Arkansas Tech University has been notified by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) that its College of Education has earned continued National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) accreditation.
The teacher preparation program at Arkansas Tech has been accredited by NCATE since 1961. The next CAEP accreditation visit to the Arkansas Tech College of Education is scheduled for 2020.
“This accreditation decision indicates that the provider and its programs meet rigorous standards set forth by the professional education community,” wrote James G. Cibulka, CAEP president, in a letter notifying Arkansas Tech President Dr. Robert C. Brown of the continued accreditation.
Included in the review of the Arkansas Tech College of Education from the Continuous Improvement Commission of CAEP was a note that “the commission also made a distinct decision to recognize that the educator preparation provider is moving toward target on Standard 1.”
NCATE Standard 1 consists of the knowledge, skills and professional dispositions of individuals preparing to become teachers.
In its pursuit of the ideals of NCATE Standard 1, the Arkansas Tech College of Education is responsible for ensuring its graduates know and demonstrate the content knowledge, pedagogical content knowledge and skills, pedagogical and professional knowledge and skills and professional disposition necessary to help all students learn.
“I am very confident that students who successfully complete our teacher preparation programs have taken courses and had field experiences that will allow them to understand what it takes to become an effective teacher,” said Dr. Sherry Field, professor of curriculum and instruction and dean of the Arkansas Tech College of Education. “I think becoming an effective teacher in this day and time is more challenging than it’s ever been. We have worked hard to align our course work and experiences to the skills they will need — teaching an effective lesson, affecting student learning, knowing how to use data, learning how to make effective use of national standards and common core state standards, maintaining a high standard for student achievement and classroom management. And on top of that, we want our teacher preparation candidates to be nurturing and caring so they can attend to the emotional side of learning.”
The Arkansas Tech College of Education offers Bachelor of Science degree programs in early childhood education, middle level education, secondary education and health and physical education. The college also offers a Bachelor of Arts degree in secondary education.
At the graduate level, Arkansas Tech offers Master of Education degree programs in elementary education, secondary education, school counseling and leadership, educational leadership, instructional improvement and teaching, learning and leadership.
The Arkansas Tech College of Education also administers a Master of Science degree in college student personnel and it is developing a new Master of Science degree in strength and conditioning studies.
Field pointed to the work of the Arkansas Tech College of Education faculty before her arrival in September 2012 as critical in the continued accreditation.
She mentioned Dr. Tim Carter, professor of curriculum and instruction, and Dr. David Bell, professor of elementary education and head of the Department of Curriculum and Instruction, as two of the key contributors in preparing the report. Field also expressed her appreciation to the many faculty members across campus who served as writers and editors for selected sections and Specialized Professional Association (SPA) reports.
“When I arrived at the beginning of the 2012-13 academic year, the hard work had already been done,” said Field. “I was very impressed with how we had collected data the previous seven years and how that had all been drawn together. My role was as editor, which helped me become more familiar with Arkansas Tech and the artifacts we have gathered over the years. I would hold Arkansas Tech’s data gathering, collection, interpretation and report writing up against anyone in the country.”