School of Education NEWS Release

UNCG TEACHER EDUCATION PROGRAM
IS NUMBER 1 WITH TOP STATE IHE SCORES
 

Dr. David Armstrong

Dr. Ceola Baber

GREENSBORO—The University of North Carolina at Greensboro has the state’s “Number One” teacher education program in the 1999-2000 Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) rankings, which were announced on Dec. 7 by the State Board of Education.

UNCG topped the list of 47 state teacher preparation programs, posting perfect scores in 9 of the 14 categories and a point total of 138 of a possible 150.  Second place was UNC-Pembroke (136) and a third-place tie (135) went to Greensboro College and UNC-Asheville.

The teacher-education “report card,” as it has been nicknamed, is prepared in compliance with the Excellent Schools Act of 1997. The report is to be issued annually for three years and biennially thereafter. The first-time report, which was released in April of this year, used information on 1998-99 students as the baseline data. The data for this year’s report card came from the 1999-2000 year.

Future reports will contain information on graduation and the number of individuals employed four years after program completion. Beginning this year, institutions will be rewarded or sanctioned based on the data contained in this report. The state’s ranking of institutions will also be reported on the Title II Report (national report card); the first Title II Report has to be submitted to the U.S. Department of Education in April 2001.

Schools that earn "Exemplary" ratings, requiring a score of 135 or higher, would be rewarded with scholarship funds for students through an appropriation from the N.C. General Assembly. UNCG, UNCA, UNCP and Greensboro College are the only four to receive the designation this year. The state rated each teacher education program based on three criteria: compliance with state and national accreditation standards, the quality of its graduates and involvement with and service to public schools. Five schools were designated "Low Performing," scoring less than 105 points.

“This is an honor that this University has worked very hard to earn,” said Dr. David Armstrong, who is retiring in February as the school’s dean. “Our faculty and staff do an outstanding job in a wide variety of academic areas in teacher preparation. We knew we were doing a great job—it’s even more gratifying to have the number one spot.

”We’re particularly pleased to receive this honor because teacher preparation at UNCG is a campus-wide responsibility, not one that is located simply in the School of Education. We really appreciate the contributions of teacher educators in all the university’s academic units who are members of the UNCG Teachers Academy.”

More than 30 teacher education programs at UNCG are coordinated through the UNCG Teachers Academy, which is directed by Dr. Ceola Ross Baber, who is the school’s associate dean for teacher education and school relationships.

UNCG’s programs, at both the undergraduate and graduate level, represent nearly all the academic disciplines that are taught in the public schools. They range from birth-kindergarten, elementary and middle grades education to programs in the sciences, languages, social studies, mathematics, physical education, music, theatre and English. There are also programs in educational technology, school administration, counseling, special education, curriculum and school media.

In addition to the School of Education, UNCG programs are housed the College of Arts and Sciences and in four professional schools: Bryan School of Business and Economics, School of Health and Human Performance, School of Music and School of Human Environmental Sciences.

During the 1999-2000 year, more than 1,000 students were enrolled in teacher education programs at UNCG, with over 400 undergraduates and 165 graduate students attending full-time. The school also is home to one of the state’s largest Master of Education degree programs with around 300 teachers seeking advanced degrees. During 1999-2000, 254 students completed their initial “A” licensure and another 193 graduate students completed advanced licensure.

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