January 2026

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Welcome, 2026

Mark LaCelle-Peterson, President & CEO

The new year always opens with a sense of possibility and unpredictability, and 2026 promises to bring both. We have much to look forward to as well as to wrestle with together in the year ahead.

Each January brings new faces to the Board of Directors and to the Accreditation Commission, and I look forward to their contributions in 2026 and beyond. We are fortunate to welcome two new directors and seven new commissioners to 4-year terms beginning this month (see below for details), as well as to have several individuals renewing their terms on each of these leadership bodies. We are ever grateful for the generosity and expertise of those who serve in governance, on the Commission, on program committees, and as reviewers.

Another exciting opportunity in the coming months will be seeing AAQEP’s original “early adopter” cohort—the first providers to test-drive our standards and accreditation process 7 years ago—once again lead the way as they head into their site visits for reaccreditation. It will be a delight to find out what they have learned in the course of their first AAQEP accreditation term.

Leveraging this learning is the subject of a seminar my colleagues (pictured at left) are leading this week in Hawai`i, and of a workshop I'll be facilitating next week in Utah, for members working toward reaccreditation. It's a particular joy to be able to collaborate and support one another in person.

Before we know it, spring will be here, and with it my favorite opportunity for all of us to meet across roles and across geography: the Quality Assurance Symposium. Over the past 9 years, this conference has become a locus for collaborating on challenges and for celebrating successes together. I hope to see you in Texas in March!

Congratulations to AAQEP's Newest Board and Commission Leaders

Board of Directors

Congratulations to the leaders who were elected or re-elected to serve on the AAQEP Board of Directors through December 2029:

Gina Anderson, Educator Preparation Consultant
Michael Cawdery, Leeward Community College (HI)
Naureen Madhani, National Center for Teacher Residencies
Sharmila Mann, Indigo Wave Consulting
Aaron Popham, Popham Innovations, Inc.
Katherine Chen Tilley, Alpine School District (UT)

For the full list of Board members, visit https://aaqep.org/board-of-directors.

Accreditation Commission

Please give a warm welcome to the newest additions to AAQEP’s Accreditation Commission, appointed to a 4-year term running January 2026 through December 2029:

Joanne Fish, Jefferson College (MO)
Sharon Matthews, Texas A&M University
Lisa McLachlan, Utah State Board of Education
Lisa Morley, West Shore Community College (MI)
Michelle Page, University of Minnesota-Morris
Regina Rahimi, Georgia Southern University
Kristien Zenkov, George Mason University (VA)

The Board also reappointed two commissioners for an additional 2 years (through December 2027):

Gina Pepin, Escanaba Area Public Schools (MI)
Deborah Rickey, Education Consultant

For a complete list of commissioners and to download their professional bios, visit https://aaqep.org/accreditation-commission.

Congratulations on Your Accreditation

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

Fairleigh Dickinson University (NJ)
Ferris State University (MI)
Southern Arkansas University
University of Portland (OR)

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

Thinking About Joining AAQEP?

Learn about membership at aaqep.org/why-choose-aaqep, or sign up for a webinar to learn about the value of national accreditation and how AAQEP's collaborative, contextual approach can benefit your program:

Introduction to

AAQEP

Jan. 21, 2:00-3:00 p.m. EST

Introduction to the

Initial Accreditation Pathway

Jan. 22, 2:00-3:00 p.m. EST

Making the Case for Quality: Evidence in Context

February 25 & 26

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 2025 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

March 4 & 5

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 investigate the validity and reliability of quantitative measures, the trustworthiness of qualitative evidence, and the fairness and freedom from bias of your entire data set.

A MESSAGE FROM THE 2026 AAQEP PROFESSIONAL LEARNING SPONSOR

Site Visits and Logistics

Sara Hiller, Director of Accreditation Services

If you have a site visit in the next few semesters, please consider attending our Site Visit Essentials webinar on Thursday, February 19. The webinar goes over timelines and logistics around the site visit process and only happens twice a year.

Here’s a quick overview of where the action is in the current AAQEP accreditation cycles.

Fall 2025 visits: The accreditation decision meetings are in progress. To see the Accreditation Commission’s action record, click here.
Spring 2026 visits: Our spring reviews are underway. Consult your Provider Review Timeline for details of what to expect.
Fall 2026 visits: Reviews for this fall are still being scheduled. Friendly reminder, your self-studies and local practitioner nomination are due at least 6 months before your scheduled visit date. To prepare for your submission, please watch this video.
Spring 2027 visits: I will be reaching out in February to schedule site visit dates for next spring. If you would like to get access to your self-study template now, please email me.

Visit our Member Resources web pages for guidance documents, templates, and other support for all stages of your quality assurance review, or contact me at s.hiller@aaqep.org with any questions.

January Office Hours (instead of cohorts)

Member cohorts are not meeting this month, but staff will hold office hours January 21 and 27 for those who’d like to check in. (Regular cohort meetings will resume February 10-12.) If you need the Zoom links for joining one or both of the January office hours, please contact Karen Lowenstein at k.lowenstein@aaqep.org.

THANK YOU for the Annual Updates & Annual Reports

We appreciate receiving members’ 2025 Annual Reports and Annual Updates! Staff are currently reviewing the submissions and following up on any missing information in the Accreditation Management Platform.

We’ll be updating our website and member database soon with the reported information and links. Members who submitted full Annual Reports will receive formal responses from staff by the end of April.

Questions? Contact Sungti Hsu

AAQEP Partner Webinar

Components of an Equitable Assessment System for Student Learning

January 22, 2026, 1:00-2:00 p.m. EST

Join next week's webinar with leaders from the Michigan Assessment Consortium (MAC) to support the preparation of educators who understand the importance of an equitable assessment system for all students. Presenters will walk through the comprehensive guidance in MAC’s Components of an Equitable Assessment System and share a survey tool designed to obtain student and teacher perspectives about the presence of these components in K-12 settings.