Teacher preparation programs are not failing. (From The Executive Director).

The Association for Childhood Education International is actively working with the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) to improve the quality of teacher preparation programs in the United States. ACEI has been a constituent member organization of NCATE since 1989, and has joined more than 30 other national organizations, representing over 3 million educators and members of the public, in efforts to "raise the bar" on quality teacher preparation. This work is essential to help ensure that every school-age child in the United States has a teacher with the knowledge and skills necessary to be effective--and the single most important measure of teacher effectiveness is the impact he or she has on student learning.

Last June, the U.S. Department of Education released a disturbing report that is in sharp contrast to NCATE's own findings on teacher preparation and teacher quality. The report states that "teacher preparation programs are failing" in their efforts to produce the kinds of teachers the nation needs, and goes on to ask states to reduce the required number of teacher preparation courses necessary for state licensure. The report appears to undermine the quality assurance that is built into the NCATE national accreditation system. NCATE asserts that the same Title II data used by the Department of Education supports a very different conclusion--that most teacher preparation programs, but particularly those at NCATE-accredited schools, graduate new teachers who are meeting state licensing requirements. While state licensure requirements in many cases need to be improved, it should not be at the expense of proven quality teacher preparation programs.

As many of you know, ACEI is the NCATE specialized professional association (SPA) responsible for the program review process for colleges and universities seeking national accreditation for elementary education. ACEI helped draft the new performance-based Program (content) Standards for Elementary Teacher Preparation, which were fully implemented last Fall. The Elementary Standards adhere to stringent NCATE guidelines, based on extensive research and best practices developed by experts in the field of education, to hold colleges and universities accountable for preparing competent teachers and other school personnel. Approximately 50 ACEI members are currently serving as Program Reviewers, working closely with ACEI Program Review Coordinator Ann McFarland. For a complete listing of all ACEI/NCATE Program Reviewers, see page YB-1 in the Yearbook supplement. The Association is grateful for the considerable time and effort that these reviewers contribute.

ACEI's support of NCATE and national accreditation, and its interest in quality classroom teacher preparation, goes well beyond administering the Program Review process. ACEI President Nancy Quisenberry is the Association's representative on the NCATE Specialty Area Studies Board (SASB), which is responsible for approving content standards. Last year, she completed a 3-year term as a member of the Unit Accreditation Board (UAB)--the 32-member NCATE Board that evaluates an institution's report (which provides evidence or data that shows how each unit standard is met), the SPA report indicating whether or not the institution has sufficiently met each of the program standards (the standards specify the content and pedagogy for a given field, such as elementary education), and finally, the report prepared by the NCATE Board of Examiners (BOE). The BOE consists of a team of skilled program reviewers who conduct on-site school visits to verify the SPA findings and to validate the candidate performance data/evidence submitted by the institution. The UAB makes the final accreditation decision, based on the aforementioned reports. BOE members for ACEI include: Betty Ruth Baker, Fredda Carroll, Ronald Colbert, James Cramer, Bessie Gage, Carol Helwig, and Nancy Quisenberry.

Quisenberry, incidentally, also represents ACEI as Incoming Chair of the Council of Organizations for the Professional Preparation of Educators (COPPE). The Council represents member organizations within NCATE. ACEI has been a member of COPPE for more than 12 years.

ACEI's influence has not been limited to the various NCATE boards. As stated earlier, ACEI, as a member of the Elementary Program Standards Drafting Committee, was instrumental in developing the Program Standards for elementary teacher preparation. It is also important to highlight ACEI's significant contribution as a member of the Elementary Standards Transition Team (this work involved pilot schools for the new performance-based standards), and it was ACEI that developed the Program Review Process currently in use and expanded to include Program Reviewers from other organizations. Moreover, in June of 2001, ACEI conducted a three-day working conference, with a grant from NCATE, to develop Rubrics for the Elementary Standards, as well as, in recent months, Rubrics for the Program Reviewers. For the convenience of ACEI members and other interested persons, the Elementary Standards and both sets of rubrics are now available on our Web site (www.acei.org; click on "Standards").

There's still more. Training highly qualified Program Reviewers is an essential part of the accreditation process, as is the onsite institutional training of faculty members provided by ACEI. ACEI is fortunate to have Institutional Trainers who work directly with college and university faculty to instruct them on elementary standards and preparation of their Program Reports. Trainers include: Ronald Colbert, James Cramer, Nancy Quisenberry, Mary Todd, and Catheryn Weitman, who is also responsible for training the Program Reviewers.

I urge all ACEI members to support quality teacher preparation programs. There is room for improvement in many areas of the teaching profession. ACEI will continue its efforts to help meet new expectations for teachers as a means of improving student achievement.

--Jerry Odland, Executive Director