Office of Accreditation & Teacher Quality

The Teacher Education Program Approval Process

South Dakota assures quality in teacher education programs through the approval process of unit and program review, as outlined in state administrative rules.

Onsite team reviews are conducted at the 11 South Dakota institutions with teacher education programs (five public institutions and six private institutions) on a rotating seven-year cycle. These reviews are coordinated with National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) reviews at institutions seeking national accreditation.

Unit Review:

A unit review looks at the education program’s commitment to overall preparation of teacher candidates. This could include the unit’s teacher education program admission, mission, conceptual framework, assessment system, and field experience policies and procedures.

Those institutions that seek NCATE accreditation have a review team selected by NCATE’s Board of Examiners, in addition to a State Board of Examiners team selected jointly by the institution and the Department of Education. Members of the State team may include:

• practitioners and administrators from elementary and secondary schools,
• faculty from higher education and appropriate Department of Education representatives,
• observers from the South Dakota Education Association, Associated School Boards of South Dakota, School Administrators of South Dakota, the South Dakota Board of Education and the South Dakota Board of Regents.

At an onsite visit, the NCATE Board of Examiners uses NCATE and State standards to review the teacher education unit with the assistance of the State Board of Examiners. Non-NCATE institutions are visited by a State Board of Examiners team only and are reviewed according solely to South Dakota Administrative Rule.

Team members must validate the accuracy of the institutional self-study by examining documents and conducting interviews. This validation process helps determine if each standard is Met or Not Met.

Program Review:

The institution’s teacher preparation programs are reviewed prior to the onsite visit by a team of trained program reviewers. The reviewers may include:

• practitioners and administrators from elementary and secondary schools; and,
• faculty from higher education and appropriate Department of Education representatives.

Although the program reviewers do not join the Board of Examiners team at the onsite visit, the reviewers may request the members of the State Board of Examiners team investigate any outstanding concerns that the reviewer may have noted from their initial program review.

Consensus:

It is the team’s professional responsibility to treat the findings and the written report as confidential. A verbal summary is reported to the institution on the final day of the site visit. The written report submitted to the institution within 45 days provides specific information and documentation used for validation of each standard. The institution may respond with a written rejoinder within 30 days after receiving the written report. The rejoinder is considered in determining recommendations for approval to the South Dakota Board of Education.

For more information contact Steve Fiechtner at (605) 773-4774 or steve.fiechtner@state.sd.us. 

Program Review:

The institution’s teacher preparation programs are reviewed prior to the onsite visit by a team of trained program reviewers. The reviewers may include:

• practitioners and administrators from elementary and secondary schools; and,
• faculty from higher education and appropriate Department of Education representatives.

Although the program reviewers do not join the Board of Examiners team at the onsite visit, the reviewers may request the members of the State Board of Examiners team investigate any outstanding concerns that the reviewer may have noted from their initial program review.

Programs will be reviewed based upon the following program review templates:

• 7-12 Agriculture
• K-12 Art Education (NAEA)
• K-12 Art Education (NASAD)
• Birth-Preschool Education
• Birth-Age 8 Early Childhood Education
• 7-12 Business Education
• PK-Grade 12 School Counselor Education Program
• 7-12 Career and Technical Education
• K-12 Curriculum Director
• 7-12 Drama/Theater Education
• K-12 Computer Science
• K-8 Elementary Education
• K-8 Elementary/Special Education
• 7-12 Family and Consumer Sciences
• K-12 World Language
• K-12 Health Education
• K-12 South Dakota Indian Studies
• 7-12 Industrial Technology
• 7-12 English/Language Arts Education
• 7-12 Marketing Education
• 7-12 Mass Communications/Journalism Education
• 7-12 Speech/Debate Education
• 7-12 Mathematics Education
• 7-12 Composite Mathematics/Science Education
• K-12 Music Education
• K-12 Physical Education
• PK-12, PK-8, or 7-12 Principals
• K-12 Reading Specialists
• PK-12 School Library Media Specialist Education Program
• Birth- Age 21 School Psychologist Education Program
• 7-12 Science Education (Including Composite, Biology, Chemistry, Physical, Physics, and Earth/Space)
• Birth-Age 21 School Speech/Language Pathologist Education Program
• Preschool-Grade 12 School Social Work Education Program
• 7-12 Social Studies Education (Including Composite, Economics, Geography, History, Political Science, Psychology, and Sociology)
• K-12 Special Education: Deaf and Hearing Impaired
• Birth-Age 21 Special Education Director
• Birth-Age 8 Early Childhood and Birth-Age 8 Special Education
• K-12 Special Education
• PK-12 Career Superintendents