The Impact of NCSS Standards and NCATE Policies and Practices on Programs in History/Social Studies Teacher Education

This paper/presentation will focus on the National Council for the Social Studies (NCSS) Standards for the Preparation of Social Studies Teachers and their impact/implications for programs of teacher preparation housed in Departments of History. It will also address the program review process as developed by the National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) and conducted by reviewers trained by NCSS.  In addition to the review of institutional teacher education programs, NCATE also has developed partnerships with State Departments of Education/Licensure which has more closely aligned teacher education programs across the states and with multiple content area associations whose standards, therefore, guide curriculum decisions in states and member institutions.  An additional factor impacting teacher education programs is the alignment of licensure exams with the content expectations of the content areas associations affiliated with NCATE and the demands of the U.S. Department of Education for rigor and accountability in teacher preparation.