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Updated 05/06/05

Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC)

About TEAC
Contact TEAC

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In September 2003, Rod Paige, the Secretary of Education of the United States, formally recognized the newly formed Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC) as an accreditor of teacher education programs in the United States, thereby placing it on an equal footing with the longer-established National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and with 11 national, 8 regional, and 62 other specialized and professional accrediting organizations in the United States. The Secretary's recognition accepted the unanimous finding in June 2003 by the Department of Education's National Advisory Committee on Institutional Quality and Integrity (NACIQI) that TEAC had complied with the Secretary's standards for all accreditors whose decisions enable a program or institution to receive federal funds. *

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The Teacher Education Accreditation Council (TEAC), founded in 1997, is a nonprofit organization dedicated to improving academic degree programs for professional educators—those who will teach and lead in schools, pre-K through grade 12.

TEAC’s membership represents the teacher education programs at a broad range of higher education institutions, from small liberal arts colleges to large research universities, and includes professional organizations.

TEAC’s primary work is accrediting undergraduate and graduate professional teacher education programs. TEAC’s accreditation process examines and verifies the evidence teacher education programs have to support their claims that they prepare competent, caring, and qualified professional educators.

TEAC’s unique approach to accreditation also helps programs improve and be accountable for their quality. TEAC’s accreditation process is based on the questions each program’s faculty asks about the program and its performance within the context of the program’s mission. TEAC’s academic audit verifies evidence that student learning meets high expectations and that the program is following processes that produce quality.

To be accredited, an eligible program submits a research monograph, called an Inquiry Brief, in which the faculty and administrators document the following:

• evidence of their students’ learning
• evidence that their assessment of student learning is valid
• evidence that the program’s continuous improvement and quality control is based on information about its students’ learning.

TEAC audits, or verifies, the system that produced the evidence presented in the Inquiry Brief and evaluates whether the evidence supports the program’s claims about its students’ accomplishments. TEAC accredits the program based on the audit and evaluation of this evidence.

TEAC also conducts meetings and workshops for its members to share information about innovation in program design and effectiveness. TEAC is also an advocate for improvements in professional education programs based on research and confirmed scholarship.

TEAC is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and by the U.S. Department of Education (USDE). TEAC is a member of the Association of Specialized and Professional Accreditation (ASPA) and the American Council on Education (ACE). In addition, the following higher education organizations endorsed TEAC’s recognition by USDE:

• Council of Independent Colleges (CIC)
• American Association of Universities (AAU)
• National Association of Independent Colleges and Universities (NAICU)
• National Association of State Universities and Land-Grant Colleges (NASULGC)
• American Association of State Colleges and Universities (AASCU)

The organization has offices at One Dupont Circle in Washington, DC, and in Newark, Delaware on the campus of the University of Delaware. The Council has over 100 institutional and organizational members, and its work is primarily supported by fees from members and funding from the Carnegie Corporation of New York, the Pew Charitable Trusts, the Olin Foundation, an anonymous donor, and the Atlantic Philanthropies, bringing the total of external funding to more than $3 million.

Approximately seventy programs have satisfied TEAC’s eligibility requirements and currently have candidate status in TEAC. Seven programs have been accredited by TEAC: three, initial accreditation; two, new program accreditation; one, preaccreditation; and one, provisional. (See Accredited Programs.) A number of other programs have begun the process of developing an Inquiry Brief in which they document the evidence they possess about what their students have learned, the validity of their assessment of that learning, and the basis on which the program faculty makes its decisions to improve its programs. **

* Source On Some Differences Between TEAC and NCATE, TEAC, One Dupont Circle, Suite 320, Washington, DC 20036
**Source TEAC, One Dupont Circle, Suite 320, Washington, DC 20036 www.teac.org

Contact TEAC

Teacher Education Accreditation Council
One Dupont Circle, Suite 320
Washington, DC 20036 ?
( 202) 466-7236
Website: www.teac.org

 

 

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