Blackburn College Education Department Carlinville, Illinois Institution Comment Comments submitted by: Dr. Jeff Aper, Provost
Blackburn College has been fully cooperative and responsive to NCTQ’s request for information about its Teacher Education programs. Blackburn has provided substantial detail about these programs and has attempted to provide correction where the NCTQ analysis is clearly in error or lacks meaningful context. In spite of this sincere effort at cooperation and collaboration, NCTQ has proceeded on a self-appointed mission to find fault with all current programs preparing teachers in the United States by creating a set of standards that are based on limited empirical research. NCTQ did not provide their standards to institutions during the data gathering phase nor did they state how they would use the data collected. In fact, the NCTQ used data taken out of context to apply to an arbitrary set of standards unknown and unsupported by participating institutions. It is difficult to assess the accuracy or foundation of NCTQ’s claims about institutions or programs because the organization is itself not accountable, holds no discernable authority to conduct such reviews, and bases its pronouncements about Teacher Education on a very selective reading of educational research and theory. This evaluation of our programs exemplifies the willingness of the NCTQ to substitute its own judgment for that of professional educators with many years of service and experience on the front lines of education, yet the organization veils a political agenda behind its declared commitment to the welfare of children. Blackburn College’s programs in Teacher Education meet and exceed all applicable State and Federal regulations. The hardworking faculty, staff, and students who give life to this program deserve much better than to be defamed on the basis of this kind of insubstantial, unprofessional, paper evaluation that ignores basic tenets of empirical educational research and practice.
www.nctq.org/edschoolreports
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