WWU’s Graduate Education Programs Accredited by TEAC

7/8/2011 Mary Ann Beahon
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE (573) 592-1127

 

William Woods University has been accredited by the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC) for master of education-administration and educational specialist degrees.
 
“This is important information for Arkansas teachers who wish to take WWU graduate programs.  It now provides reciprocity with other states,” Dr. Michael W. Westerfield,vice president and dean of the graduate college, said.
 
Dr. Doug Ebersold, dean of education, explained that the Arkansas Department of Education recently started requiring teachers to complete either TEAC or NCATE (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education) accredited programs to receive administrative certification.
 
William Woods has been accredited for five years (the highest number of years that TEAC awards), which Westerfield said “is another move forward for WWU.”  
 
Less than half the nation’s programs that prepare professional educators for the schools are currently accredited. Those that are accredited are either located in the few states that mandate accreditation, in other states that encourage accreditation in their state program approval process, or seek the market advantage that comes from being able to advertise that their program is accredited while some competitors are not.
 
In Missouri, graduate education programs are accredited by the Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE).

There are two national accreditors in education recognized by the Council of Higher Education (CHEA) and the United States Department of Education (USDE). Those that have selected TEAC are generally the independent liberal arts colleges, the flagship research universities, and those who prefer TEAC’s reliance on self-inquiry and continuous improvement.                                                          
 
TEAC offers an accreditation system that gives great weight to the evidence of student accomplishment the program relies on to prove that its graduates are competent. Programs attracted to TEAC’s approach are schools that think independently and arrive at novel and productive solutions to the advancement of teaching and knowledge.
 
These schools and programs find TEAC’s audit approach to accreditation highly supportive as it helps them in the important work of developing an on-going, valid, and influential quality control system aimed at continuously improving teacher/leader preparation.