NCATE drops mention of social justice

[Peter Campbell <campbellp@mail.montclair.edu>]

--Inside Higher Ed, 6/6/06--


For months, an education school accrediting group’s use of the phrase  
“social justice” to describe a desirable quality in candidates to  
become elementary and secondary teachers has fueled a debate that has  
been robust and at times contentious. Monday, as critics formally  
challenged the accreditor’s policy before a U.S. Education Department  
panel, the accrediting group defended its evaluation methods and took  
steps to defuse the issue.

The words “social justice” appear in a glossary of terms that the  
National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education uses as an  
example of what programs might consider using when evaluating a  
teaching candidate’s “disposition” and classroom readiness.

Supporters of a traditional curriculum have argued that evaluating  
students based on their commitment to social justice is an inherently  
subjective practice with ideological undertones. Late last year, the  
National Association of Scholars filed a complaint with the Education  
Department saying the accreditor encourages standards that violate  
students’ First Amendment rights.

Arthur E. Wise, president of NCATE, has argued that the “disposition”  
component of evaluation helps education schools measure how their  
students would respond in a classroom setting. On Monday, as Wise sat  
before the Education Department’s National Advisory Committee on  
Institutional Quality and Integrity, which has the power to extend  
the council’s authority or set the agenda for changes, a set of  
critics raised the issue once again.

The committee said it didn’t have the jurisdiction to consider the  
“social justice” matter, as department staff deemed the topic to be  
outside of the scope of the education secretary’s “Criteria for  
Recognition.” But Wise knew who was behind him, both in physical  
proximity and in order of speech — a small group of third-party  
witnesses ready to pick apart NCATE’s practices.

So Wise preempted his detractors. “I categorically deny the assertion  
that NCATE has a mandatory ’social justice’ standard,” Wise  
testified. “We don’t endorse political and social ideologies. We  
endorse academic freedom, and we base our standards on knowledge,  
skills and professional disposition.”

And then, Wise threw the witnesses a bone, announcing that NCATE had  
decided to eliminate references to “social justice” from its current  
glossary because “the term is susceptible to a variety of definitions.”

The Education Department committee, which shares the task of  
recognizing accreditors with the Council for Higher Education  
Accreditation, also voted unanimously to renew NCATE’s recognition  
for five years and to expand the agency’s scope to include  
accreditation of programs offered via distance education.

Wise said the council would not get in the way of nor discourage its  
member programs from incorporating social justice in the curriculum.

The speakers who followed admitted some of their thunder had been  
stolen. “One of the reasons for me being here today has become moot,”  
said Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual  
Rights in Education. “I applaud what NCATE has done today; it’s a  
step in the right direction.”

Stephen H. Balch, president of the National Association of Scholars,  
echoed Lukianoff’s sentiments, but said that only time will tell if  
education programs make any changes in their evaluation policies.

Anne D. Neal, president of the American Council of Trustees and  
Alumni, said in an interview that the omission of the “social  
justice” phrase “will make absolutely no difference” in the practices  
of either NCATE or its member institutions. “Removing social justice  
doesn’t eliminate the issue of imposing disposition on teacher  
candidates.”

George A. Pruitt was the only advisory committee member to enter into  
the “social justice” debate. “I’m struggling to find how this is a  
radical agenda,” he said. “I’m saddened by the notion that our  
children need to be protected from ’social justice.’ This is one  
issue that shouldn’t be controversial.”

The Education Department committee meets again today in Arlington,  
Va., to determine the accreditation status of other agencies.

— Elia Powers

The original story and user comments can be viewed online at http:// 
insidehighered.com/news/2006/06/06/disposition.