Navigating the Waters of Accreditation

In higher education, as many as 50% of educator preparationprograms (EPPs) look to a national accreditation agency as one way to provide evidenceof the rigor and quality of their programs. Although a large number of EPPs find valuein 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 tothe accreditation experiences provided by other institutions as a means to assist theirown accreditation journey. The purpose of this article is to discuss one regional,comprehensive EPP’s experiences with national accreditation, having recently undergone asite visit from the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education. In thisarticle, best practices from the literature will be addressed as will the challengesfaced and lessons learned by the EPP