Fwd: [LiteracyForAll] Accreditor of Education Schools Drops Controversial 'Social Justice' Standard for Teacher Candidates

[Rich Gibson <rgibson@pipeline.com>]

> NCATE outs itself
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>
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> >Tuesday, June 6, 2006
> >
> >Accreditor of Education Schools Drops Controversial 'Social Justice'
> >Standard for Teacher Candidates
> >
> >By PAULA WASLEY
> >
> >The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education won a key
> >endorsement on Monday in its quest for continued federal approval of its
> >accrediting power after announcing that it would drop controversial
> >language relating to "social justice" from its accrediting standards for
> >teacher-preparation programs.
> >
> >The council, which is the nation's largest teacher-education accrediting
> >organization, has come under fire from conservative activists for the
> >wording of standards that require that candidates in education programs
> >"demonstrate the content, pedagogical, and professional knowledge, skills,
> >and dispositions necessary to help all students learn."
> >
> >The council, known as NCATE, had said that teacher candidates'
> >"dispositions" should be "guided by beliefs and attitudes such as caring,
> >fairness, honesty and responsibility, and social justice."
> >
> >The concept of social justice, opponents contend, has political overtones
> >and can be used by institutions to weed out would-be teachers based on
> >their social and political beliefs. Several teacher candidates, in fact,
> >have complained recently about education professors who seemed more
> >interested in students' political views than in their classroom
> >performance (The Chronicle, December 16, 2005).
> >
> >On Monday, at a hearing of the U.S. Department of Education's National
> >Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity, Arthur E. Wise,
> >the president of NCATE, called the criticisms of the standards
> >"unwarranted" but announced that the organization would drop "social
> >justice" from the guidelines, "lest there be any misunderstanding about
> >our intentions."
> >
> >Mr. Wise emphasized that the phrase "social justice" was merely an example
> >of criteria institutions may adopt when assessing candidates'
> >dispositions, and was never intended as an accreditation requirement. Each
> >institution, he said, was free to choose its own disposition evaluation
> >criteria.
> >
> >"The allegation that NCATE requires thought control is simply wrong," he 
> said.
> >
> >His announcement pre-empted testimony from members of groups such as the
> >National Association of Scholars and the Foundation for Individual Rights
> >in Education, who had gathered to voice objections to the "social justice"
> >provision and request that the Department of Education withhold renewal of
> >its recognition of NCATE until that term was removed.
> >
> >Stephen H. Balch, president of the National Association of Scholars, said
> >he was "delighted" by NCATE's decision to strike the concept of "social
> >justice" from its standards, calling the phrase "ideologically freighted"
> >and "necessarily ambiguous."
> >
> >Similarly, Greg Lukianoff, president of the Foundation for Individual
> >Rights in Education, applauded the change as a "step in the right 
> direction."
> >
> >"'Social justice' is simply too vague of a term and susceptible to
> >interpretation," he said.
> >
> >But, although pleased with the modification, Anne D. Neal, the president
> >of the American Council of Trustees and Alumni, said rewording the
> >standards was not enough.
> >
> >Higher-education institutions have "already adopted the standard and are
> >using it in ways that lend itself to political litmus tests," she said in
> >an interview after the hearing, noting that several colleges have
> >incorporated the words "social justice" into mission statements or
> >teacher-evaluation forms.
> >
> >It is, she said, "short-sighted to think that eliminating the words
> >eliminates the problem."
> >
> >Mr. Wise countered that NCATE had already alerted member institutions to
> >the changes and that a draft version of the revised standards was already
> >available for public comment on the organization's Web site.
> >
> >In response to the modifications, the National Advisory Committee on
> >Institutional Quality and Integrity passed a motion recommending that the
> >department renew its recognition of NCATE for five more years. It also
> >recommended expanding the council's authority to include the accreditation
> >of programs offering distance education.
> >
> >Copyright © 2006 by The Chronicle of Higher Education
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