The Center for Teacher Education and Research (CENTER) is a registered Institution of Higher Education Professional Development provider with the Massachusetts Department of Elementary and Secondary Education. Therefore, the CENTER’s professional development offerings meet the guidelines established by the state department of education, are aligned with the Massachusetts Standards for Professional Development, and are approved for professional educator license renewal.
The professional development offerings include: summer institutes, conferences, workshops, and courses. The workshops and courses may be face to face, hybrid, and/or self-paced online. Each professional development offering provides PDPs through self-paced online courses or graduate credits through the CENTER Graduate Credit Partnership Program. School districts may partner with the CENTER to offer their professional educators no cost self-paced online PDP courses.
To earn the SEI Endorsement requirement, there are 2 options:
Option 1-Take and successfully complete the 45 hour SEI Endorsement course which is offered each semester: Fall, Spring, and Summer for PDPs or graduate credit.
Option 2-Take and pass MTEL SEI subtest (56). In order to support the successfully passing of the MTEL SEI subtest (56), the CENTER offers a MTEL SEI subtest (56) prep course each month beginning on the first of the month with 2 months’ access to complete.
The CENTER works to develop collaborations and partnerships between Westfield State University and public school districts, community colleges and universities, collaboratives, and professional organizations.
Westfield State University is regionally accredited by the by the New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE). In the United States, institutional accreditation is managed regionally rather than nationally. Regional accreditation is the gold standard for colleges and universities, ensuring that the institution meets high standards for curriculum, faculty, and student services, and allows credits to transfer smoothly to other schools.
The CENTER School District Partnerships and Graduate Credit Partnerships are offered across the Commonwealth in order to provide high-quality professional development courses for PDPs and for graduate credits for educators.
The CENTER also facilitates grant proposals between Westfield State University and public school districts, community colleges and universities, collaboratives, and professional organizations.
