NCATE/NAEYC Program Review Frequently Asked Questions
Responses to frequently asked questions about the NCATE/NAEYC program review are presented below. We welcome your feedback to ensure that the information is useful.
FAQ About NCATE Program Reviews For Reviewers
How many NAEYC standards need to be met for a program to be nationally recognized?
All five NAEYC standards for professional preparation must be met for a program to become nationally recognized. Each standard has several (3 – 5) components or key elements that should generally be addressed for the standard to be met.
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For Advanced programs, do all Essential Tools have to be met for recognition?
No. A majority of essential tools to be met in order to say an Advanced program can be recognized. This means five of the nine essential tools must be met (and all five standards must be met) for the program to be recognized.
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What if a standard is weak, but we still feel the program could be Nationally Recognized with Conditions?
All five standards need to be met for the program to be recognized, either with or without conditions. For a standard that is weak, you may determine it Met with Conditions.
To be Met with Conditions, the standard must be able to be redressed by the program within 18 months. Examples of instances to use Met with Conditions include:
- The assessment and scoring criteria appear to be adequate; however there is not enough data
- The assessment is adequate or strong; however the scoring criteria are weak (vague, overly general) or not well aligned with the assessment
- The assessment and scoring criteria are adequate or strong, but are not well aligned with the standard
Use the comments box to clarify how the program met the standard and what the conditions are. You must explain in Part G that the standard is met conditionally and specifically what condition(s) must be addressed in the subsequent report. Please also note in Part B that the standard is "Met with Conditions."
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Does the program need to show that each element of each standard has been met?
NAEYC does not dictate that a certain percentage of elements must be met in order to determine that the standard is met. Consider the standard as a whole and make a professional judgment as to whether the program meets the overall intent of the standard. Please provide feedback to the program about which key elements are strengths or weaknesses for the program.
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How much data are required to grant National Recognition?
To be eligible for National Recognition through the Spring of 2007, programs must have one semester’s worth of data for at least five assessments. (After this, programs will need one year’s worth of data through Spring of 2008, two year’s worth of data through Spring 2009, and three years thereafter.) With less data, they may still be determined Nationally Recognized with Conditions, depending on the quality of the assessments, rubrics, and so forth.
A program may have different N’s for each assessment, which can be confusing for you, but this is okay. They may not have enough completers to include a single cohort of data, in which case it is more effective for the program to include data on the enrolled candidates who participated in a given assessment, and this number could differ according to the number of candidates who are at various stages in the program. Hopefully the faculty has explained the reason for varying N’s in their report, but you may assume this is the case, if they have not explained.
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Who determines whether the program meets the 80% pass rate on the state test?
NCATE asks reviewers to check off the 80% box if it is easy to determine. If not (if you are spending more than 5 minutes on this) just check "not able to determine" and NCATE staff will handle it.
Also, some states do require more than one test. NCATE tells compilers to submit data ONLY on the test that is SPA specific. However, if the state requires that they take more than one test and there are concepts addressed in both tests that could be used to show candidate mastery of the SPA standards, then the program can submit data for both tests and use both tests as Assessment #1.
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What if a program emphasizes only part of the birth – age 8 range, such as K - 3?
Programs often highlight preparation in a specific area of early childhood, such as K – 3 or Infants/Toddlers, especially when a program is in a state that designates licensure or certification in a specific area. For national recognition by NAEYC as an early childhood program, however, a program needs to demonstrate that candidates have exposure to learning and thinking about all young children across the birth – age 8 range.
However, programs do not need to disaggregate data according to knowledge and skills related to infant, toddler, pre-K, kindergarten, and primary sub-periods. It is sufficient that the report documents candidates’ opportunities to learn about various phases of child development in report narratives, such as the Sections I, IV, and V narratives.
For example, the narratives for a program with a K – 3 certification could explain that its child development courses and observation assignments include infants and toddlers, or how attention was given to adapting curriculum and teaching strategies for infants and toddlers. If a program seems weak in a certain area, you would not determine the program could not be recognized (since this is determined only by performance on the five standards), but you should provide this feedback in the recognition report.
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What if a program only requires field placements with one age group?
NCATE standards for field experience require clinical practice to be sufficiently extensive and intensive for candidates to demonstrate proficiencies in the professional roles for which they are preparing. In order to insure that prospective early childhood teachers are adequately prepared to work with young children from birth through age eight years, NAEYC has long required field and clinical experience placements with at least two age groups, the possible groupings being infants and toddlers (ages 0 - 2), preK and kindergarten (ages 3 - 5), and primary (ages 6 - 8).
The program review system has now evolved, however, from evaluation of contextual and program inputs to evaluation of candidate performance. While NAEYC still expects programs to provide clinical and field experiences in settings with multiple age groups, reviewers may not determine a specific standard Not Met solely on the basis of a single age-group field placement. In turn, reviewers may not determine a program Not Nationally Recognized solely on this basis. However, program reviewers may and should comment on this requirement as an area for improvement or as a concern for possible follow-up by Board of Examiners.
