In the latest issue of Quality Teaching, Jim Cibulka says just as the data revolution is already impacting the world of teacher educators, it has equally profound implications for NCATE and CAEP.

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For Immediate Release
Tuesday, February 28, 2012

Contact: Jane Leibbrand (202) 466-7496

As the two bodies that accredit American teachers' colleges prepare to merge into a single entity, its leaders are signaling that the new Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation plans to require training programs to improve their processes for selecting candidates.

"The new CAEP standards are going to be much more rigorous with regard both to admission policies and recruitment policies," James G. Cibulka, the president of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education , or NCATE, said in a recent interview.

Read the paper:

NCATE's State Alliance for Clinical Preparation: A Framework for Setting Priorities and Building Partnership Prototypes (Adobe PDF)

See also:

Blue Ribbon Panel on Clinical Preparation and Partnerships for Improved Student Learning

The Committee is Charged with Making Recommendations as NCATE and TEAC Move Forward Into an Increasing Visible Role in Global Quality Assurance.

NCATE and CAEP President James G. Cibulka on the Use of Evidence for Accreditation.

Jim Cibulka lays out several strategies for continuing the transformation of educator preparation in the "new normal," in the latest issue of Quality Teaching. Deb Eldridge summarizes where accreditation is headed in "the new normal," and Skip Fennell challenges mathematics educators to take a key role in the move to the common core standards in mathematics.

Read the latest issue of Quality Teaching:

Quality Teaching, Volume 21, Issue 1: Fall 2011 (Adobe PDF)

We know that institutions have many questions on the transition to the new accrediting body, the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). While we do not have all of the answers yet, here is information to help clarify where we are now and our plans for the near future. We hope that this is a help to you as you engage in your own strategic planning.

NCATE is pleased to announce the appointment of Dr. Monique Lynch as the Vice President for Program Review.

United States Secretary of Education Arne Duncan said that NCATE's Blue Ribbon Panel "set the foundation and helped inform" the Administration's approach to educator preparation.

Press Release For Immediate Release

September 19, 2011

Contact:

Marcie Lowe, tel. 502.564.4606

Jane Leibbrand, tel. 202.466.7496

Download this press release:

Kentucky Joins National Alliance to Transform Teacher Preparation to a Clinically-Based Model (Adobe PDF)

On Thursday, July 21, 2011 the National Council on Teacher Quality (NCTQ) released its report titled Student Teaching in the United States, in which 134 institutions from across the United States were rated by NCTQ as being model, good, weak, or poor on 5 of 19 NCTQ-created standards that focus on student teaching specifically. While the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) applauds any effort that contributes credible evidence on high quality teacher preparation and student teaching in particular, there are a number of points in the report that raise serious concerns. We list five here.

A letter to accredited institutions from Jim Cibulka focuses on the importance of displaying data on outcomes.

See also: Summary of Outcomes for Accredited Schools of Education (Adobe PDF)

NCATE and TEAC are in the process of consolidating to become CAEP. Under CAEP there will be a new option for program review, called Option 2 or 2b. NCATE and TEAC would like your feedback on a proposal for developing and implementing this new option.

NCATE's dual roles as an accreditor--quality assurance and advancing the state-of-practice in educator preparation--are undergoing a transformation due to the intersection of new developments in assessment, policy, and technology, Jim Cibulka shares his thoughts in the keynote address at an international conference on educational measurement on March 26 in Lebanon.

Adobe PDF versions of presentations from this and other sessions on accreditation options are available.

Please visit: NCATE Presentations at AACTE Annual Meetings

Eldridge, Dean of the Division of Education at Lehman College of the City University of New York, will serve as NCATE's Senior Vice President beginning July 1, 2011.

Donna Gollnick has indicated her intent to retire as NCATE's Senior Vice-President effective June 30, 2011.

NCATE and TEAC intend to speak with one voice within a new unified accrediting body, the Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP). Please join the session to learn more about this new organization and institutional choice in the accreditation process.

On Thursday, December 2, 2010, Cibulka served as a panelist at the Fordham Institute's debate "Are Education Schools Amenable to Reform?" based on Fordham's recently released study, Cracks in the Ivory Tower? The Views of Education Professors Circa 2010.

