The Indiana Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (IACTE) is a professional organization of colleges and universities with undergraduate and/or graduate programs that prepare professional educators. IACTE is the state organization of the American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) and comprised of university administrators and faculty.  IACTE advocates for candidates in every educator preparation program and actively seeks input from a variety of constituent groups and believes in building strong relationships with all stakeholders.  IACTE strives to be the representative of educator preparation in all planning and discussions about legislation, administrative policies, and procedures related to educator preparation in the state of Indiana.

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These principles are designed to provide direction and guidance to the Executive Committee when responding to legislative action, proactively engaging with stakeholders, and making public statements regarding the organization. IACTE believes that it should be represented in discussions involving requirements, including but not limited to program completion, degree status, testing, and the approval and accountability of quality educator preparation programs.    

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1. Quality Teacher Preparation Programs: IACTE believes that all educator preparation programs that prepare P-12 professional educators should be held to the same rigorous accreditation and accountability standards and include these essential elements:

a. a content-rich experience combined with understanding learners and developing expertise in teaching;

b. strong clinical experiences developed collaboratively through strong partnerships with P-12 schools;

c. instructors with strong pedagogical and content knowledge; and,

d. an effective continuous improvement system that includes the consistent collection and analysis of data addressing candidates’ content knowledge, professional skills, and dispositions.
 

2. Professional Development and Retention: IACTE believes in the value of continuous professional development and advanced training for professional educators allowing them to stay abreast of the research associated with learning and specific content expertise. Thus, all educator preparation programs should promote candidate involvement in a professional organization related to their content area. Furthermore, there should be strong incentives, including professional and financial recognition, for teachers who pursue advanced degrees.  To strengthen the retention of new professional educators, IACTE believes that new professional educators should receive strong mentoring in their first year of practice. Support for quality mentoring should be made available to school corporations and/or educator preparation programs working in collaboration with school corporations.

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3. Diversity: The student population in Indiana schools is becoming increasingly racially and ethnically diverse. To meet these P-12 students’ needs and to provide important role models, IACTE believes it is important to reflect diversity among teachers in all schools.   IACTE believes incentives are essential in attracting diverse candidates to teach P-12 students in all schools, including high needs urban and rural schools. All P-12 schools deserve a population of licensed professional educators who reflect the diversity of Indiana communities and the state.   

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4. High-Quality Teachers for All Learners: IACTE believes all P-12 students deserve a licensed professional educator who has completed an accredited educator preparation program.  At the same time, IACTE understands that districts may need to hire a professional educator who has not yet earned a license. In these circumstances, IACTE strongly believes that educators on emergency permits should be working toward completion of an accredited educator preparation program in a timely manner as required by the Indiana Department of Education.  

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5. Licensing Requirement: IACTE believes that candidate licensure requirements including testing should be valid, reliable, include essential knowledge, and aligned to relevant standards. In addition, IACTE believes that all professional educators who obtain an Indiana license should be required to complete the appropriate licensure program from an accredited institution. 

Adopted 1/24/19.