Office of Accreditation & Teacher Quality

NCATE Partnership

NCATE Overview

South Dakota currently holds a partnership with the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). NCATE founded in 1954, replaced AACTE as the agency responsible for accreditation in teacher education. As mentioned on the NCATE site, five groups were instrumental in the creation of NCATE: the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE), the National Association of State Directors of Teacher Education and Certification (NASDTEC), the National Education Association (NEA), the Council of Chief State School Officers (CCSSO), and the National School Boards Association (NSBA).

“NCATE is the teaching profession’s mechanism to help establish high quality teacher, specialist, and administrator 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, teachers, school specialists and administrators. NCATE believes every student deserves a caring, competent, and highly qualified teacher.” – NCATE Mission Statement

• Click here for the full version of the NCATE mission statement

South Dakota/NCATE Partnership

South Dakota’s State Partnership Agreement was submitted to NCATE on March 15, 2006. The process of submitting a partnership with NCATE is filled with negotiations and revisions. Please continue to check this website for any new information regarding the solidification of this partnership.

As a part of the NCATE Partnership Agreement submission, South Dakota submitted a narrative explaining processes and protocols for the review of teacher education programs at several South Dakota colleges and universities. The narrative as well as accompanying documents explaining the process to fulfill NCATE reporting requirements can be downloaded and viewed below.

Once the Partnership is completed in full and complete agreement is reached with NCATE, the new South Dakota state protocol will be viewable on the NCATE site on the “State Protocols” page. 

• Partnership Agreement (PDF)

• Administrative Rules 24-16 (PDF)

• State Team Evaluation of State Team Process and Procedures (Word)

• Institutional Evaluation of State Team Process and Procedures (Word)

• Contract to Serve on State Team (Word)

• Unit Program Approval Review Handbook (PDF)

Currently, the teacher education programs in seven institutions of higher education are reviewed and approved in seven-year cycles by both the State Department of Education and NCATE. Those institutions and their next scheduled joint State/NCATE review include:

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Contact

More information regarding this Partnership Agreement or South Dakota’s continued working agreement with NCATE, please contact Jennifer Neuhauser at Jennifer.neuhauser@state.sd.us or 605-773-4774.

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