West Virginia University has made the grade with the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE).

WVU s College of Human Resources and Education recently received accreditation for the next seven years by the organization that assesses teacher education programs in colleges and universities across the country.

The College of HR&E is home to a nationally acclaimed five-year teacher preparation programbut the accreditation doesnt stop there.

This accreditation especially significant,HR&E Dean Anne Nardi said,because it attests to the quality of teacher preparation across the University. Its about all of WVU s preparation programs for professional educators.

During the official visit last April, the NCATE team examined the quality of programs in the College of HR&Ewhile also casting a keen eye on teachers education programs across both downtown and Evansdale campuses.

The team evaluated programs in the Eberly College of Arts and Sciences, the School of Physical Education, the College of Creative Arts, P.I. Reed School of Journalism, Robert C. Byrd Health Sciences Center, and the Davis College of Agriculture, Forestry and Consumer Sciences.

HR&Es programs, meanwhile, train teachers for many public school subjects, and specialty programs are also offered for those who want to become school counselors, school administrators, and speech pathologists.

The NCATE is a coalition of 35 national education professional associations representing teachers, teacher educators, curriculum specialists and policy makers.

This most recent recognition comes on the heels of WVU s accreditation last month by the Higher Learning Commission of the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools. The HLC accreditation is through 2014.

Along with WVU , the HLC monitors academic and research programs in 19 schools across the country, from Arkansas to Wyoming. The HLC praised WVU for maintaining quality programs in trying economic times.