1.3 Doctoral program issues: accreditation of programs  (Page 4/10)

It is both notable and disconcerting that the NCATE website makes more mention of teachers or school specialists and administrators in terms of certification or licensure, than it does the advanced program-- doctoral. This is one of the programs under its auspices and should be highlighted equally as well as such certification programs. For example, NCATE has as its mission-- NCATE is the teaching profession’s mechanism to help to establish high quality teacher, specialist, and administrator preparation. Through the process of professional accreditation of schools, colleges, and departments of education, NCATE works to make a difference in the quality of teaching, teachers, school specialists, and administrators. NCATE believes every student deserves a caring, competent, and highly qualified teacher.

Further, the NCATE website, when sharing general information about the importance of accreditation that accreditation of schools of education, indicates: (a) that the school underwent rigorous external review by professionals, (b) that performance of a teacher candidate in the program has been thoroughly assessed before he or she is recommended for licensure, and (c) that programs meet standards set by the teaching profession at large. NCATE states that-- doctoral programs must be included in the NCATE review only if such programs prepare personnel to work in P-12 schools. Most institutions include only those doctoral programs in the accreditation process that prepare school leaders, particularly school superintendents.

Of importance to our discussion in this paper is the point made by Young and colleagues that Levine commingled principal and superintendent preparation certificate programs with degree programs. They noted that“graduate institutions often perform both functions—they provide degrees and prepare individuals for certification.…Throughout his report, he [Levine] uses leadership program and principal program interchangeably, despite the likelihood that they may be different”(p. 2). We believe NCATE might commingle certification programs for“specialists and administrators”with doctoral programs, PK-12. For doctoral programs emphasizing PK-12, there may or may not be the attachment of certification with the degree program; therefore, such programs cannot be automatically commingled. It is true that NCATE will accredit the units that have Doctorates of Education (EdD) or Doctorates of Philosophy (PhD) that deal with preparing professionals to remain in schools.

One would surmise that the EdD programs within the unit would be reviewed by NCATE since it is the intent of the EdD generally to be geared toward educational practice and applied research in the field in most cases. However, there appears to be a very small gap in reality between two types of doctoral programs, the EdD and the PhD, and the intent as they are offered by educational leadership departments across the country. Because the small gaps exist between the two types of programs and because the intent between the two is fuzzy in most cases at best, it is clear that no assumptions can be made as to the type of doctoral program