News

TU Professional Education Maintains National and State Accreditation

The Towson University Professional Education Unit is pleased to announce the continuation of its full accreditation status, certified by the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and the Maryland State Department of Education (MSDE) as of April 2008. The Unit was granted accreditation having met all of the rigorous, performance-based accreditation standards at the initial, continuing, and advanced preparation levels. At the exit conference of the on-site visit, the visiting NCATE/MSDE team, led by Dr. Arlinda Eaton, Associate Dean, California State University, Northridge, and Dr. Margaret Trader, Chair of the Education Department and NCATE Coordinator, McDaniel College (Maryland) commended the institution for the professional levels of excellence that characterize its comprehensive preparation programming.

NCATE President Arthur Wise, in his formal letter of notification to Towson University President Robert Caret and College of Education Dean Raymond Lorion, congratulated the Unit "for displaying the high quality necessary to be granted national accreditation." He also expressed appreciation for the cooperation received from the faculty, staff and administration.

In response to the letter Dr. Lorion stated, "National accreditation, the profession's most rigorous mechanism to establishing high quality programs, is critical and well-deserved recognition of the excellence of our professional education unit, and reflects university-wide responsibility for professional education. Through the collaborative efforts of our faculty, staff, students, and P-12 colleagues, the Unit provided compelling evidence of candidates’ performance-based knowledge, skills, and dispositions. Professional accreditation ensures that we will maintain high standards of quality as Maryland’s premier professional education institution and continue to prepare the best possible candidates to educate our children.”

For more information on the accreditation, contact Dr. Tom Proffitt, Associate Dean, tproffitt@towson.edu, or Dr. Karen Blair, Assistant Dean, kblair@towson.edu.

Reading Clinic: Excellence in Education Award

In collaboration, the Baltimore City Public School System, Reading Clinic received the 2008 Maryland Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development's Excellence in Education Award.

PDS Network received two awards

The PDS Network received the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education’s Edward C. Pomeroy Award for Outstanding Contributions to Teacher Education (2008), and the National Association of Professional Development Schools' Spirit of Partnership Award (2008).

Fulbright-Hays Grant Group

The COE received a 2008-2009 Fulbright-Hays Grant Group Projects Abroad grant - “A New China View: Reshaping the Social Studies Curriculum in Middle and High Schools.”

Faculty member in the Department of Educational Technology and Literacy Co-authors book.

Bess Altwerger coauthored the book, Rereading fluency: Process, practice and policy.

Faculty members in the Department of Early Childhood Education author book.

Early Childhood Education faculty author book, Developing and Presenting a Portfolio in Early Childhood Education.

Faculty member in the Department of Secondary Education receives Award.

Gloria A. Neubert named 2007 Outstanding Teacher Educator in Reading by International Reading Association