The Achievement’s Level of the International Accreditation Standards (CAEP) in Teacher Education Programs in Sultan Qaboos University

Abstract

This study aimed at investigating the level of achievement of the CAEP standards in the teacher preparation programs at Sultan Qaboos University, College of Education. To achieve the aim of the study, a descriptive mixed design was utilized in preparing a questionnaire that included (67) indicators of CAEP five standards: content and pedagogical knowledge, clinical partnerships and practice, candidate quality, recruitment and selectivity, program impact and provider quality assurance and continuous improvement. Moreover, an interview card was prepared to collect data from the sample. The questionnaire was administered with a random sample, filled by 35 faculty staff. The interviews were conducted with six staff members who were in charge of steering accreditation in the college. The study showed that the attainment mean level of the CAEP standards in the college of education  reached a high level. Furthermore, it was found that there was no statistically significant differences between the means’ value responses related to gender and academic rank. The results showed that the second standard (clinical partnerships and practice) was the highest in the degree of attainment. In contrast, the college had a gap in attaining some indicators of the content and pedagogical knowledge standard which included problem solving skills, analytical thinking, communication skills and designing students’ evaluation tools. Similarly, it was revealed that the third standard (candidate quality, recruitment and selectivity) had not been reaching the degree required by CAEP