In its latest round of decisions, the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education granted accreditation to a larger proportion of teacher-education institutions than had been customary since tougher ncate standards took effect in 1988.
Only 4 out of 40 institutions were rejected during the council’s spring review process, according to a list scheduled to be released this week.
In prior rounds, about one-third of the schools applying were rejected.
The president of the accrediting body, Arthur E. Wise, said he was uncertain if the results from the most recent round of reviews represented an encouraging trend.
“However,” he said, “we hope that the institutions are learning what our new standards demand and that we mean to enforce them.”
“As a result,” he continued, “they should be taking the process very seriously, and many are taking the steps necessary to meet the new standards.”
Mr. Wise also speculated that the upswing in favorable decisions may have resulted from a longer preparation period for the schools that underwent review this spring.
Denied approval were Dickinson State College in North Dakota and West Liberty State College in West Virginia.
The names of the other two institutions denied accreditation were withheld. Ncate policy dictates confiden4tiality for schools undergoing the process for the first time and for those appealing the council’s decision.
Another school, Kutztown University of Pennsylvania, met the standards for its basic programs, but its advanced program was rejected, as was that of Coppin State College in Baltimore.
Three education schools were accredited with stipulations.
Representatives of three institutions that received adverse decisions said they believed the new standards to be both fair and clear.
“We had some difficulty with a few of the standards,” said Joseph P. Callahan, dean of the school of education at Dickinson State College.
Clyde D. Campbell, president of West Liberty State College, said his education school had been cited for 4 of the 18 standards. “We simply plan to correct those limitations and get accredited by ncate,” he said.
At Coppin State College, said Ora Sterling Anderson, dean of the division of education, “we are looking to meet the requirements that we did not meet in the advanced program.”
During the past two years, only 64.2 percent of the institutions seeking accreditation were granted complete approval. For the full 1990-91 academic year, the percentage increased to 71.6 percent.
Ncate strengthened its standards in an attempt to enhance quality control in the teaching field.
