School of Education Makes the Grade
With National and State Accreditation

Last week saw the culmination of several years of gathering data to highlight the School of Education's programs when they presented their case for accreditation to the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing.

The excellence of the programs resulted in recommendations to the Boards of both NCATE and CCTC for full accreditation. This was the School of Education's first attempt to gain national accreditation through NCATE; it has been reviewed and received state accreditation at seven-year intervals for many years.

The recommendations go to CCTC's accrediting board in April and to NCATE's in October. The accreditation review primarily focused on the School of Education, but also involved the Pupil Personnel Services credential and School Counseling M.A. degree in the School of Social Sciences, and the Adapted Physical Education credential program in the School of Science and Technology.

"Our faculty were recognized for their excellent teaching and for excellence in creating and delivering high quality programs. So too were the faculty lauded in the School of Social Sciences, under the leadership of Dean Elaine
Leeder, and the School of Science and Technology, under the leadership of
Dean Saeid Rahimi.

All of these faculty and programs are to be commended for their high standards and commitment to quality, as are the staffs in each School whose support is so valued," said Martha Rapp Ruddell, dean of the School of Education. Almost 600 people were interviewed during the accreditation visit, and materials reviewed were chosen from a 131-page list of documents provided by the programs and schools.

Top: School of Education professor Carlos Ayala with Lamar Mayer, the co-chair of the combined accreditation examination team.

Below: The Sunday Showcase poster session in the Cooperage provided an opportuity for students, graduates and faculty to talk about their programs with the examiners.

Front page: Marty Ruddell , dean of the Schoolof Education

Photos by Pam Van Halsema