Navigating the Waters of Accreditation

Abstract

In higher education, as many as 50% of educator preparation programs (EPPs) look to a national accreditation agency as one way to provide evidence of the rigor and quality of their programs. Although a large number of EPPs find value in the self-study and external review that come with the national accreditation process, the process itself can be daunting and time-consuming. Many look to the literature or to the accreditation experiences provided by other institutions as a means to assist their own accreditation journey. The purpose of this article is to discuss one regional, comprehensive EPP’s experiences with national accreditation, having recently undergone a site visit from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. In this article, best practices from the literature will be addressed as will the challenges faced and lessons learned by the EPP.