NCATE & Alabama State Department of Education
Birmingham-Southern College was one of the first institutions to be accredited by the National Council for Accreditation in Teacher Preparation (NCATE). Both the Alabama State Department of Education and NCATE continue to review and approved our teacher education program. Birmingham-Southern College will be reviewed for continuing accreditation by both agencies in March 2006. The most recent standards from NCATE are listed below.
NCATE: Unit Standards and Rubrics
NCATE works to make a difference in the quality of teaching and teacher preparation today, tomorrow, and for the next century. NCATE Unit Standards (2002 Edition)
Conceptual Framework
The conceptual framework(s) establishes the shared vision for a unit’s efforts in preparing educators to work effectively in P–12 schools. It provides direction for programs, courses, teaching, candidate performance, scholarship, service, and unit accountability. The conceptual framework(s) is knowledge-based, articulated, shared, coherent, consistent with the unit and/or institutional mission, and continuously evaluated.
I. Candidate Performance
Standard 1: Candidate Knowledge, Skills, and Dispositions Candidates [1] preparing to work in schools as teachers or other professional school personnel know and demonstrate the content, pedagogical, and professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to help all students [2] learn. Assessments indicate that candidates meet professional, state, and institutional [3] standards.
Standard 2: Assessment System and Unit Evaluation
The unit has an assessment system that collects and analyzes data on the applicant qualifications, candidate and graduate performance, and unit operations to evaluate and improve the unit and its programs.
II. Unit Capacity
Standard 3: Field Experiences and Clinical Practice
The unit and its school partners design, implement, and evaluate field experiences and clinical practice so that teacher candidates and other school personnel develop and demonstrate the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to help all students learn.
Standard 4: Diversity
The unit designs, implements, and evaluates curriculum and experiences for candidates to acquire and apply the knowledge, skills, and dispositions necessary to help all students learn. These experiences include working with diverse higher education and school faculty, diverse candidates, and diverse students in P–12 schools.
Standard 5: Faculty Qualifications, Performance, and Development
Faculty are qualified and model best professional practices in scholarship, service, and teaching, including the assessment of their own effectiveness as related to candidate performance. They also collaborate with colleagues in the disciplines and schools. The unit systematically evaluates faculty performance and facilitates professional development.
Standard 6: Unit Governance and Resources
The unit has the leadership, authority, budget, personnel, facilities, and resources, including information technology resources, for the preparation of candidates to meet professional, state, and institutional standards.
Conceptual Framework(s)
A conceptual framework(s) establishes the shared vision for a unit’s efforts in preparing educators to work in P–12 schools. It provides direction for programs, courses, teaching, candidate performance, scholarship, service, and unit accountability. The conceptual framework(s) [4] is knowledge-based, articulated, shared, coherent, consistent with the unit and/or institutional mission, and continuously evaluated. The conceptual framework(s) provides the bases that describe the unit’s intellectual philosophy, which distinguishes graduates of one institution from those of another.
Faculty members in the unit are expected to collaborate with members of their professional community in developing a conceptual framework(s) that establishes the vision for the unit and its programs. The conceptual framework(s) provides the basis for coherence among curriculum, instruction, field experiences, clinical practice, assessment, and evaluation. It makes explicit the professional commitments and dispositions that support it, including the commitment to acquire and use knowledge on behalf of P–12 students. It reflects the unit’s commitment to diversity and the preparation of educators who help all students learn. It reflects the unit’s commitment to the integration of technology to enhance candidate and student learning. The conceptual framework(s) also provides a context for aligning professional and state standards with candidate proficiencies expected by the unit and programs for the preparation of educators.
The conceptual framework(s) provides the following structural elements:
- the vision and mission of the institution and unit
- the unit’s philosophy, purposes, and goals
- knowledge bases, including theories, research, the wisdom of practice, and education policies
- candidate proficiencies aligned with the expectations in professional, state, and institutional standards
- the system by which candidate performance is regularly assessed.
Each unit seeking accreditation for the first time is required to submit its conceptual framework(s) as a precondition for establishing eligibility for NCATE accreditation. In addition, it will include an overview of the conceptual framework(s) in the preliminary section of the institutional report.
An institution preparing for a continuing visit will include an overview of its conceptual framework(s) in the preliminary section of the continuing report. This overview must include a description of the framework(s), its development, and changes since the previous visit, including the relationship of conceptual framework(s) revisions to updated standards and assessments of the unit, profession, or state. The unit will also report evaluations of the conceptual framework(s) and resulting changes in the NCATE annual report.
Board of Examiners teams will look for evidence of the conceptual framework(s) as described below and report their findings in (1) the introductory section of the team report and (2) responses to standards throughout the team report.
Evidence of the Conceptual Framework(s) throughout the Standards Shared Vision:
The unit’s conceptual framework(s) describes the vision and purpose of a unit’s efforts in preparing educators to work in P–12 schools. It is well articulated, knowledge-based, and consistent with the institution’s mission.
Coherence: The unit’s conceptual framework(s) provides a system for ensuring coherence among curriculum, instruction, field experiences, clinical practice, and assessment across a candidate’s program. Professional Commitments [5] and Dispositions: The unit’s conceptual framework(s) clearly articulates its professional commitments to knowledge, teaching competence, and student learning. It has outlined the dispositions that the faculty value in teachers and other professional school personnel.
Commitment to Diversity: The unit’s conceptual framework(s) reflects the unit’s commitment to preparing candidates to support learning for all students and provides a conceptual understanding of how knowledge, dispositions, and skills related to diversity are integrated across the curriculum, instruction, field experiences, clinical practice, assessments, and evaluations.
Commitment to Technology: The unit’s conceptual framework(s) reflects the unit’s commitment to preparing candidates who are able to use educational technology to help all students learn; it also provides a conceptual understanding of how knowledge, skills, and dispositions related to educational and information technology are integrated throughout the curriculum, instruction, field experiences, clinical practice, assessments, and evaluations.
Candidate Proficiencies Aligned with Professional and State Standards: The unit’s conceptual framework(s) provides the context for developing and assessing candidate proficiencies based on professional, state, and institutional standards.