Merged NCATE Likely to Raise Teacher-Entry Bar

When united, two accreditors hope to change recruiting

As the two bodies that accredit American teachers' colleges prepare to merge into a single entity, its leaders are signaling that the new Council for the Accreditation of Educator Preparation plans to require training programs to improve their processes for selecting candidates.

"The new CAEP standards are going to be much more rigorous with regard both to admission policies and recruitment policies," James G. Cibulka, the president of the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education , or NCATE, said in a recent interview.

His comments give the first inkling of what the new body will consider as part of a revamped accreditation process, and are germane to a growing debate about how to recruit more academically capable individuals into teaching, especially...