The TESOL/NCATE P-12 Teacher Education Program standards address the professional expertise needed by ESL educators to work with language minority students. The National Council for the Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE) uses the standards for national recognition of teacher education programs.
Also known as the TESOL Professional Teaching Standards, the performance-based standards can be used to assess programs that prepare and license P-12 ESL educators, as well as other teacher educator programs.
Please note the TESOL/NCATE Standards for P-12 Teacher Education Programs were officially revised in 2009. All institutions must use the revised standards.
For more information, contact Diane Staehr Fenner, TESOL/NCATE Program Coordinator.
Training for Institutions
A specialized workshop for institutions on the revised TESOL P–12 ESL Teacher Education Program Standards is offered annually at the TESOL International Convention. The workshop provides training for faculty and staff in preparing their institution’s program report, and features private consulting with trained reviewers.
The next workshop will be held 20 March 2013 at the 2013 TESOL International Convention and English Language Expo in Dallas, Texas, USA. For more information and to register, please visit the TESOL convention website.
Prospective Reviewers
As a reviewer for the TESOL/NCATE Standards for P-12 Teacher Education Programs project, you can help address how teachers are prepared in the United States to teach ESL to children in P-12 schools. For information, please read the 2013 Call for Reviewers.
Download the Standards
This comprehensive document contains detailed information on the revised standards (2009) as well as information for those preparing to submit program reports to NCATE.
The Revised TESOL/NCATE Standards for the Recognition of Initial TESOL Programs in P-12 ESL Teacher Education (2010, PDF)