“Students who graduate from NCATE accredited institutions are an assurance to the public that the graduates know their subject matter and a variety of ways to teach it so that all students learn,” said Charles Love, dean of the School of Education at USC Spartanburg. “Our graduates learn from the very best, and our faculty are extremely well-qualified for their positions, having both the terminal degree and recent and relevant public school experience in their respective areas of expertise.”

NCATE-accredited schools must meet rigorous standards set by the profession and members of the public. Teacher candidates must have in-depth knowledge of the subject matter that they plan to teach as well as the skills necessary to convey it so that students learn. The institution must have partnerships with P-12 schools that enable candidates to develop the skills necessary to help students learn. And the college must have the resources, including information technology resources, necessary to prepare candidates to meet new standards.

NCATE revises its standards every five years to incorporate best practice and research in order to ensure that the standards reflect a consensus about what is important in teacher preparation today. In the past decade, NCATE has moved from an accreditation system that focused on curriculum and what teacher candidates were offered to a data-driven performance-based system dedicated to determining what candidates know and are able to do.

The new system expects teacher preparation institutions to provide compelling evidence of candidate knowledge and skill in the classroom. Multiple types of performance assessment are expected throughout the program of study. Candidate qualifications are assessed upon entry, and candidate competence is assessed throughout the program as well as prior to student teaching/internship work and before completion of the program.

Meeting NCATE accreditation standards also helps institutions prepare new teachers for new, more rigorous licensing standards in many states. NCATE accreditation standards incorporate the model state licensing principles developed by a task force of the Council of Chief State School Officers.

The U. S. Department of Education recognizes NCATE as the professional accrediting body for schools, departments, and colleges of education. On-site visits, document review, and accreditation decisions are all carried out by professionals from the education community, including teachers, school specialists, and teacher educators, as well as members of the public and education policymakers.

For more information about USC Spartanburg’s teacher education program, go to www.uscs.edu.

For more information about NCATE, go to www.ncate.org.

5/04