Lesson #14, you should attempt to encapsulate and summarize responses to the following questions:

 

Why accreditation?

 

According to the text of the lesson:

“The purpose of these accrediting agencies is to improve the standards and quality of education and to assure the public that institutions meet the established standards….  These criteria for accreditation apply to ALL institutional educational programs and services wherever they are located or however they are delivered…. Evaluation and assessment of program efforts are key elements in demonstrating comparability.”

Robert Kennedy from About.com writes:

“Accreditation implies approval of a school's programs and their implementation. It implies continued development and adherence to established standards. It affords ongoing protection for consumers.”

 

·               Who oversees it?

 

Overview of Accreditation

The U.S. Department of Education does not accredit educational institutions and/or programs. However, the Secretary of Education is required by law to publish a list of nationally recognized accrediting agencies that the Secretary determines to be reliable authorities as to the quality of education or training provided by the institutions of higher education and the higher education programs they accredit.

 

·               What type of supporting evidence is needed?

 

Again from Robert Kennedy:

 

“The other point which needs to be made is that accreditation is not permanent. It must be maintained. A school must demonstrate during a regular review process that it has developed and grown, not just kept the status quo. The Obligations of Affiliation, for instance, of the North Central Association of Schools and Colleges specifically states that a member school must undergo review not later than five years after original accreditation was granted, and not later than ten years after each satisfactory review. As Selby Holmberg said in Education Week, "As an observer and evaluator of a number of independent school accrediting programs, I have learned that they are interested above all in standards of educational excellence."

 

What differences, if any, exist between accreditation of regular instructional programs and distance learning programs?

 

Robert Kennedy:

“That’s what accreditation is all about: standards, high standards, uniform standards. Please explore the regional accrediting association links more fully. They offer a wealth of information on this important subject. By the way, The Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges does not yet have a Web site; the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools does.”

 

And from Lesson 14 text:

“Uppermost, however, an educational institution seeking accreditation for its distance learning and educational telecommunications efforts must be able to demonstrate quality and effectiveness of all-campus (distance learning) courses and programs COMPARABLE to that of on-campus courses and programs.”

 

·               What role are the new information technologies and educational communications playing in counteracting and changing the strongest criticism of distance learning?

 

The Distance and Education Training Council O...

The Distance Education and Training Council (formerly the National Home Study Council) is a non profit educational association located in Washington, D.C. DETC serves as a clearinghouse of information about the distance study/correspondence field and sponsors a nationally recognized accrediting agency called the Accrediting Commission of the Distance Education and Training Council.