YSU program deemed ‘weak’

By Denise Dick

denise_dick@vindy.com

Youngstown

A research and policy group rated Youngstown State University’s student-teacher program as weak, but officials stress that a national accreditation body gave the program high marks.

The National Council of Teacher Quality, based in Washington, D.C., released the report Thursday of the student-teaching programs at 134 higher-education institutions.

Of those, 50 percent were designated weak, and 25 percent were placed in the most-deficient category of poor, 17 percent were considered good with 7 percent earning a model designation, the highest.

YSU was designated weak while Ohio University, the only other Ohio college ranked, earned a poor rating.

“We appreciate constructive feedback, and we’re using it,” said Mary Lou DiPillo, interim dean of YSU’s Beeghly College of Education.

But she also points out that the school got positive reviews in its re-accreditation by the National Council for Accreditation for Teacher Education. That review, unlike the one released Thursday, included an on-site visit, meetings with students and visits to schools where YSU student teachers are assigned.

That review, a requirement to maintain accreditation, also looked at data, DiPillo said. It examined the college’s programs, including early childhood education that has the student-teacher program.

“They gave our president a glowing report,” she said.

For the more recent report, reviewers asked for a collection of documents and assessed the programs based on information contained therein.

The NCTQ report examined five standards upon which to determine the programs’ designations.

YSU met three of the standards: the student-teaching experience lasts more than 10 weeks and requires a full-time commitment; the teacher- preparation program must select the cooperating teacher for student-teacher placement; and the cooperating teacher must have at lease three years of teaching experience.

The two standards the report said YSU’s program doesn’t meet required the cooperating teacher candidate to have the capacity to have a positive impact on student learning, and the cooperating teacher must have the capacity to mentor an adult.

DiPillo and Therese Kightlinger, administrator for student field experiences at YSU, said that YSU practices those standards; it’s just not in writing.

DiPillo said it seems as if the NCTQ reviewers examined the documents requested, looking for key words.

Kightlinger said the review was of the 2008-09 academic year, and changes have been made since. Though the reviewers mentioned that changes were under way, that had no bearing on the designation.

On the other hand, of the roughly 1,400 education programs in the U.S., about 600 have earned NCATE accreditation, she said.

“It’s prestigious,” DiPillo said.