The legitimacy of accreditation in teacher education is rooted in political consensus and power and, to a lesser extent, in scholarship. Both roots, however, are fragile and weak. Consequently, to take a negative example, there is no accepted concept of educational malpractice in the field. The standards we have are at best hypotheses awaiting confirmation or falsification. The legitimacy of accreditation should be rooted in the scholarly evidence that the program has fulfilled the claim that its graduates are competent, caring, and qualified.
Get full access to this article
View all access options for this article.
References
1.
Archbald, D. (1998). The reviews of state content standards in English language arts and mathematics: A summary and review of their methods and findings and implications for future standards development. Unpublished report for the National Education Goals Panel.
2.
Assessing teacher training. (1998, October 9). Chronicle of higher education, pp. A12-A13.
3.
Conant, J. B. (1963). Education of American teachers. New York: McGraw-Hill.
4.
Council for Higher Education Accreditation . (2000). How accreditation began [Online]. Available: www.chea.org
5.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2000a). Teacher quality and student achievement: A review of state policy evidence. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 8(1), 1-44.
6.
Darling-Hammond, L. (2000b). Teaching for America’s future: National commissions and vested interests in an almost profession. Educational Policy, 14(1), 162-183.
7.
Gideonse, H. (1998). Two accrediting agencies?ATE Newsletter, 31(5), p. 4.
8.
Graham, P. , Lyman, R., & Trow, M. (1995). Accountability of colleges and universities: An essay. New York: Columbia University Press.
9.
Haney, W. , Fowler, C., Wheelock, A., Bebell, D., & Malec, N. (1999). Less truth than error? An independent study of the Massachusetts teacher tests. Education Policy Analysis Archive [Online]. Available: www.olam.ed.asu.edu/epaa/v7n4/
10.
Howard, R. , Hitz, R., & Baker, L. (2000). Adequacy and allocation within higher education: Funding the work of education schools. Educational Policy, 14(1), 145-160.
11.
Howe, H. (1982). Forward. In H. Judge (Ed.), American graduate schools of education: A view from abroad (pp. vi-viii). New York: Ford Foundation.
12.
Judge, H. , Lemosse, M., Paine, M., & Sedlak, M. (1994). The university and the teachers. Oxford Studies in Comparative Education, 4, 1-2.
13.
Koerner, J. D. (1963). The miseducation of American teachers. Boston: Houghton Mifflin.
14.
Mitchell, R. , & Barth, P. (1999). How teacher licensing tests fall short. Thinking K-16, 3(1), 1-24.
15.
Murray, F. (Ed.). (1996). The teacher educator’s handbook: Building a knowledge base for the preparation of teachers. San Francisco: Jossey-Bass.
16.
Murray, F. (1998). Beyond reform slogans: Linking developmental psychology and teacher education reform. In S. Paris & H. Wellman (Eds.), Global prospects for education (pp. 309-344). Washington, DC: American Psychological Foundation.
17.
National certification found valid for teachers . (2000, October 25). Education Week, 20(8), 1, 24-25.
18.
National Commission on Teaching and America’s Future . (1996). What matters most: Teaching for America’s future. New York: Author.
19.
Ohanian, S. (1999). One size fits few: The folly of educational standards. New York: Heinemann.
20.
Ohanian, S. (2000). Goals 2000: What’s in a name?Phi Delta Kappan, 81, 345-355.
21.
Petrie, H. (1995). Professionalization, partnership and power: Building professional development schools. New York: State University of New York Press.
22.
Raths, J. (1999). A consumer’s guide to teacher standards. Phi Delta Kappan, 81, 136-142.
23.
Sanders, W. , & Rivers, J. (1996). Cumulative and residual effects of teachers on future student academic achievement. Knoxville: University of Tennessee, Value-Added Research and Development Center.
24.
Teacher Education Accreditation Council . (1999). Prospectus. Washington, DC: Author.
25.
Trow, M. (1998). On the accountability of higher education in the United States. In W. Bowen & H. Shapiro (Eds.), Universities and their leadership (pp. 15-61). Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press.
26.
Wright, S. , Horn, S., & Sanders, W. (1997). Teacher and classroom context effects on student achievement: Implications for teacher evaluation. Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education, 11, 57-67.
