April-May 2015
By Elisabeth Liptak, IDA Director of Professional Development
The next round of accreditation reviews for university teacher preparation programs in reading will take place in January 2016. Since publishing its Knowledge and Practice Standards in 2010, IDA has conducted two rounds of university reviews with recognition of 8 programs in 2012 and accreditation of an additional 8 programs in 2014. The 16 university programs currently accredited by IDA can be found here.
University programs considered for review by IDA can be at the undergraduate or graduate level and for general education or special education teachers. The main consideration is whether or not course curricula cover the areas included in the IDA Standards with sufficient depth.
New to the review process in this third round is an application form to determine whether the program is ready to be reviewed. Programs interested in applying will be asked to complete this first step by July 1st.
Once a program has been accepted for review, IDA will appoint a team of three members to conduct the review. In addition, each university program accepted for review must complete a self-report grid that details alignment with the Knowledge and Practice Standards. The accreditation review includes a site visit by the review team when a reviewer will meet with faculty and speak with students.
IDA is working toward completion of an exam for certification in early 2016. Graduates of accredited university programs will be eligible to sit for this certification exam.
Programs interested in submitting an application for review should email Elisabeth Liptak at eliptak@interdys.org