Accreditation: Council for Accreditation of Educator Preparation (CAEP)
Valley City State University (VCSU) has been known for teacher education preparation since the institution began in 1890. VCSU was accredited by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) from 1954 through NCATE’s transition into the Council for Accreditation of Education Preparation (CAEP). Most recently, VCSU completed state accreditation reviews for each education major in Spring 2021. The CAEP site visit to VCSU was in October of 2022, and a CAEP review for the teacher education program was finalized in the Spring of 2023. VCSU was among the 21 educator preparation providers (EPPs) to receive Frank Murray Leadership Recognition for Continuous Improvement from CAEP in 2023. The recipients were granted accreditation upon providing a full complement of evidence and data, with no stipulations or areas for improvement.
4.1 EPP’s current CAEP (NCATE) Accreditation Status and Reviewed Programs
The programs that were reviewed and approved during the state/CAEP process in 2021 included: Art Education, Biology Education, Business Education, Chemistry Education, Elementary Education, English Education, Health Education, History Education, and Social Science Education, Mathematics Education, Music Education (NASM approved), Physical Education, Technology Education, and the Master of Arts program were approved by the state and CAEP.
4.2 CAEP Accountability Measures
This website is organized according to the headings provided in CAEP AIMS for annual reports and provides a direct link for CAEP Accountability Measures.
Measure 1 (Initial): Completer effectiveness – Completer impact contributing to P-12 student-learning growth and completer effectiveness in applying professional knowledge, skills, and dispositions
VCSU secured grant funding to conduct research on best practices for CAEP Standard 4.1 prior to the 2021 self-study and the 2022 site visit. The Network for Excellence in Teaching (NExT) Final Report, attached to this webpage, details the work VCSU completed across three focus group cycles (external evaluator attachment). Each cycle included written responses and interviews from three groups of completers with 2-6 years of teaching experience. Focus groups were established to include elementary, secondary, and MAT completers. VCSU has continued to work with focus groups each year. The r teacher effectiveness and impact on student learning reports included samples of learner growth and principal observation evaluations (principal evaluation attachment) in the CAEP Self-Study Report.
The first three cycles of focus group interviews included 29 teachers in four categories: elementary (11), secondary (8), Master of Arts in Teaching (5), and Master of Education (5). The elementary and secondary teachers involved had 2 to 5 years of classroom experience. MAT teachers’ experience ranged between 1 and 3 years. M.Ed. teachers had between 4 and 14 years of teaching experience since earning their Bachelor of Science degrees, indicating a wider range of experience. The teachers represented various content areas, including library media specialists, science, language arts, social studies, health, family and consumer science, math, STEM, and technology. The teachers were selected to provide a mixture of rural, mid-sized, and urban communities.
VCSU believes the focus group interviews with alumni are great for learning about teacher effectiveness. The teachers’ impact on student learning extends beyond their students’ state assessment scores (see the student growth examples attachment). The focus group interview process enables the EPP to learn about the strategies completers use for teaching and the types of assessments and student feedback utilized in their schools. The EPP is gaining insights into how schools and our completers make decisions about formative and summative assessments, determine whether their assessments are authentic, engage with students and provide feedback, and how our completers teach for learning. The EPP is learning how our completers are observed by principals and instructional coaches, and what types of evaluations and feedback they receive.
Documents linked below as evidence:
- 4.1.3 Evidence 70 External Evaluator Summary of Teacher Effectiveness
- External Evaluator Report Nov 2022
- Additional cycles of Teacher Effectiveness Focus Group Interviews
- Evidence for InTASC 4: Effectively Teach Subject Matter - Varying Perspectives (Ratings from cooperating teachers, student teachers, completers, and employers)
- Employer and Completer survey data related to completer teaching effectiveness.
A new report from the ND State Longitudinal Data Service was released in Spring 2025. The report shows that the growth in proficiency levels among 4th-8th graders taught by VCSU first-year math and language arts teachers exceeded the overall proficiency growth of students taught by non-first-year teachers in the state. The report is titled: First Year Teacher Effect on Student Outcomes.
Measure 2 (Initial): Satisfaction of employers and stakeholder involvement. (R4.2|R5.3| RA4.1)
The employer survey data reveal many positive aspects of EPP completers’ readiness to enter the profession. Leading examples of positive employer ratings include effectively teaching subject matter, upholding laws related to student rights and teacher responsibility, and planning lessons with clear learning objectives/goals in mind. Areas for growth include designing long-range instructional plans that meet curricular goals, differentiating assessments, and engaging students in self-assessment strategies. The survey instrument is specific enough for the EPP to learn that employees believe first-year teachers are designing and modifying assessments to align with learning objectives well, and that completers are using formative and summative assessments to inform instructional practices. First-year teachers have more room to grow in differentiating assessments and engaging students in self-assessment.
Data from employer surveys can be viewed among the documents attached to this website.
Stakeholders from EPP's P-12 partner schools have made significant contributions to the co-construction of the EPP's assessment instruments, enhancing their validity, reliability, and quality. P-12 partners have provided subject matter expert advice on assessment items through surveys and Lawshe Method analyses. P-12 partners have utilized rubrics during field experience and provided feedback for improvement before the EPP's official implementation of the multiple assessments. The voice of cooperating teachers who provide opportunities for teacher candidates to gain experience in their P-12 classrooms is an important voice for the EPP to respect and hear.
Data are shared annually with P-12 stakeholders and faculty. The annual August event is important for building positive relationships with P-12 stakeholders who communicate with the EPP faculty. Data gathered from exit surveys, student teaching final evaluations, completers, and employers are shared to provide feedback from student teachers, cooperating teachers, completers in their first year of teaching, and their employees. Feedback comments are gathered and compiled in a document to be shared with EPP faculty during Welcome Week each August.
