COLLEGE OF EDUCATION IS REACCREDITED

Southeast Missouri State University's College of Education has received national reaccreditation for five years, its first under new, tougher standards.

The reaccreditation was approved by the Unit Accreditation Board of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

The reaccreditation came at a meeting of the accreditation board this month in Washington, D.C. Southeast officials said the board praised the university's teacher education program.

"Let me take this opportunity to congratulate you and your professional education unit for displaying the high quality necessary to be granted national accreditation, and to express appreciation for the cooperation received from the faculty, staff and administration of your institution," wrote Arthur Wise, NCATE president, in a letter to Southeast President Kala Stroup.

The announcement marks the end of three years of work by the College of Education to secure new accreditation.

Preparation began with an institutional self-study and ended with a visit last March by the NCATE Board of Examiners.

"The report commended both the depth and content of our teacher education curriculum," Stroup said. "Such lavish praise is not often seen in a national accreditation report, but the college is truly deserving of these accolades.

"The concepts on which this program are based are sound and stem from research in the field of teacher education. Faculty not only in the College of Education but throughout the university are responsible for this extraordinarily high rating of our teacher education program," Stroup said.

NCATE accredits about 500 institutions. Of the 308 professional education units reviewed under a redesigned NCATE system, only 70 percent have received accreditation on the first review by the Unit Accreditation Board.

"This confirms all of the work we have done for the last six to eight years to build quality programs," said Lenore Bierbaum, dean of Southeast's College of Education. "From a national standpoint, it shows that we have withstood the test.

The NCATE Board of Examiners team "was terribly impressed by what we have done at Southeast. This is a stamp of quality on this institution and its program. I feel all of our work has been validated."

Added Bierbaum, "We're terribly excited about what we are doing here."

Areas evaluated for accreditation included design and delivery of the curriculum, general education, specialty and professional studies, clinical and field-based experiences, relationship with graduates and schools, advisory services, faculty load and development, completion of programs, governance and resources.

The report stressed the quality of the curriculum and the governance of the program as strengths of Southeast's College of Education.

"The overwhelming strengths were our programs and the way we govern our program, involving the community, teachers and students in our programs," Bierbaum said. "Our curriculum is based on the best and latest in research."

The report said: "A major determinant of the quality of the professional education curriculum is the governance system that undergirds it. Teacher education is recognized as a significant program across campus, and notable support exists at every level of administration."

The report praised the broad-based participation in the program, which extends to professional educators and students in the field, and the involvement of faculty and the community in developing the college's redesigned curricula.

A new curriculum was implemented in Southeast's College of Education in 1989 to meet new NCATE criteria.

"Team members have rarely if ever seen a campus so well characterized by full disclosure of information, shared participation by all stakeholders in decisions, and strong execution of administrative authority grounded in open dialogue with faculty, students and community representatives," the report said.

In addition, the report said Southeast's College of Education provides "leading-edge scholarship" in the professional education of teachers and praised the program's demanding field experiences that place students under the instruction of practicing teachers in the region.

Also receiving praise were the college's advising services and graduate-level research course that provides students with the tools for examining and conducting research.

The next NCATE visit to Southeast is scheduled for spring 1997.