Site Visit Essentials

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Once you turn in your self-study report, it's time to attend to site visit preparations. About 6 months before your visit, AAQEP staff will begin guiding you through key tasks such as reviewer selection, third-party comment solicitation, and arrangement of myriad details for the visit itself.

But even before that, you can begin preparing by attending a free webinar and reviewing the resources below.

  • Free Webinar: Site Visit Essentials (offered 2x/year)
    Wondering what to expect as your AAQEP visit draws near? Join us for a walk-through of the steps in the process after you finish your Quality Assurance Report or Initial Accreditation Report. Staff will go over your review team selection, the previsit provider meeting, and site visit scheduling and logistics as well as the accreditation decision meeting and key documents used by reviewers.

  • Provider Review Timeline​​ (PDF)
    Here's that checklist you wanted! This timeline outlines key steps and deadlines in the final stages of the process for both 5-year initial and 7-year accreditation reviews. Download the Word version to customize it for your own planning and tracking.

  • Guidance on Selecting a Local Practitioner​​ (PDF)
    Every Quality Review Team has one member who is a local practitioner nominated by the provider. This individual provides the team with valuable knowledge regarding the local and state context of your program. Download this document to learn more.

  • Site Visit Stakeholder Surveys – Q&A for Providers (PDF)
    As part of its site visit process for initial teacher preparation programs, AAQEP administers surveys to key stakeholder groups in order to supplement the evidence provided in the self-study report. This document answers commonly asked questions about the surveys.

  • AAQEP Travel Policy
    Learn who makes what arrangements for on-site reviews and what travel expenses to budget for.

  • Guidance on Creating a Site Visit Schedule for On-Site Reviews (PDF) and Sample On-Site Schedule Template PDF / Excel
    Guidance on Creating a Site Visit Schedule for Virtual Reviews (PDF) and Sample Virtual Schedule Template PDF / Excel
    These documents are full of useful tips to help you plan an effective schedule for the review team. You'll go over the details with staff in your logistics call.

  • Stakeholder Interview Purposes (PDF)
    Reviewers conduct a variety of interviews during the site visit to verify claims from the self-study and to gather additional evidence as needed. This document offers more detail about the purpose of each of the stakeholder interviews.

  • Site Visit Observers – Q&A for Providers (PDF)
    AAQEP’s approach to accreditation embraces transparency and collaboration, and observers are welcome at site visits. This document answers commonly asked questions about such participation.

Quality Review Team Templates

Help your reviewers present a complete picture of your program by knowing how their reports will look. You will have an opportunity to make factual corrections to both of these reports before they are finalized. Remember, the Accreditation Commission makes the final decision based on the QRT Report along with your Quality Assurance Report or Initial Accreditation Report.


Looking for information on writing and submitting your self-study report? See these resource pages:

Site Visit FAQs

A: AAQEP review teams normally range in size from 3 to 5 individuals, varying to meet the size and complexity of the program(s) under review. Each team includes a local practitioner, a team lead, and at least one other peer reviewer. Site visits last 3 to 4 days for on-site reviews and 2 days for the fully virtual reviews for initial accreditation.

A: A local practitioner is a practicing (or recently retired) local P-12 educator who is nominated by the provider to serve on the site visit team. The local practitioner completes AAQEP’s volunteer training (Modules 1 and 3) and is a full member of the review team, contributing a deep knowledge of the providers’ programs, local school dynamics, and the state education system. See this document for guidelines on selecting a local practitioner.

A: For 7-year accreditation reviews, the site visit cost includes a flat fee ($11,000 for visits taking place through spring 2026) plus travel expenses for members of the Quality Review Team.

The flat site visit fee covers visit-related staff time, volunteer training, technology, and administration costs. Half of the fee is paid a year in advance to secure the visit dates; the other half is due 30 days prior to the visit.

Travel costs are invoiced after the visit and include QRT members’ airfare and/or ground transportation, incidentals, and meal expenses, in accordance with AAQEP’s travel policy. On average, the invoiced cost is $1,000 per traveler. The travel expenses invoice does not cover anything the provider pays for directly (e.g., on-site meals & lodging).

For 5-year initial accreditation reviews, which are fully virtual, the flat site visit fee is $3,500 (for visits taking place through spring 2026).

A: Multiple Quality Assurance Reports or Initial Accreditation Reports can be reviewed in the same visit, in which case you will pay just one site visit fee. But each self-study requires its own review team, and sometimes complex reports require larger teams—which means higher travel expenses if the review is on-site.

If you choose to submit a separate self-study for review in a different semester from the first, that will incur a separate site visit fee.

A: If you need to change your site visit dates, please email s.hiller@aaqep.org with your request. There is no charge to change site visit dates.


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