Milligan Teacher Education program receives national award

Published 11:29 am Wednesday, September 21, 2022

The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) has announced that Milligan University is one of 32 providers from 16 states, Puerto Rico and Jordan to receive recognition for their leadership and commitment to continuous improvement in teacher preparation.

Recipients of the 2022 Frank Murray Leadership Recognition for Continuous Improvement were selected from the educator preparation providers granted accreditation by CAEP at the initial level from the previous year. Each program provided a full complement of evidence with demonstrated data trends and no stipulations or areas for improvement. Providers selected for recognition advance equity and excellence in educator preparation through purposeful use of self-study procedures and evidence-based reporting that assure quality and support continuous improvement to strengthen P-12 learning.

“We are honored to receive this award as a reflection of the hard work of our students and faculty along with strong mentorship from our local school districts,” said Dr. Angela Hilton-Prillhart, Milligan’s Chair of Education. “Within Tennessee, Milligan is recognized as one of the top educator preparation providers in the state, and this national award from CAEP reinforces our commitment to high standards for educator preparation.”

The Frank Murray Leadership Recognition for Continuous Improvement is named after the founding President of the Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC). CAEP was created by the consolidation of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and TEAC. In addition to serving as President of TEAC, he served as Chairman of the Board and as an initial member of the CAEP Board of Directors. He was a key advocate for a single set of educator preparation standards to unify the profession and was instrumental in the merger that created CAEP. He also served as the Dean of the College of Education at the University of Delaware from 1979 to 1995.

CAEP accreditation serves the dual purposes of accountability and continuous improvement. The CAEP accreditation process evaluates the performance of providers and focuses particularly on whether candidates will be prepared, by completion, for the challenging responsibilities that educators face in America’s classrooms. Approximately, 600 educator preparation providers participate in the CAEP Accreditation system, including many previously accredited through former standards.

“We are proud of our teacher education programs at both the undergraduate and graduate levels, and I appreciate our faculty’s commitment to shaping the next generation of teachers,” said Milligan President Dr. Bill Greer.