Elon teacher education programs named among nation’s best

The nonpartisan National Council on Teacher Quality has ranked the School of Education #3 in the United States for its special education program and #22 for its undergraduate elementary education program.

Elon University’s special education and undergraduate elementary education programs received top national rankings this summer from the National Council on Teacher Quality.

Elon University’s School of Education is home to the top performing undergraduate elementary education and special education programs in North Carolina, according to new rankings from the nonprofit National Council on Teacher Quality.

The special education program ranked #3 among all programs in the United States. The undergraduate elementary education programs was tied for #22 overall with the University of Houston, Johns Hopkins University, Cedarville University and Southern Methodist University.

The NCTQ’s “2014 Teacher Prep Review” released June 17 focuses on the knowledge, skills and academic attributes new teachers need to be prepared for the classroom. Rankings considered selection criteria, lesson planning, student teaching, outcomes, instructional design for special education, and curriculum for teaching struggling readers, among others standards.

NCTQ has awarded top recognition for Elon’s School of Education programs.

“We’re very proud of the work that we do and our students are highly sought after because they are exceptional teachers when they leave our program,” said Deborah Long, interim dean of the School of Education. “Our professors are dedicated to educating the next generation of classroom teachers whose work with children is one of the most vital functions of our democracy. The success of our efforts is also due to the strong support of our public school partners whose commitment and expertise is invaluable as we prepare future educators.”

The organization fully evaluated 47 undergraduate programs housed in 22 North Carolina institutions – and 2,400 teacher preparation programs offered in 1,127 institutions nationwide.

Only two other North Carolina schools were nationally ranked for their special education programs: East Carolina University and High Point University tied for #12. Among the nationally ranked North Carolina undergraduate elementary education programs were UNC Wilmington (#34), UNC Chapel Hill (#78) and East Carolina University (#188).

The National Council on Teacher Quality is a nonprofit, nonpartisan research and policy organization located in Washington, D.C. Founded in 2000, it is committed to “restructuring the teaching profession led by a vision that every child deserves effective teachers.” NCTQ lends transparency and public awareness of four institutions it believes has the greatest impact on teacher quality: states, teacher preparation programs, school districts and teachers unions.