Become a new program

The first stage of program approval is to submit a notification of intent (NOI). The NOI  indicates to the PESB board and staff that you are seeking approval for a proposed educator preparation program and that you have laid the foundation on which to design your proposed program.

The NOI must be approved by the board before a program can move forward in the process. View all approved NOIs.

• Notification of intent form (document)

Through the pre-proposal, program leaders describe the proposed program in relation to PESB program standards and requirements. At this stage, program leaders must also fully qualify the need for the program and describe how their program design and methods uniquely fill that need. Program leaders present the pre-proposal to the board for an approval decision. View board presentation guidance.

Once submitted to PESB, the pre-proposal undergoes an internal review in which staff provide detailed feedback. Staff also make a recommendation on whether the pre-proposal is ready for a board presentation, or if the pre-proposal needs revisions that require more time and should come forward at a later board meeting date. PESB staff provide guidance on the board presentation, including a practice session.

• Pre-proposal form (document)
• Alternative routes to teacher certification only: alternative routes addendum to pre-proposal (document)

If the pre-proposal is approved by the board, you will move to the last stage of the process: the full proposal. If the pre-proposal is denied, you cannot move forward to the full proposal. You may choose to resubmit your pre-proposal informed by the board’s feedback.

The final stage of the approval process is the full proposal. Through the full proposal, program leaders describe in what ways proposed program leaders will ensure specific program requirements. Program leaders also have an opportunity to provide any changes or updates to proposed strategies and actions from the pre-proposal. If approved, program leaders should be prepared to fully implement the proposed program.

Like the pre-proposal, the full proposal undergoes a PESB internal review in which staff provide detailed feedback. Staff also make a recommendation on whether the proposal is ready for the a Board presentation, or if the proposal needs revisions that require more time and should come forward at a later board meeting date.

The full proposal requires several attachments (see complete list below) that demonstrate an institution is ready to offer an educator preparation program in Washington State. For prospective residency teacher and CTE plan 1 programs, this includes an endorsement proposal for each potential endorsement offering.

• Full proposal form*
• Program-standards-and-Alt-Routes-requirements*
• Content and clinical practice progression*
• Residency teacher and CTE plan 1 programs only: Endorsement proposals
• Alternative routes to teacher certification only: Memorandums of agreement with partner districts (document)
• All programs: ERDC data sharing agreement statement (template included in the full proposal form, appendix A)
• All programs: Partner district letters of support (template included in the full proposal form, appendix B)

If the full proposal is approved, the program can begin operating with initial approval immediately. If the full proposal is denied, prospective program leaders will not be able to begin operation and can make the decision to resubmit their proposal informed by the board’s feedback.

*Proposed school counselor and school psychologist programs use different full proposal forms and attachments. If you are seeking to offer a school counselor or school psychologist program, contact EPPapproval@k12.wa.us for the appropriate forms. Other than the forms, the process is the same.

Prior to starting the approval process, watch our brief orientation to educator preparation program approval.

Proposal and process guidance

The criteria for program proposals are PESB standards. Proposal language should be specific, supported by evidence, and related to a projected outcome, strategy, action, and/or system. The strongest proposals make clear connections between identified district and community need; how the program design directly responds to that need; and how program leaders, faculty, and staff’s specific actions bring that program design to life.

The pre-proposal and full proposal both undergo a staff internal review, in which PESB staff provide detailed feedback on your proposal and related materials. We have compiled our most frequent staff feedback to help you avoid common areas of improvement.

Additional tips:

• Before starting the approval process, familiarize yourself with the relevant standards. These standards reflect the board’s priorities and are the foundation of the educator preparation program approval process.
• Proposals are formal documents; review and check all materials for completion prior to submitting. PESB staff will not accept incomplete submissions.
• Board members review several documents for meetings. Proposal language should be concise, direct, and avoid redundancies. You can cite descriptions from one section of your proposal in another section.
• Cite all sources and provide works cited list when appropriate.

All approval forms should be submitted via email to EPPapproval@k12.wa.us as Microsoft Word documents. Find additional submission instructions in each form.

Community colleges

Community colleges seeking to offer a teacher preparation program leading to a bachelor’s degree must also be approved by the Washington State Board of Community and Technical Colleges (SBCTC) to offer a bachelor of applied science degree in teacher education. The SBCTC approval process is separate from the PESB approval process. However, approval of the teacher preparation program by PESB is contingent on approval by the SBCTC to offer a bachelor’s in teaching.

School counselor and school psychologist preparation programs

While in the process of seeking PESB board approval, prospective school counselor and school psychologist preparation programs must also be in the process of obtaining or have obtained accreditation from the relevant national accrediting organization:

• School counselor programs: Council for Accreditation of Counseling & Related Educational Programs (CACREP)
• School psychologist programs: National Association for School Psychologists (NASP)

To maintain PESB approval, the school counselor and school psychologist preparation programs must obtain and maintain accreditation from the national accrediting organizations above.