Q: Why did you decide to volunteer with CAEP?  

A: I think that CAEP represents the best available effort of the profession to hold itself to high standards for quality educator preparation. The CAEP standards require that educator preparation program faculty and other stakeholders engage in data-informed continuous improvement. Educator preparation programs that are accredited by CAEP must use evidence about student learning and development to assess how well they are doing, and they must demonstrate that they make changes based on evidence that will improve their efforts.

Q: Why did you choose to become a member of the Research Committee?  

A: I admire CAEP's commitment to using evidence to continually improve its own policies, procedures, and standards.  I also admire CAEP's attempts to disseminate (e.g.,  the journal, conferences) research on, and models of, what works in high quality teacher preparation. 

Q: What has been the best part of your CAEP experience?  

A: I value seeing how educator preparation program faculty, staff, and stakeholders embrace data-informed decision making and opt for the most rigorous standards for educator preparation. 

Q: What would you tell someone who was thinking about volunteering at CAEP?  

A: Contributing time, expertise, and effort to CAEP has potential to improve all educator preparation.

Q: What would you advise someone who was thinking about taking their EPP through the CAEP Accreditation process? 

A: CAEP does not offer an easy road to accreditation.  If you are thinking about CAEP accreditation, be prepared to engage in rigorous and continuous scrutiny about what is––and what is not––working in your preparation of educators.  You will have to work with colleagues and stakeholders to identify methods for gathering information that can inform program improvement. You will need to use evidence, which sometimes reveals the weaknesses in what you are doing, and you will have to work with colleagues to address weaknesses and to share and build on your successes.