NORMAN— The Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education at the University of Oklahoma is one of nine teacher preparation programs receiving the 2020 Frank Murray Leadership Recognition for Continuous Improvement from the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation announced.
Recipients of the award are selected from the educator preparation providers that were granted accreditation by CAEP at the initial level from the previous year, who provided evidence and demonstrated data trends with no stipulations or areas for improvement. Providers selected for recognition advance equity and excellence in educator preparation through purposeful use of self-study procedures and evidence-based reporting that assure quality and support continuous improvement to strengthen P-12 learning.
“CAEP sets a high bar for the preparation of educators in the nation,” Interim Dean Stacy Reeder said. “The Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education is honored to receive this national recognition for leadership and a commitment to continuous improvement in our efforts to advance equity and excellence in teacher educator preparation.”
“We know that when our teacher candidates graduate from the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education that they are among some of the best and brightest entering the field of education,” said Aiyana Henry, associate dean for professional education. “This recognition signifies and reflects our commitment to excellence. We are truly honored by this award.”
The College of Education received its CAEP accreditation in the fall of 2019 after a three-year process involving faculty, staff and students. Professor Theresa DeBacker served as the CAEP coordinator for the college and led the transition to the new accrediting body. DeBacker, who at the time of the accreditation process also served as the associate dean for professional education, worked with faculty and the Education Professions Division counsel in the college to create the plan of evaluation, collect and organize the data, and write the reports required by CAEP.
“The JRCoE faculty and staff are committed to providing an excellent, research-based teacher preparation program,” DeBacker said. “It is gratifying to have CAEP, the national accrediting body, recognize this commitment by naming OU as a recipient of the Frank Murray award.”
Due to planning and the leadership of DeBacker, the Jeannine Rainbolt College of Education had complete rounds of data ready when the evaluation team made its visit in spring 2019. Because of that, the college was accredited with no areas for improvements and no stipulations and was one of the first schools in the country to be accredited on the basis of a full review of its undergraduate programs.
The Frank Murray Leadership Recognition for Continuous Improvement is named after the founding president of the Teacher Education Accreditation Council. CAEP was created by the consolidation of the NCATE and TEAC. Murray was the founding president of TEAC, served as chairman of the board for TEAC and was also an initial member of the CAEP Board of Directors. He was a key advocate for a single set of teacher preparation standards to unify the profession and was instrumental in the merger that created CAEP. He also served as the dean of the college of education at the University of Delaware from 1979 to 1995.
CAEP accreditation serves the dual purposes of accountability and continuous improvement. The CAEP accreditation process evaluates the performance of providers and focuses particularly on whether candidates will be prepared, by completion, for the challenging responsibilities that educators face in America’s classrooms. Approximately 700 educator preparation providers participate in the CAEP Accreditation system. CAEP is the only educator preparation provider recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation.
2020 Frank Murray Recognition for Continuous Improvement
Alma College—Michigan
Monmouth University—New Jersey
South Carolina State University
The University of Oklahoma
York College/CUNY—New York
Bellarmine University—Kentucky
Northeastern Illinois University
Southern Illinois University at Carbondale
West Virginia University at Parkersburg
