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MSU-B receives recognition for work on teaching teachers
The Montana State University-Billings College of Education and Human Services this week received a national award for a comprehensive plan to help its students become better teachers.
By MARY PICKETT
Of The Gazette Staff
The award was an added achievement — and linked — to recent news that the university’s teacher-preparation program has had its accreditation continued for another five years.
Both are major accomplishments for MSU-B, a school where 40 percent of its students are education majors.
MSU-B received the Best Practice Award in Support of Teacher Education Accreditation from the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education at its meeting in New Orleans.
The award is considered the Academy Award of teacher education, said Cindy Dell, director of certification and field experiences for MSU-B’s College of Education and Human Services.
The award was given for the university’s Initial Conceptual Framework, which has become the cornerstone of the school’s teacher-education program. The plan outlines what a successful, professional teacher should be and then helps students to reach that level of expertise.
At three stages during students’ college careers, they are evaluated on their progress and given suggestions on how they can improve.
The plan coordinates a student’s classes, student teaching and faculty reviews. It also interweaves instruction in classroom technology, diversity and teaching professionalism.
In addition to the College of Education and Human Services faculty, roles in creating the plan and supporting the accrediting process were played by the faculty of MSU-B College of Arts and Sciences, School District 2, Chancellor Ron Sexton and Provost Janie Park, Dell said.
The plan was developed with the accrediting standards of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and the Montana Office of Public Instruction in mind, Dell said.
A major reason why MSU-B won the AACTE award was that the organization supports NCATE’s accrediting standards. The two organizations are not affiliated, but ACCTE recognizes the importance of accreditation and NCATE.
"NCATE is the gold standard of accreditation," Dell said.
Even though accreditation is a rigorous, lengthy and expensive process, it is important to MSU-B, too.
"We embrace accreditation, which improves our program, which in turn helps teacher to be better teachers, which in turn helps them to be more effective in the classroom," Dell said. "We’re serving the children of the state and nation."
Late last year, NCATE notified MSU-B that the College of Education and Human Services had had its accreditation continued.
The college has been nationally accredited since the 1950s, but must periodically go through evaluations to have accreditation renewed.
MSU-B spent 18 months preparing for the spring 2002 visit by an accreditation-review team. The team spent four days on the MSU-B campus looking at documents; interviewing faculty, students alumni and education professionals; and visiting schools where students were working.
NCATE’s final report said that MSU-B met all of its six accrediting standards.
The review included only one area that needed improvement: During one semester, class loads taught by college of education faculty members were too heavy.
That problem, which was the result of adding more online classes, has been resolved, and MSU-B will update NCATE each year on the matter, Dell said.
During its last accreditation visit five years ago, reviewers said that the college needed more diversity in students and faculty.
Since then, the school has actively recruited a more diverse student body and faculty. The college has grants, for example, that help bring Native American students from tribal colleges to MSU-B.
In the last review, MSU-B also was cited for having inadequate library resources for education students.
Library Director Jane Howell has "vastly improved" the number of books, journals and computer-based materials for students, Dell said. The college also added a curriculum resource center in its CEHS building where students can find materials for any subject for kindergarten through 12th grade.
During the same time that NCATE visited, representatives from OPI were on campus looking at how MSU-B prepares education students in individual subjects, such as math, English and social studies.
OPI’s report also was exemplary, said George White, dean of the College of Education and Human Services.
The only area needing improvement was an older computer-science program.
Five years ago when MSU-B was last evaluated by OPI, 11 programs were placed on probation.
"This time, we had none placed on probation," Dell said.
The expanded, remodeled CEHS building with its high-tech classrooms and the school’s technologically savvy faculty also impressed the review team, Dell said.
She said that MSU-B being reaccredited with a near-flawless report is something to be proud of and places the university among the best teacher-training programs in the country.
Graduating from an accredited program opens many more opportunities for education students.
Some states require new teachers hired to be graduates of an NCATE-accredited program or to take extra courses, Dell said. Montana requires that its teachers graduate from an NCATE- or state-accredited program.
MSU-B "performed very well" during the review process, but NCATE doesn’t rate schools that it accredits, said Jane Leibbrand, vice president for communications for NCATE. Out of the 1,200 schools of education in the country, 550 are accredited and another 100 are candidates for accreditation, she said.
One hundred of the accredited schools have their accreditation reviewed each year.
In addition to MSU-B, other teaching programs in the state that are accredited by NCATE are: Montana State University in Bozeman, the University of Montana in Missoula, and University of Montana Western in Dillon.
Several states require all public teacher-educational programs to be accredited, and a few states require all education programs to be accredited.
NCATE is the only organization accrediting professional teaching programs that has been approved by the U.S. Department of Education, she said.
Another organization has accredited a few schools, but it has not been approved by the department.
Mary Pickett can be reached at 657-1262 or at [email protected]
Copyright © The Billings Gazette, a division of Lee Enterprises.
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