The Development of the Partnership Between the American Library Association and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education

Abstract

This qualitative study examined the development of the partnership between the American Library Association (ALA) and the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE). The research focused on archival documents from the ALA Archives at the University of Illinois Archives. The archival research focused on documents during the 1980s from the American Library Association Council, the American Association of School Librarians (AASL) Executive Committee and Board of Directors, professional correspondence, annual reports, and various task forces and special committees. Other archival documents were from various organizations (i.e. American Association of Colleges for Teacher Education (AACTE) and NCATE) and research studies. In addition, interviews were conducted of four individuals from ALA, AASL, and NCATE. The interviews utilized open-ended questions about the participants' recollections of the past development and their professional roles related to the event. This research was examined in relation to the development of ALA and NCATE accreditation, school library media programs, and related education and library national trends and presented as a narrative.