correctly completing the Demonstrate questions. Lessons in the Focused Topics courses are automatically marked as complete when a user successfully completes the Demonstrate questions.
Once all lessons within the Focused Topics course are satisfactorily completed, the EOCA is made available to the logged-in user. Focused Topics Courses are either VLS Assessed or TCS Assessed, or Self-Certified.
The VLS Assessed EOCA is comprised of ten multiple-choice questions and is evaluated by the VLS system. Upon successful completion of a VLS Assessed EOCA, the system will automatically award the course certificate to the user (Direct Care, T&CS or Program Manager). T&CSs or Program Managers will have unlimited attempts to successfully display master on the VLS Assessed EOCA. Direct Care users will have three attempts to successfully display mastery on the VLS Assessed EOCA, then a T&CS must open additional attempts. If additional attempts are necessary, direct care users are encouraged to seek guidance and support from their trainer, coach, or administrator. For VLS Assessed EOCAs, mastery is achieved when a user correctly answers at least 80% of the questions.
The TCS Assessed EOCA includes a combination of multiple-choice and short answer questions. The TCS Assessed EOCA must be reviewed and approved by a Training & Curriculum Specialist in order to achieve course certification. To help trainers, coaches, or administrators evaluate the strength of direct care users' responses in a TCS Assessed EOCA, the VLS offers a set of suggested answers for the EOCA. The suggested answers provide guidance for trainers, coaches, and administrators on what to look for when reviewing learners' EOCA responses. There are no points assigned to each answer. Installations, Services or programs may have more specific guidance regarding how to evaluate the EOCA as it relates to the user's appropriate display of knowledge.
Focused Topics courses that are Self-Certified, are marked complete and certification is awarded after successful completion of the Demonstrate questions in each lesson of the course.
EOCA Access
Only VLS-registered trainers, coaches, or administrators have access to the End of Course Assessment in the Foundational courses. There are no corresponding End of Course Assessments for lessons in the Training & Curriculum Specialist and Management Tracks because those Tracks are self-certified. Lessons in these Tracks appear as complete on a user's progress dashboard once the Demonstrate questions within the respective lesson are correctly completed.
Focused Topic course EOCAs are automatically available to enrolled users upon completion of all lessons. The Social Emotional Learning for Teachers (SELF-T) course is the only Focused Topic course that does not contain an EOCA. The SELF-T course is self-certified upon completion of all Demonstrate questions.