Ferris State University's School of Education was recently accredited by the Council
for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation, to complete a five-year process. A
Ferris School of Education student participates in the Annual Capstone Poster presentation,
in this photo.The Washington, D.C.-based Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation recently included Ferris State University’s School of Education among 59 providers across the U.S., who have certified accreditation in recognition of their rigorous standards for preparing teachers.
Professor Liza Ing, in Ferris’ College of Education and Human Services, is the SOE director and was project leader for the achievement of this recent honor. Ing said that this accreditation is a requirement and this designation came about after five years of research and preparation.
“We are one of 17 programs in the state of Michigan who have completed the process and gained accreditation,” Ing said. “These are both private schools and state universities. Several Michigan schools joined us in this cycle, with more likely to gain their accreditation soon.”
Ing said the School of Education had to demonstrate their program’s specific efforts to achieve excellence in five categories:
- Content and Pedagogical Knowledge
- Clinical Partnerships and Practice
- Candidate Quality, Recruitment and Selectivity
- Program Impact
- Provider Quality Assurance and Continuous Improvement
There was also a two-and-a-half-day site visit conducted in 2019 to assure that Ferris’ School of Education was qualified for this designation from the sole nationally recognized accrediting body for educator preparation.
“We had to present three cycles of data collection, to demonstrate that we had continued measurement of our achieving or surpassing CAEP standards,” Ing said. “All aspects of our operation were reviewed during the site visit, as we brought in our K-12 partners, alumni of the School of Education program and students who are currently pursuing their degrees, so as to show what our curriculum offers and its results.”
Ferris’ School of Education joins 280 other providers who have achieved accreditation for their educator preparation programs, with 101 newly accredited providers during the 2019 calendar year.