Response of NCATE President James G. Cibulka on the Release of the Blue Ribbon Panel Report

NCATE convened the Blue Ribbon Panel on Clinical Preparation and Partnerships for P-12 Student Learning because much of the system we have in place in the United States for preparing teachers is no longer suited for the realities of today's classrooms and schools. A transformation is needed. No doubt there are many excellent programs that prepare teachers across our nation. However, the system we have is too uneven in quality. The Report states it well: "The nation needs an entire system of excellent programs, not a cottage industry of path-breaking initiatives."

The strength of this report is twofold. First, it lays out a bold, comprehensive vision of the change that is needed and how to get there. The focus on what needs to be done is very explicit:

• More Rigorous Accountability

• Strengthening Candidate Selection and Placement

• Revamping Curricula, Incentives, and Staffing

• Supporting Partnerships

• Expanding the Knowledge Base to Identify What Works and Support Continuous Improvement

The report signifies a consensus statement from a diverse group of stakeholders, who agree on the need for dramatic change and on the contours for reform which must occur. Such agreement is unfortunately rare in our field and speaks to the power of this report. Collaboration will be required between P-12 and higher education to transform the way we prepare teachers, and this Report sets that agenda with its "Call to Action."

The report lays out the state and federal policies that are needed. Many critics have opined on the state of teacher education and what schools of education need to do. Of course, teacher preparers must be responsible for reforming their own programs. Yet the problem is bigger than that. Longstanding policies, regulations and even state laws need revamping to enable these recommendations to be fully realized. The changes called for will require state higher education officials, governors, and state P-12 commissioner leadership working together to remove policy barriers and create policy supports for the new vision of teacher education drawn by the Panel. Teacher unions have volunteered to do the same with their teacher contracts. As an initial step, we have organized the new Alliance for Clinical Preparation, in which 8 states have pledged to pilot approaches called for in the report and develop state plans for change.

NCATE's Role

The Panel set high expectations for NCATE to raise the bar. As NCATE's president, I accept this challenge. Here is my pledge:

1. We will develop higher standards within the next two years and implement them as soon as possible within our accreditation system. These standards will strengthen requirements for clinical preparation, partnerships with schools, and performance evidence on graduates and programs.

2. NCATE and TEAC will no longer be two separate organizations. Regulatory competition tends to lower standards, not raise them. We intend to speak with one voice for quality teacher preparation within a new unified accrediting body, the Council for Accreditation of Educator preparation (CAEP). CAEP has set an ambitious goal: "to create a model unified accreditation system. We believe that CAEP can elevate educator preparation to the new level of excellence that the public and its policymakers expect."¹

3. We will put weak programs on notice that they either improve to meet new, more rigorous expectations, or their accreditation will be revoked. I have already opened this discussion within NCATE.

4. We will collaborate with professional associations such as the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) and the Association of Teacher Educators (ATE), whose leadership role is critical in helping institutions build capacity to transform their programs. We will encourage a research and development agenda as well as a professional development agenda.

5. We will seek to broaden the base of accredited institutions, to include more of the most selective colleges and universities in the nation and more high-quality preparation programs that are located outside of higher education. We need the active participation of the very best preparers, whatever their educational status, to help propagate their best practices throughout the field.

6. We will work with states and professional associations such as AACTE and ATE to strengthen state policies that support raising the bar for preparation programs and their transformation to clinically-based programs. An important first step will be the work of the convening of the Alliance for Clinical Teacher Preparation to pilot clinically-based preparation and develop scale-up strategies to transform teacher preparation throughout their jurisdictions. Initially, eight states have committed to move this agenda forward. We hope other states will participate in this emerging alliance. Some have already expressed interest. NCATE will play a convener and support role and use the information gained to inform accreditation standards. We recognize that these are difficult times. But there is a logical progression for accomplishment of our ambitious agenda, and many of the early steps can be accomplished without additional funds from the states.

7. NCATE intends to collaborate closely with all the constituencies represented on the Blue Ribbon Panel and other stakeholders to encourage a national conversation on how to move this agenda forward.

8. Arthur Levine (President, Woodrow Wilson National Fellowship Foundation) has agreed to join the CAEP Interim Board to help carry out his message to strengthen external accountability of these reform efforts.

Footnotes

1. "Report and Recommendation of the NCATE/TEAC Design Team to Our Respective Boards of Directors," http://caepsite.org/documents/designteamreport.pdf.