THE
STATE EDUCATION DEPARTMENT / THE UNIVERSITY
OF THE STATE OF |
TO: |
Higher Education and Professional Practice Committee |
FROM: |
Johanna Duncan-Poitier |
SUBJECT: |
Proposed Amendment to the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education Relating to the Accreditation of Teacher Education Programs |
DATE: |
May 5,
2006 |
STRATEGIC
GOAL: |
Goals 2
and 3 |
AUTHORIZATION(S): |
|
Issue for
Discussion
Consistent
with the September 2005 endorsement of the Regents Higher Education and
Professional Practice Committee, should the Regents amend section
52.21(b)(2)(iv)(c) of the Regulations of the Commissioner of Education to
provide a one-time process through which existing teacher education programs may
defer the date by which they must be accredited?
Review of
Policy.
Proposed
Handling
The proposed amendment is before the Committee for discussion in May 2006 and will be submitted for action at the June 2006 Regents meeting.
Procedural
History
The Board of Regents adopted a new teaching
policy, "Teaching to Higher Standards:
Notice of Proposed Rule Making concerning the proposed amendment was published in the State Register on April 19, 2006. Supporting materials for the proposed amendment are available upon request from the Board of Regents.
Background
Information
The purpose of the proposed amendment is to
define limited conditions under which registered teacher preparation programs
may receive from the State Education Department a deferral of the date by which
they must be accredited.
Under current regulations,
teacher preparation programs that were registered prior to September 1, 2001
must be accredited by an acceptable professional education accrediting
association or the Board of Regents by December 31, 2006, in order to maintain
their registration status.
Staff believe it is necessary to
give teacher education programs additional time to achieve accreditation, under
limited conditions. Due to
the demands of scheduling over 100 accreditation visits and the challenges
programs face in preparing for accreditation, the schedule of site visits
extends through the fall 2006 semester.
At least one Department representative participates in every
accreditation site visit to a teacher education program, regardless of the
program's chosen accreditor. Twenty-three institutions have visits scheduled in
either the spring (13) or fall (10) 2006 semesters. Because these institutions
may not have an accreditation decision by December 31st or will have
little time to respond to a denial of accreditation, they may be negatively
impacted by the current accreditation deadline.
The amendment's
first provision applies to institutions that are awaiting a
decision following an accreditation review conducted by December 31, 2006. For these programs, the date by which
they must be accredited will be deferred by one year, until December 31,
2007. That deferral will cover the
time accreditors will need to render decisions on their late-2006 accreditation
reviews.
The current cycle of accreditation reviews
represents the first time many teacher education programs have sought
accreditation. Often, institutions
must change and formalize their procedures and address resource issues to
satisfy accreditation standards.
Institutions ultimately benefit from the accreditation review, but the
time needed to prepare for and respond to such reviews, and the time needed for
accreditation decisions to be made, will force some quality programs past the
accreditation deadline.
As a
result, some programs may need additional time to resolve first-time
accreditation issues that led to an initial denial of
accreditation.
The amendment's second provision applies to institutions that have been denied accreditation. Under the proposed amendment, programs denied accreditation during a limited time period, January 1, 2005 through December 31, 2007, may apply for a deferral of the date by which they must earn accreditation. To qualify for such a deferral, the institution will need to provide an acceptable corrective action plan to address the deficiencies cited by the accreditor and the Department. Corrective action plans will be reviewed by the Department. If the Department approves the plan, it will defer the institution's accreditation deadline by up to three years.
The amendment is needed to give the Department regulatory flexibility to accommodate teacher preparation programs that demonstrate the ability to earn accreditation within the short term. It provides a safety net for those institutions (and the students they serve) during this initial cycle of accreditation reviews. Given the number of accreditation reviews that must still be completed, and the possibility that some completed reviews will result in accreditation denials, the Department estimates that 15 to 20 institutions will be unable to meet the December 31st accreditation deadline. The majority of that number will simply be awaiting an accreditation decision. Without the amendment, programs may be subject to de-registration for not meeting the accreditation requirement by December 31, 2006. By providing for deferral of the accreditation deadline under the described conditions, the amendment allows programs to address deficiencies, thereby limiting disruptions to students while helping to ensure improvements in program quality.
