In Turkey, activities for the accreditation of teacher education programs began in the 1990s. One of the first activities of the National Committee for Teacher Education (ÖYMK), which was established to ensure the necessary cooperation and coordination between the Ministry of National Education and the Council of Higher Education in teacher education, was to take action to standardize quality in faculties of education. The committee met in Ankara between November 12-14, 1998 and acknowledged that it was essential to build an accreditation system for quality assurance in teacher education. The Committee investigated the applicability of this idea and examined the quality assurance systems in the United States and the United Kingdom. Following the meeting in question, a series of seminars were held to inform the members of faculties of education about the accreditation system. In the meantime, the infrastructure of Turkey’s teacher education accreditation system was established by American and British consultants and Turkish specialists. The specified standards and the documents on the implementation process were finalized at the end of the pilot studies conducted in six faculties. These documents were compiled in the publication titled “Türkiye’de Öğretmen Eğitiminde Standartlar ve Akreditasyon” [Standards and Accreditation in Teacher Education in Turkey] (YÖK Yayınları, Ankara 1999). The system and the results of the pilot studies were discussed in the Deans of Faculties of Education Conference in Edirne. Moreover, promotion seminars were held in faculties of education. However, the system was left to its fate at the stage of transformation into a national accreditation system, even though the development process had been completed.

EPDAD’s official establishment process began with the Faculties of Education Initiative Development and Evaluation Workshop, which was hosted by the Ataturk Faculty of Education at Marmara University between January 20-21, 2012. The deans of faculties of education, who gathered upon the invitation of Prof. Cemil Öztürk, Dean of the Ataturk Faculty of Education at Marmara University, approved the directive previously submitted for their information and consideration and established the Council of Deans of Faculties of Education (EFDEK). As a result of one of the historic decisions of the Council, activities to create an accreditation system, which were carried out by the EPDAD Establishment Preparation Commission, established within the Dean’s Office of the Ataturk Faculty of Education, started to be implemented under the auspices and supervision of EFDEK.

The decisions reached at the Marmara University Workshop and the first EFDEK meeting (2012) were implemented by the Executive Board. The preparatory activities were carried out by the working group formed under the leadership of Prof. Cemil Öztürk, Dean and Chairman of EFDEK, and Prof. Cemal Yıldız, Vice Dean. Finally, the EPDAD Statute, which was finalized by conferring with EFDEK, was approved by the Provincial Directorate for Relations with Civil Society of the Governorship of Istanbul on June 14, 2012. Thus, the official establishment process of EPDAD was completed.

Promotional, educational, and cultural development activities were carried out in the first two years following the foundation of EPDAD. The objectives of these activities were to develop a positive attitude towards quality assurance and accreditation in teacher education organizations, to raise awareness about them, and to provide basic knowledge and skills to executives and faculty members.

For these purposes, EPDAD collaborated with the Council of Deans of Faculties of Education (EFDEK) and organized educational events (conferences, seminars, workshops, and so on) for the executives and faculty members of the institutions in question. A total of 187 deans and/or vice deans of faculties of education received quality assurance/accreditation training through these events.

The activities carried out before October 15, 2014 aimed largely at the dissemination of information, promotion, and acculturation. The activities conducted after this date aimed to create and develop the system. The activities in question are provided on this website under the “Education” and “Continuous Development” section.