The Spadoni College of Education at Coastal Carolina University has successfully met the rigorous national standards for educator preparation set by the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). This achievement is the result of a long-term collaborative process that involved faculty, staff, students, and school district partners in the development, implementation, and evaluation of best practices in teacher and leadership education.

The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation advances excellence in educator preparation through evidence-based accreditation that assures quality and supports continuous improvement to strengthen P-12 student learning.

“This accomplishment validates the fact that the academic integrity of all our programs is very high and our students graduate with the knowledge, skills, and dispositions of the most highly effective educators,” said Ed Jadallah, dean of the college and vice president for online education and teaching excellence. “This is especially significant in the world of teacher education today where a variety of forces and factors have compromised the rigor of some alternative pathways leading toward educator licensure. The accreditation provides the quality assurance that school district employers appreciate when interviewing our candidates for teaching and educational leadership positions.”

Faculty in the college facilitate undergraduate pre-service teaching programs in the areas of early childhood education, elementary education, middle grades education, physical education, and special education. For those students who are interested in teaching, math, science, English, and social studies at the secondary level (9-12), there is the Master of Arts in Teaching (M.A.T.) degree program which provides an avenue of entry into the teaching profession.

“The hard work of the faculty and staff of the Spadoni College is evident here,” said Provost Dan Ennis. “With this reaccreditation, our future teachers can be assured that they are getting a high-quality education and appropriate teacher preparation. And for experienced teachers returning to CCU for an advanced degree, they will be able to take advantage of expanded programming and more flexible learning opportunities.”

The idea that teaching and learning is a lifelong endeavor is emphasized through the graduate education programs available to in-service educators. Graduate programs are offered that lead to a Master of Education (M.Ed.) in the areas of educational leadership, instructional technology, literacy, and special education. Two Educational Specialist (Ed.S.) programs are available in educational leadership and instructional technology.

In Spring 2019, the Spadoni College of Education began offering the University’s second Ph.D. program, the Ph.D. in education. The program offers study in one of three specialization areas: educational leadership; higher education administration; and curriculum, instruction, and assessment.

The college also offers add-on certificates in teaching English for speakers of other languages (ESOL), literacy teacher, literacy coach, and special education. The certificate in online teaching and training is a 12-credit certificate program that is offered totally online.

The Spadoni College achieved accreditation in 2012 from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), which was later consolidated with the Teacher Education Accreditation Council to create CAEP and offer a unified accreditation system intent on raising the performance of all institutions focused on educator preparation. All programs within the college are also approved by the South Carolina Department of Education.

Community initiatives housed within the Spadoni College include the Biddle Center for Teaching, Learning, and Community Engagement, the public outreach arm of CCU that offers mentoring and tutoring for K-8 students; the Early Childhood Development and Literacy Center, which serves pre-school children and supports literacy development; and the Georgetown Educator-in-Residence program, which offers housing for master’s degree candidates while they complete their teaching internships in Georgetown County Schools.