School of Education Reaccreditation Highlights Year Announcement during the summer by Dr. Lyn Gubser, director of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, that Harding's teacher education program had been granted the maximum seven-year reaccreditation by NCATE was definitely the highlight of the year for the School of Education. Accreditation applied to the University's bachelor-degree programs in elementary, secondary, K-12, and special education. This continues the accreditation which began in September, 1961, through August, 1988. Commenting on the reaccreditation, Dr. Bobby L. Coker, Dean of the School of Education, said, "We are very pleased with the reaccreditation. We feel that it attests to the quality of our program and to the quality of our graduates. It's a very important step for our students. Through the accreditation, it is possible for our graduates to obtain certification in most states." According to Coker, " The team cited two major strengths in our program. They could have cited any number of strengths, but they chose our library resources and our emphasis on multi-cultural education which emphasizes an understanding of students' indivi · dual differences. They expressed concern that our required Bible courses might take away from our general education program, but we feel that we have a very strong program. We'll take a good, close look at our general education requirements, but we will not limit our Bible courses." During the 1981 fall semester, Dean Coker assisted L. V. Pfeifer of the Bible Department in conducting the Harding University program in Florence, Italy. While in Europe, he did research on the educational systems of western Europe. In his absence, Dr. Wyatt Jones, Director of Graduate Studies, served as acting dean of the School of Education. During the summer of 1981, the Arkansas Department ~f 120 · School of Education Education shifted to the program approval plan with a representative at each NCATEaccredited college/university being responsible for recom· mending to the State Department those graduates who had met certification requirements. Dean Coker was the program approver at Harding. This year, in special education, Harding began phasing out majors in mental retarda - tion and specific learning disabilities and began phasing in a major in mildly handicapped. Also, all students planning to certify at the secondary level were required to take directed experiences concurrently with human growth and development just as students majoring in elementary and special education have been required to do for several years. This enabled students who were considering secondary teaching to have Jerome Bames, EdD Prof., Educational Media Wade Bedwell. PhD Assoc. Prof., Special Education Lola Brown, MA Assoc. Prof., Special Education James carr. Jr., EclD Prof., Administration Bobby Coker. EelD Prof.. History and Philosophy, Dean Sharen Crockett, M8 (\ssoc. Prof., Kindergarten RI....... Duke. MAT Asst. Prof., Supervised Teaching Mary Ann H........ EelD Assoc. Prof., Reading and Special Education WYIIU Jonea. EelD Prof., Educational Psychology Jamea Nichola. MEei Asst. Prof.. Middle School Edw.... Sewell. PhD Prot. Tests and Measurements Betty Wataon. MA Assoc. Prof.• Elementary Education -~eUTru/U
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