The 2014 SBE Educator Preparation Policy called
for the TDOE to create a CAEP Implementation
Working Group, which would be tasked with
advising the TDOE on developing protocols,
tools, and benchmarks for the approval of EPPs
in Tennessee. The group, which consists of 35
members, has been meeting since January 2015
to advance SBE policies on teacher preparation.
For example, the group developed metrics that
have informed the creation of the annual reports.
Annual reports, which are discussed in a later
section, provide information to EPPs regarding their
performance. The group will continue its work on
developing policies related to program approval
and review for the next three years but will reduce
in membership to 12 members.
Teacher Preparation Report Cards
To provide prospective teacher candidates, school
districts, policymakers, and preparation programs
clear data, the Tennessee General Assembly
charged the SBE in 2007 with producing an annual
report card on the effectiveness of EPPs. Because
of capacity constraints at the board, the Tennessee
Higher Education Commission began producing and
releasing this report card. In 2015, the SBE took over
producing the Teacher Preparation Report Card. In
late 2016, the board will release a new version of the
report card with a greater emphasis on connecting
educator preparation to student outcomes. The goal
of the redesigned report card is to create a userfriendly document that provides focused information
about the effectiveness of program completers to key
stakeholders, including school districts, prospective
candidates, and EPPs.
The new report card redesign was developed by the
SBE with feedback from a series of 2015 surveys and
focus groups about what data to include and how
19
What is CAEP?
The Council for Accreditation of
Educator Preparation (CAEP) was fully
established in 2013 as the sole accrediting body for EPPs. It was formed as a
merger between the National Council
for Accreditation of Teacher Education
(NCATE) and the Teacher Education
Accreditation Council (TEAC). The goal
of the CAEP standards was to move the
accrediting process from an inputs-driven approach to an outcomes-driven
approach. Rather than measure EPP
success based on areas such as course
offerings, success is now measured
based on teacher impact data or
principal satisfaction with teachers.
Twenty-seven states now have partnerships with CAEP. Partnership agreements specify roles and responsibilities
for stakeholders in the state and the
CAEP organization. Tennessee plans to
finalize its CAEP partnership agreement
in early 2017.
CAEP Standards
for Accredidation
The Council for Accreditation
of There are five CAEP
standards.
• Standard 1 - Content and
Pedagogical Knowledge
• Standard 2 - Clinical Partnerships and Practice
• Standard 3 - Candidate Quality, Recruitment, and Selectivity
• Standard 4 - Program Impact
• Standard 5 - Provider Quality
Assurance and Continuous
Improvement