The National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education will visit the Nicholls’ education department in October to re-evaluate the department’s performance from their 2001 visit. This visit is to evaluate the program and recommend the approval or denial for reaccredidation of the education department.
Prior to 2000, the main emphasis of colleges of education throughout the nation was the quality of instruction. NCATE changed those standards in 2000 to focus on the performance of individual students.
In order to prepare for the visit, the department is working to focus on the weaker aspects of NCATE’s last visit.
“Our approach has been to address the number one weakness area that was cited,” O. Cleveland Hill, dean of the college of education, said. “It really was only one (weakness). We did not have a systematic system of assessment in place with documentation.”
In response to the weakness cited, Hill has taken several steps to try to improve the educational program. An assessment task force has been created to look at systematic solutions to assess candidates. Nicholls is also trying to adapt the new terminology that NCATE has put into place. Instead of referring to prospective educators as “students,” NCATE, as well as Nicholls faculty, refer to them now as “candidates.”
Due to numerous difficulties at other universities with this documentation standard, Hill and other deans of education from the state of Louisiana took their concerns to Sally Clausen, president of the University of Louisiana System. With those requests, Clausen helped to gain special allocation fees to hire a full-time assessment coordinator.
“What NCATE wants now is not only for you to have a system in place, they want you to collect data showing how you assess your candidates,” Hill said. “These were things we were doing all along, but we had never done it in a systematic manner and we really never sat down and recorded it.”
The visit itself will entail numerous activities. A team of approximately five NCATE employees, as well as a team representing Louisiana educators, will be present for the visit. When the team arrives, team members will be looking for background information on the education program, feedback from candidates and faculty, as well as school visits to student teacher locations.
As far as not gaining reaccredidation, Hill has no doubt in his mind that this will not happen.
“We know exactly what we have to do this time,” Hill said, “and we’re ready for them. We’re more than ready for that return visit.”
In regards to improving the Nicholls education program, NCATE enjoys receiving comments from students about the program. People wishing to comment on the quality of academic programs in the College of Education at Nicholls are encouraged to do so. The comments should be addressed to the Board of Examiners, c/o NCATE, 2010 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Suite 500, Washington, DC 20036-1023.