NewsRelease

UNCG Teacher Programs Rated “Exemplary”
In N.C. Board of Education Report

GREENSBORO – For the third year in a row, The University of North Carolina at Greensboro has been rated among the state’s top teacher education programs, receiving its third “exemplary” rating on the 2001-2002 Institutions of Higher Education (IHE) rankings, which were announced by the State Board of Education.

“Receiving an exemplary ranking for three straight years is an honor that has been earned by the hard work and dedication of our faculty and staff,” said Dr. Dale Schunk, dean of the School of Education. “After two years as number one in the rankings, the University continues to operate one of the state’s very best teacher education programs. Our goal is for our programs to retain their ‘exemplary’ ratings as they prepare tomorrow’s teachers.”

During the first two years of the IHE report card, UNCG topped the list of 48 state teacher preparation programs. For 2002, UNCG programs were ranked fourth behind Appalachian State University and East Carolina University, which tied for first place with 135 points of a possible 140. Western Carolina was third with 133 points. UNCG and UNC-Wilmington tied with scores of 129 points for fourth place. The top seven “exemplary” teacher education programs were rounded out by Elon University and UNC-Pembroke. The entire report is available on line at http://www.ncpublicschools.org/ihe.

The teacher-education “report card,” as it has been nicknamed, is prepared in compliance with the Excellent Schools Act of 1997. Rankings are based on three overall criteria: compliance with state and national accreditation standards, quality of graduates, and involvement with and service to public schools. Institutions will be rewarded or sanctioned based on the data contained in this report.

Schools that earn "exemplary" ratings, requiring a score that is higher than 125, will be rewarded with scholarship funds for students through an appropriation from the N.C. General Assembly.

Teacher preparation at UNCG is a campus-wide responsibility, not one that is located simply in the School of Education. Educators in all the university’s academic units are members of the UNCG Teachers Academy

“This honor reflects UNCG’s continued tradition of excellence in preparing the professional development of caring, collaborative and competent educators who work in diverse settings,” said Dr. Ceola Ross Baber, director of the Teachers Academy and associate dean for teacher education and school relationships. “Our students spend hundreds of hours in classrooms across the region, acquiring the necessary skills for success in the classroom after they leave here. This ranking shows that what we are doing at UNCG is right for us, right for the community and right for the state.”

More than 30 teacher education programs at UNCG are coordinated through the UNCG Teachers Academy. 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.

 Education has been a major offering in UNCG’s curriculum since its opening in 1892 as the State Normal and Industrial School. With major strengths in business, science, the humanities and technology, as well as education, UNCG offers the community and the Triad and state a combination of multidisciplinary resources for developing new knowledge, stimulating business and inspiring leadership.

In addition to the School of Education, UNCG has teacher education programs in the College of Arts and Sciences and in three professional schools: School of Health and Human Performance, School of Music and School of Human Environmental Sciences.
 
 

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