School of Education meets rigorous standards for reaccreditation

The School of Education and the Professional Education Unit at the State University of New York at New Paltz has been awarded reaccreditation by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), the organization responsible for professional accreditation of teacher education. This accreditation covers initial teacher preparation and advanced preparation programs.

New Paltz was initially accredited in December, 2003. NCATE revises its standards every five years to incorporate best practice and research in order to ensure that the standards reflect a consensus about what is important in teacher preparation today.

Dr. Robert J. Michael, dean of the School of Education, said he was very pleased with the efforts put forth by all the faculty and staff for achieving this recognition. “Ten years of program development, revisions and data collection led us to outstanding NCATE approved teacher education and school administrator programs at SUNY New Paltz,” he said.

NCATE-accredited schools must meet rigorous standards set by the profession and members of the public. Teacher candidates must have in-depth knowledge of the subject matter that they plan to teach, as well as the skills necessary to convey it so that students learn. The institution must have strong partnerships with P-12 schools that enable candidates to develop the skills necessary to help diverse student populations learn. NCATE accredits more than 623 institutions, which produce two-thirds of the nation’s new teacher graduates each year.

The U.S. Department of Education recognizes NCATE as a professional accrediting body for schools, departments and colleges of education. On-site visits, document review and accreditation decisions are all carried out by professionals from the education community, including teachers, school specialists and teacher educators, as well as members of the public and education policy makers.

Steven Poskanzer, president of New Paltz, said “NCATE accreditation is the most rigorous and highly-regarded hallmark of quality in a university’s teacher education program. New Paltz has been reaccredited in a resounding fashion, affirming how thoughtfully and how well our faculty are preparing next generations of teachers.”

The Professional Education Unit at New Paltz consists of the School of Education, the Art Education program, and the Communication Disorders Speech and Language Disabilities program. Collectively, the group has adopted a conceptual framework for its programs, titled “Caring, Critical and Reflective Professionals Responsive to the Needs of a Diverse Society.” This framework includes six values and commitments that the unit strives to cultivate among its own faculty and staff, as well as in the candidates it serves. The six values are: inquiry; intellectual growth; professionalism; appreciation of human diversity; advocacy for students; and democratic citizenship.

For more information about the SUNY New Paltz Professional Education Unit and the School of Education, visit www.newpaltz.edu/schoolofed/accreditation.html. More information about NCATE is available at www.ncate.org.