NCATE President James G. Cibulka responds to "Transforming Teacher Education Through Clinical Practice: A National Strategy to Prepare Effective Teachers," the Blue Ribbon Panel on Clinical Preparation and Partnerships for P-12 Student Learning.

Eight States -- Calif., Colo., La., Md., N.Y., Ohio, Ore., and Tenn. -- Commit To Implementing Teacher-Ed Transformation

The Panel recommends 'sweeping changes' in preparation to better meet students' needs.

The NCATE and TEAC governing boards voted to create a single accrediting body for educator preparation. The two organizations will consolidate into one organization, CAEP, within a two-year period. The new organization will offer accreditation options.

A new report from NCATE finds "little effort has been made to ground school reform and educator preparation in the developmental sciences."

Programs and courses offered by institutions can become preparatory tools for National Board advanced certification.

Cibulka reiterates NCATE's commitment to the development of state data systems to provide critical feedback to educator preparation programs.

NCATE leaders met with educators from the Middle East/North Africa region in Dubai in May to discuss the region's quality assurance needs in educator preparation.

James Cibulka comments on the release of Preparing Teachers: Building Evidence for Sound Policy.

In the Spring 2010 issue of Quality Teaching, Cibulka reviews new advances in assessments in the field, and Zimpher and Jones discuss the work of the NCATE Blue Ribbon Panel.

Cibulka applauds the Council of Chief State School Officers and the National Governors Association Common Core State Standards Initiative.

Free Literacy and Reading Publications Available for NCATE Member Institutions.

The Blue Ribbon Panel will formulate recommendations for restructuring the preparation of teachers to reflect teaching as a practice-based profession.

Read articles from and statements by Education Week, Education Daily, The Chronicle of Higher Education, Inside Higher Education, The Atlanta Journal-Constitution, Boise State University Update, Yahoo! Business News, The Campus Connection (College of William and Mary), SIFMA SmartBrief & ASCD SmartBrief, Senator Tom Seymour Blog & AACTE Newstream, and the State University of New York.

The secretary issued a call to teacher educators: the bar has been raised for what we expect of teachers, and educator preparation programs must also raise the bar to meet those expectations. He calls for "revolutionary change--not evolutionary tinkering" in reforming schools of education.

In the Fall 2009 issue of Quality Teaching, James Cibulka, President of NCATE, writes about possibilities for educator preparation during the new White House administration.

The NCATE Executive Board chair position rotates each year among representatives of the four major groups of NCATE's more than 30 member organizations: teacher educators, teacher, state and local policymakers, and school specialists. The member groups represent millions of educators and members of the public nationwide. Morton was appointed from the state and local policymaker quadrant through his membership in the Council of Chief State School Officers.

At the August 27, 2009 meeting of the Hawaii Teachers Standards Board, members voted to require all Hawaii Sate Approved Teacher Education Programs to seek NCATE accreditation. All IHEs must obtain unit and program accreditation from NCATE. Programs within the unit must be reviewed by the SPAs recognized by NCATE.

This brings the number of states that have mandated national accreditation or NCATE accreditation specifically through legislation or regulation by a state education agency such as the board of education or higher education commission to seven. In 23 states, all public teacher education institutions are NCATE accredited as a result of policy mandate or institutional choice. It is often the case that when public institutions are required to be NCATE accredited--or voluntarily are NCATE accredited--the private institutions seek NCATE accreditation as well.

Dr. Boyce C. Williams has a new assignment as Vice President for Middle East-North Africa/International Relations to conduct a feasibility study on the readiness of those nations to pursue NCATE accreditation. She will be based in the United Arab Emirates. The Executive Board of NCATE approved the one-year study at its May meeting.

Both the NCATE Governing Board and the TEAC Board have approved an identical resolution that authorizes the president of each organization to work with other members of the NCATE/TEAC Design Team to create an organization that will serve as the entity for offering the nation a unified accrediting system in educator preparation affording a choice of comparable pathways for accreditation.

On June 23, NCATE announced a major redesign of accreditation to help close the gap between theory and practice, and coursework and the classroom. Institutions and states provided examples of the types of initiatives that NCATE seeks to have accredited institutions develop and strengthen.

NCATE members are invited to join the AERA Special Interest Group, Academic Audit Research in Teacher Education (#174). The purpose of the SIG is to provide a forum for presenting research associated with the NCATE, TEAC, or state review processes.

