FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE July 1, 2024
WASHINGTON – The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP) announced the election of four new members, and the election of four members to officer positions on the board. Yuhang Rong has been re-elected as Chair, Patricia Alvarez McHatton has been re-elected Vice Chair, Anthony Graham has been re-elected as Secretary, and Francis (Skip) Fennell has been elected Treasurer. The term for the newly elected officers runs through June 30, 2026.
In addition to the election of the officers for the CAEP Board of Directors, four new members have been named to the Board. Anne Tapp Jaska has been elected to fill a partial term through June 30, 2026, while Ingrid Guerra-Lopez, April Reisma, and Stephanie Simpson have been named to terms on the Board through June 30, 2027.
“We are excited to have these new members join our Board of Directors and bring their expertise to help guide CAEP toward continuous improvement in the future,” said CAEP President Christopher A. Koch. “Additionally, we are pleased that Yuhang, Patricia, Anthony, and Skip have agreed to serve as officers for our organization. The new members and officers bring unique experiences to our Board of Directors and share a passion for educator preparation.”
New Members of the CAEP Board of Directors:
- Ingrid Guerra-Lopez: Guerra-Lopez serves as the dean of the College of Human Development at George Mason University. She has held faculty appointments at George Mason University, Wayne State University, and the University of Michigan Dearborn. Guerra-Lopez has served as principal or co-principal investigator on numerous research projects and has been the author or co-author of numerous books, book chapters, and journal articles.
- April Joy Reisma: Reisma is the President of the Arkansas Education Association. She has served as a special education and math teacher in Arkansas since 2009 and served in the Little Rock Job Corps. Reisma was named Teacher of the Year in 2017 by the Arkansas Education Association. She has served on the National Education Association (NEA) Task Force on the Future of Assessments and is a member of the NEA’s Professional Standards and Practice Committee.
- Stephanie Simpson: Simpson is the Chief Executive Office of the Association for Middle Level Education. She has also held positions with the American College of Cardiology, American Psychiatric Association, and American Medical Association. She also holds membership in the American Society of Association Executives and the International Society for Technology in Education.
- Anne Tapp Jaska: Jaska is a tenured professor at Saginaw Valley State University in Michigan. Jaska has served on the Board of Directors for the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Education (AACTE) since 2021 and is currently the Chair-Elect of that Board. In 2023, Jaska was the AACTE Advisory Council of State Representatives Chair, receiving the David Imag Award for Distinguished Achievement in Teacher Education.
The CAEP Board of Directors is responsible for creating CAEP policy, handling appointments to the Accreditation Council and various committees, and reviewing the performance and activities of CAEP. The Board is also responsible for approving the organization’s annual budget and independent audits.
CAEP is a national accrediting body for educator preparation recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Accreditation is a nongovernmental activity based on peer review that serves the dual functions of assuring quality and promoting improvement. CAEP was created by the consolidation of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education and the Teacher Education Accreditation Council. It is a uniform accreditation system intent on raising the performance of all providers focused on educator preparation. Currently, approximately six hundred educator preparation providers participate in the CAEP accreditation system.
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The Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (www.CAEPnet.org) advances equity and excellence in educator preparation through evidence-based accreditation that assures quality and supports continuous improvement to strengthen P-12 student learning.