Texas Tech Retains Accreditation in Education Certification

Aspiring teachers who graduate from Texas Tech University can be confident they are receiving a high quality, comprehensive education based on national standards before entering the classrooms.

Officials in the College of Education announced continuing accreditation through the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). Texas Tech has been continuously accredited by the organization since 1963.

“NCATE accreditation is an important recognition. It assures the public that Texas Tech teacher graduates have completed a program grounded in nationally recognized standards of excellence,” said Charles Ruch, interim dean of the College of Education.

The accreditation encompasses colleges campus wide, said Larry Hovey, assessment and accreditation coordinator for the College of Education.

“Eight of Texas Tech’s nine traditional academic colleges are somehow involved in teacher education,” Hovey said. “This validation affects the hundreds of students each year, from all disciplines, who go out into the schools to teach.”

There are 67 university-based teacher preparation programs in Texas. Texas Tech is one of 13 accredited by NCATE. The accreditation also includes other school personnel, such as principals, counselors and diagnosticians.

The accreditation process, which previously took place every five years, now will occur every seven years. The criteria cover six areas of scrutiny, including: student knowledge and skills; assessment and evaluation; field experiences and clinical practice; diversity; faculty qualifications, performance and development; and governance and resources.

National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education

NCATE currently accredits 623 institutions which produce two-thirds of the nation’s new teacher graduates each year. Ninety-nine institutions are candidates or precandidates for accreditation.

Accredited schools must meet rigorous standards set by the profession and members of the public. Teacher candidates must have in-depth knowledge of the subject matter that they plan to teach as well as the skills necessary to convey it so that students learn.

NCATE revises its standards every seven years to incorporate best practice and research in order to ensure that the standards reflect a consensus about what is important in teacher preparation today. In the past decade, NCATE has moved from an accreditation system that focused on curriculum and what teacher candidates were offered, to a data driven performance-based system dedicated to determining what candidates know and are able to do.