NCATE: National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education

This week the Education Department at Marietta College is being visited by an evaluation team from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, with the hope of becoming an accredited program. It would be great to get their stamp of approval. Looking at the list of accredited institutions in Ohio, it would seem like MC has a good chance.

The NCATE team members are meeting with faculty and students, and observing lots of classes. They even met with my boss, who runs the Title III technology grant (which paid for the equipment in the education lab). I attended a student meeting yesterday, feeling I had to put in a good word for our outstanding faculty members in the English and Education departments, as well as represent us older, non-traditional students. I was glad to see my fellow secondary language arts student, Kelly, because she is articulate and knowledgeable and observant. Two seniors from the elementary program were there, and they also made some good points. But there were no students from the middle school program, which was a little distressing. We have some very bright and motivated students in all of our programs; they are probably too busy to attend a meeting! Hopefully the team will get a better picture of students from their classroom observations.