The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) has announced that Loyola Marymount University School of Education is the first in the state of California to receive full accreditation for its educator preparation programs.
“We are honored to be named the first institution in California to receive this recognition from the Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation,” said Mary K. McCullough, interim dean of the School of Education. “CAEP accreditation is a strong testament to our outstanding faculty and staff who are committed to providing academic excellence and ensuring our candidates receive rigorous and high-quality programs designed to prepare them to make an impact in the field of education.”
Upon review by the CAEP Accreditation Council, LMU SOE successfully met all five of the CAEP Teacher Preparation Standards – rigorous, nationally recognized standards that were developed to ensure excellence in educator preparation programs.
“The CAEP accreditation process challenged us to work collaboratively to identify, collect, and analyze data moving the LMU School of Education forward in a continuous improvement process,” said McCullough.
In Spring 2019, LMU SOE hosted both CAEP and the California Commission on Teacher Credentialing (CTC) for a joint site visit as part of the state and national accreditation process. CTC issued LMU SOE a seven-year state-wide accreditation across all eleven of its credential programs in May 2019.
Franca Dell’Olio, associate dean for Continuous Improvement and Accreditation, and professor and interim department chair of the Department of Teaching and Learning led a dynamic team of LMU SOE faculty and staff to organize both the state and national accreditation process.
“We are grateful for the participation we received at all levels of LMU SOE,” said Dell’ Olio. “Our faculty, staff, students, alumni, Board of Visitors, and community partners all contributed to the accreditation process and played an important role in our continued success.”
The accreditation for LMU SOE is effective now through 2026.
CAEP is the sole nationally-recognized accrediting body for educator preparation. Accreditation is a nongovernmental activity based on peer review that serves the dual functions of assuring quality and promoting improvement. CAEP was created by the consolidation of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC). It is a unified accreditation system intent on raising the performance of all institutions focused on educator preparation.