After a grueling three-year
journey, Andrews University is the first Seventh-day Adventist university in
North America to achieve state certification for the School Administrator
Preparation Program.

“What this means for our
program,” says Janet Ledesma, coordinator of the educational leadership
program, “is that if a person graduates in the program, not only will they have
denominational certification, they will also have state certification and
reciprocity in other states. Our program is completely online, so if you’re a
principal . . . in any state that is recognized by the state of Michigan, you
will now have that same licensure.”

The process of achieving
certification began in 2011. The certification team, consisting of Ledesma;
Duane Covrig, director of the graduate leadership program; Sylvia Gonzalez, professor
of leadership and educational administration; and several graduate students,
submitted an application and paid a fee to the state. Then state standards
changed and they had to begin the process again. There are ten Educational
Leadership Constituent Council (ELCC) program standards required for
certification.

“Within each course we had to
sit down and develop these rubrics that would match not only the standards, but
also how we were developing this level of mastery within the course content,”
Ledesma explains. “Imagine doing this for a 48-credit master’s, an EDS, or a
PhD!”

“There was just one obstacle
then another obstacle,” she says. “One day I got home and said, ‘Lord, it’s in
your hands. We’ve done our best, now You do the rest.’”

Her prayer was answered, and
in July, after a formal review by the State Department, the program received
certification.

Ledesma hopes that this added
certification will attract teachers from outside the Adventist church to the
program.

“This is yet another
opportunity that God has sent us to reach teachers in our immediate area, right
here in Berrien Springs, in Benton Harbor,” she says. “Ultimately this new
certification both aids the School of Education’s commitment to academic
excellence, and reinforces our motto: Educar es redimir—to educate is to redeem.”

To
learn more about the School of Education, visit andrews.edu/sed, e-mail [email protected] or call 269-471-3481.