Urban Institute for Teacher Education

University of Utah Teacher Education Program Accorded National Accreditation

The University of Utah Teacher Education Program has formally received national accreditation through the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC). This is the first time in the history of the College of Education that the UofU has sought and received national recognition for the rigor and quality of its teacher education program which is designed and implemented through the Urban Institute for Teacher Education and the Department of Special Education in partnership with the four departments in the College of Education, six U colleges, the Utah System of Higher Education, the Utah State Office of Education, and school districts throughout Utah.

The College Teacher Education Governing Board expresses its appreciation to the leadership, faculty, and staff from each participating university, state, and local school district partner for their time and effort in preparing for this accreditation review. Special recognition goes to the College's Accreditation Assessment Team led by Mary Burbank, Melissa Goldsmith, and John McDonnell with support from the Dean's Office, the Faculty Advisory Committee on Teacher Education, and the University Advisory Council on Teacher Education. Thanks as well to the many U undergraduate and graduate teacher education candidates who willingly participated in the accreditation review.

The Teacher Education Program at the U offers teaching license specializations in early childhood education, elementary education, special education, and secondary education (in the content areas of visual arts, dance, theatre, communication, Spanish Chinese, Russian, French, German, health, mathematics, English, English as a Second Language, biology, chemistry, earth sciences, geology, physical science, physics, geography, history, and social science). The initial national accreditation for the U is five years and began on October 1, 2011.