The University of Toledo

Case Study: Effective Electronic Exhibit Rooms in NCATE Accreditation Process

The Case:
The University of Toledo’s professional education unit, The Judith Herb College of Education, is currently preparing for the Spring 2009 site visit of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). The J.H. College of Education is accredited by NCATE  “a national accrediting body for schools, colleges, and departments of education authorized by the U.S. Department of Education. NCATE determines which schools, colleges, and departments of education meet rigorous national standards in preparing teachers and other school specialists for the classroom”.

As part of the accreditation process, units are expected to collect and publish accreditation-related material on a designated Internet web site. Known as the Electronic Exhibit Room, this site serves as an information resource center that offers a rich database of evidence documenting the unit’s achievements and compliance with NCATE standards. UT’s COE’s assessment leadership is in the process of constructing its Electronic Exhibit Room. The site should be completed in time for the upcoming NCATE site visit, scheduled to begin on March 28, 2009.

The Team Task:

The COE assessment leaders invite your team to identify critical elements of effective Electronic Exhibit Rooms and suggest ways to strengthen COE’s Exhibit Room to successfully communicate the unit’s effectiveness (both via content and form) for the purposes of the March 2009 NCATE site visit. Your task consists of two phases:

Phase One: Formative Input

• Research literature on professional accreditation and the requirements placed on units undergoing NCATE accreditation as well as literature on constructing Electronic Exhibit Rooms;
• Study effective Electronic Exhibit Rooms created by other units for the purposes of an NCATE visit and identify strong approaches;
• Based on your research, identify critical elements of effective Electronic Exhibit Rooms that successfully communicate progress and mirror accreditation standards. The framework that you identify should be presented to the assessment leaders by the end of February, 2009.

Phase Two: Summative Input

• Study and evaluate the Electronic Exhibit Room constructed by COE’s assessment tea
• Suggest ways to strengthen the constructed site; your suggestions will be presented before the assessment leaders on May 5, 2009.

Your presentations need to be carefully informed through:

• meetings with professional staff involved in the preparation of the NCATE site visit;
• on-line research of best practices on similar campuses;
• books, articles, publications (most major journals are available on-line)

Effective Electronic Exhibit Rooms in the NCATE Accreditation Proccess
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Presentation Effective Electronic Exhibit Rooms