ESU Teachers College aces accreditation review

The Emporia State University Teachers College passed its national accreditation review this week with high marks in all areas.

Examiners from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education told ESU officials today that ESU meets all the organization’s standards and they could find no areas of improvement.

“This hardly ever happens,” said Dr. Tes Mehring, Dean of The Teachers College. “It’s incredible when you not only pass all the standards but to pass without a single area identified as something on which you have to work harder.”

Five NCATE examiners and four representatives from the Kansas Department of Education spoke with faculty, staff and students on campus and at ESU’s degree programs and professional development schools in Johnson and Wyandotte counties. They also met with alumni, area school teachers and administrators and members of the local community.

The examiners were not only interested in programs administered by The Teachers College, but also content-area programs throughout the university in which teacher education candidates are enrolled.

NCATE requires institutions to show excellence not only in how well students are prepared, but also in the quality of student evaluation, field teaching programs, exposure to diverse classroom settings, faculty performance and the overall administration of the education program.

NCATE accreditation reviews happen every five years.

An official report will follows 30 days from now and the NCATE Unit Accreditation Board will vote on the status of ESU's accreditation at its biannual meeting in April.

“We’ve always known ESU's teacher preparation program is remarkable,” said ESU President Kay Schallenkamp. “It is wonderful to receive this affirmation from the external review team.”

NCATE is a coalition of 33 specialty professional associations of teachers, teacher educators, content specialists, and local and state policy makers. Together, the coalition represents over three million education professionals.

Last Updated July 2, 2007>