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What if the program is using generic (unit-wide) assessments?
Programs frequently use unit-wide assessments, particularly for Assessment #4, evaluation of clinical practice. NCATE’s instructions to programs, found at http://www.ncate.org/institutions/guidelinesProcedures.asp?ch=90, read:
“Generic student teaching/internship evaluations (those used by all programs in a unit) will not necessarily provide direct evidence of meeting specific SPA standards. Faculty have several options to ensure that these kinds of unit-wide assessments are appropriate for SPA review.
For example, program faculty could develop an addition to a generic student teaching/internship evaluation that does evaluate the candidate on appropriate SPA standards. Faculty could also code elements in the unit-wide assessment with the specific SPA standards that are addressed by the item and, in the discussion in Section IV for this assessment, provide a rationale for how these items are evaluated in practice to ensure that SPA standards are addressed. A third option is to use a SPA specific assessment completed during a pre-student teaching practicum.”
In other words, if the program has not adapted the generic assessment to show sufficient alignment with NAEYC’s standards—either through an addendum, coding, or some other means—it is difficult or impossible to know whether candidates have mastery in relation to early childhood knowledge and skills. The assessment probably will not be useful in evaluating performance on the standards. Please provide that feedback to the program.
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May a program use grades as an assessment of content knowledge?
Yes, NAEYC will accept the use of grades or GPA as an assessment of content knowledge. Programs are advised to be very selective about which courses/grades are included, so that each is specifically content based. If a program uses a GPA, it should not use an overall GPA, which would likely have many courses not focused on content per se; rather, it should include grades from a few carefully chosen courses. The report should state clearly what components comprise the grades selected. Also, look for demonstrated alignment of the GPA with the NAEYC definition of content knowledge. Is it clear from the data how much candidates know about literacy, mathematics, social studies, and so forth? As with other assessments, GPAs are most useful if faculty have disaggregated the data by areas of content knowledge. For example, a data table might present evidence of candidates’ knowledge of content in such areas as child development, literacy, mathematics, and physical development. In general, programs should make a strong case that the combination of selected course grades does indeed represent mastery of content knowledge.
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What is “content knowledge” for early childhood candidates?
Content knowledge in early childhood includes both subject-area knowledge and knowledge of child development and family processes. The definition in the directions to programs reads, “knowledge of child development and learning (characteristics and influences); family relationships and processes; subject matter knowledge in literacy, mathematics, science, social studies, the visual and performing arts, and movement/physical education; as well as knowledge about children’s learning and development in these areas.” Use this broad definition when considering program’s evidence of content knowledge.
Note that it can be easy to get confused, thinking that content knowledge means knowledge of all the NAEYC standards. This is not exactly the case. Content knowledge, as defined above, does cover assessment and documentation, for example (Standard 3), or professionalism (Standard 5).
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What is “effects on student learning” in the context of early childhood?
For NCATE purposes, “student learning” is a term used across all education programs to refer to the learning of the children candidates will teach. In early childhood, effects on student learning refers to candidates’ ability to impact young children’s learning and to create environments that support children’s learning. You may use this broader definition when considering evidence for Assessment #5 and a program’s performance in this area.
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If a program does not have any graduates yet, should we still review the report?
As long as the program has at least one candidate enrolled or at least one completer in the past three years, you should still review the program. If, however, there are no candidates are in the pipeline and no one has graduated from the program in the past three years, a program report is not required. (The 80% pass rate requirement does not apply to programs that do not have 10 completers over a three year period.)
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I’m reviewing a revised report or a response to conditions, but I don’t have the original report. What should I do?
You should have access to original recognition and program reports when reviewing a revised report or a response to conditions report. Please contact Jaye Bishop (jaye@ncate.org) or Ronnie Gomez (ronnie@ncate.org) at if you have any trouble accessing reports. Feel free to CC Heather.
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What tips would you have for writing a good Recognition Report?
Based on discussion amongst reviewers at the Reviewer Training in June 2006, a good Recognition Report...
- Is detailed but not overwhelming; uses concise writing
- Has comments that are organized; e.g., lists comments on assessments sequentially, or perhaps starts with the most powerful assessment(s) addressing the standard in question
- Comments on both the strengths and weaknesses of assessments, and is especially clear on weaknesses; organizing this information according to key elements of the standards is helpful
- Has a tone of sensitive guidance; that is, it provides gentle guidance, without being prescriptive, about how the program could strengthen various areas
- Recognizes that not all assessments need to provide evidence for a standard in order for that standard to be found Met
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I need some help. Who should I contact?
For guidance or support in decisions about the standards or the overall program decision or for help writing the recognition report, please contact NAEYC by telephone: 800-424-2460, Press 5 for NCATE-related questions, or by email: ncate@naeyc.org.
For questions about NCATE timelines and requirements, please contact Robin Marion at NCATE: robin@ncate.org or 202-466-7496. (Feel free to CC us at ncate@naeyc.org) For technical assistance with the online system, please contact Marsha Russell at NCATE: mrussell@ncate.org.
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