In 2005, both NCATE and the New Mexico Public Education Department (NM PED) conducted an initial approval site visit to 2 of 14 external campuses of this Texas-based four-year private University. The purpose of their visit was to assess and approve the teacher education programs administered at this University’s New Mexico campuses under the NCATE and NM PED standards. The only major deficiency identified during the visit was the lack of sufficient evidence in meeting the following standard:
The unit has an assessment system that collects and analyzes data on applicant qualifications, candidate and graduate performance, and unit operations to evaluate and improve the unit and its programs (National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, n.d., p. 4; National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education, 2005, p. 19).
Although some forms of accountability were being maintained informally, the campus did not meet the NCATE standard on the existence of program accountability through assessment measures. With the team’s imminent return in January 2008 to conduct a Focus Visit on assessment measures, the need to show evidence that an effective assessment plan and measures were in place was imperative. If documentation of meaningful accountability measures was not evident prior to the scheduled visit, the campus stood to lose program approval to continue administering its educator preparation programs.
From a program perspective, preparing for an accreditation visit can be a daunting task. Preparing for a Focus Visit, which comes after not meeting one or more NCATE standards, can prove even more intimidating. The case study institution was self-selected, based on its need and desire to identify strengths and weaknesses in how it assesses its Teacher Education Program. More pressing was the need to conduct an assessment prior to the scheduled revisit by the joint NMPED and the NCATE board of examiner’s (BOE) team in January 2008.