NCATE Releases Draft Elementary Standards for Field Review
Bonnie Bracey
(NCATE) today released groundbreaking performance-based standards and
assessment guidelines for use in elementary preparation programs in
professionally accredited schools of education. The standards are in draft
form and are being sent to the field at large for review and comment. These
standards will serve as a resource to help move the field forward as states
and institutions develop performance assessment systems for teacher
candidates. The standards were developed with support from the Carnegie
Corporation of New York, the Pew Charitable Trusts, and other foundations.
The new standards, in their final form, will be an integral part of NCATE
2000, NCATE's performance-based accreditation system now under development.
The draft elementary standards and assessment guidelines are the first
documents NCATE has released that begin to fill in the framework for
performance-based accreditation. NCATE's Executive Board approved the concept
of such a system in fall 1997.
The draft standards contain several new features. For the first time, these
preparation standards state what new elementary teacher candidates should know
and be able to do. The focus of the standards is on preparing new teachers to
help ensure student learning.
Next, the standards provide specific references to the knowledge base from
which they were drawn. These references will serve as guides for institutions
as they develop and improve elementary teacher preparation programs.
Finally, the standards document provides guidance about the qualities and
characteristics of good assessment systems that would be consistent with the
new standards for elementary teaching. This information is provided as
technical assistance to institutions preparing for elementary program review,
as well as for reviewers who will critique the evidence that the institutions
provide. Prior versions of these program standards focused on the quality of
the curriculum rather than on the knowledge and skill of the teacher
candidate.
Emerson Elliott, director of the Program Standards Development Project at
NCATE, says "performance information describing elementary teacher candidate
knowledge and ability to teach would become the basis for decisions about the
quality of elementary teacher preparation programs in the professional
accreditation process."
Under the new plan, which will likely become part of NCATE 2000 with some
revisions, the institutions are expected to submit summarized and sampled
assessment results demonstrating that teacher candidates are proficient in the
standards. Teacher education institutions would be expected to embed
assessments in instruction as well as in clinical experiences, and to conduct
them on a continuing basis. The assessment system would be integrated into
learning experiences throughout the candidate's program of study. Institutions
are expected to set benchmarks for accomplished, satisfactory, and
unsatisfactory levels of performance in the program and identify proportions
of candidates who reach these levels. In addition, institutions would draw on
assessment results from a variety of sources, including state licensure exams,
assessments in the candidate's content field, evaluations of actual
performance indicating proficiency and ability to have a positive impact on
student learning, and demonstrations of professional and pedagogical
knowledge.
Arthur Wise, president of NCATE, says, "this new approach to NCATE program
review--joining standards focused on candidate performance with assessments of
candidate proficiency--is a model for the revision of program standards in all
of the teaching disciplines. The guide to assessment will aid institutions as
they make changes in their programs to meet the new expectations for candidate
performance. We are pleased to provide this resource to institutions, states,
and the field at large."
NCATE's draft elementary standards for teacher candidates are linked with
national P-12 student standards, aligned with INTASC model state licensing
standards, and compatible with certification standards developed by the
National Board for Professional Teaching Standards.
NCATE will distribute the draft standards widely and is asking for comment by
June 30, 1999. The draft standards can be accessed via the NCATE web site.
Comments should be directed to Emerson Elliott or Craig McClellan.
NCATE is the professional accrediting body for teacher preparation, and
derives its strength from the profession and the public it serves. Members of
the public committed to quality in education, 33 national organizations
representing those who teach in and operate P-12 schools, and those who
educate those teachers, work together through NCATE to improve the quality of
education for our nation's children.
http://www.ncate.org/projects/npt/elemdraft/elemstds.PDF
<A HREF="http://www.ncate.org/projects/npt/elemdraft/elemstds.PDF">
http://www.ncate.org/projects/npt/elemdraft/elemstds.PDF</A>
Courtesy of Bonnie Bracey
NFIE Christa McAuliffe Educator
www.bracey-pearl.org