Standards, Procedures, and Policies for the Accreditation of Professional Education Units.

Overview & Synopsis

This volume contains the 20 standards and indicators against which professional education units (schools, colleges, or departments of education) are evaluated to determine their accreditation status. It also contains salient National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) policies and procedures and an overview of NCATE's governance structure. Chapter 1, "Scope and Mission," covers NCATE activities and relationship with other agencies and details the scope of NCATE accreditation. Chapter 2, "NCATE Standards," describes the development of 1995 standards and the four categories of NCATE standards: design of professional education, candidates in professional education, professional education faculty, and the unit for professional education. Chapter 3, "Accreditation Procedures," covers application, preconditions, annual reports, third-party testimony, public announcement, initial review, continuing review, accreditation action, appeals, and description of a guide to accredited education units/ programs. Chapter 4, "Accreditation Policies," describes treatment of innovation and experimentation, representation to the public, fees, on-site review postponement, voluntary withdrawal, public disclosure, ethical guidelines for institutions, and complaint review. Chapter 5, "NCATE Relationship with States," describes a partnership program, participation of state authorities on in-state visiting teams, and reciprocity. Chapter 6, "Governance and Evaluation of NCATE," details governing boards, board of examines, guidelines for ethical and professional participation, confidentiality policy, and NCATE self-evaluation. Contains a glossary. (JB)