National Council on Teacher Quality Places UPB Secondary Ed Program on Top-Ranked List

The National Council on Teacher Quality has given the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford’s secondary education program “Top Ranked” status – a distinction awarded to only 81 secondary programs nationwide – in its second annual Teacher Prep Review.

The council surveyed 1,668 programs at 836 institutions before awarding top-ranked status to 26 elementary programs and 81 secondary programs.

The council ranked secondary programs primarily on their selectivity, content knowledge for middle school and high school, and student teaching experience. Other considerations were instruction in classroom planning, secondary methods and assessing outcomes.

Nationwide, Pitt-Bradford’s secondary program was one of 21 tied for the 57th place ranking. It was one of six Pennsylvania schools given top-ranked status.

“We are proud of how our secondary education prepares students to be effective leaders in middle and secondary schools,” said Dr. Wayne Brinda, associate professor of education and coordinator of secondary education at Pitt-Bradford.

Brinda commented on how Pitt-Bradford measured up to the council’s criteria, “Rigor begins with the criteria for acceptance and extends throughout the program in the classroom and in the field, where students observe and are actively involved with teachers and students in middle and secondary classrooms from their sophomore year on.”

Kate Walsh, president of the National Council on Teacher Quality, said, “Given the increasing knowledge skills expected of teachers, it is indeed disappointing that we could not identify more exemplary programs in Pennsylvania.”

Secondary education majors available at Pitt-Bradford are biology education 7-12; business, computer and information technology K-12; chemistry education 7-12; English education 7-12; environmental education K-12; health and physical education K-12; mathematics education 7-12; and social studies education 7-12.

Recent graduates of Pitt-Bradford’s secondary education program are teaching in many school districts in the region and beyond including Bradford, Port Allegany, Otto-Eldred, Kane, Smethport, Warren, Oswayo Valley, Austin, St. Marys, Brookville and Butler in Pennsylvania and Elmira, Olean, Portville, Little Valley and Ellicottville in New York state.

The university’s elementary education K-4 program was ranked in the top third of programs nationwide – 242nd nationwide.

The complete report is available on the council’s website, www.nctq.org.

Pictured, Dr. Wayne Brinda, associate professor of education and coordinator of secondary education at the University of Pittsburgh at Bradford, teaching a class.
Pitt-Bradford photo

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