The teacher education and educational leadership programs at the IU School of Education have achieved national accreditation through 2031.

Per state requirements, the IU School of Education must maintain accreditation to issue teacher licenses. After an extensive review process that took two years, the school is fully accredited through the Council for the Accreditation for Educator Preparation. The standards that CAEP holds programs to indicate a hallmark of preparation in this country, said Alexander Cuenca, Associate Dean for Accreditation.

“The CAEP accreditation at the end of the day reinforces the quality of work we’re doing and the quality of our teachers. It puts us in company with really fantastic institutions that are preparing teachers to high quality standards,” Cuenca said.

As part of the accreditation process, the school collected data around student performance both while they’re at the School of Education and once they become teachers after graduation. Teacher candidates met or exceeded with an 80% pass rate on content knowledge and pedagogical skills exams and attain high grade point averages. The team also asked principals and mentor teachers for feedback regarding their graduates. Overwhelmingly, the feedback was positive, with surveys indicating high satisfaction with program graduates, results that are backed up by data collected from both the School of Education and the Indiana Department of Education.

“The self-study did really tell some wonderful narratives and stories about how well our candidates are doing, how valued they are. It does demonstrate how our candidates are at the top and by far the most (the school corporations we spoke to) employ. Anyone who leaves the School of Education is going to find a job,” Cuenca added.

The accreditation process also provided good feedback on positive changes for the school to make, some of which were already put into place, Cuenca said: “There’s always something else we can do to improve and become even better as an institution.”