Case Study:

Identifying Strengths and Opportunities for NCATE’s Accreditation Programs

The National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) is known across the country as the organization that sets the standard for excellence in teacher education and preparation. NCATE sought McKinley’s expertise to devise a research plan to collect the data necessary to ensure that the organization was fully meeting the expectations of its accredited institutions and to set the right strategy for future tools, programs, and services.

McKinley’s research strategy included telephone interviews with institutional representatives and two separate electronic surveys for accredited institutions and formerly accredited institutions. Impressive response rates for the surveys – 56% and 29% respectively – enabled NCATE staff and board members to have a high level of confidence in the data that McKinley collected.

McKinley’s research findings and recommendations revealed NCATE is recognized as an accreditation leader and also uncovered opportunities to streamline the accreditation process, provide more consistency across accreditation teams, improve communications with accredited institutions, and improve overall perception of value.

In Their Words
“NCATE CEO Jim Cibulka shared McKinley’s findings and recommendations at a meeting of the education association executive directors. His presentation was extremely effective—very professional and clear. Hats off to McKinley’s staff for providing research and recommendations that generated a great discussion with a group of ‘hard-to-challenge’ folks.”

~Nancy Green, CAE, 
Executive Director, National
Association for Gifted Children