ISSUED: 14 July 2020
MEDIA CONTACT: Valerie Owens
SHEPHERDSTOWN, WV — The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) has granted full accreditation to Shepherd University’s School of Education through spring 2025.
CAEP initially accredited the School of Education in 2018, with the stipulation that improvements be made within two years to use multiple indicators and technology-based applications to establish, maintain, and refine criteria for selection, professional development, performance evaluation, and continuous improvement and retention of mentor teachers in public school systems the education department partners with to train teachers.
“I am very excited and pleased to have quality faculty and staff who have contributed to this successful endeavor for our school,” said Dr. Jennifer Penland, director, School of Education. “The approval came because the School of Education is now collecting and using technology-based data to establish, maintain, and refine criteria for selection, professional development, performance evaluation, and continuous improvement and retention of our clinical educators.”
To achieve accreditation, the education department had to meet five standards designed to assure that education majors develop a deep understanding of content and teaching methods and can demonstrate an ability to have a positive impact on the learning and development of students in preschool through 12th grade. The department must also recruit quality students, demonstrate the impact graduates have in the classroom, and maintain a quality assurance system to measure data that can be used to improve the program.
The CAEP website says, “Educator accreditation is a seal of approval that assures quality in educator preparation. Accreditation makes sure that educator programs prepare new teachers to know their subjects, their students, and have the clinical training that allows them to enter the classroom ready to teach effectively.”
— 30 —
