School News
Southeastern Teacher Education program prepares for national re-accreditation
By Southeastern Public Information
Feb 7, 2010

DURANT, Okla. --­ Southeastern Normal School was founded in 1909 to train public school teachers. And while the mission of Southeastern Oklahoma State University has expanded over the past 100 years, the University is still committed to providing a first-class teacher education program.

"Southeastern's reputation for producing quality educators speaks for itself," said Southeastern president Larry Minks. "We have teachers and administrators enjoying successful and rewarding careers not only in the Oklahoma-Texas region, but across the entire country. Our University offers a rigorous and comprehensive program that truly prepares teachers for the real world."

Southeastern has been accredited by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) since 1954, and the time for re-accreditation is near. Every seven years, Board of Examiners (BOE) teams make on-site accreditation visits ­ such  a  team will make the trip to Southeastern this March.

The accreditation criteria covers six areas, including student knowledge and skills; assessment  system and unit evaluation; field experiences and clinical practice; diversity; faculty qualifications, performance and development; and unit governance and resources.

In addition, in Oklahoma, the accreditation process includes the evaluation of all teacher candidate portfolios. Also, each program area (e.g., math, reading, etc.) within a teacher education unit is required to submit a review as part of this assessment process.

An important component of the accreditation process is the on-site visit by the BOE team.  During the visit, a team of individuals trained in the NCATE standards work to determine the quality of the unit's candidates and graduates, as measured by their ability to help all students learn.  The team will spend a substantial amount of time during the visit examining and assessing the quality of the unit assessment system and the data generated by that system.  While on site, the team will evaluate evidence and conduct individual and group interviews.

"NCATE accreditation is obviously a very important achievement," said Dr. William Mawer, Dean of the School of Education & Behavioral Sciences. "We are mandated by the state of Oklahoma to have this accreditation. 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. With that being said, NCATE accreditation assures the public that Southeasternšs teacher graduates have completed a program grounded in nationally recognized standards of excellence."

NCATE currently accredits 623 institutions across the country.

Dr. Vivian Guarnera, director of teacher education at Southeastern, points to the strong preparation required of students as a real benefit of the Southeastern program.

"Before they begin their student teaching, our students must complete 90 hours of field experience (observation, etc.) in four different school districts," she said. "The student teaching component is a 60-day experience in the classroom. We place our student teachers in classrooms all across Oklahoma and Texas, from as near as Durant to as far as Houston, Texas. And all of the school districts that we have worked with have been very cooperative."

Southeastern currently offers the following teacher education degree
programs: Elementary Education; Elementary-Secondary Education in Art Education, Health & Physical Education, Music Education, and Special Education; Secondary Education in Science Education, English Education, Mathematics Education, and Social Studies Education; and Graduate degree certificate programs for reading specialist, elementary principal, secondary principal, and school counseling.

Ten of Southeastern's 14 programs have been nationally recognized by a learned society.

Dr. Vivian Guarnera and Dean William Mawer look over NCATE documents.