The Colleges of Education, Arts and Sciences and Basic Sciencesare collaborating to show the rest of the state and the nation thatLSU reflects much more than its school colors.
The College of Education is hosting an accreditation team– 11team members from the National Council for Accreditation of TeacherEducation team and a group of Louisiana-based educators.
“Purple and gold is not just a symbol but a sense of a reality,”said Bill Doll, a professor from the College of Design. “It isintegration of what we are and what we are about. The program goesout across the campus, city, nation and internationally.”
Patricia Exner, assistant dean of the College of Education, saidthe University was part of the beginning group of the NCATEaccreditation in 1954, and this accreditation is part of acontinuing process.
Professional organizations nominate people for the NCATEpositions, Exner said.
NCATE trains the members and sends the professional educators,practicing teachers and state policy-makers around the country todifferent universities to evaluate their programs, Exner said.
Exner said by having a team comprised of both national and statemembers, the University can get an external perspective from thosenot associated with the institution and an internal perspectivefrom those associated with the state educational system.
NCATE implemented new standards in 2000 which allowed state andnational boards to sign a partnership to accredit a universitytogether, said John Fulwiler, the NCATE Louisiana Board ofExaminers chair.
Both sides of the accreditation prepared in advance for theevaluation.
The College of Education submitted an Institutional Report tothe team, a 100-page document that addresses all of NCATE’spolicies regarding the University, to give the team backgroundinformation about the college a month before they arrived at theUniversity, Exner said.
The NCATE team came several days before the accreditationprocess began, Exner said. The team arrived Saturday to reviewexhibits that are a visual follow-up to the report.
Though the team arrived early, Sunday night was the kickoff toshow off the colleges’ projects, Exner said. Projects such asTeaching American History In Louisiana, a program started in 2001between LSU and East Baton Rouge Parish schools to construct asearchable digital archive of original materials for Americanhistory teachers.
Student teachers also presented advanced technology they use inclassrooms to further the students’ learning experiences, such as avideo camera to record class lessons which are placed on a classWeb site for students who miss class.
The exhibits also gave the team background information forMonday and Tuesday when the team conducts interviews with facultyand staff and observes classes, Exner said. The team is allowed toask a professor to leave class and interview the class. The teamalso can include information from informal conversations withstudents in the hallways.
The team leaves Tuesday and must come to a consensus whenwriting the final report. After conducting a thorough evaluation ofthe college, the team will write a report listing theirobservations, Fulwiler said.
An NCATE Board of Examiners reviews the report and recommendsthe Unit Accreditation Board considers accreditation.
Fulwiler said there are six standards the members evaluate–students, assessment, field experiences, diversity, faculty andgovernance, or what resources and technology are available.
Fulwiler said, with the accreditation, the University wants tobe able to say students at LSU can teach anywhere and work withdiverse groups of students.
The University will receive a copy of the team’s report afterthe team has completed its evaluation and will have a chance toappeal observations in question, Fulwiler said. The University canpresent its case directly at a Unit Accreditation Boardsession.
“It’s a way to get things moving,” Fulwiler said. “It’s our jobto discover what is there and report.”