NCATE Call for Comments

Berea College’s Teacher Education Programs are currently being reviewed this spring term by NCATE and all institutions are required to solicit third-party comment on the quality of their programs as part of the accreditation review process. Such comments must be based on the core tenets of NCATE accreditation standards of excellence, which recognize that:

• In NCATE's performance-based system, accreditation is based on evidence that demonstrates that teacher candidates know the subject matter and can teach it effectively so that students learn. In the NCATE system, units must prove that candidates can connect theory to practice and be effective in an actual P-12 classroom.
  
  
• A professional education unit that is accredited by NCATE is expected to be involved in ongoing planning and evaluation; engaged in continuous assessment and development; ensure that faculty and programs reflect new knowledge, practice, and technologies; and be involved in continuous development in response to the evolving world of education and educational reform.
  
  
• Comments must address substantive matters related to the quality of professional education programs offered, and should specify the respondent's relationship, if any, to the institution (i.e., graduate, present or former faculty member, employer of graduates). Copies of all correspondence received will be sent to the university for comment prior to the review. No anonymous testimony will be considered.

We invite interested parties to submit written testimony on the quality of Berea College’s Teacher Education Programs by e-mail to:

Celebrating the Annual Bowman Cultural Trip

James C. Bowman was a man of vision and determination. For many years, he journeyed along creek beds and over mountain tops into the narrow hollows of Appalachian Kentucky, North Carolina, Georgia, and Tennessee to bring students to Berea. Along the way from their homes in the mountains, Bowman arranged a stop for what was for most their first moving picture show. Today, his family honors James Bowman’s memory and legacy by providing the annual cultural trip for education students.

On Saturday, April 12 fourteen student teachers, their  friends, education faculty, and members of the Bowman family gathered in Knapp Hall to celebrate this year’s trip—four days in New York City. Student displays provided a look at their remarkable New York experiences. Whether it was attending Broadway plays, romping in Central Park, visiting art museums, Ellis Island, Times Square, or simply riding the subways, the students reported on rich learning experiences and excitedly talked about how this trip has deepened their understandings and broadened their visions for teaching and learning.

• Student Photos of their New York Trip

Berea alumnus heads stand-out school

Roosevelt Elementary School is situated on a quiet street in a working class neighborhood in Kingsport, a community of 45,000 nestled in an Appalachian valley in Tennessee. The school looks typical from the outside, but what happens inside is anything but typical. Immediately put at ease by the bright and colorful entry way and halls filled with student work and beautiful photographs of the children who live work and play there, visitors to the school quickly realize there is something very special about the people and place. Read more...

Internship takes Molly McGill on an “excellent adventure”

Last summer fifth-year senior Molly McGill found herself in the most unusual places learning the most unexpected things—especially for a young woman who had never been west of Louisville, KY. During a six-week internship in Montana, Nebraska, and South Dakota, Molly stood in awe atop Snake Butte on Fort Belknap Reservation, and dug roots near age-old tipi rings near Poplar, MT. She photographed buffalo in Yellowstone National Park, drank sacred water from a spring on the Northern Cheyenne Reservation, and interviewed an 84 year old Lakota woman who had never told anyone the stories of her youth but wanted to tell them to Molly. Read more...

Student teacher sets goal to be mentor and role model

"Out of the millions of people on Earth, Berea College was made for me,” student teacher James “Herbie” Brock says. “I wouldn’t have had a shot at being successful without Berea and opportunities I’ve had here.” Read more...