Recommendation
N/A
Timetable for
Implementation
The effective date of the proposed amendment is July 13, 2006.
Attachment
AMENDMENT TO THE
REGULATIONS OF THE COMMISSIONER OF EDUCATION
Pursuant to
sections 207, 210, 215, 305, 3001, and 3004 of the Education Law. Clause (c) of subparagraph (iv) of
paragraph (2) of subdivision (b) of section 52.21 of the Regulations of the
Commissioner of Education is amended, effective July 13, 2006, as
follows:
(c)
Accreditation.
(1)
(i) For programs registered on or before September 1, 2001, the
requirements of subclause (2) of this clause shall be met by December 31,
2006, except as provided in subclause (3) of this clause. [For such programs, the institution
shall submit to the acceptable professional education accrediting association or
the department pursuant to the Regents accreditation process, the self-study or
its equivalent as prescribed by the department, required for the accreditation
review, by July 1, 2004.]
(ii) For programs registered for the first time
after September 1, 2001, the requirements of subclause (2) of this clause shall
be met within seven years of the date of the commencement of such initial
registration.
(2) Programs
shall be continuously accredited by either:
(i) an
acceptable professional education accrediting association, meaning an
organization which is determined by the department to have equivalent standards
to the standards set forth in this Part; or
(ii) the
Regents, pursuant to a Regents accreditation
process.
(3)
Exceptions. Programs that meet the
requirements of either item (i) or (ii) of this subclause shall receive a
deferral of the date by which they must be accredited, in accordance with the
requirements of each item.
(i) Deferral for programs
awaiting accreditation decision.
Programs registered on or before September 1, 2001 that are awaiting an
accreditation decision from their chosen accreditor following an accreditation
review which included a site visit conducted on or before December 31, 2006,
shall meet the accreditation requirement in subclause (2) of this clause by
December 31, 2007.
(ii) Deferral for programs
under corrective action plan.
Programs registered on or before September 1, 2001 that have been denied
accreditation between January 1, 2005 and December 31, 2007, may request from
the department a deferral of the date by which they must be accredited in
accordance with the requirements of this item.
(A) Such programs denied
accreditation between January 1, 2005 and July 12, 2006 must submit a written
request to the department for the deferral of the date for accreditation by
September 1, 2006. Such programs
denied accreditation between July 13, 2006 and December 31, 2007 must submit to
the department a written request for such deferral within 15 days of receiving
written notice of the determination denying accreditation.
(B) Such programs may be
granted by the department a deferral of the date by which they must be
accredited, provided that the programs submit a corrective action plan that is
acceptable to the department. Such
corrective action plan must be submitted to the department within 60 days
of the programs' submission of the
request for the deferral of the date for accreditation. The corrective action plan must
adequately address the deficiencies identified by the accreditor and establish
an acceptable date by which the programs will be accredited based upon a plan to
remedy such deficiencies. The
department shall review the corrective action plan to determine whether to grant
the deferral of the date for
accreditation.
(C) Where the deferral of the date for
accreditation is granted, the department shall determine the date by which the
programs must be accredited. Such
date shall be stated in the corrective action plan and shall not exceed three
years from the date of the department's written notice to the programs of the
determination to grant the deferral of the date for accreditation. During the period of the
implementation of the corrective action plan, the programs shall demonstrate to
the department that the programs are making adequate progress toward meeting the
chosen accreditor's standards. Any
determination denying re-registration of the programs based upon the initial
accreditation review shall be held in abeyance and the programs shall continue
to be registered during the period of the review by the department of the
programs' request for accreditation deferral and the implementation of an
acceptable corrective action plan.