Prepared for Day One | Page 18

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