Three Intra-Departmental NCATE Reviews: a Case Study

This Action Research case study examined the relationship of the specialty professional association accreditation process to curricular revisions in content concentrations which service both teacher licensure degree candidates and non-licensure degree candidates at a particular liberal arts institution of higher education. It sought to answer the question, Does the SPA/NCATE accreditation process, as experienced by the content faculty at a particular liberal arts institution of higher education in three licensure programs, contribute to the NCLB Highly Qualified Teachers mandate through curricular change? through the examination of the NCATE review process, as experienced during the preparation of and subsequent responses to three simultaneous intradepartmental reviews, which conformed to the criteria of three different specialty professional associations\u27 standards. The results of the study indicate that curricular change does occur in the course of such reviews, and that such curricular change provides evidence of contribution to the preparation of highly qualified teachers, although the definition of a highly qualified teacher suffers from shifting political and professional positions. The results also provide evidence that the NCATE process suffers, at times, from inconsistencies, from lack of uniformity from one professional association to another, and from participant frustration, due to mid-report adjustments on the part of NCATE. Suggestions for further research are also included