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Clarion University recognized for continuous Improvement in educator preparation

October 12, 2021

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The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation announced that 26 providers from 17 states and the United Arab Emirates received recognition for leadership and commitment to continuous improvement and Clarion University is among them.

The recipients of the 2021 Frank Murray Leadership Recognition for Continuous Improvement provided evidence and data trends to achieve accreditation with no stipulations or areas for improvement.

"Clarion has confidence in our programs preparing students with the right knowledge, skills, and dispositions because all of our programs are nationally recognized by their respective Specialized Professional Association," said CU Dean of the College of Education, Health and Human Services Gwyneth Price, Ph.D. "Our faculty are diligent about ensuring that each course is aligned to the proper national standards and about ensuring that those standards are assessed so that the data can be used to continuously improve our programs. Assessment is a part of the culture within the School of Education, and we take it very seriously. But it isn't just about data. It's about relationships. Our site visit wouldn't have been as successful without the positive feedback the site team received through interviews with our colleagues across campus, our school partners including cooperating teachers and administrators, and of course, with our tremendous students. We learn and grow from our conversations with stakeholders, and we endeavor to meet the needs of today's challenging school environments."

The award also highlights the leadership Clarion has always exhibited in education preparation.

"Beyond looking at data from key assessments and stakeholder surveys, Clarion has led the way by our involvement at the state and national levels. Faculty at Clarion have been active in organizations like the National Council for Social Studies and National Association of Educators of Young Children," Price said. "We have had faculty integral to the development of the state standards for Special Education and served as officers in statewide organizations for teacher preparation such as PA CEC and PAC-TE. We stay connected. We keep our eyes and ears out for changes. We change proactively."

This recognition is evidence that Clarion University, an institution preparing teachers for over 150 years, is as President Dr. Dale-Elizabth Pehrsson said, "building it better and stronger and reclaiming our legacy!"

The Frank Murray Leadership Recognition for Continuous Improvement is named after the founding president of the Teacher Education Accreditation Council. CAEP was created by the consolidation of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and TEAC. Murray was the founding president of TEAC, served as chairman of the Board for TEAC and was also an initial member of the CAEP Board of Directors. He was a key advocate for a single set of teacher preparation standards to unify the profession and was instrumental in the merger that created CAEP. He also served as the dean of the College of Education at the University of Delaware from 1979 to 1995.

"Frank Murray was passionate about education preparation, a prominent leader in our profession, and an advocate for evidence to improve education. The providers that CAEP is recognizing are committed to continuous improvement and preparing their students to succeed in a diverse range of classrooms after they graduate," said Karen Symms Gallagher, chair of the CAEP Board of Directors. "CAEP Accreditation is a sign of commitment to quality through purposeful use of evidence. The Murray Leadership Recognition recipients should be proud of their accomplishments."

Recipients of the 2021 Frank Murray Leadership Recognition for Continuous Improvement are selected from the educator preparation providers that were granted accreditation by CAEP at the initial level from the previous year, who provided a full complement of evidence with demonstrated data trends and no plans. Recipients had no stipulations or areas for improvement. Providers selected for recognition advance equity and excellence in educator preparation through purposeful use of self-study procedures and evidence-based reporting that assure quality and support continuous improvement to strengthen P-12 learning. These EPPs have a mission driving their continuous improvement inquiry, use assessments that are relevant to the topic being informed and consequential, show the reliability and validity of the evidence provided for accreditation, have quality assurance capacities that inform their knowledge and address questions about relationships in the data.

"This third class to receive the Murray recognition represents the diversity and innovation that comes with CAEP accreditation. Small, large, public, private, faith-based, and historically minority serving," said CAEP President Chris Koch. "These recipients reflect the creativity that CAEP affords in achieving excellence, by meeting the standards in a variety of ways, for the diverse populations they serve."

CAEP accreditation serves the dual purposes of accountability and continuous improvement. There are 423 educator preparation providers in 45 states, the District of Columbia and Puerto Rico, which have been accredited under the CAEP Standards. The CAEP accreditation process evaluates the performance of providers and focuses particularly on whether candidates will be prepared, by completion, for the challenging responsibilities that educators face in America's classrooms. Approximately, 700 educator preparation providers participate in the CAEP Accreditation system, including many previously accredited through former standards. CAEP is the only educator preparation provider recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.

Frank Murray Recognition for Continuous Improvement:

  • Arkansas Tech University
  • Bridgewater College—Virginia
  • Caldwell University—New Jersey
  • Claflin University—South Carolina
  • Clarion University of Pennsylvania
  • Clark Atlanta University—Georgia
  • The College of Charleston—South Carolina
  • Drury University—Missouri
  • Eastern Mennonite University--Virginia
  • Goshen College—Indiana
  • Indiana University Northwest
  • Lipscomb University—Tennessee
  • Oakland University—Michigan
  • Oklahoma Christian University
  • Southwestern Oklahoma State University
  • The University of South Alabama
  • The University of Tampa—Florida
  • University of Central Arkansas
  • University of the Cumberlands—Kentucky
  • University of Missouri-Columbia
  • University of North Carolina at Charlotte
  • University of Portland—Oregon
  • University of Tennessee
  • William Paterson University—New Jersey
  • Wilmington University—Delaware
  • Zayed University—UAE

 

Last Updated 10/13/21