Standard 3: Quality Program Practices
Standard 3 and its six aspects read as follows.
The program has the capacity to ensure that its completers meet Standards 1 and 2.
Preparation programs ensure that candidates, upon completion, are ready to engage in professional practice, to adapt to a variety of professional settings, and to grow throughout their careers. Effective program practices include consistent offering of coherent curricula; high-quality, diverse clinical experiences; dynamic, mutually beneficial partnerships with stakeholders; and comprehensive and transparent quality assurance processes informed by trustworthy evidence. Each aspect of the program is appropriate to its context and to the credential or degree sought.
Evidence* shows the program:
- Offers coherent curricula with clear expectations that are aligned with state and national standards, as applicable
- Develops and implements quality clinical experiences, where appropriate, in the context of documented and effective partnerships with P-12 schools and districts
- Engages multiple stakeholders, including completers, local educators, schools, and districts, in data collection, analysis, planning, improvement, and innovation
- Enacts admission and monitoring processes linked to candidate success as part of a quality assurance system aligned to state requirements and professional standards
- Engages in continuous improvement of programs and program components, and investigates opportunities for innovation, through an effective quality assurance system
- Maintains capacity for quality reflected in staffing, resources, operational processes, and institutional commitment
Evidence will include documentation of program practices and resources as well as the program’s rationale for its structure and operation.
The key question asked by Standard 3:
Does the program have the capacity (internally and with partners) to ensure that completers are prepared and succeed professionally?
* The lists within each standard specify aspects of the overall evidence package for the standard; each aspect is not a “substandard” to be considered apart from the whole standard. Evidence for each standard is evaluated holistically.