Karen Lowenstein, President and CEO

September has a way of reminding us that transitions are everywhere. Whether we are welcoming new students or colleagues, acclimating to a different job, or just moved by the changing season, the arrival of fall invites us to pause, reset, and consider what comes next.

In educator preparation, we understand that transitions are opportunities for growth. We ask our candidates—and they ask their own students—to step beyond the familiar, take risks, and discover what they are capable of becoming. Their growth happens when we provide them with support, patience, and space to navigate their new terrain. 

We sometimes need a reminder to extend this same grace to ourselves and our colleagues, for our own learning and growth. We all do better in contexts where trust is built, questions can be explored, and people have the support they need to make sense of their learning. A trusted community creates a sense of safety and belonging that allows us to make sense of transitions and stretch toward our potential together.

This is one of the things I love about the community AAQEP members have constructed—the ethos of helping one another grow. Your responses to our recent member engagement and cohort surveys made clear that the value of connecting extends beyond just getting your program accredited or increasing the number of people in your network. So many of you are also reaching out to colleagues in your state and around the country, sharing ideas, offering perspectives, and learning from one another. 

We are in this work together—not because we have everything figured out, but because we recognize that none of us has to figure it out alone. AAQEP’s tagline, always improving together, is more than an aspirational phrase. It describes our way of being: collaboration for continuous improvement, meaning-making across contexts, and sharing not only what worked but also what surprised us, what we tried, and what we are still figuring out. This is the growth that becomes possible when relationships are grounded in trust and in a genuine commitment to one another.

As we enter this new season, I know that we will extend this way of being into our wider circles and support one another in navigating transitions, sharing our learning, and growing together.

Christine DeGregory, Senior Director of Professional Learning

Did you know AAQEP has a committee charged with investigating the effectiveness of its accreditation system? And now you can read its latest study!

Composed of members of the Accreditation Commission and the Board of Directors, the Research and Evaluation Committee is established in the AAQEP bylaws and has been operating for several years now, with subcommittees studying the consistency of reviews as well as their impact on programs’ continuous improvement and innovation. Their early work included probing how providers define innovation and continuous improvement, identifying examples of these characteristics among programs participating in AAQEP accreditation, and studying the factors that prompt or catalyze innovations in programs. 

The current study, from the consistency subcommittee, investigated the question Is the process fair, consistent, and reliable across diverse institutional types? It involved interviewing dyads consisting of a self-study primary author and the AAQEP review team lead. The study found no correlation of accreditation outcomes with provider type, concluding “the standards are being applied equitably across the diverse landscape of educator preparation.” In addition to exploring how this consistency is achieved, the study identified certain “friction points” that sometimes surfaced and suggestions for future investigation.

“From Audit to Inquiry: Navigating the Cultural Shift Toward Consistency and Context” was authored by John Watzke (University of Portland, OR), Sarah-Kate LaVan (Grand Valley State University, MI), Chris Godwin (Campbell University, NC), and Rodrick Lucero (Texas A&M University). Download the full report here. 

We are excited to welcome many of you to the AAQEP Institute next week in Las Vegas. The Institute offers three concurrent seminars under one roof, but did you know there’s also a fourth seminar happening this fall, on the other side of the country? Join us in Frederick, MD, October 15-16 for the Data Visualization and Storytelling Seminar, led by Sunny Duerr of SUNY New Paltz and Linda McKee of AAQEP.

Congratulations to the educator preparation providers that earned AAQEP accreditation or reaccreditation in the past 2 months:

• American InterContinental University System (AZ)
• City College of New York, CUNY
• College of St. Scholastica (MN)
• St. Bonaventure University (NY)
• St. Mary’s College of Maryland
• Touro University (NY)
• Western Governors University (UT)

For links to action reports and a complete list of AAQEP-accredited programs, visit https://aaqep.org/accredited-programs.

Site Visits and Logistics

Quick Notices

No Change to Site Visit Fees: AAQEP site visit fees will remain unchanged for visits taking place through spring 2028. For 7-year accreditation reviews, the site visit cost includes a flat fee of $11,000 plus travel expenses for members of the Quality Review Team. For 5-year initial accreditation reviews, which are fully virtual, the flat site visit fee is $3,500. 

