March 2023

A note from Mark LaCelle-Peterson, President & CEO

It was great to be together last month for the Quality Assurance Symposium, the highlight of AAQEP’s spring calendar. Over 250 of us gathered in Indianapolis for the sixth annual symposium—back in person after two very productive virtual events in 2021 and 2022.

While most of the program consisted of fantastic peer-reviewed sessions related to quality assurance in educator preparation, it also offered an opportunity to highlight AAQEP’s own work. I want to share here a few points that I made in a plenary session (in the glorious Union Station Grand Hall pictured here!): the priorities that are guiding AAQEP and several exciting new developments as we continue this journey together.

1. Growth: Not yet 6 full years into our story, AAQEP membership has grown to nearly 200 EPPs, located in 33 states and other jurisdictions. Formal partnerships with 16 states undergird this work. As I mentioned in the January newsletter, we’re introducing an initial accreditation pathway this year to help bring new educator preparation providers into the system and to support providers looking to transition to AAQEP. We’ve also formed a new working group composed of members to help guide our continued growth.
2. Support for professional development: A founding purpose of AAQEP is to foster the professional growth of those who work in quality assurance, and we will continue supporting that focus through a robust menu of professional learning, both online and in person. In the coming year, we plan to augment our established series of workshops and webinars with additional options. And our two annual events will be free-standing conferences sited for accessibility and affordability—the fall AAQEP Institute, slated for Salt Lake City in September 2023, and the 2024 Quality Assurance Symposium, to be held April 4-5 in Orlando. We’re excited to see your responses to the call for symposium session proposals!
3. Enhanced support for the quality assurance process: Alongside this year’s important work of gathering input for our 2025 standards renewal, we are delighted to be developing an accreditation management system in partnership with Weave. This new platform will support members as they document their self-studies, review teams as they verify and affirm the evidence of those studies, and accreditation commissioners as they evaluate the evidence. Currently in early design stages, the platform should be ready to receive annual reports beginning this fall. 
4. Elevating diversity, equity, and inclusion: AAQEP celebrates the diversity of its institutional membership, governance bodies, and reviewers as well as the multitude of communities they serve. The “key equity questions” that Marilyn Cochran-Smith developed for her symposium keynote 2 years ago continue to challenge us, and the current standards renewal process promises to underscore our collective commitment to the importance of inclusiveness and belonging.
5. Expanding the circle of learning: AAQEP’s foundational commitment to providing avenues for widespread sharing of knowledge gained in the accreditation process has a new concrete outlet: a publishing partnership with Myers Education Press. We aim to produce two volumes each year based on the new knowledge and insights gained through your quality assurance efforts. A call for manuscripts for the first volume is already open.

As we move into the spring and plan for the future, these five priority areas will guide our work and create exciting new opportunities for all of us. Details about several of the developments mentioned above are available in this newsletter, and I look forward to bringing you additional information in the coming months.

AAQEP invites session proposals for the 7th annual Quality Assurance Symposium, to be held April 4-5, 2024, in Orlando, Florida. Proposals are due by July 31 for peer review.

The symposium convenes educator preparation professionals from diverse programs to share insights, inquiry, and effective practices from their quality assurance work. Be part of our 2-day program celebrating quality in context and tackling the toughest challenges together!

Download the call for proposals PDF or visit our website for details:

As the field of educator preparation has changed dramatically in recent years, AAQEP is interested in understanding how you feel professional standards might adjust with the times to better align with your work and guide quality and improvement in educator preparation. 

Whether you’re familiar with AAQEP standards or any others used in educator preparation, your input will help us understand the broader professional context for AAQEP’s ongoing standards renewal process.

The survey is anonymous and should take no more than 10-15 minutes to complete. We appreciate your thorough and honest feedback!

A note from Sara Hiller, Director of Accreditation Services

Here’s a quick overview of where the action is in the current AAQEP accreditation cycles. Remember to consult your Provider Review Timeline for details!

• Fall 2022 (21 site visits): The accreditation decision meetings are in progress. To see the Accreditation Commission’s action record, click here. 

• Spring 2023 (18 site visits): All of our reviews are underway! Thank you to our reviewers who make this all possible. Our accreditation decision meetings start mid-May. I will contact you soon with your accreditation decision meeting date. 

• Fall 2023 (27 site visits): Logistics calls will start in April, and I will reach out to schedule them soon. Friendly reminder, your Quality Assurance Reports (QARs) and local practitioner selection are due 6 months before your scheduled visit date. 

• Spring 2024 (22 site visits): Almost all of the site visit dates are now set. Be sure to return your signed site visit letter to me and pay 50% of your site visit fee to confirm your dates. (And remember to get your draft QAR to us at least 9 months in advance if you want to take advantage of our new staff completeness check!)

If you're working on your QAR, be sure to join our webinars March 29 and 30 (see the calendar links at the end of this newsletter). And if you missed last month's Site Visit Essentials webinar, its recording is now posted on this login-protected resource page. Remember that we also have Member Resources web pages with guidance documents, templates, and other support for all stages of your quality assurance review.

Please contact me at s.hiller@aaqep.org if you have any questions.

Please give a warm welcome to AAQEP’s newest member, the Erikson Institute in Illinois.

Our membership now encompasses 197 EPPs in 33 states and other jurisdictions, in addition to our individual, organizational/corporate, and state members. We’re honored that you’ve chosen to work with AAQEP!

Thinking about membership? We’d love to work with you! Join us for an introductory webinar April 6, or see our website for details.

Congratulations to the educator preparation providers that earned AAQEP accreditation in the past 2 months, earning their stars on the map above:

• Alderson Broaddus University (WV)
• Bethany College (WV)
• California State University, Bakersfield
• Colorado State University, Fort Collins
• Lenoir-Rhyne University (NC)
• Maryville University (MO)
• Nebraska Wesleyan University
• Skidmore College (NY)
• University of Minnesota, Morris
• University of Nebraska at Omaha
• Vassar College (NY)

This brings the total number of providers with AAQEP-accredited programs to 88–and with some providers having more than one review, the Commission has now completed 104 accreditation actions. Kudos to all!

Serving as an AAQEP reviewer builds your professional service record, contributes meaningfully to the field, and gives you a close-up view of both AAQEP’s process and the work of your colleagues around the country. Come to a Reviewer Interest Session to learn more and ask questions of two veteran AAQEP reviewers.

Questions? Contact Christine DeGregory at c.degregory@aaqep.org

AAQEP President/CEO Mark LaCelle-Peterson was interviewed last month for a Next Generation Assessment “Web Bite,” an effort led by Tammie Cumming at CUNY Brooklyn College and M. David Miller at the University of Florida. The interview and a snippet of additional inspiration are posted on YouTube:

• “AAQEP Perspectives on Assessment” with Mark LaCelle-Peterson

• Continuation of NGA Conversation with Mark LaCelle-Peterson

March 21 – Member Webinar: Collaborative Conversation

March 29 – Member Webinar: Writing the QAR: Effectively Sharing Your Program’s Story

March 30 – Member Webinar: Documenting Program Practices: QAR Appendices

April 5 – Member Webinar: Writing the Accreditation Proposal

April 6 – Introductory Webinar

April 18 – Member Quarterly: Making Your Data System Work for You

April 25 – AAQEP Reviewer Interest Session

April 26 & 27 – Online Workshop: Making the Case for Quality

May 17 & 18 – Online Workshop: Ensuring Data Quality and Equity