News Release

Public Invited to Comment on Ohio Wesleyan’s Teacher-Education Program
Third-Party Input Sought as part of OWU Education Department’s National Accreditation Process

March 29, 2011

Image courtesy of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education

NCATE is recognized by the U.S. Department of Education as the accrediting body for colleges and universities that prepare teachers for work in elementary and secondary schools. Through its peer review process, NCATE ensures that accredited institutions produce competent, committed, and professional teachers who possess the necessary knowledge, skills, and dispositions to help all students learn.

The OWU Department of Education earned NCATE accreditation in 2006 and will host the council examiners from Oct. 9-11. As part of the review process, the department and university are required to seek third-party comments about the OWU teacher-education program.

Letters must be received no later than Sept. 1, and all comments must address substantive matters related to the quality of the professional programs offered at Ohio Wesleyan. Comments should address the tenets of NCATE accreditation standards of excellence, which recognize that:

• OWU teacher-education candidates know the subject matter and can teach it effectively so that all students learn.
• OWU teacher-education candidates can connect theory to practice and be effective in an actual PreK-12 classroom.
• OWU’s Department of Education and its programs and faculty are involved in ongoing planning, evaluation, and assessment as it responds to new knowledge, practice, and technologies in this evolving world of education and educational reform.

Letters-writers also should specify their relationship, if any, to the university, such as a program graduate or an employer of program graduates. Letters may be mailed to: Board of Examiners/NCATE, 2010 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Suite 500, Washington, D.C. 20036-1023, or e-mailed to callforcomments@ncate.org.

Copies of all correspondence received will be sent to the Ohio Wesleyan Department of Education for comment prior to the on-site review. No anonymous testimony will be considered.

Ohio Wesleyan University is one of the nation’s premier small, private universities, with more than 90 undergraduate majors, sequences, and courses of study, and 23 Division III varsity sports. Located in Delaware, Ohio, just minutes north of Ohio’s capital and largest city, Columbus, the university combines a globally focused curriculum with off-campus learning and leadership opportunities that translate classroom theory into real-world practice. OWU’s close-knit community of 1,850 students represents 45 states and 52 countries. Ohio Wesleyan earned a 2009 Presidential Award for Excellence in General Community Service, is featured in the book “Colleges That Change Lives,” and is included on the “best colleges” lists of U.S. News & World Report and The Princeton Review. Learn more at www.owu.edu.