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Student interacting at desk with elementary school children.

Education Department

McDaniel produces the best teachers in Maryland. (That’s what an English teacher could call hyperbole… except  we have the data to back it up.) What’s the secret to our success? Well, it starts with you. Your passion. Your empathy. Your desire to help others learn and grow.

McDaniel has provided programs for teacher preparation and certification for over 110 years. The College offers a major in Elementary Education as well as minors in Secondary and PreK–12 Education. Programs in the McDaniel College Education department were reviewed and accredited by the NCATE (National Council for Accreditation of Teachers) in 2017. McDaniel College will be reviewed by the Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP) in the next cycle of accreditation in 2024.

McDaniel’s program is approved by the Maryland State Department of Education and leads to certification in Maryland and the more than 45 states involved in the Interstate Reciprocity Agreement (PDF).

Data & Accreditation

The Educator Preparation Program (EPP) at McDaniel College is data-driven in its continuous improvement efforts. Multiple measures are used to document candidate performance in courses and their accompanying practicum experiences in Professional Development Schools. The EPP Assessment System includes data collected at four transition points:

  • Transition Point 1: Admission to the Program
  • Transition Point 2: Admission to the Final Professional Semester (Student Teaching)
  • Transition Point 3: Completion of the Final Professional Semester (Student Teaching)
  • Transition Point 4: College to Career

Faculty and key stakeholders annually review data from the assessment system to guide program and course improvements.

The following data sets provide information to McDaniel College’s various stakeholders and is used as part of the accreditation process:

Photo of professor Rebecca Gibson in front of a window.

Who We Are: McDaniel Faculty Becca Gibson, Ph.D. Associate Professor of Education

Becca Gibson, Ph.D. is an education professional focused on children's literacy and using children's literature as a teaching model. 

"I hope students come away from my courses with an understanding of both how complex and how important teaching reading and writing is to children and a sense of self-efficacy in literacy teaching. It’s not supposed to be easy, and students won’t know all the answers, but they will be able to teach effectively — and joyously!"

Connect With Us

Tracey Lucas

Department Chair