Case Study:
Effective Electronic
Exhibit Rooms
in the
NCATE
Accreditation Process
Brandi Baker, Kelly Byrnes, Catherine Ford
Case Study

Thinking . . .

Preparation to determine current trends
and areas of emphasis regarding EERs
Retrieval of current information
Reviewed web sites
Recent articles in the topic of EERs
Actual interviews for the IT piece
Case Study

Team’s intent regarding CONTENT
 determine exhibit requirements placed on
units undergoing NCATE accreditation
 suggest best practices that will defend
compliance with accreditation standards

Team’s intent regarding IT PIECE AND
SITE USABILITY
 make recommendations gleaned from
current literature and personal interviews
Final Products: Research Paper & EER Evaluation Checklist
The EER needs to include all of the following:
1. Aligned to NCATE standards
General Background and Conceptual Framework
Standard 1: Candidate Knowledge, Skills and Professional Dispositions
Standard 2: Assessment System and Unit Evaluation
Standard 3: Field Experiences and Clinical Practices
Standard 4: Diversity
Standard 5: Faculty Qualifications, Performance and Development
Standard 6: Unit Governance and Resources
Each Standard has several Elements
Each Element has a number of required exhibits – all must be available
Quality of each Exhibit is paramount
2. Conceptual Framework
This is what will drive the design of the EER
3. Simplicity and Consistency
Use of Sans serif font
No more than 5-7 colors
Education department and NCATE logo at the top of each page
No or few pictures
No duplication of documents
4. Documentation
PDFs
Templates
Whenever possible, create web pages to house information and data
5. Ease of Navigation
Buttons along the top
Left-hand navigation bar
Information is in a hierarchical order
Drop-down menus as needed
Site Map
User Manual
Tracking capability
Effective Electronic
Exhibit Rooms
in the
NCATE
Accreditation Process
History & Challenges
Presented by: Brandi Baker
NCATE


NCATE, created in 1954, celebrates it's 58th year in
2009.
Started as an independent accrediting body by five
organizations
1. Council of Chief State School Officers,
2. National Education Association,
3. National School Boards Association
4. American Association of Colleges for Teacher
Education
5. National Association of State Directors of Teacher
Education Certification.
NCATE



NCATE is part of a continuum of teacher preparation
and development that begins with pre-service
preparation, and continues with stages of teacher
licensure and advanced professional development,
including National Board certification.
According to the NCATE website, 49 states along with
the District of Columbia, Guam, and Puerto Rico, all
have accredited institutions
This is up from only 31 states with accredited units in
2004. Currently, Arizona is the only state without any
NCATE accredited units.
NCATE




Early in NCATE's history the states and the
accreditation body had challenges with state and
national policy alignment with their standards.
Reviews by NCATE and the states were done
separately.
 Duplication of effort for institutions
In 2004, NCATE and the states formed a partnership
to allow joint review.
Now many states use NCATE’s unit standards as
their own for the purpose of state approval.
NCATE


Another challenge that has been overcome by NCATE is
the performance-based accreditation system.
 From 1980 to 1990 NCATE went through what some
titled a “standards movement” in which NCATE
brought in performance-based accreditation.
 This is a system in which institutions must provide
evidence of competent teacher candidate
performance.
This change supported a transition from a
 system oriented to the curriculum to a
 system oriented to candidate performance.
NCATE



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In 2004 NCATE initiated a technology-based system of
accreditation.
NCATE now expects institutions to fully incorporate technology
into instruction for prospective and experienced teachers
Technology should also be used throughout the strategic
planning process (NCATE at 50, 2001), electronic portfolios for
example.
Now, in 2009, streamlining of the accreditation process is evident
through the use of web based forms and Electronic Exhibit
Rooms, as well as assessment programs such as Electronic
Assessment System (EAS) designed and used by the University
of Toledo, Judith Herb College of Education.
NCATE



In conjunction with the technology based system of accreditation,
Electronic Exhibit Rooms are now being utilized.
Electronic Exhibit Rooms (EERs) are commonly prepared as an
institution progresses toward an accreditation site visit from the
National Council on Accreditation of Teacher Education
(NCATE).
EERs can also be utilized long after the site visit and
accreditation award are complete, allowing continuous updating
and sharing of significant materials that relate to accreditation,
student assessment and professional development.
Effective Electronic
Exhibit Rooms
in the
NCATE
Accreditation Process
Why EERs & Exhibit Requirements
Presented by: Catherine Ford
Electronic Exhibit Rooms
Why electronic???
Allows Board of
Examiners to view
documents prior
to the site visit
 BOE are able to
be more prepared
 BOE have more
time to look for
items of quality

Electronic Exhibit Rooms
Why electronic???