Primary Contact Changes: It’s important for each member EPP to ensure AAQEP has current primary contact information. The primary contact receives all important communications from AAQEP, including site visit information and Accreditation Management Platform notices. If you need to change your primary contact, please contact us.

Accreditation Proposals: Are you writing an Accreditation Proposal for your next review? The next submission deadline is November 15.  You can view a recent recording of our Writing the Accreditation Proposal webinar here, find related resources on our proposals resource page, and contact us with any questions.

Sungti Hsu, Chief Relationship Officer

AAQEP is grateful to the sponsors and partner organizations that have agreed to present resource webinars for our members. I’m happy to announce several upcoming webinars and to point you to the archives for on-demand viewing.

Registration is open for the following webinars this fall:

• September 30: Evaluation Systems of Pearson presents “Future-Ready Assessment Systems: Modular Pathways to Demonstrating Candidate Readiness and Supporting Continuous Improvement” - Learn more
• October 22: The Ohio State University Office of Accreditation, Placement, and Licensure presents an overview of the CPAST instrument - Learn more
• November 10: Higher Education Licensure Pros presents “Regulatory Compliance Beyond Accreditation: What Else EPPs Need to Track” - Learn more

Stay tuned for additional opportunities coming soon!

At your convenience, you can also view past resource webinars on demand from links on our Member Webinars webpage, which also offers quick links to recorded quality assurance review webinars and Member Quarterlies.

Thinking About AAQEP Membership?

NACCTEP Now Podcast


Julie Ferin, executive director of the National Association of Community College Teacher Education Programs (NACCTEP), interviewed former President/CEO Mark LaCelle-Peterson and current President/CEO Karen Lowenstein about AAQEP’s leadership transition for the NACCTEP Now Podcast. Listen here.

Passage Preparation Conversation

Kristina Sterling of Passage Preparation and Linda McKee of AAQEP recently recorded a conversation about the organizations’ common goals in support of educators. In Part 1, they discuss the role accreditation, data, and collaboration play in strengthening AAQEP Board of Directors Memorandum Page 6 educator preparation. In Part 2, they explore how a shared mission of service connects their work and strengthens support across the educator preparation journey.

Online Workshops

Making the Case for Quality: 

Evidence in Context

September 30 & October 1
1:00-4:00 p.m. EDT

Selecting the best evidence to tell your program’s story means both paring down copious candidate data and increasing input from graduates’ employers and other hard-to-get sources.

Framed around the latest AAQEP standards and evidence expectations, this workshop will get you started on creating an action plan for your quality assurance work.

Ensuring Data Quality and Equity

October 28 & 29
1:00-4:00 p.m. EDT

Better-quality measures in your assessment system generate better-quality decisions, and building shared professional judgment of candidates’ performance with stakeholders can lead to both deeper partnerships and better data.

This workshop will help you ensure the validity and reliability of quantitative measures, the trust-worthiness of qualitative evidence, and the fairness and freedom from bias of your entire data set.

AAQEP on the Conference Circuit

AAQEP staff will be participating in several conferences around the country in the coming weeks. We hope to see you along the way! 

• IN: IACTE Fall Convening, September 23, Indianapolis. Sungti Hsu is attending.
• TN: TACTE Fall Conference, September 28-29, Nashville. AAQEP is a sponsor with an exhibit table, and Sungti is presenting “Scaffolding Quality Assurance for Educator Preparation Program Growth.”
• TECSCU Fall Meeting, October 5-6, Oklahoma City. AAQEP is a sponsor, and Karen Lowenstein is presenting “Quality Assurance in a Community of Practice: The Potential of AAQEP as a Network.”

• OH: OCTEO Fall Conference, October 8-9, Dublin. AAQEP is a sponsor, and Sungti is presenting with Muskingum University “Scaffolding Quality Assurance for Educator Preparation Program Growth: Lessons from Muskingum University’s IAR to QAR Journey.”
• TX: CSOTTE Fall Conference, October 11-13, Denton. AAQEP is a sponsor with an exhibit table, Karen and Linda McKee are attending, and Linda is presenting “Family and Community Engagement in Continuous Improvement.”
• PA: PAC-TE Teacher Education Assembly, October 21-23, Harrisburg. AAQEP is a sponsor, and Christine DeGregory is attending.
• NY: NYSATE/NYACTE Fall Conference, October 21-23, Saratoga Springs. AAQEP is a sponsor, and Karen is presenting.