Who makes the actual decision regarding the accreditation—assessors or the Commission as has been the case?
Assessors will be trained to consistently and reliably conduct assessments of program quality. They will not make the accreditation decision. They will submit the results of the assessment to the Academy where these results will be reviewed by staff for procedural accuracy. The Council for NAEYC Accreditation, an independent group appointed by the NAEYC Governing Board, establishes the policies that guide the actual decision making and handles the appeals process. (Click here for more information on the Appeals process.) To be accredited, a program must meet 80% of the criteria on which it is assessed for each standard, with no individual classroom falling below 70% of the criteria met for each standard, and meet specific required criteria.
