Mission
The mission of the Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) is to serve the public by establishing and applying standards that assure quality and continuous improvement in the entry-level preparation of physical therapists and physical therapist assistants and that reflect the evolving nature of education, research, and practice.
Scope of Accreditation Activities
CAPTE accredits first professional (entry-level) programs in the U.S. for the physical therapist at the master's and doctoral degree levels and programs for the physical therapist assistant at the associate degree level. CAPTE also accredits two physical therapist education programs in Canada and one in Scotland.
Vision Statement
The Commission on Accreditation in Physical Therapy Education (CAPTE) will be recognized and valued by all stakeholders as the leader in accreditation of entry-level physical therapy education, serving as a model of best practices in specialized accreditation in the United States.
CAPTE will pursue this vision through:
- Collaborative processes that foster a culture of assessment, accountability and continuous improvement to support program and institutional excellence.
- Standards that are influenced by contemporary and evolving practice and that help assure that physical therapy continues to meet the needs of a diverse public.
- Standards that foster consistency in educational programs and that allow for innovation resulting in improvement in educational practices and in the profession.
- Decisions based on systems of review that are discerning, objective, and accepted as trustworthy, effective and valid by its communities of interest.
Values
All CAPTE processes, procedures, functions and actions are grounded in the following fundamental values:
Accountability: The accreditation process is based on the basic assumption that institutions, programs, faculty, students, on-site reviewers, CAPTE members and staff are accountable for their actions and decisions and for the outcomes of their activities.
Fairness: It is very important that the accreditation process be conducted in a manner that is fair to all those involved. To that end, CAPTE affords participants ample opportunity to develop information, to review information, and to respond to reports. CAPTE also applies its published rules of practice and procedure equitably across programs.
Integrity: CAPTE maintains the integrity of its process by eliminating conflicts of interest and maintaining the confidentiality of information provided to it by programs and of the specifics of its status decisions. Additionally, the integrity of the process rests on the truthfulness of all participants.
Quality: Just as CAPTE asks programs to achieve a level of quality and to strive to improve upon it, CAPTE seeks ways to improve its functions.
Respect: The process requires that on-site visitors and CAPTE members display respect for the missions of the programs it accredits and the work the faculty have done to prepare for CAPTE review. The process also requires that faculty and administration respect the accreditation process and those who carry it out.
Trust: Everyone who is involved in the process must trust that everyone else has acted with integrity and fulfilled their responsibilities completely.
Validity and Reliability: Validity of the process is fostered by the on-site visitors whose job is to verify the information provided by the programs. CAPTE supports the reliability of the process by working to make its decisions consistent across programs.