Criteria Feedback

NAEYC Accreditation for programs serving young children is committed to improving quality in early childhood education and ensuring that the system remains inclusive of the field’s multiple sectors. This challenge is met as NAEYC continues to reflect, collaborate, and improve its accreditation system. In support of continuous improvement, the NAEYC Governing Board (Board) has approved a two-part approach for the accreditation criteria moving forward.

By Summer 2008

Review and possibly revise how criteria are assessed, by considering the following:

• assessment category assigned to criteria
• sources of evidence, and
• expectations for evidence used to assess program performance of the criteria.

By Fall 2010

Review and possibly revise criteria to incorporate updated research and best practices.

Review of How Criteria Are Assessed

The questions that will be asked for any revisions to how criteria are assessed by summer 2008 include:

• Is each criterion in the correct assessment category (Required, Emerging, Random, Always Assessed)?
• Are the sources of evidence right for each of the criterion?
• Are there appropriate expectations for evidence?
• Can the evidence be streamlined?

These questions will be informed by feedback from the field, data on program performance, and expert review. In the meantime, all Emerging Practice criteria will remain emerging until the full criteria review in 2010.

The NAEYC Academy will gather feedback from programs and other stakeholders through February 2008. The Council for NAEYC Accreditation (Council) will consider its recommendations for revisions in March 2008, and then forward it to the NAEYC Board for consideration in April 2008. Implementation of any revisions in the assessment process will begin in summer 2008.

Programs may provide feedback online at http://lms.naeyc.org/icohere/feedback. To access the website, you may login with the following default information:

1. Login ID: naeyc; Password: naeyc
2. Click the button beside the password box.
3. You'll see "Welcome to Criteria Feedback" and the NAEYC Accreditation logo. Click on continue.
4. Enter your new individual login ID. Click continue.
5. Select your time zone using the drop down box. Click continue.
6. Change your password. Click continue.
7. Enter your profile information. Click submit.
8. You'll see "NAEYC Accreditation: Maintaining the Mark of Quality"
9. Click on "Announcements" on the left hand side of the screen.
10. You'll see "NAEYC Seeks Feedback" on the upper left hand corner and instructions on how to move around the website.

Review of the Criteria

A comprehensive review of the criteria is scheduled for completion in 2010. In preparation for the review, NAEYC will solicit feedback through the online community described above, which will include online discussions with leading experts and practitioners beginning in spring 2008. New literature reviews will be compiled by 2009. Based on this information, the Council will make recommendations to the Board in summer 2009 for implementation in 2010.