The teacher education programs in the College of Education and Human Sciences (CEHS) at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln received national accreditation (December 2018) from the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). Those institutions receiving CAEP accreditation must meet five rigorous, nationally recognized standards that were developed to ensure excellence in educator preparation programs.
“These institutions meet high standards so that their students receive an education that prepares them to succeed in a diverse range of classrooms after they graduate,” said CAEP President Dr. Christopher A. Koch. “Seeking CAEP Accreditation is a significant commitment on the part of an educator preparation provider.”
CAEP is the sole nationally recognized accrediting body for educator preparation. Accreditation is a nongovernmental activity based on peer review that serves the dual functions of assuring quality and promoting improvement. CAEP provides an accreditation system that is intent on raising the performance of all institutions focused on educator preparation. Educator preparation providers seeking accreditation must pass peer review on five standards, which are based on two principles: 1) Solid evidence that the provider’s graduates are competent and caring educators, and 2) Solid evidence that the provider’s teaching faculty have the capacity to create a culture of evidence and use it to maintain and enhance the quality of the professional programs they offer.
Educator preparation at UNL occurs across three departments in CEHS (Teaching, Learning, and Teacher Education; Special Education and Communications Disorders; Child, Youth, and Family Studies) and extends to the Hixon-Lied College of Fine and Performing Arts and the College of Agricultural Sciences and Natural Resources.
“UNL has a longstanding tradition of preparing exemplary professional educators,” said Lawrence Scharmann (CEHS Professor of Education). “The faculty responsible for teacher education, in collaboration with our school-based partners, are serious, dedicated, and highly effective in establishing the culture required by CAEP to prepare highly effective new teachers.”
[For additional information contact Dr. Lawrence Scharmann, CEHS Professor of Education, lscharmann2@unl.edu]