Dear Colleagues:

We are pleased to report the composition of a joint NCATE/TEAC design team which will develop a specific proposal for a teacher education accreditation system with multiple pathways to accreditation. The first meeting of the joint design team will occur this fall.

NCATE’s appointees to the design team include Rachelle Bruno, Professor, Special Education, Northern Kentucky University; Jim Cibulka, NCATE President; Rick Ginsberg, Dean, School of Education, University of Kansas; Calvin Johnson, Dean, School of Education, University of Arkansas at Pine Bluff; Janice Poda, Deputy Superintendent for Administration, South Carolina Department of Education; and Blake West, President, Kansas NEA.

TEAC’s design team members include Barbara Brittingham, President, Commission on Institutions of Higher Education, New England Association of Schools and Colleges; Barbara Cambridge, Director, Washington, DC Office, National Council of Teachers of English; Sandra Cohen, Director of Teacher Education, University of Virginia; Frank Murray, TEAC President; Diana Rigden, Executive Vice-President, TEAC, and Mark Peterson, Chair of Teacher Education, Houghton College.

We look forward to working with the design team to chart a new course for teacher education accreditation in the coming years. We will have a stronger enterprise through the development of a system in which we share approaches and challenges in striving towards the dual goals of accountability and improvement. As former deans, we believe the field as a whole welcomes this forward movement.

The work of the joint NCATE/TEAC design team is subject to the continuing support and ultimate approval of both boards.

Sincerely, 

James G. Cibulka, President
NCATE
2010 Massachusetts Ave., NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20036
http://www.ncate.org

Frank B. Murray, President
TEAC
One Dupont Circle, Suite 320
Washington, DC 20036
http://www.teac.org