Program Quality
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"We provide an outstanding educator preparation program that is highly respected nationally." -Dr. Robin Smith, Director of the School of Education
In service to the goal of preparing increasingly more effective educators, the Educator Preparation Program (EPP) regularly seeks feedback from external sources, conducts its internal assessments, and—in the interest of transparency—makes much information publicly available.
Internal Assessment
The EPP continuously collects and analyzes data to evaluate the effectiveness of programs. Additional data and information are available.
External Assessment
The EPP also collects and reviews data required by external entities, including the following examples:
Association for Advancing Quality in Educator Preparation (AAQEP)
Founded in 2017, AAQEP is a membership association and quality assurance agency that provides accreditation services and formative support to all types of educator preparation providers. The organization promotes excellent, effective, and innovative educator preparation that is committed to evidence-based improvement in a collaborative professional environment. AAQEP is nationally recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation. Visit aaqep.org for more information.
National accreditation assures the quality of professional preparation programs through a nongovernmental, nonregulatory process of self-study and peer review. This standard- and evidence-based process serves two broad aims: accountability and continuous improvement. The AAQEP model is also designed to honor local context and foster innovation and collaboration among institutions. AAQEP currently has members in 36 states and territories, with over 200 educator preparation providers participating in the accreditation system.
The Southeast Missouri State Educator Preparation Program began working with AAQEP in the summer of 2023 and received its 5-year accreditation in the spring of 2025.
AAQEP Accredited Programs
Undergraduate Programs
- Agriculture Education, 9-12
- Art, K-12
- Biology, 9-12
- Chemistry, 9-12
- Early Childhood Education, B-3
- Early Childhood Special Education, B-3
- Elementary Education, 1-6
- English, 9-12
- Family and Consumer Science, K-12
- German, K-12
- Instrumental Music, K-12
- Language Arts, 5-9
- Mathematics, 5-9
- Mathematics, 9-12
- Mild/Moderate Cross-Categorical, K-12
- Physical Education, K-12
- Physics, 9-12
- Science, 5-9
- Social Science, 5-9
- Social Science, 9-12
- Spanish, K-12
- Vocal Music, K-12
Graduate Programs
- School Counselor, K-12
- School Leader, K-12
- Superintendent, K-12
- English Language Learners, K-12
- Elementary mathematics Specialist, 1-6 (add-on)
- School Psychological Examiner, K-12
- Special Reading, K-12 (add-on)
- Special Education Directory, K-12
Master of Arts in Teaching
- Biology, 9-12
- Chemistry, 9-12
- Earth Science, 9-12
- Mathematics, 5-9
- Mathematics, 9-12
- Physics, 9-12
- Science, 5-9
Graduate Level Certificate Programs
- English Language Learners K-12
- Elementary Mathematics Specialist 1-6 (add-on)
- School Psychological Examiner K-12
- Special Reading K-12
- Special Education Director K-12
Non-Certificate Programs
- Teacher Leadership (MA)
- Secondary Education (MA)
AAQEP Accreditation Action Report
Program-Specific Accreditation
National and international organizations often facilitate the review and accreditation of programs related to their fields. In educator preparation, some entities accredit focused programs like music and counseling. The following programs are currently accredited by one of these institutions.
- Instrumental Music Education and Vocal Music Education: National Association of Schools of Music (NASM)
- School Counseling: Council for Accreditation of Counseling and Related Educational Programs (CACREP)
The Missouri Department of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE)
The State of Missouri publishes Annual Performance Reports (APR) on each EPP. The data included in these reports are used by the state to determine an EPP’s eligibility to continue recommending graduates for certification in specific areas. Read the most recent DESE Accreditation Letter.
The U.S. Department of Education (DOE)
Through the Title II reporting process, the DOE collects data on EPPs annually. SEMO's last several reports can be found by following the links below. Read the most recent Title II Program Report.
Internal Assessment
The main continuous improvement project in which the Educator Preparation Program is engaged is the Annual Program Evaluation (APE). The APE process requires program faculty to evaluate their program with state and/or national standards. Reports are based on data generated by program candidates who completed the program during the previous academic year. The reports are submitted in the fall, and then members of the Educator Preparation Assessment Committee review them and provide feedback. In the course of preparing the APE report, faculty must analyze data and make judgments about the degree to which program completers are meeting expectations on the standards.
Based upon these judgments, they then identify a few specific changes that they will attempt to make over the next year to address relative deficiencies or build upon relative strengths. The very first section of the APE report is an update on the changes proposed the previous year. Data upon which proposed changes were based is referenced both in this first section and in the section of the report that describes changes planned for the coming year. APE processes themselves have evolved over the past few years in response to faculty feedback and so are, also, an example of EPP efforts at continuous improvement.
Educator Advantage Program Contacts
| program | program contact |
|---|---|
| Agriculture Education | Marissa Wilson mjwilson@semo.edu |
| Art Education | dlmse@semo.edu |
| Biology Education | James Champine jchampine@semo.edu |
| Chemistry Education | Rachel Morgan-Theall rmtheall@semo.edu |
| Counseling Education, Specialist | Travis Smith tsmith1@semo.edu |
| Early Childhood Education | Cassie Borst caborst@semo.edu |
| Early Childhood Special Education, MAT | eese@semo.edu |
| Educational Administration, Specialist | Sherry Copeland slcopeland@semo.edu |
| Elementary Education, MA | Brandy Hepler bhepler@semo.edu |
| Elementary Education, UG | Larry Bohannon rlbohannon@semo.edu |
| English Education | Jessica Muckerman-Presson jnpresson@semo.edu |
| Exceptional Child (Cross-Categorical), UG | Dixie McCollum dgmccollum@semo.edu |
| Exceptional Child Education, MA (Non-cert) | Dixie McCollum dgmccollum@semo.edu |
| Exceptional Child, MAT | eese@semo.edu |
| Family & Consumer Sciences Education | Sarah Garner sgarner@semo.edu |
| Higher Education Administration, MA | Brooke Clubbs bclubbs@semo.edu |
| Mathematics Education | William McNeary wwmcneary@semo.edu |
| Mental Health Counseling, MA | Jan Ward jward@semo.edu |
| Middle School Education, Language Arts/Social Sciences | William Bratberg wbratberg@semo.edu |
| Middle School Education, Mathematics, Science | William Bratberg wbratberg@semo.edu |
| Music Education: Instrumental | dlmse@semo.edu |
| Music Education: Vocal | dlmse@semo.edu |
| Physical Education | Adolfo Ramos aramos@semo.edu Seidu Sofo ssofo@semo.edu |
| Physics Education | Joseph Murphy jmurphy@semo.edu |
| School Administration, MA | Lisa Bertrand lbertrand@semo.edu |
| School Counseling, MA | Jan Ward jward@semo.edu |
| School Psychological Examiner, Certificate | Jan Ward jward@semo.edu |
| Secondary Ed: Educational Studies, MA | Robin Smith rlsmith@semo.edu |
| Secondary Ed: Educational Technology, MA | Robin Smith rlsmith@semo.edu |
| Social Science Education | Courtney Kisat ckisat@semo.edu |
| Special Education Administrator | Lisa Bertrand lbertrand@semo.edu |
| STEM, MAT | William Bratberg wbratberg@semo.edu |
| Teacher Leadership, MA | Margaret Noe mnoe@semo.edu |
| Teacher Leadership, Specialist | Sherry Copeland slcopeland@semo.edu |
| World Languages Education | dlmse@semo.edu |