NCATE Overview Presentation:
Where we've been and where we're headed
N C A T E stands for the
National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education
Step One
A Letter of intent to seek accreditation was submitted
two years before an intended visit and alerts NCATE to the timing and number
of institutions expecting to be considered for accreditation.
Step Two
9 Pre-conditions were submitted September 15th which
is 18 months before the (intended) accreditation visit. The preconditions
establish an institution’s readiness for an accreditation visit
The 9 Preconditions provided evidence
of:
#1: A unit with authority and responsibility for teacher
education
#2: A head of the unit with authority and responsibility
for administration and operation
#3: Written policies and procedures that guide operations
#4: A conceptual framework that establishes a shared
vision
#5: Evaluation of operations, offerings, candidates and
effectiveness
#6: Admission, progress and exit criteria
#7: State approval of programs offered (we offer 42 state-approved
programs at Hunter College, by the way)
#8: National review of programs with Specialty Professional
Association (SPA’s) standards (This was the time-consuming, deadline
dependent, headache and overwork biggee for many faculty members)
#9: Current institutional accreditation
The Program Reviews that were submitted
under #8 (above) were:
The program review name is followed by the initials of
the SPA (or the specialty professional association) that has established
teacher education standards for the preparation of teacher candidates in
this particular specialty area.
-
Special Ed-CEC--council for Exceptional Children
-
Literacy--IRA--International Reading Association
-
Early Childhood Education submitted TWO program reviews:
Early Childhood--NAEYC--National Association for the
Education of Young Children
Early childhood bilingual--NAEYC--National Association
for the Education of Young Children
-
Childhood Education submitted TWO program reviews:
Grad program-ACEI--Association for Childhood Education
International
Undergrad program-ACEI--Association for Childhood Education
International
-
TESOL--TESOL--Teachers of English to Speakers of Other Languages
-
ADSUP-ELCC--Educational Leadership Constituency Council
-
Adolesence Education (secondary ed): Individual program
reviews for each of the following areas were submitted:
1) Math -NCTM--National Council of Teachers of Mathematics
2) Science-NSTA--National Science Teachers Association
3) English--submitted TWO program reviews
Grad Program-- NCTE--National Council of Teachers of
English
Undergrad Program-- NCTE--National Council of Teachers
of English
4) Social Studies-NCSS--National Council of Social Studies
Timeline for Program Reviews
February 1, 2003 -NCATE replies to us with their
first response to program reviews with national recognition granted to
the program or a list of questions to address about our program in a rejoinder.
April 1-We reply to NCATE with our first rejoinder,
if requested
September 15-NCATE replies to us with national
recognition granted to the program or their second set of qeustions
to address about out program in a second rejoinder
November 15-We reply to NCATE with out second
rejoinder
February 1, 2004-National Recognition attained!?!
or NCATE replies that our program did not receive national recognition.
It is rare that a THIRD rejoinder will be requested or submitted.
Step 3
Now we start the work of having the School of Education
(not individual programs) meet the NCATE standards (not the specialty professional
association standards). To meet the NCATE standards we do two things:
1) Submit an Institutional Report of the six standards
2) Accumulate and cross-reference a collection
of evidence (in a document room) to be inspected by the visiting team.
The 6 NCATE standards that MUST be
met by the School of Education as an entity are:
#1-Candidate knowledge, skills, and dispositions
#2-Program assessment and unit capacity
#3-Field experiences and clinical practice
#4-Diversity
#5- faculty qualification, performance, and development
#6- Unit governance and resources
Step 4
The Spring 2004 visit consists of:
-
As many as 8 members of a visiting team (we have 42 programs
and a host of special projects that they must address in their final accreditation
report. Therefore, we can expect a BIG team of at least 8 members.
-
They will be here for approximately 5 days: Saturday through
Wednesday
-
They will review all evidence in the document room in support
of the institutional report
-
They will meet with faculty, our teacher and allied professional
candidates, some of our graduates, and our school partners.
-
The first draft of their report is submitted on the last
day to the Dean and the President of the College.
Shifting the ground
Means that in the work ahead we need to focus on defining
ourselves and beginning to live that definition.
A mantra for us to remember is:
If it feels like busy work, it probably is.
When that happens we need to:
Stop, talk and regroup.
and we need to ask ourselves and our committees:
What matters most?
We want this process to serve our own purposes of
defiing ourselves, putting the stamp of Hunter college upon our graduates,
and getting better and better at what we already are doing well.
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