By George H. McShan
11/9/04 — For the past five months, I have been traveling across the nation talking with school board members, educators, chief executives, teachers, students, and community leaders about the role of the public school system in shaping the future of America.
There has been much talk about education during this year’s presidential election, as both the Republican and Democratic party platforms include education as a major issue.
On Sept. 24, NSBA Executive Director Anne Bryant and I attended U.S. Secretary of Education Rod Paige’s “Back to School” address, hosted by the National Press Club.
The centerpiece of the secretary’s message involved the No Child Left Behind Act (NCLB). NSBA continues to work collaboratively with the Education Department on ways to improve NCLB. One of the concerns we hope the department will address deals with the public’s perception of student achievement as it relates to adequate yearly progress.
We all agree that some unintended consequences have resulted from NCLB. NSBA will continue to provide positive leadership in communicating to the public the true facts about student achievement.
Collaborating with NCATE
We know that for students to attain — and retain — high performance, vital elements are required, such as small class sizes, safe learning environments, consistent teacher quality, and adequate resources.
Fifty years ago, NSBA, along with four other education and policymaker organizations, founded the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). As a new member of NCATE’s executive board, I participated in its annual meeting last month.
As a result of this meeting, I am convinced that now is a good time for NSBA to collaborate with NCATE, along with other groups involved with higher education, teacher education, and public schools to strengthen teacher quality nationwide.
Talented and dedicated professional teachers are absolutely necessary to increase student performance and close the achievement gap.
NCATE is a nonprofit, non-governmental alliance of 33 national professional education organizations. It currently accredits 588 colleges of education and has partnerships with 48 states, the District of Columbia, and Puerto Rico.
NCATE is the teaching profession’s mechanism to help establish high-quality teachers, specialists, and administrators through rigorous preparation.
Through the process of professional accreditation of schools, colleges, and departments of education, NCATE works to make a difference in the quality of teaching. NCATE believes every student deserves a caring, competent, and highly qualified teacher.
Here are some more facts about NCATE:
• The U.S. Department of Education and the Council for Higher Education Accreditation recognize NCATE as an accrediting body for schools, colleges, and departments of education.
• NCATE’s accreditation is performance-based, providing evidence of competent teacher candidate performance.
• NCATE-accredited schools produce more than two-thirds of the nation’s new teacher graduates.
• Thirty-nine states have adopted or adapted NCATE unit standards as their own and apply them to all institutions for purposes of state approval.
This is how the accreditation process works:
• The college of education must meet standards that ensure candidates know their subject and how teach it effectively.
• The college must develop an assessment system and ensure that data from it are used to provide evidence of candidate knowledge and skill in teaching PreK-12 students and for program improvement.
• An institution’s programs that prepare PreK-12 school professionals must undergo external review, according to a set of professional standards in the relevant content area.
• Individual programs that meet the rigorous standards set by experts in the content area are given the designation of “nationally recognized program.” These reviews are conducted by specialists in the field who are members of the relevant subject matter/developmental level professional association.
Ensuring consistency
NSBA President-Elect Joan Schmidt, who participates regularly on an NCATE on-site evaluation team, will help conduct an evaluation of a university in Louisiana this month.
David Thomas, chair of NSBA’s Council of Urban Boards of Education, was recently appointed to the accreditation board.
The accreditation of teacher education programs adds precious consistency to the quality of teachers entering the work force today.
The success of students depends greatly on the teacher’s knowledge of subject matter and use of effective classroom methods. School board members recognize teachers’ extraordinary efforts in helping our children strive to live the American dream.