Education Week interviewed Jim Cibulka after a major Washington speech to the American Enterprise Institute. The shift to a focus on continuous improvement and strengthening the clinical component of educator preparation through accreditation are two themes which the reporter covers.

Boyce C. Williams, Ph.D., Vice President, Institutional Relations at NCATE, received an honorary Doctorate of Humane Letters on May 10, 2009 from The Lincoln University in Pennsylvania. This is the sixth honorary doctorate that Boyce has received during her 16 year tenure at NCATE.

NCATE’s Cibulka says, "An effective principal is critical to the success of any school. I support this bold initiative, which is greatly needed in the field. Advanced certification for principals and teacher leaders will support excellence within the profession and, most importantly, promote student success."

Institutions recognize NCATE as a leader in teacher education, while asking for significant simplification of the process.

Most professions have a single recognized accrediting agency for the institutions that prepare their practitioners. In these professions nearly all the institutions that prepare these practitioners are accredited. Teaching, however, is different. It is among the few professional fields that have more than one accreditor, but even with two accreditors a large number of its teacher education programs and units remain unaccredited.

NCATE sponsored a panel discussion titled "Transforming Teacher Preparation" at its General Assembly, an annual gathering of NCATE’s four policy boards and member organization representatives.

NCATE's Executive Board (J. Prus, chair, left) voted unanimously at its fall meeting to redesign the NCATE accreditation process on a fast track. The Board asked NCATE's president, James Cibulka (right), to present a comprehensive set of recommendations by its Spring 2009 meeting which will provide options, promote rigor, relevance and inquiry, and ensure cost-effectiveness. Possible pilots will be outlined at that time.

Jim Cibulka, NCATE's new president, wants to use the accreditation process as a lever to encourage institutions to help solve current issues around teacher quality and P-12 student achievement.

John Johnston at the University of Memphis describes the NCATE visit using a more streamlined system, and Antoinette Mitchell provides an overview  of what has been done thus far to reduce accreditation paperwork and save institutions time and effort in preparing for accreditation.

NCATE and TEAC have identified the members of the joint design team which both organizations' boards sanctioned in June. The team's task is to develop a specific proposal for a system of teacher education accreditation with multiple pathways.

(left: Dr. Frank B. Murray; right: Dr. James G. Cibulka)

Joseph S. Prus, Professor and Chair, Department of Psychology at Winthrop University, SC, is Chair of NCATE's Executive Board for the 2008-2009 year.

NCATE's New President solicits your ideas in this letter to institutions. Cibulka's priorities include simplifying the accreditation process, making it more cost-effective, and focusing on continuous improvement.

NIH Record summarizes the first meeting of the NCATE Child and Adolescent Development National Expert Panel, funded by the Strategic Knowledge Fund, a partnership between the W. K. Kellogg Foundation and the Foundation for Child Development, and the A.L. Mailman Family Foundation.

James G. Cibulka, dean of the College of Education at the University of Kentucky, has been named as the next president of NCATE. His goals include greater efficiencies in process and a focus on continuous improvement.

It’s All about Student Learning, edited by Arthur E. Wise and associates, is available now! This new 220 page book contains assessments from 3 consortia and 13 institutions. As well as being a 'handbook' for institutions, the publication shows how schools of education are able to provide evidence that their candidates positively impact P-12 student learning.

Boyce Williams, NCATE VP for Institutional Relations, was featured on Tony Brown's Journal on PBS from April 4-10; she "told the NCATE story."

The revised NCATE Unit Standards book, Professional Standards for the Accreditation of Teacher Preparation Institutions, is now available from NCATE.

Boyce C. Williams edits Preparing Effective Teachers of Reading: Putting Research Findings to Work for Student Learning

A national search is underway for the position of NCATE President. Read more about the needed qualifications and contact information for applications. The application deadline is February 8; the start date is July 1, 2008.

NCATE’s Executive Board has clarified its definition of ‘professional dispositions’ as used within the NCATE accreditation system, and has issued a call to action to ensure that all children are taught by well prepared teachers.

Sharon Robinson, CEO of the American Association of Colleges of Teacher Preparation, announced the composition of the search committee for NCATE's next president.

