School of Education receives positive review: all six national standards met

Submitted by Eric Madsen
Phone: (907) 474-6670
10/12/04

A site visitation team from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education Board of Examiners says the University of Alaska Fairbanks is on the right track toward NCATE accreditation renewal. The national accreditation for UAF’s School of Education is the highest level of accreditation for teacher preparation programs. Only those programs meeting rigid criteria and standards of excellence are recognized by national accrediting organizations. After a weeklong visit in late September, the site visit team concluded that UAF has met all six accreditation standards for educator preparation. The board of examiners focused on areas such as candidate knowledge, skills and dispositions; assessment; diversity; faculty qualifications and performance; and unit governance and resources.

"This is an extremely favorable recommendation," said Carol Barnhardt, School of Education NCATE coordinator. "We are very pleased."

UAF’s education programs are currently approved by the state as meeting the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification standards. The Alaska State Board of Education now requires that all teacher preparation programs be reviewed by NCATE.

"The team’s recommendations validate years of hard work on the part of the school’s staff, faculty, our partners across the UAF campus and in school districts around Alaska, who have collaborated to design and deliver our educator preparation programs," said Eric Madsen, SOE dean. "I am proud of our personnel and deeply appreciative of our professional partners."

The 10-member site visitation team’s recommendations will be forwarded to the NCATE Unit Accreditation Board, which will review the recommendations and send its final decision to UAF Chancellor Steve Jones in late April or early May 2005.

Teacher preparation is a priority in UAF’s Academic Development Plan which is overseen by UAF’s chief academic officer Provost Paul Reichardt.

"I am confident in our programs and our ability to prepare a new generation of effective educators for Alaska’s schools," said Reichardt. "Our emphasis on standards-based preparation, professional accountability and culturally responsive teaching provide a strong foundation which is ultimately reflected in this review."

The UAF School of Education provides a broad range of undergraduate, licensure and master’s advanced-level programs which respond to the needs and interests of Alaska residents and to educators during all stages of their professional careers.

In keeping with its commitment to prepare educators for multicultural settings, the School of Education offers programs in Fairbanks and in the communities served by UAF’s Kuskokwim, Bristol Bay, Interior-Aleutians, Northwest and Chukchi campuses.

UAF has been continuously accredited as an institution since 1934 and has specialized accreditation in many of its programs from forestry to computer science. The UAF education unit has a long history of educator preparation in the state. The education department issued its first bachelor of education degree in 1937 and its first master of education degree in 1953. The department became the School of Education in 1993.

CONTACT: Dean Eric Madsen, School of Education, at (907) 474-6670 or ffecm1@uaf.edu, UAF Provost Paul Reichardt at (907) 474-7096 or visit http://www.uaf.edu/educ/ncate for more information.