Date: May 21, 2012
Contact: Carol Connelly, Director, Media & Communication Services, ext. 5267, cconnelly@pnc.edu

PNC Education Program Earns Positive Recognition

Westville – As the Purdue University North Central Education Department faculty, staff and students prepare for a December accreditation visit by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), the PNC Education programs are earning positive recognition from the accrediting agencies reviewing the Elementary, Early Childhood and Secondary Education programs.

Earning NCATE accreditation is a multi-step process. One component of the process is the requirement that the PNC Elementary, Early Childhood and Secondary Education programs each submit a program report to the Specialized Professional Area (SPA) prior to the submission of its overall institutional accreditation report. Those reports have earned praise from the reviewing agencies.

The Elementary Education program was nationally recognized by the Association for Childhood Education International (ACEI) in September without conditions. It is one of 17 Elementary Education programs in Indiana nationally recognized by ACEI.

A minority of programs reviewed by ACEI achieve this status. Margie Crutchfield, former associate vice president of Program Review at National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), noted that that the approval rates of recognition without conditions totaled 24.24 percent in Spring 2010 and 25 percent in Fall 2010.

The PNC Early Childhood Education program was nationally recognized by the National Association for the Education for Young Children (NAEYC) in February. The program is one of three programs in Indiana nationally recognized by NAEYC. In addition, the PNC Early Childhood Education program is the only program in Indiana that focuses on birth to third grades. The other two programs housed, in Ball State University and Indiana University at Bloomington, focus on pre-school to third grade.

Crutchfield said that the approval rates of recognition with and without conditions from NAEYC were 79.31 percent in Spring 2010 and 82.5 percent in Fall 2010.

The Secondary Education in Science program was nationally recognized by the National Science Teachers Association (NSTA) in February. It is one of six nationally recognized NSTA programs in Indiana.

Crutchfield reported that approval rates of recognition with and without conditions from NSTA were 45 percent in Spring 2010 and 55.32 percent in Fall 2010.

The PNC Education Department received initial NCATE accreditation of the Elementary Education program in October 2006. Currently, the Education Department is in the process of renewing the Elementary Education accreditation and establishing accreditation for the Early Childhood Degree and the Secondary Degrees in Mathematics and Science.

NCATE is a non-profit, non-governmental organization recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as an accrediting body for institutions preparing teachers and other professional personnel for work in preschool, elementary and secondary schools. It represents a coalition of more than 30 national associations representing the education profession at large.

Through its voluntary, peer review process, it helps to ensure that accredited institutions produce competent, caring and qualified teachers and other professional school personnel who can help all students learn. NCATE's accreditation fosters competent classroom teachers and other educators whose goals are to improve the education of all preschool through 12th grade students. They believe that every student deserves a caring and high qualified teacher.