SECTION 210:20-11-6. NCATE/State joint visits

(a)   The application form for a joint visit will be completed by the director of teacher education at the institution seeking accreditation or reaccreditation. The completed application should include the following information:

(1)   Name and location of the institution.

(2)   A list of the certification programs for which approval is sought.

(3)   Indication of the programs in the above list which were initially approved since the last five-year visit.

(4)   A list of programs or endorsements to be considered for initial approval.

(5)   Three sets of visitation dates (Sunday through Wednesday-4 days) submitted in order of preference.

(6)   The signature of the director of teacher education and the chief administrative officer of the institution.

(b)   The completed application form should be mailed directly to the Professional Standards Section of the State Department of Education. The Administrator of Teacher Education will negotiate with NCATE on the preferred date.

(c)   The Basic Information sheet, provided by NCATE, should be completed by the director of teacher education. Preconditions 1-7, 9-10 should be completed with supporting documents and mailed to the NCATE office and the Oklahoma Department of Education 18 months prior to the visit.

(d)   A self-study institutional report should be completed per instructions in Sections I, II, and IV of the NCATE Guide for Preparing the Institutional Report and should:

(1)   Include introductory information concerning the institution

(2)   Include a Table of Contents

(3)   Include the report of Preconditions

(4)   Address the five (5) NCATE unit-focused standards

(5)   Include a copy of the institution's most recent NCATE Annual Report

(6)   Include professional education programs and self-study forms based on Oklahoma standards as outlined in the TEACHER EDUCATION AND CERTIFICATION HANDBOOK.

(7)   Include faculty vitae

(8)   Include appendices-any information which may assist the visitation team in making a decision

(9)   Information indicated in 210:20-11-1 (b) (2) for the state visit will be addressed in the NCATE standards (Students, Faculty, Governance, and Resources, etc.).

(10)   The institution sends a copy of the institutional report, college catalogs and class schedules to each NCATE/State team member, and two copies to the NCATE office.

(e)   A previsit to the institution will be scheduled to finalize logistics, template (agenda) times, etc. for the visit. The NCATE Chair, state assistant chair and other personnel from the State Department of Education, meet with the institution's unit head and/or designee to complete plans for the visit. This previsit occurs at the institution within 60 days of the team visit. The selection of the date for the previsit should be a collaborative effort of the NCATE Chair, Oklahoma State Department of Education staff, the Assistant Chair and the institutional representative. (A lodging site should be chosen to include a private meeting room; should be in close proximity to the institution; and should be a site which accepts state rates, unless the institution will incur the expenses.).

(f)   Team members for the joint visit will be chosen by the participating agencies.

(1)   NCATE selects a five-member Board of Examiners (BOE) team for institutions with bachelor's and master's programs; a six member BOE team will be selected for institutions with postmaster's programs. NCATE will always have one more team member than the state.

(2)   Oklahoma selects a four- or five-member team based on whether the institution has advanced programs. All members must have been through an NCATE training workshop. A list of NCATE-trained participants will be provided to the director of teacher education upon request. The institution will be given an opportunity to review a list of potential members of the state visiting team. The institution may also wish to suggest the name of the state assistant chair.

(3)   For continued joint visits, the ratio of NCATE to state members will be 4:3 or 3:2.

(4)   An NCATE BOE team member is appointed chair of the joint visit; a state member will be selected as a state assistant chair. The chair has overall responsibility for the joint visit, and is subject to approval by the State Department of Education.

(5)   The NCATE/State team votes as one unit on NCATE standards and specific program recommendations for the state.

(g)   Logistics of the on-site visit will be outlined in the template.

(1)   The template (agenda) is to be prepared by the NCATE BOE chair outlining the complete agenda for the visitation.

(2)   The template will be sent along with the institution's self-study report and a list of committee members to the state visiting team approximately six weeks prior to the visit. The NCATE BOE chair will send a complete list of NCATE/State members and a template to the institution.

(3)   The template will include:

(A)   The date and site of the on-site visit;

(B)   Explicit time frames for members and institutional representatives to be interviewed;

(C)   Logistics-college headquarters, hotel meeting room(s), etc. and

(D)   Site for the Exit Report.

(h)   Writing assignments will be assigned to each team member for inclusion in the final report.

(1)   The state committee will write the report on approved programs; the BOE team will write reports on NCATE standards.

(2)   The state report writing assignments may be divided into elementary, elementary-secondary, secondary, professional school services, or specific content areas. The state assistant chair will determine the format for assignments. The state team report, however, must adhere to the State Department of Education's guidelines.

(3)   State committee members will present their reports to the state assistant chair. Either the assistant chair or the Administrator of Teacher Education will edit and complete the report and mail to the NCATE office.

(i)   The time and location of the exit report will be determined at the time the template is established.

(1)   The BOE chair, state assistant chair, and state Department of Education representatives should be in attendance with appropriate college officials.

(2)   The Exit Report will be brief and should include an indication to the institution of the recommendation to be forwarded to the State Board of Education.

(3)   NCATE accreditation is based on the NCATE Unit Accreditation Board and cannot be addressed by the exit report. The NCATE chair may inform the institution of the standards the visiting team found met or not met.

(j)   The Recommendation Process.

(1)   After editing the state report, the final copy is mailed to NCATE within thirty working days, to be appended to the NCATE report.

(2)   The BOE team chair mails eight (8) copies of the final draft of its report to the NCATE office and a copy to each member of the joint team. NCATE then mails two copies of the appended report to the institution and two copies to the Oklahoma State Department of Education.

(3)   After the institution has received the reports, it has 30 days to submit a rejoinder to NCATE. Six copies must be mailed to NCATE and two copies to the State Department of Education.

(4)   The Unit Accreditation Board of NCATE meets twice a year. Within a month after the board takes action on the accreditation of the institution, an action report is sent to the chief executive officer and head of professional education at the institution, and a copy to the State Department of Education. The action report or letter will state whether or not the institution has received NCATE accreditation.

(k)   NCATE renders separate accreditation decisions for the unit at the basic and advanced levels. One of the following four accreditation decisions for each level is issued:

(1)   "Full Accreditation" for initial or continuing accreditation may be accompanied by statements of weakness, but nonetheless is unequivocal.

(2)   "Accreditation with Stipulations" for initial or continuing accreditation specifies critical deficiencies that must be addressed by the institution prior to the granting of full accreditation, along with a timeline for overcoming these critical deficiencies. Full accreditation would be granted if the identified critical deficiencies are corrected within the stipulated timelines. NCATE will specify the period of time in which the institution must correct the critical deficiencies identified in the action letter. If the critical deficiencies are not corrected within the specified timeline, the institution's accreditation will be revoked.

(3)   "Denial" prohibits initial accreditation of the professional education unit.

(4)   "Revocation" terminates the current accreditation.

[Source: Amended at 12 Ok Reg 3612, eff 7-31-95 (emergency); Amended at 13 Ok Reg 79, eff 10-5-95 (emergency); Amended at 13 Ok Reg 1331, eff 5-13-96]