College of Education maintains NCATE accreditation

COLLEGE PARK, MD (November 2007) – The College of Education is pleased to announce the continuation of its full accreditation status, certified by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) as of October 2007.

The College was granted accreditation with conditions following a 2005 NCATE Board of Examiners visit and given two years to respond to issues related to Standard II-assessment and unit evaluation. In September 2007 a Board of Examiners (BOE) conducted a follow-up visit, during which it was determined the College had met the standards. The visiting NCATE team, led by B. Grant Hayes, Associate Dean for Graduate Studies at the University of Central Florida College of Education, commended the College for the quality of its initial and advanced students and for how far it has come since the 2005 visit. The NCATE Unit Accreditation Board accepted the BOE's recommendation. The College's next scheduled NCATE visit will be spring 2011.

NCATE President Arthur Wise, in his formal letter of notification to University of Maryland President C.D. Mote and College of Education Interim Dean Donna Wiseman, congratulated the college "for displaying the high quality necessary to be granted national accreditation." He also expressed appreciation for the cooperation received from the faculty, staff and administration.

In response to the letter Wiseman stated, "This is an important accomplishment for the college and I'm very proud of the team effort put forward by our faculty, staff and students during the past two years to get us to this point of success. We intend to maintain our high standards of quality as we continue to graduate high caliber students and produce cutting-edge research and dynamic programs of relevance to the classroom."