Accreditation – Education

Undergraduate Initial Licensure Programs (BS) require that applicants meet University of Saint Joseph undergraduate admission requirements

• Elementary Education (Grades PreK-6)
• Secondary Education: (Grades 4-12) General Science, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, Social Studies, English, and World Languages
• Special Education, Comprehensive (Grades PreK-12)
• Early Childhood/Special Education (Grades PK-3)

Graduate Initial Licensure Programs (MAT) require that applicants have completed a bachelor’s degree at an accredited college or university

• Elementary Education (Grades PreK-6)
• Early Childhood/Special Education (Grades PK-3)
• Secondary Education (Grades 4-12): General Science, Chemistry, Biology, Mathematics, Social Studies, English, World Languages, Family and Consumer Sciences
• Early Childhood/Special Education (Grades PK-3)

Since the State of Connecticut does not currently provide direct measures of teacher impact on student learning growth, the EPP conducts annual measures of graduates’ impact on Student Learning through three sources of evidence. Click on links below to access data.

• Teacher Preparation Provider Follow-up Survey (TPPF): This survey is distributed to graduates who have been in the field at least six months. Starting with the most recent administration, EPP faculty members contact former advisees and completers with whom they have a significant relationship.
• Completer Focus Call Survey: The Completer Focus Call Survey is conducted annually to gain insight into the program preparation of teachers and satisfaction of completers in their preparation. The purpose for talking with completers using a structured, open-ended survey is to provide an opportunity to share feedback related to their observation of student-learning growth and the degree to which their preparation has impacted their teaching. The Focus Call Survey is aligned to Connecticut Core of Teaching and inTASC standards. Results are used to identify program strengths and areas for improvement as a basis for ongoing quality assurance and improvement initiatives.
• Longitudinal Case Studies: A format for longitudinal case studies of completer contributions to P-12 student learning growth is in development.

• Employer Satisfaction Survey: The Employer Satisfaction Survey is designed to maintain continuous communication with current or potential partner districts as well as to assess the impact of completers in the field. Respondents (district facilitators, principals or superintendents) are asked to complete a survey of current EPP completers who work in their districts.
• Employer Focus Calls: Employer focus calls, completed with districts that employ a high number of EPP graduates, were designed to increase qualitative information about the performance of EPP completers through structured individual interviews.
• Stakeholder Advisory Groups: The University of Saint Joseph Department of Education Educational Stakeholders Advisory Board includes area superintendents, human resources directors for school districts in the region, principals from the EPP’s key partner schools, and public-school administrators who lead partnership work in districts, as well as the Program Directors, Department Chair, and Director of Clinical Practice from the EPP. The full Stakeholders Advisory Board meets twice a year, with smaller self-selected work groups convene more frequently to address questions, data analysis, and/or to discuss strategies for meeting district needs (e.g. development of residency programs to address current teacher shortages).
• Stakeholder Feedback and Quality Improvement: Brief summaries of Stakeholder Advisory meetings are evidence of varying processes and levels for stakeholder review and feedback on priorities of stakeholders interwoven with continuous quality improvement of EPP programs as one element of the EPP Quality Assurance Systems.

• Capstone Planning, Teaching, Assessment, and Communication (PTAC) Portfolio: is a culminating assessment completed during student teaching to demonstrate candidates’ readiness for professional practice. Candidates develop and reflect on a minimum three‑lesson learning segment with an emphasis on structured literacy or discipline‑specific literacy, aligned with district contexts and state, national, InTASC, CAEP, and ISTE standards. Candidates submit instructional artifacts (lesson plans, assessments, student work, videos, and family communications) and written reflections grounded in high‑leverage practices and research‑based theory. Portfolios are evaluated using four‑level rubrics (Exceeds, Meets, Approaching, Does Not Meet Expectations).
• Content Assessments: Praxis II, Pearson Early Childhood, Pearson Early Childhood, and Pearson Foundations of Reading are reliable and valid proprietary assessments required for each program area (Early Childhood Integrated Special Education, Elementary Education, Secondary Education (by content area), and Special Education examinations are aligned with standards of the Interstate Teacher Assessment and Support Consortium (inTASC), the Connecticut Common Core of Teaching (CCCT) and the Council on Accreditation of Educator Preparation Programs (CAEP).
• Candidate Preservice Assessment of Student Teaching (CPAST) is a student teaching formative and summative evaluation developed by VARI-EPP.  It is a valid and reliable assessment of pedagogical and dispositional performance in student teaching.

• Completer Ability to be Hired: The following information is drawn from the Connecticut State publicly available Department of Education website, which identifies completers who are currently teaching in Connecticut public or approved private schools within the district in which they are employed. The University of Saint Joseph works closely with school districts in Connecticut to prepare candidates to fill open positions as teacher shortages persist.