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| National Accreditation Organizations for Early Childhood Programs |
Accreditation is a voluntary process designed to improve the quality of early care and education programs. Accreditation systems require early care and education programs to meet standards that exceed minimum State regulatory requirements. Achieving accreditation involves extensive self-study and validation by professionals outside the program to verify that quality standards are met. Research has demonstrated that accreditation positively impacts early care and education program quality, including benefits to children, staff, and families.
A number of organizations have developed accreditation systems to recognize early care and education programs that generally meet higher standards than are required by State regulations. The following is a sample of national accreditation systems for early care and education programs, listed in alphabetical order.
APPLE is a voluntary accreditation program with a two step accreditation process. A self study is followed by a verification visit, which is an evaluation of the indicators of quality in each individual program. All components of a program are examined including the following: administration, classroom environment, parent and community involvement, advocacy on behalf of children and child care, staffing credentials, staff-child ratios, teacher/child interaction, and literacy and curriculum. Previously, this accreditation was only available to members of FACCM; however, that requirement has been eliminated and it now has a national scope.
APPLE also has a school-age endorsement called APPLE SAUCE. Only programs with both school-age and preschool components can apply. It is not for stand-alone, school-age programs.
AMS is an organization whose membership includes schools, teacher education programs, teachers, parents, and other interested persons. AMS Accreditation is a voluntary process undertaken by schools. Through a self-study and documentation process a school defines itself in terms of strengths and areas that need improvement. Information about AMS Accreditation is available on the Web at www.amshq.org/schools_accreditation.htm# and includes the AMS Accreditation School Handbook.
ACSI is a nonprofit organization, founded in 1978 through a merger of three Christian school associations. Programs and services are designed to assist Christian schools at every grade level, including early education and higher education. Information about ACSI accreditation is available on the Web at www.acsi.org/web2003/default.aspx?ID=883.
COA is an international, independent, nonprofit, child and family service and behavioral healthcare accrediting organization. Founded in 1977 by the Child Welfare League of America and Family Service America, COA partners with human service organizations worldwide to improve service delivery outcomes by developing, applying, and promoting accreditation standards. Originally known as an accrediting body for family and children’s agencies, COA now accredits 38 different service areas, including substance abuse treatment, adult day care, services for the homeless, foster care, and intercountry adoption.
COA’s accreditation process involves a detailed review and analysis of an organization’s administrative operations and service delivery against national standards. COA has a set of standards specifically for early child care and development services, child care centers, and family child care homes. Information about these standards is available on the Web at http://www.coastandards.org/standards.php?navView=private§ion_id=79.
Additional information about COA is available on the Web at
www.coanet.org/front-end/page.cfm?sect=3.
NACCP is a membership organization for child care owners, directors, and administrators, and it manages NAC. The NAC standards, which cover children birth through school-age, include the following components: program philosophy and goals, health and safety, administration, parent communication, curriculum, and interaction between staff and children. Additional information about NAC is available on the Web at www.naccp.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=5.
NAC has a faith-based component as a response to weekday programs seeking to extend their ministry and/or to improve the relationship with a sponsoring organization of faith. Additional information about the faith-based component of NAC is available on the Web at www.naccp.org/displaycommon.cfm?an=1&subarticlenbr=77.
NACECPPP is a national, nonprofit organization established in response to needs identified by the center-based, private-licensed, and religious early childhood community nationwide under the sponsorship of the Child Care Institute of America, a national association representing that community. For additional information, contact the Early Childhood Development Center Legislative Coalition at 703-941-4329.
NAA (formerly the National School-Age Care Alliance), founded in 1987, is a professional association with membership that includes more than 7,000 practitioners, policy-makers, and administrators representing all public, private, and community-based sectors of after-school and out-of-school time programs, as well as school-age and after-school programs on military bases, both domestic and international. NAA provides a voice for the after-school profession, and is dedicated to the development, education, and care of children and youth during their out-of-school hours. Information about NAA’s accreditation is available on the Web at www.naaweb.org/accreditation.html.