Measure 3 (Initial): Candidate competency at completion. (R3.3)
Knowledge: Teacher candidates take exams for teacher licensure as they near completion of the program.
Praxis II subject matter exams are used to assess content knowledge.
Teacher candidates who initially do not pass a Praxis II exam may pursue additional attempts to achieve a higher score, so pass rates in the data set could increase as candidates retake the exam. Some teacher candidates do not need to pass the Praxis II test for the state where they seek licensure and may choose not to retake the Praxis II exams.
Praxis II Content Exams
Praxis II Test-Takers
Candidates Passing
Percent Passing
Elementary Education Fall 2022-Spring 2025
318
287
90.3%
Elementary Fall 2024-Spring 2025
126
116
92.1%
Elementary Fall 2023-Spring 2024
102
89
87.3%
Elementary Fall 2022-Spring 2023
90
82
91.1%
Secondary Education Fall 2022-Spring 2025
102
84
82.4%
Secondary Fall 2024-Spring 2025
44
34
77.3%
Secondary Fall 2023-Spring 2024
29
24
82.8%
Secondary Fall 2022-Spring 2023
29
26
89.7%
K-12 Education Fall 2022-Spring 2025
38
35
92.1%
K-12 Fall 2024-Spring 2025
16
16
100.0%
K-12 Fall 2023-Spring 2024
11
9
81.8%
K-12 Fall 2022-Spring 2023
11
10
90.9%
Praxis II Total for Elementary, Secondary, and K-12
458
406
88.6%
Praxis II pedagogy exams for the principles of learning and teaching (PLT) include 5622 for elementary majors, 5624 for secondary majors, and 5625 for PreK-12 majors. The 5625 has only been available in North Dakota since 2023. K-12 majors used to take the 5624 along with the secondary majors.
Praxis II Principles of Learning and Teaching (PLT) Exams
Praxis II PLT Test-Takers
Candidates Passing
Percent Passing
Elementary Education (5622) Fall 2022-Spring 2025
304
283
93.1%
Elementary (5622) Fall 2024-Spring 2025
116
108
93.1%
Elementary (5622) Fall 2023-Spring 2024
96
88
91.7%
Elementary (5622) Fall 2022-Spring 2023
92
87
94.6%
Secondary Education (5624) Fall 2022-Spring 2025
93
84
90.3%
Secondary (5624) Fall 2024-Spring 2025
38
34
89.5%
Secondary (5624) Fall 2023-Spring 2024
29
25
86.2%
Secondary (5624) Fall 2022-Spring 2023
26
25
96.2%
K-12 Education (5625) Fall 2022-Spring 2025
21
17
81.0%
K-12 (5625) Fall 2024-Spring 2025
19
16
84.2%
K-12 (5625) Fall 2023-Spring 2024
2
1
50.0%
K-12 (5625) Fall 2022-Spring 2023
0
0
0.0%
PLT Total for Elementary, Secondary, and K-12
418
384
91.9%
Praxis II data are shared with faculty in teacher education and secondary methods. Each program makes decisions for its content and considers ways to improve its scores. The 5625 for PreK-12 is the newest pedagogy exam and has a smaller “N”. Teacher candidates who initially do not pass the exam may pursue additional attempts to achieve a higher score, so pass rates could increase as they retake the exam.
Skills: Student teachers are ready to teach units and lessons to impact student learning in the classroom. The Teacher for Learning Capstone (TLC) unit, completed by student teachers near the end of their experience, provides an opportunity for teacher candidates to demonstrate their skills by demonstrating their performance on InTASC skills in K-12 classrooms and earn favorable ratings from cooperating teachers. This website includes TLC data and documentation of the annual rater-agreement sessions held in August.
Dispositions: Teacher candidate dispositions develop and are strengthened by the time of completion. Cooperating teacher ratings of student teachers’ dispositions are much stronger than the ratings of teacher candidates in their early courses and field experiences. A document titled Disposition Data after Spring 2025 displays the VCSU findings.
Measure 4 (Initial): The ability of completers to be hired (in positions they have prepared).
Not every teacher candidate who enrolls in an introductory course completes the program. Many variables exist, from personal to financial reasons. A document related to the percentages of teacher candidates who complete an EDUC 250 introductory course and continue to complete the full program is also available below. The graduation rate for VCSU teacher candidates who take an introductory education course and apply for program admittance is 68.7% (percentage of completers attachment) over the past 12 years. A list containing the number of completers and admitted teacher candidates is also available.
Employment after Program Completion
Over 75% of completers are employed as full-time teachers in their preparation field, while an additional 15% hold positions in other education-related areas. The other 10% seek employment in non-teaching roles during their first year after completion. In the past three years, approximately 80% of completers have been employed as full-time teachers, and another 15% have pursued graduate studies or have worked as substitute teachers, paraeducators, or in other education-related positions. Almost all MAT and Advanced candidates are full-time teachers holding a MAT or M.Ed. degree.
Additional Accreditation Links:
https://www.vcsu.edu/vcsu-receives-frank-murray-leadership-recognition-from-the-caep/
https://onestop.vcsu.edu/support/solutions/articles/10000052031-Accreditation-Council-for-Accreditation-of-Educator-Preparation-CAEP-
While content may be added to this website throughout the year as needed, the primary work scheduled in our Quality Assurance System calendar is for September. VCSU summarizes data collected from student teachers, cooperating teachers, faculty members, first-year teachers, employers, and stakeholders at annual data-sharing sessions. The reports are shared in August. Typically, informed decisions about continuous improvement are made in August and September. The website is updated each September and as needed during the year.