麻豆影院

CU 麻豆影院's teacher preparation excellence聽recognized by the state聽

At the Colorado Board of Education meeting on Feb. 8, all of the CU 麻豆影院 School of Education鈥檚 teacher preparation programs were lauded and received sweeping reauthorization following a state review.

The Colorado Department of Higher Education (CDHE) and Colorado Department of Education (CDE) have joint authority to reauthorize traditional Colorado educator preparation programs at universities and colleges across the state. The CU 麻豆影院 School of Education was reviewed in the fall 2022 through a site visit that brought together reviewers and CU 麻豆影院 faculty, students, alumni and local school district partners.

As a result of the peer review, all 10 of the CU 麻豆影院 teacher endorsement programs up for review earned full reauthorization, including culturally and linguistically diverse (CLD) education, CLD bilingual education specialist, elementary education/CLD dual program, English language arts, mathematics, middle school mathematics, music, science, social studies, and world languages.聽

鈥淲e are immensely proud that our teacher preparation program received full reauthorization from the state,鈥� said Dean Kathy Schultz.聽

鈥淥ur students, alumni and faculty shine in all areas of our teacher education program from culturally and linguistically diverse education, which is embedded in our elementary education major, to content-specific secondary education and more. We are delighted that the state reviewers and our peers recognize the excellence of our programs.鈥�

CU 麻豆影院 received high praise for alignment with state standards, and notably, reviewers applauded CU 麻豆影院鈥檚 commitment to thorough reading instruction, a special focus area for the CDE. In the past year, very few聽other university programs have earned reading instruction reauthorization on the first pass, so praise in this area exceeded a very high bar.聽

Additionally, reviewers commended what the CDE and聽CDHE final report called the School of Education鈥檚 鈥渢rue partnerships鈥� that benefit student teachers and partner schools. 鈥淐U 麻豆影院 is invested and engaged with district leaders to explore needs and determine how their program can best benefit districts and young people,鈥� the report stated. 鈥淒istrict leaders lauded the high level of collaboration they feel, the stability and dedication of program leadership, and the commitment to equity throughout the program.鈥�

In addition to educator knowledge and partnerships, CU 麻豆影院 programs were evaluated on program design, clinical experience, and program impact. Overall, the reauthorization team was particularly impressed with CU 麻豆影院鈥檚:

• Conscientious program structures: Program coursework and experiences are tightly aligned to the goals of social justice, compassion, and advocacy.
• Commitment to field experiences: There is a conscious and consistent effort to ensure that candidates gain real-world experiences early and often in their programs, particularly in the CUTeach (STEM secondary education) and Music Education programs.
• Strong support structures:聽Students reported authentic connections with accessible faculty. There is a coherent model employed for building community and there are clear supports for students experiencing crises.
• Constructive responsiveness:聽Program staff are highly responsive to the needs of candidates and partners. School districts and community representatives spoke highly of the program鈥檚 timely and substantive address of concerns and sustained dedication to continuous improvement. Graduate programs are tailored and adapted to student demographics and licensure pathways.

鈥淎fter months of deep reflection and developing a self study聽for the reauthorization process, we are pleased to be聽recognized by the departments of education and higher education for the thoughtful work of our faculty, students, alumni and school partners,鈥� said Ashley Cartun, director of teacher education. 鈥淲e are聽so proud of the community we have created, our teacher candidates, and our transformative teacher preparation programs.鈥�

Current student Maia Parkin told state reviewers that her professors at CU 麻豆影院 care about their students and engage in their passions as they respect teacher candidates鈥� independence as a learner and future teacher.

鈥淚 think that CU 麻豆影院 is really preparing its students for a classroom of tomorrow鈥攁 future classroom where we鈥檙e being critical and looking at things that are relevant to our students and in a way that we as teachers can also enjoy,鈥� Parkin said.