School of Education receives highest national accreditation
School of Education receives highest national accreditation
Submitted by Carla Browning
Phone: (907) 474-7778
04/26/05
The University of Alaska Fairbanks School of Education has met the most rigorous standards set forth by the professional education community according to the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education or NCATE. The school received accreditation from the Unit Accreditation Board at its meeting in Palm Springs, Calif. March 13-17, 2005. The national accreditation is the highest level available for teacher preparation programs.
The endorsement follows a site visit last fall by a board of examiners who concluded that UAF meets all six accreditation standards for educator preparation. The assessment focused on areas such as candidate knowledge, skills and dispositions, assessment, diversity, faculty qualifications and performance, and unit governance and resources.
"The site team was keenly aware of the complexity of the education system in Alaska, especially the challenges created by the number of campuses in the state and the distances over which we provide education," said UAF Chancellor Steve Jones. "Given these unique challenges, they were interested in the quality of our educator preparation programs. After a thorough review, they concluded that we measure up quite well to the national standards."
UAF’s 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. The accreditation applies to programs in Fairbanks and in the communities served by UAF’s Kuskokwim, Bristol Bay, Interior-Aleutians, Northwest and Chukchi campuses.
"A big thanks goes out to our educator partners," said School of Education Dean Eric Madsen. "Collaboration with school districts across the state as well as between UAF schools and colleges is integral to preparing and supporting well qualified educators. This collaboration doesn’t stop after we receive accreditation."
The Alaska State Board of Education requires that all teacher preparation programs be reviewed by NCATE. The next review will take place in 2009. UAF’s education programs are also approved by the state as meeting the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification standards.
UAF has been continuously accredited as an institution since 1934 and has specialized accreditation in many 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.