1. Home
  2. Academics
  3. Colleges
  4. College of Education and Health Sciences

Teacher education programs reaccredited

Bradley’s College of Education and Health Sciences received accreditation through the fall of 2021 under the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) standards. This accreditation covers all undergraduate and graduate programs that prepare teachers, educational administrators and school counselors. 

Drs. Twila Lukowiak and Patricia Nugent, NCATE Coordinators remarked, “We are thrilled that Bradley University has been recognized for its excellent programs provided for our initial and advanced candidates and the impact they have on the P-12 community.” 

Bradley University’s Educator Preparation Provider (EPP) was recognized for having met or exceeded all six rigorous standards, as valued and adopted by the NCATE professional education community, and for having no areas cited for improvement under NCATE standards. NCATE also provided a commendation for having an outstanding unit assessment and evaluation system.

Dr. Joan Sattler, Dean of the College of Education and Health Sciences, added, “To have no weaknesses and a commendation is an extraordinarily rare occurrence with any accreditation organization.”  Such a flawless performance is an unprecedented accomplishment for the Bradley EPP.

“This truly represents the highest level of achievement and mark of distinction that a teacher preparation provider can receive,” said Dr. Dean Cantu, chair of the Department of Teacher Education. “This is equivalent to, in the words of the NCATE accreditation team chair, pitching a perfect game – and that is what our faculty, staff and students have done.” 

Dr. Chris Rybak, chair of the recently renamed Department of Leadership in Education, Nonprofits, and Counseling, added, “We are extremely pleased to gain the unreserved approval of the NCATE accrediting team for our educational administration and school counseling programs. We believe our programs offer students an especially high quality preparation to take on professional roles of school leadership and counseling.”

Bradley’s teacher preparation programs include early childhood, elementary, special education (LBS I), middle school education, art education, music education and high school education.

Additionally, students in early childhood, elementary, middle school and special education (LBS I) programs will be eligible to receive English as a Second Language (ESL) endorsements through the department’s nationally recognized curricula.

Another new development is a master’s degree in Curriculum and Instruction (C&I), which will be offered online in the Fall of 2015. In response to the need of P-12 educators, all of the graduate courses in the C & I program will be delivered in synchronous and asynchronous online formats. 

All of Bradley’s teacher preparation programs hold state and national accreditation with the Illinois State Board of Education (ISBE) and aforementioned National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).  In addition, the following programs are nationally recognized by the following Specialized Professional Associations (SPA):

  • Association for Childhood Education International – Elementary Education
  • Council for Exceptional Children –Special Education (LBS I)
  • National Association for the Education of Young Children – Early Childhood Education
  • National Council for the Social Studies – History/Social Studies Secondary Education
  • National Council for Teachers of Mathematics – Mathematics Secondary Education
  • National Science Teachers Association – Biology, Chemistry, and Physics Secondary Education
  • National Council of Teachers of English – English Secondary Education