Meeting of the Board of Regents | February 2008

SUMMARY

Issue for Decision

              Should the Board of Regents continue the accreditation of teacher education programs at Hobart and William Smith Colleges?

Reason(s) for Consideration

              Required by State regulation

Proposed Handling

              The question will come before the Higher Education Committee at its February 2008 meeting, where it will be voted on and action taken.  It will then come before the full Board at its February 2008 meeting for final action.

Procedural History

              In 1998, the Board of Regents adopted a new teaching policy, “Teaching to Higher Standards: New York’s Commitment.”  As a result of that policy, in 1999, the Board adopted Section 52.21(b)(2)(iv)(c) of the Commissioner’s Regulations, which requires New York State teacher education programs to become accredited by an acceptable accrediting organization.

Background Information

              Hobart and William Smith Colleges applied for Regents Accreditation of Teacher Education (RATE) of its programs leading to teacher certification. At its meeting on May 18, 2004, the Board of Regents voted to grant seven years accreditation of Hobart and William Smith Colleges’ teacher education programs, with the condition that a focused site visit be conducted before May 1, 2007, to evaluate the development and implementation of a formal and systematic assessment plan, both qualitative and quantitative in scope, which demonstrates that the vision and goals of the teacher education programs are realized in candidate performance. Accreditation beyond May 17, 2007 will be contingent on a finding that the Colleges have satisfactorily developed and implemented such an assessment plan. The focused site visit took place on February 26-27, 2007.

Hobart and William Smith Colleges have the following registered programs leading to certification in the classroom teaching service:

• Childhood Education (Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science, Childhood 1-6)

• Childhood Special Education (Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science, Childhood Special Education 1-6)

• Adolescence Education (Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Science) in the areas of:

On September 27, 2007, the Higher Education Subcommittee of the State Professional Standards and Practices Board for Teaching met to consider the continuation of the accreditation of the teacher education programs offered at Hobart and William Smith Colleges.

              The Subcommittee reviewed the Focused Site Visit Review Report (comprising the Draft Focused Site Visit Review Report, the Colleges’ August 27, 2007 response, and the Department’s summary and preliminary recommendation for accreditation action). The Subcommittee also had available to it the Colleges’ Compliance Review Report and Catalog. The Subcommittee commended the Colleges for the progress made toward addressing the areas for improvement cited in the Compliance Review Report, including the development of an assessment system to assess candidate achievement and graduate effectiveness. Following review and discussion of the focused site visit review report on the teacher education programs offered by Hobart and William Smith Colleges, on the basis of the record before it, the Board recommended to the Senior Deputy Commissioner that accreditation be continued until May 17, 2011, with the condition that annual reports document continuing progress toward satisfying the concerns cited in the Compliance Review Report.

Recommendation

It is recommended that the Board of Regents continue accreditation of the teacher education programs offered by Hobart and William Smith Colleges for a period beginning immediately and ending on May 17, 2011, with the condition that RATE annual reports document continuing progress towards satisfying the concerns cited in the Compliance Review Report.