CWU Educator Program Earns State Approval

May 21, 2008

ELLENSBURG, Wash. - The Residency Teacher Preparation program at Central Washington University has been approved by the state through 2013. The Professional Educator Standards Board (PESB) today also gave full approval to CWU's Administrator Preparation program, following the recommendations of a state review team that conducted a five-day analysis of the two programs in April.

"The board's approval of our teacher preparation program is a result of the work of our faculty and staff to ensure the quality of our programs remains high by meeting or exceeding college, institutional, state and national standards," said Dr. Connie Lambert, interim dean of the College of Education and Professional Studies. "I'm particularly pleased that the PESB gave high marks to two aspects of the program: assessing student work and our commitment to continual improvement."

The teacher preparation program earned accolades for the standard, "Demonstrating a strong commitment to improving the program and ensuring candidate success." The PESB also singled out CWU's achievement in "Developing a collaborative and transparent culture of assessment."

"Reviewers were impressed that everyone - faculty, students and alumni - knew about and understood the assessment system," said Lambert. "They were very pleased to find the system on the university Web site and to see that we even had a questionnaire for visitors to take."

The PESB has responsibility and authority for policy and oversight of Washington's system of educator preparation, certification, continuing education and assignment. A team of education officials appointed by the PESB conducted a review of CWU's Residency Teacher Preparation program from April 19-24. The visit was a follow-up to a review last year that resulted in probationary status for the program. The site team's 2008 evaluation showed that CWU's program now meets all state standards.

In October 2007 CWU's education programs earned accreditation with conditions from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), the nation's largest accrediting organization. NCATE and Washington state partner in the review of teacher preparation programs, conducting their reviews at the same time. The state/NCATE partnership saves time, effort and expense for the institutions and the states while promoting high national standards for teacher preparation.

CWU's teacher preparation program is the ninth largest in the U.S. and provides about 20 percent of educators in Washington's public schools. The program has a record of producing outstanding graduates. Ninety percent of program graduates pass the teacher certification exams required to teach in Washington. This year seven of the 10 state teacher-of-the-year candidates were Central graduates. The teacher and the principal of the year in Washington state for 2008 are also alumni of Central's College of Education and Professional Studies.

Media Contact: Becky Watson, CWU Public Relations & Marketing, bwatson@cwu.edu, 509-963-1416

Central Washington University is a master's degree-granting institution with approximately 10,000 students and 1,500 faculty and staff. More than 160 undergraduate and master's degrees are offered. Founded in 1891, the Ellensburg campus is located in the heart of Washington State, nestled between the Cascade Mountains and the Columbia River. Since 1975, CWU has served the needs of place bound students at six university centers throughout the state. CWU is an AA/EEO Title IX Institution.