NAEYC Accreditation: Then and Now
In 1985, child care centers, preschools, and kindergartens wanted
to provide the best education and care for young children, but there
was no national system to measure the quality of early childhood
programs.
The National Association for the Education of Young Children
(NAEYC) changed all that. It established a voluntary, national
accreditation system that outlined stringent criteria and gave programs
tools to build and maintain high-quality care and education.
A lot has changed in early childhood education and so has NAEYC
Accreditation. Highly professional programs are demanding highly
professional service and value from accreditation. Today's
accreditation system is more reliable, more credible, and more
accountable than ever before. Check out some of the improvements:
Accreditation Process
Then - Programs submitted accreditation applications without
prior notice to NAEYC, causing delays in program reviews and on-site
visits. There was no time limit for programs completing the
accreditation process.
Now - NAEYC provides improved service to programs through a four-step process.
Terminology
Then - The terms "standards" and "criteria" were used interchangeably to define characteristics of a high-quality program.
Now - Standards define the characteristics of a high-quality
program. Criteria demonstrate a program is achieving NAEYC standards.
Programs must meet each of the 10 NAEYC program standards by demonstrating satisfactory performance on 80% of the criteria within each standard.
Program Evaluation
Then - Programs were evaluated by volunteer validators.
Now - Programs are evaluated by highly-trained professionals.
Reports
Then - Programs submitted annual reports only after the first year.
Now - Programs submit annual reports and self-administered program audits every year.
Length of Accreditation
Then - Accreditation lasts three years.
Now - Accreditation lasts five years.
Site Visits
Then - Verification visits were conducted when programs experienced change.
Now - In addition to verification visits, unnanounced visits ensure programs are meeting NAEYC standards.