COE Programs Receive National Recognition

This summer, the College of Education received national recognition from professional associations affiliated with the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). National recognition for COE programs is an essential step in the larger accreditation process for the College as a whole. The following programs secured national recognition: Educational Technology (MEd), Elementary and Early Childhood Education (Early Childhood specialization, BEd), English Language Arts (Secondary BEd), Science (Secondary BEd), and Social Studies (Secondary BEd).

In addition, the Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE) awarded national accreditation to the Rehabilitation Counselor Education (CRC) program in the Department of Kinesiology and Rehabilitation Science (KRS)

Educational Technology (MEd) was awarded national recognition by the Association for Educational Communications and Technology (AECT) for the second time. Chair Catherine Fulford said, “The accreditation process is rigorous, so we are very proud of this achievement. It assures students and their future employers that graduates of this program meet the national standards recognized for this profession.” The program’s purpose is to teach theory and practice of instructional design and innovative ways to integrate emerging technologies for teaching and learning. Graduates of the program enter careers in technology training, support, and management; instructional design; eLearning development; website development; distance learning management; educational video production; multimedia authoring; performance improvement; and project management.

The Elementary and Early Childhood Education program, in the Institute for Teacher Education ITE), prepares the state's first early childhood professionals to graduate from a nationally recognized initial license program. The program helps Hawai‘i meet the need for developmentally appropriate early childhood programs to serve our youngest children and their families. The program also assists DOE in fulfilling the goal of having early childhood education certified teachers in every kindergarten class by the year 2018. “We are grateful to the chair, the department, and the dean's office for providing so much support throughout the accreditation process for the early childhood education undergraduate program,” said report writers Robyn Chun and Jane Dickson Iijima.

The ITE Secondary Education Program secured national recognition in the subject areas of English Language Arts, science, and social studies, joining the ranks of the other nationally recognized secondary subject areas. Secondary Director, Jeff Moniz, said, “Our unique multi-department assessment system is a testament to the strength and cohesiveness of our ITE-Secondary Program.”

Nina Nakayama, Assistant Professor of English Language Arts in ITE-Secondary, stated, “The National Council for Teachers of English has extremely discerning standards for the programs they nationally recognize and, as such, earning this honor speaks to the caliber and merits of not just our program, but also our students.”

Associate Specialist in the science teacher education program, Scott Robinson, explained, “National accreditation affirms the current quality of the science teacher education program.” Jon Yoshioka, Assistant Specialist and co-writer of the science program report, added, “We provide our teacher candidates with an excellent foundation for becoming highly qualified science teachers.”

“Receiving full recognition from the National Council for the Social Studies is rare and validates the competence of our graduates to teach multiple disciplines under the social studies umbrella,” said Gail Tamaribuchi, Associate Specialist in social studies and economic education in ITE-Secondary. “It also recognizes the relevance and rigor of the secondary teacher education program.”

The Council on Rehabilitation Education (CORE) has recognized the Rehabilitation Counselor Education Program as fully accredited for eight years. Program Coordinator, Brenda Cartwright stated, "Accreditation by the Council on Rehabilitation Education provides validation that our program's content and quality satisfies nationally accepted standards and that our graduates are competent for entry into the field or for advanced practice. Further, external outcome data demonstrates that the number of UHM RCE graduates who passed their certification examinations exceeded the entire population of individuals who passed the national (Certified Rehabilitation Counselor (CRC) examination over the last five years."

The College of Education has achieved national recognition for 15 program areas during the past two years. The College of Education is the only nationally accredited Institution for Higher Education in Hawaii.