USF College of Education Meets

National and State Standards,

Receives Continuing Professional Accreditation

Tampa, FL— The College of Education at the University of South Florida has been granted full continued accreditation by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), and state approval for all educator preparation programs from the Florida Department of Education (FLDOE) based on a site visit by a team of professional educators.  To receive national accreditation and state program approval, a college must meet all six NCATE standards and all five Florida Department of Education standards. The College of Education was found to fully meet all NCATE standards, with no areas for improvement cited. During the site visit, the NCATE and FLDOE teams noted as a particular strength the College of Education faculty’s commitment to the ideals of collaboration, academic excellence, research, and ethical practice.

According to Dr. Colleen Kennedy, Dean of the College of Education, "Professional accreditation is one way to ensure the public that schools of education are graduating well qualified teachers and other school professionals ready for the realities of today’s schools. The College of Education at the University of South Florida has proven its commitment to producing highly qualified educators for our nation’s children by meeting all of the NCATE standards.”  NCATE accredited schools must meet rigorous performance based standards set by the profession and members of the public. Candidates in educator preparation programs are required to demonstrate the knowledge, skills and dispositions relevant to their field.  The institution must continually assess these knowledge, skills and dispositions to determine whether or not candidates can teach effectively or perform other professional roles.

Hillsborough County Schools District superintendent MaryEllen Elia states, “I would like to extend my congratulations to Dean Colleen S. Kennedy, her faculty and staff at the University of South Florida, College of Education for their recent successes. The Hillsborough County Public School system relies on USF to provide excellent new teachers every year.  With that in mind, the fact that the USF College of Education has met all standards set by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and received approval from the Florida Department of Education is a boon to USF, the Hillsborough schools and the community at large.”

Founded in 1954 by the teaching profession and the states, and recognized by the U.S. Department of Education, NCATE is the organization responsible for professional accreditation of teacher education as well as programs that prepare other school professionals such as principals, school counselors, school psychologists, and reading specialists.  USF offers professional preparation programs in all of these areas.  Meeting NCATE accreditation unit standards and FLDOE program standards also helps institutions prepare new teachers and other school professionals for new, more rigorous licensing standards in many states. NCATE accreditation standards incorporate the model state licensing principles developed by a task force of the Council of Chief State School Officers.