Just as with unit accreditation and renewal of teacher education programs, a unit shall conduct a self-study to determine the viability of offering a new program. The resulting data shall be recorded in the folio, which becomes the major resource document for determining the approval status for a new program. The unit should capitalize on its strengths and eliminate or reduce its weaknesses. There are no specific requirements for the conduct of a self-study, but the involvement of the faculty with responsibility for the professional education courses, including those who teach methods courses, appears critical to a successful review.
Folios are an integral part of the initial approval of a teacher education program.
The content of the folio should respond to the statements and expectations found in the standards of the Certification and Teacher Education Regulations. The program folio is a qualitative and quantitative description of the unit's new program. The Request for Initial Approval of Teacher Education Programs, Appendix N, five copies of the new program folio, and five copies of the college catalog must be submitted 12 months preceding the academic year in which the unit's program is to be operationalized. KSDE requires that folios be done well. Incomplete, ambiguous, or apparently inaccurate reports will be returned to a unit and will delay the new program approval process.