Hear Art Wise tell his personal story, from growing up in the Roxbury section of Boston to become NCATE President. Art was honored at the 2007 NCATE General Assembly, where NCATE's policy boards convene.

With funding from the MetLife Foundation, NCATE has initiated an Urban Teacher Residency Project to study teacher residency programs, which are targeted at preparing and retaining qualified teachers in high needs schools. These fledgling programs are succeeding in helping districts to educate and retain well prepared teachers in urban areas.

Art Wise, NCATE President, will step down on June 30, 2008 after 18 years at the helm of NCATE. Under his leadership, NCATE has been a catalyst for the reforms at teacher preparation institutions.

We heard you! The following links contain proposals for streamlining the unit and program review processes. We would like your feedback on these major elements of the NCATE review.

NCATE follows a regular cycle of standards revision to ensure that the unit standards incorporate the latest thinking in the field. The latest round of standards revision has concluded. NCATE 's Executive Board ratified the unit standards on May 11, and they will go into effect for all NCATE institutions in Fall 2008.

NCATE is bringing "a new form of accountability" (Arnold Hyndman, NJ) and has been an "impetus for reform and improvement" (Susan Zelman, OH), to educator preparation. It serves as "a tremendous benefit" (Rick Melmer, SD), and "an important resource" (Susan Gendron, ME).

NICHD and NCATE recently collaborated on a child and adolescent development project involving roundtables of knowledgeable researchers and teacher educators. Dr. James Comer, Maurice Falk Professor of Child Psychiatry at the Yale School of Medicine, chaired the roundtables. The report found that researchers in child/adolescent development lack mechanisms for disseminating new research findings and information to sources readily available to teachers, administrators, and other school personnel. Consequently, application of the research and knowledge base about child and adolescent development is a missing element in many teacher preparation programs.

Freedom Writers teacher says preparation is key. Teacher Erin Gruwell, played by Hilary Swank in the movie Freedom Writers, provides a testimonial about her experience at an NCATE accredited institution.

NCATE has received a grant  from the MetLife Foundation to examine the fit between its standards and the urban residency model of teacher preparation. The grant project will help the field better understand the potential of the residency model in training future educators for P-12 schools, and also help residency programs evaluate their readiness to meet national professional standards.

Registration for Growing the Future: Meeting the National Challenge to Recruit, Develop and Retain New Teachers will close on March 2, 2007. Don’t miss your chance to Register!

NCATE and CTQ highlight increase in teacher effectiveness from impact of required master’s degree program for NYC Teaching Fellows. See the ad prepared for Stateline and other publications.

Institutions seeking examples of successful program reports can now access them on NCATE‘s site. The reports provide numerous examples of how to effectively align assessments and scoring guides to the standards of the relevant discipline.

Dr. Boyce C. Williams, NCATE‘s Vice President for Institutional Relations, has received the prestigious W.E.B. DuBois Higher Education Award from the National Alliance of Black School Educators. The award is bestowed annually upon individuals or organizations that are actively promoting or advocating higher education for African Americans through research, instruction, funding/scholarships, or guidance and counseling.

The Beginning Teacher Center of Teachers 21 and Simmons College, the National Board for Professional Teaching Standards, the National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future, and NCATE are partners on a conference focusing on teacher induction: Growing the Future: Meeting the National Challenge to Recruit, Develop, and Retain New Teachers. The conference will be held in Boston on March 25-27, 2007. Registration has opened; visit www.simmons.edu/conferences/btc  to view session descriptions and to register for preconference and conference sessions. Telephone: 781-416-0980. General session speakers include Jonathan Kozol, Daniel Goleman and Theresa Perry, as well as Tom Carroll and Anne Bryant. Marsha Levine, NCATE’s Senior Consultant for Professional Development Schools, will present a session on PDSs and beginning teachers.

Western Governors University was accredited at NCATE’s Fall 2006 meeting. It is the first non-traditional provider accredited by NCATE, and helps prepare non-traditional candidates in high need fields. Western Governors University is a non-profit, created by the governors of 19 states to expand student access to higher education and ensure its affordability.

A study on teacher preparation by Arthur Levine was released on September 18. The report critiques NCATE and NCATE critiques the report.

