Eastern's Teacher Preparation Program Achieves Reaccreditation

Willimantic, CT (05/30/2017) — Eastern Connecticut State University recently received continued accreditation through fall 2021 from the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP), based on the standards of the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). NCATE's performance-based accreditation system for teacher preparation ensures that teaching candidates are prepared to make a difference in P-12 student learning.

The accreditation report indicated that Eastern has met all six standards for Initial Teacher Preparation and Advanced Preparation, including candidate knowledge and skills; unit evaluation and assessment systems; field experiences and clinical practice; diversity; faculty qualifications, performance and development; and unit governance and resources.

All Eastern teacher preparation programs, including bachelor's degrees in early childhood education, elementary education, physical education, and secondary education, as well as graduate programs in early childhood education, elementary education, secondary education, educational technology and reading/language arts, are covered by the continuing accreditation decree.

Eastern has been preparing Connecticut's teaching workforce since its founding in 1889, and its educational programs continue to be recognized in various national rankings. For instance, both the elementary and secondary education undergraduate programs are ranked in the top five in New England by path2teach.org; the secondary program is ranked in the top 10 nationally by the National Council on Teacher Quality. Other noteworthy accomplishments include Eastern's leadership role in advancing diversity among the teaching profession through its partnership with the Holmes Masters Program, and a new partnership with Norwalk Community College to enable its students to leverage their associate's degree to earn their bachelor's degree in the area of early childhood education.

Education faculty are also making news, with Assistant Professor of Education Mark Fabrizi named editor-in-chief of "The Leaflet," the journal of the New England Association of Teachers of English; and Jeffrey Trawick-Smith, professor and Phyllis Waite Endowed Chair for Early Childhood Education, and Sudha Swaminathan, professor of early childhood education, awarded a Spencer Foundation grant for the project "The Relationship of Teacher-Child Math Talk During Preschool Play to Young Children's Mathematics Learning."

Other recent initiatives include two clinical practice partnerships with local school districts that include year-long, residency-based internships for Eastern graduate students seeking master's degrees in education.

The residency internship is designed to reshape graduate teacher education by ensuring long-term, high quality clinical experiences for professionals seeking to become classroom teachers. Each intern works in an assigned classroom for a full academic year, while completing university coursework.

Both university and school district partners collaborate on supervision and curriculum to ensure that theory and practice are integrated. Graduate students also participate in school wide initiatives and demonstrate positive impact on student learning and the school community as a program outcome.

During fall 2016, an inaugural cohort of 10 was selected for placements in Coventry School District. The program was a success. Of participating school district teachers and administrators, 85 percent indicated that interns were able to positively impact the learning experiences for P-12 students, and 100 percent of district participants supported program continuation.

"The year-long residency internship adheres to national standards for university-school district partnerships for clinical practice," said Jacob Easley II, dean of the School of Education and Professional Studies and Graduate Division. "We are certain that the profession will be transformed by partnerships such as this; and we are excited about expanding the program in Windham Public Schools during the upcoming academic year."

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