As the education department prepares for the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) visit to UMBC, its chair, Mary Rivkin, reflects on the fact that "It takes a university to create a teacher. The department is not alone in this mission, because there is a commitment across campus to sharing the vision of making good teachers and that it's about making a difference in the world and developing people?both the teachers and the students.?

Teams from NCATE and the Maryland State Department of Education will be on campus November 13 through 17 to talk with administration, faculty and students, as well as with alumni and the faculty from the education department's Professional Development Schools (PDS). At the end of the visit, chairs of the NCATE teams will give a brief oral report on UMBC's strengths and weaknesses in teacher training and follow up with a written report by March.

Rivkin, who has been at UMBC since 1987, has seen the standards for teacher training become more intense?especially in the wake of the No Child Left Behind Act?but says the University has always been supportive and involved. "Our students don't major in education; they have the unique opportunity to combine an academic major in their subject area of interest with our teacher training, so UMBC as a whole is responsible for teacher education,? Rivkin explains. "Our academic departments supply a strong background?I think we are lucky that it works in this way because it makes our future teachers knowledgeable about the subjects they teach. We cherish our contacts with other departments and rely on them a great deal.?

UMBC's commitment to high admission standards and diversity, as well as its reputation as one of the country's technology leaders, help to support the education department's mission: to research teaching and learning, and to develop caring, thoughtful, knowledgeable and skilled teachers who are responsive to children, families and the community. The department expects graduates to be leaders in their schools as well as advocates for democracy and social justice.

All UMBC departments collaborate with the education department to foster and assess the vision set forth in UMBC's Teacher Education Conceptual Framework. Faculty and administrators from the arts and sciences work with the education department to develop and assess course sequences for majors in the various disciplines and help create and review advising materials. They help prepare and review Specialty Professional Association reports and work together to make necessary changes to curriculum recommended by SPA groups. The arts and sciences faculty serve as advisors to students completing academic majors and monitor their progress on a regular basis.

In addition to this collaborative approach on campus, UMBC's education department has built a successful PDS program in neighboring school districts. The goal is to create learning communities that incorporate both professional development for teachers and student achievement. UMBC teacher candidates who intern at these schools are supported by the PDS teachers as well as UMBC faculty who are also actively involved at the schools.

Another example of UMBC's achievement in teacher training is the recent Maryland Teacher of the Year honor awarded to Bradford Engel, a UMBC alumnus who was selected for his achievements in leadership in Queen Anne's County Schools. Two other UMBC alumni were also in the running for "Teachers of the Year? in Baltimore and Howard Counties. (Robert Rivkin, a part-time ancient studies faculty member, received the first Maryland Teacher of the Year award in 1975-76.)

Currently, Mary Rivkin is meeting with administrators, chairs and faculty about the upcoming visit. For more information on the visit and how you can play an important role, e-mail rivkin@umbc.edu.