Read the testimonials:

From the Field: On Professional Accreditation (Adobe PDF)

Clara Jennings, Dean of the School of Education at DePaul University, has been named chair of NCATE's Executive Board.

Two new DVDs focusing on NCATE Standards are now available.

In the past few months, there has been some misunderstanding of a term in the glossary of definitions appended to NCATE"s Standards. The term "social justice" appears in the glossary in the definition of'dispositions," as one of several illustrative examples of professional dispositions. Critics incorrectly alleged that NCATE has a "social justice" requirement. It does not. NCATE "requirements" are spelled out in the Standards themselves where the phrase "social justice" does not appear. To critics the phrase "social justice" is negative and connotes a dangerous if unspecfied social and political ideological agenda of indoctination. NCATE"s expectations with respect to professional dispositions are clearly described in the Standards.

NCATE invites public comment on proposed revisions to the NCATE Unit Standards. NCATE cordially invites the education community at large and the public to read and comment on these professional accreditation standards for educator preparation. All NCATE standards are revised on a regular basis to ensure that they incorporate current and established research and best practice.

Since the inception of performance-based accreditation standards, announced in 2000 and instituted in 2001, professionally accredited NCATE institutions have developed comprehensive assessment systems and are now reporting data on candidate performance from those systems. A new report, Spotlight on Schools of Education, summarizes how institutions have developed assessment systems that track candidate attainment of professional knowledge and teaching skills. Antoinette Mitchell, Vice President, Unit Accreditation at NCATE, conducted the investigation with the help of two colleagues, Sheila Allen and Pamela Ehrenberg.

Boyce C. Williams, NCATE Vice President, Institutional Relations, was the recipient of the Association of Teacher Educator’s President's Award for her leadership, energy, and vision.

Rick Hess recently criticized schools of education for educating candidates about teaching tolerance. But Wise says teachers shape our nation's future, and students from every racial/ethnic background are now in our nation's schools.

Southern University New Orleans and Xavier University are rising again after the floodwaters devastated their campuses, among many others. Two stories of perseverance and hope, captured by B. Denise Hawkins, RFTEN Assistant Project Director and Communications Consultant.

Arthur E. Wise issues an invitation to George Will to visit today’s schools of education to see how well they are preparing today’s generation of teachers.

For the first time in the history of teaching, professional benchmarks on state licensing examinations will be developed, according to new policy of NCATE, developed at its fall board meeting in late October. The policy commits NCATE to work with testing companies to develop the benchmarks.

Genevieve Knight was presented with the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education Award for outstanding Contributions to NCATE.

Dr. Calvin Johnson, dean of the School of Education at the University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff (UAPB), a RFTEN institution, announced today that UAPB will provide education assistance and placements for teacher candidates whose lives and studies have been disrupted by Hurricane Katrina.

Participants from NCATE partnership states and from NCATE member specialized professional associations met this summer with NCATE staff at the annual NCATE clinic. Task forces at the clinic discussed possible approaches to non-university providers, and how to maintain the same degree of rigor in NCATE’s standards and policies for emerging programs such as distance learning.

There is evidence that well prepared teachers outperform those who are not prepared.  This summary provides references for key research on the efficacy of teacher preparation and evidence supporting the impact of NCATE accreditation.

Art Wise, NCATE President, visited the UAE in May to celebrate the International Recognition of United Arab Emirates University by the Center for Quality assurance in International Education in cooperation with NCATE. This is the first international recognition of a university using NCATE standards.

Susan Tave Zelman has been named as the Chair of the Executive Board of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) for the 2005-2006 year. Zelman has been Superintendent of Public Instruction for the state of Ohio since 1999. Her term as chair of the NCATE Executive Board begins July 1, 2005.

Increasing the reading proficiency of Native American children on the nation’s second largest Reservation is the goal of a two-week summer reading institute.

Education Week’s May 11 issue headlined with teacher preparation institutions’s successful use of accreditation standards to effect change. Deans report the focus is now on candidate performance and assessments of it.

Almost all of NCATE’s 657 accredited institutions offer post-baccalaureate teacher preparation programs geared to adults who already have a bachelor's degree. In addition, over 130 of those institutions offer many post-baccalaureate programs that ease financial barriers, by having the candidate work in the classroom either as the teacher of record, substitute, intern, or aide, while still enrolled in the program.