FAYETTEVILLE, Ark. — The College of Education and Health Professions will host a celebration for those whose work and dedication made it possible for one of the college’s teacher education programs to gain a top national honor.

University officials and college faculty will be joined by administrators and teachers from partner schools throughout northwest Arkansas at a festive reception on Wednesday, May 9, from 4:00 p.m. to 6:00 p.m. in the Walton Arts Center Amphitheater.

The teacher education program in the University of Arkansas’s Department of Curriculum and Instruction was selected for the 2001 Distinguished Program in Teacher Education Award by the Association of Teacher Educators at its annual meeting in New Orleans earlier this year.

"We can’t say enough about how vital our partnership with the public schools has been to developing the Master of Arts in Teaching program into a leading program nationally," said Sharon B. Hunt, interim dean of the College of Education and Health Professions.

Hunt said that the ATE award, a highly competitive and prestigious honor in the field of education, was established to stimulate innovation and quality teacher preparation. Each year a panel of education professionals selects the outstanding teacher education program that exemplifies collaboration between local schools and institutes of higher education in program development and administration.

The fifth-year MAT program is the teacher certification program of the College of Education and Health Professions. Students seeking their MAT degree must first complete a core of education classes and receive a Bachelor of Science degree in their subject area of interest. MAT students spend their entire fifth year working with children in public schools as interns under the direct supervision of their university liaisons and the public school teachers.