OC School of Teacher Education prepares for reaccreditation with CAEP

Officials with the Council for the Accreditation of Educators Preparation will visit OC in March.

February 19, 2020 - Spring classes have already begun at Oklahoma Christian University, and everyone is ready to have a strong semester. This includes the OC School of Teacher Education as it prepares for the final steps of reaccreditation through the Council for the Accreditation of Educators Preparation, a process that must happen every seven years.

The CAEP is a highly respected organization that recognizes higher-quality teaching programs and their continuous pursuit to improve. Unlike many other universities that are accredited just through the state, Oklahoma requires teachers to not only adhere to state regulations, but CAEP regulations as well. This means that OC is part of a group of universities accredited by CAEP, a sign that OC offers a higher-quality teaching program than those that only offer state accreditation. 

Professor Darin Martin, OC’s chair of the School of Teacher Education, provided an in-depth explanation of the reaccreditation process.

“I submitted a self-study report back in June to CAEP that included a narrative about how we’re meeting the standards, with around 80 pieces of evidence as well,” Martin said.“It’s all uploaded to the storing house that CAEP has, and then a team of national and state officials read my report, look at the evidence and reply with a feedback report.”

The feedback report includes questions and any possible issues, which OC will then reply with a narrative and more evidence. OC is currently about to send back their response, leaving the last step of visitation dates to occur March 7-10.

Martin added that the visitation teams talk to many individuals connected to OC.

“While on campus, the team [made of both state and national officials] interview people both on campus (students, faculty and others associated with the School of Education, such as the library and the English department) and off-campus (alumni, area teachers, administrators, off-campus advisory board, etc.),” Martin said. “The team then takes the information and creates a new report and, during an exit meeting with OC, will report their findings and leave. The team then sends its report to a board, who will make the final determination as to whether the school will be reaccredited.”

OC is required to meet five main standards as well as multiple sub-standards during the reaccreditation process. Martin and his team are well-prepared, and OC is ready to be reaccredited for the next seven years.