ºÚÁϳԹÏÍø's four science education programs have achieved full national recognition from the National Science Teacher Education Association, a specialized accrediting organization affiliated with the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education.
NCATE is a nonprofit, nongovernmental alliance of 33 national professional education and public organizations. NCATE accreditation provides recognition that a college of education has met national professional standards for the preparation of teachers and other educators. All IUP teacher education programs and eligible graduate programs are accredited by NCATE.
“This recognition, the highest recognition possible for these individual programs, means that 100 percent of IUP teacher education programs have been nationally recognized by their specialized accrediting agencies,” IUP Dean of the College of Education and Educational Technology Dr. Mary Ann Rafoth said. “This is the highest recommendation that a program can achieve.
“It is especially gratifying that in all cases, the IUP programs received the highest possible ranking and met all 10 standards without any conditions. Our program also was praised by reviewers for our self-guided online instruction and learning companion strategy.”
This is the first time that the individual programs have received recognition from the National Science Teacher Education Association.
In making the announcement of the recognition, Rafoth recognized the four faculty members who coordinate each program and who worked collectively on the report: Dr. Mike Briggs, chemistry; Dr. Ken Coles, geoscience, who led the report writing efforts; Dr. Stan Sobolewski, physics; and Dr. Holly Travis, biology. She also recognized Jeff Fratangeli, IUP NCATE assessment coordinator, for his work in compiling necessary documentation for the assessment report.