Founded in 1926, NAEYC is the world’s largest organization working on behalf of young children with more than 100,000 members and a national network of nearly 450 local, State, and regional NAEYC Affiliates. In 1985, NAEYC established a national, voluntary accreditation system to set professional standards for early childhood education programs and to help families identify high-quality programs. The accreditation system is administered by the NAEYC Academy for Early Childhood Program Accreditation.
The NAEYC Accreditation Criteria address all aspects of an early childhood program, including interactions among teachers and children, curriculum, interactions among teachers and families, administration, staff qualifications and professional development, staffing patterns, physical environment, health and safety, nutrition and food service, and program evaluation. Significant growth in and demands on the accreditation system led the NAEYC Governing Board to establish a project to reinvent accreditation. This was done by developing new program standards, criteria, and assessment procedures and by taking immediate steps to improve the reliability and accountability of the system while better managing the demand for accreditation. Full implementation of the new accreditation system took place in Fall 2006.
Information about the NAEYC Early Childhood Program Standards and Accreditation Performance Criteria is available on the Web at www.naeyc.org/accreditation/050415.asp. Additional information about NAEYC accreditation is available on the Web at www.naeyc.org/accreditation/academy.asp.
NAFCC is a national membership organization working with more than 400 State and local family child care provider associations across the United States. The mission of NAFCC is to support the profession of family child care and to encourage high-quality care for children. The focus of NAFCC is to provide technical assistance to family child care associations. This assistance is provided through developing leadership, addressing issues of diversity, and promoting quality and professionalism through NAFCC’s Family Child Care Accreditation.
Accreditation was designed to promote and recognize high-quality, professional family child care. NAFCC Accreditation standards cover the following content areas: relationships, environment, activities, developmental learning goals, safety and health, and professional and business practices. Quality Standards for NAFCC Accreditation, Fourth Edition 2005, sponsored by NAFCC, developed by the Family Child Care Accreditation Project, Wheelock College, is available on the Web at www.nafcc.org/documents/QualStd.pdf. Additional information about accreditation is available on the Web at www.nafcc.org/accreditation/accreditation.asp.
NECPA is a voluntary accreditation system for programs serving children ages birth to 5 years. The NECPA program is an Automated Accreditation Indicator System (AAIS). This system and the instrument itself were developed by Richard Fiene, in conjunction with the Early Childhood Education Programs Department of Pennsylvania State University at Harrisburg. The NECPA self-assessment instrument is based on criteria in the following component areas: administration and general operations, professional development and work environment, indoor environment, outdoor environment, developmental programs, parent and community involvement, formal school linkages, and health and safety.
NLSA is available for every school operated by a single congregation, by an association of congregations, or by a Recognized Service Organization of the Lutheran Church. NLSA is a national accrediting process designed to evaluate schools based on their unique purpose as Lutheran schools. NLSA is for early childhood, elementary, and secondary schools. The NLSA Standards Manual is available on the Web at
www.lcms.org/graphics/assets/media/DCS/standards.pdf.
NLSA National Standards for Early Childhood Centers (2005) is available on the Web at http://www.lcms.org/graphics/assets/media/DCS/ECStandardsManualNEW.doc. Freestanding early childhood centers that desire accreditation with NLSA and NAEYC may use the “Guide for Evaluating the Mission of Freestanding Early Childhood Centers,” which, when completed, allows centers to be accredited by NLSA through an abbreviated process if they gain NAEYC accreditation. Additional information is available on the NLSA Web site at www.lcms.org/pages/internal.asp?NavID=1741.
Accreditation systems require early care and education programs to meet standards that exceed minimum State regulatory requirements. However, the steps between State licensing and achieving national accreditation are often significant. Fourteen States have developed a statewide quality rating system (QRS) as a method to assess, improve, and communicate the level of quality in early care and education settings. Thirteen of these States include accreditation in their QRS, although how it is included varies. Additional information about QRS is available on the National Child Care Information Center Web site at http://nccic.acf.hhs.gov/poptopics/index.html#qrs.
April 2007
| The document is for informational purposes only. No official endorsement of any practice, publication, program, or individual by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, the Administration for Children and Families, the Child Care Bureau, or the National Child Care Information Center is intended or is to be inferred. For additional information on this or related topics, please contact the National Child Care Information Center at (800) 616-2242 or info@nccic.org. |
