In fall of 2006, Metro's Teacher Education Department will face an accreditation site visit from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). And, because the process for accreditation is a lengthy, involved one, faculty member and accreditation coordinator Bill Wiener is starting to prepare now.

"Metro has been accredited by NCATE for many years," says Wiener. "The national accreditation assures that our teacher preparation program meets the standards set by the field at large for training people to teach, and has undergone rigorous external and impartial review."

The accreditation process involves on-site visits and regular and thorough re-evaluation every seven years. Metro's NCATE accreditation was last renewed in spring 2000.

"This time around there will be new standards to meet," says Wiener. "The standards have become more data-based, and so a big part of the process involves gathering data. NCATE wants to ensure that institutions are making decisions regarding their teacher-education programs so that we produce teachers who know their subject and how to teach it effectively, as measured by a variety of assessment methods."

The standards to which Metro's teacher education program will be held are divided into two sections: candidate performance and capacity of the institution. The candidates are judged on their knowledge, skills and dispositions; the teacher education department as an institution is assessed regarding several factors, including its system of assessing its students, the field experiences and clinical practice it offers, the diversity of its students, faculty and staff, the qualifications and performance of its faculty, and the governance and resources of the department.

Wiener is transitioning out of his position as director of the Metro Academy at the Lookout Mountain Youth Detention Facility and into the role of NCATE coordinator; he expects to have completed the transition by this summer.