AASL congratulates newly recognized NCATE-accredited programs

CHICAGO — The American Association of School Librarians (AASL) would like to congratulate the 12 programs recently granted AASL and National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) recognition. National recognition is awarded to education master’s programs in school librarianship that have been reviewed and approved by AASL's program reviewers using the “ALA/AASL Standards for Initial Programs for School Library Media Specialist Preparation” (2003) or the “ALA/AASL Standards for Initial Preparation of School Librarians” (2010). The schools and degree programs recognized are:

East Central University

Teacher Preparation Program, Library Media Specialist

Ada, Okla.

Fairfield University

Graduate School of Education and Allied Professions,

School Media Specialist Advanced

Fairfield, Conn.

Georgia College and State University

College of Education, M.Ed. in Library Media Specialist

Milledgeville, Ga.

Marshall University

College of Education and Human Services, School Library Media Specialist

Huntington, W. Va.

Notre Dame of Maryland University

Education Department, Library Media

Baltimore, Md.

Oklahoma State University

Professional Education Unit, School Library Media Specialist

Stillwater, Okla.

Sam Houston State University

College of Education, School Librarian

Huntsville, Texas

Towson University

College of Education, School Library Media

Towson, Md.

University of Maryland College Park

College of Education, School Library Media

College Park, Md.

University of Nebraska at Kearney

College of Education, Library Media

Kearney, Neb.

Valley City State University

School of Education and Graduate Studies,

M.Ed. with Library and Information Technologies Concentration

Valley City, N.D.

Wright State University

College of Education and Human Services, Library/Media Education

Dayton, Ohio

"AASL congratulates those preparation programs which are among the first to have been accredited according to the 2010 ALA/AASL Standards for Initial Programs for School Librarian Preparation (PDF) approved by Specialty Areas Studies Board (SASB) of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE)," said Susan Ballard, AASL president. "They have demonstrated their commitment to developing programs aligned to AASL’s learning standards and program guidelines by submitting to a rigorous curriculum review process and successfully documenting that students in their programs are able to fulfill the essential roles of the contemporary school librarian as leader, teacher, instructional partner, information specialist and program administrator."

NCATE is an agency authorized by the federal government to accredit units within colleges and universities that prepare classroom teachers and other pre K-12 school personnel. NCATE accreditation signals that an institution has met or exceeded professional standards of quality, created by the teaching profession and for the benefit of the nation's schoolchildren. NCATE's mission is to provide leadership in developing a system of quality assurance for the teaching profession.

The American Association of School Librarians, www.aasl.org, a division of the American Library Association (ALA), promotes the improvement and extension of library services in elementary and secondary schools as a means of strengthening the total education program. Its mission is to advocate excellence, facilitate change and develop leaders in the school library field.