Institution can use the site for
continuous updating
Assessment
 Curriculum Vitae

The site can be shared among
stakeholders
 The site can act as a storage location

Electronic Exhibit Rooms
Organization



Organization is VITAL
The right document
must be able to be
easily found at the
right time.
Do not duplicate
documents . . . Instead
create links, as needed,
to the same document.
Electronic Exhibit Rooms
Documents


Organize
exhibits
by the
standards
Connect
each
exhibit to a
specific
element







General Background and Conceptual
Framework
Standard 1: Candidate Knowledge, Skills, and
Professional Dispositions
Standard 2: Assessment System and Unit
Evaluation
Standard 3: Field Experiences and Clinical
Practice
Standard 4: Diversity
Standard 5: Faculty Qualifications,
Performance, and Development
Standard 6: Unit Governance and Resources
Effective Electronic
Exhibit Rooms
in the
NCATE
Accreditation Process
IT Considerations
Presented by: Kelly Byrnes
Electronic Exhibit Rooms:
Lessons Learned

“The formation of a
team of individuals to
research, plan, produce,
and implement, and
should consist of a
webmaster, clerk, multimedia author, and a
technical systems
expert.”--Zimmerly and
Saltzman, Idaho State
University
Know when enough is enough!

“No matter how beautiful a website, if it doesn’t have the proper
documentation and is aligned to the NCATE standards, it will not
help in the accreditation process; but a terrible design, even if it
has everything, can sink you if the Board of Examiners can’t find
what it wants!” C. Damon Osborne, PhD., Assoc. Prof. and Dir.
Of Online Curriculum, Mt. Vernon Nazarene University.
What Makes an Excellent
EER?
1.
2.
3.
Aligned to NCATE Standards
Driven by the Conceptual Framework
Simple and Consistent



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4.
Use of sans serif font
No more than 5-7 colors
Institution and or department logo
No or few pictures
Documentation/Links

PDFs, Templates, separate web pages
What Makes an Excellent
EER?
5.
Ease of Navigation
A. Buttons along the top
a. Left-hand navigation bar
b. Information is in a hierarchical order
c. Drop-down menus as needed
B. Site Map
C. User Manual
Technical Aspects

“As far as the technical aspect goes, we used IIS,
TomCat, JSP Technology, XML, MS-Frontpage and
Flash. The biggest technical challenge we faced was
getting TomCat to interface with IIS. The site
currently runs on a Dell Power Edge 2850 with
Windows Server 2003 SP1. It's an Intel Xeon 2.80
GHz processor with 2GB or Ram. The server has 3
disks, a 36GB system drive that is mirrored, and two
data drives. The D: drive is 146GB and it is 97% free.
The E: drive is 146 GB and is 99% free. There isn't
much storage space involved.” Todd Cunningham,
Executive Director of Information Technology
Services at the Indiana University of Pennsylvania
References
Becoming a Teacher at The University of Toledo. (2008, February 15). Retrieved February
22, 2009, from http://www.utoledo.edu/education/Becoming_Teacher.html
Electronic Assessment System Tutorial. (2006). Retrieved February 22, 2009, from
http://www.utoledo.edu/education/centers/carver/pdf/EAS_Student_Tutorial_with
_Port.pdf
Hammond, C.J. (2007). Electronic Exhibit Room ( . . . not so scary). Retrieved February, 4,
2009 from /Jackson %20Hammond%20rev%20PPT%20Elec%20Exh%20...
Malone, S. (2007) Preparing the Electronic Exhibit Rooms. Retrieved February, 4, 2009
From coe.eku.edu/2008NCATE-Fall-Update/Presentations/Strand%20D_
Electronic %20Exhibit_Malone.ppt
NCATE at 50: Continuous Growth, Renewal, and Reform. (2001). Retrieved February 22,
2009, from http://www.ncate.org/documents/15YearsofGrowth.pdf
NCATE and the States: Partners in Excellence. Retrieved February 22, 2009, from
http://www.ncate.org/documents/resources/NCATEandtheStates.pdf
Zimmerly, C.R. and Salzman, S. (2002). Electronic Journal for the Integration of
Technology in Education. In Technical Lessons Learned from the Design, Development, and Implementation
of a College of Education Accreditation Web Site. Retrieved March 18, 2009, from
http://ejite.isu.edu/Volume1No1/Zimmerly.html.