The Teacher Education Committee

The Limestone University Teacher Education Committee is the official university administrative unit charged with the responsibility of designing, developing, approving, and evaluating teacher education programs. In addition, the Committee's function is to coordinate and clarify for the entire faculty and student body the Teacher Education Program at the university. Other responsibilities of the Committee are

1. to establish admission requirements and to accept each candidate into the Teacher Education Program and to Clinical Practice according to the established criteria,
2. to review and act upon special requests of candidates pertaining to course requirements for certification in their major disciplines,
3. to maintain a current teacher education handbook,
4. review assessment systems and subsequent data on candidate performance,
5. to evaluate curriculum changes and make recommendations to the Curriculum Committee for its consideration, and
6. to review the teacher education program for strengths, weaknesses and needed revisions. All unit and program assessments, policies and requirements are reviewed each year by members of the Teacher Education Committee during the process of revising the Teacher Education Handbook. The Committee, acting as the governing body of the Teacher Education Program, serves as the agency responsibility for achieving and maintaining program recognition and unit accreditation.  

Curriculum experiences in the Teacher Education Program are planned to provide a systematic and coordinated program of study. Theory, higher order thinking, and practical application experiences, including real and simulated situations, are present in the program offerings. The Teacher Education Committee has the primary responsibility for the development and implementation of the teacher education curriculum. Professional education faculty, general education faculty, candidates majoring in education, graduates, and Cooperating Teachers are encouraged to provide information and suggestions for developing and revising the curriculum. Information on candidate performance and program evaluation is used by the Teacher Education Committee in the curriculum development process. Recommendations for curriculum development and change are carefully considered. The professor and division chairpersons implement curriculum recommendations to improve individual courses. Adding or dropping courses or changes in program or major requirements require approval of the division, the Curriculum Committee, and the faculty.

In the case of the Teacher Education Program, the Teacher Education Committee makes recommendations to the Curriculum Committee.