Accreditation for Early Childhood Education Providers: Path to Accreditation

 

In the following guide, we wrap up our three-part blog series about accreditation for Early Childhood Education providers. In Part 3, we explore the path to accreditation through the NAEYC and explain how you can get started on your accreditation journey. Keep reading to find out more. 

Path to NAEYC Accreditation

For more than 30 years, NAEYC Accreditation of Early Learning Programs has set the standard for excellence for the early childhood education field. 

Before you begin the accreditation process, you will need to register for an account and receive a Program Identification Number. 

You can find detailed instructions for registering for an account with NAEYC. 

Stage 1: Enroll and Self-Study

Stage 1 of the accreditation process consists of two parts: enrolling in the Portal and conducting a self-study within the program. 

You can find detailed instructions for enrolling in the Portal. 

Once your enrollment is complete, your program’s 12-month timeline for Stage 1 has begun. 

Now you can move on to the self-study. 

First, you will want to familiarize yourself and your team with the self-study resources provided by the NAEYC, including the Gearing up for Self-Study Handouts and the NAEYC Accreditation Standards and Assessment Items.

Second, you will want to involve your staff, families, students, and community to gain a true representation of your program. Through this, identify areas where your program may need improvement. You can do this by collecting feedback, surveying, questionnaires, and interviews. 

Third, evaluate your current practices and align them with NAEYC recommended practices by identifying your program’s strengths and weaknesses. 

You are now ready to move forward to Stage 2: Application and Self-Assessment. 

Stage 2: Apply and Self-Assess

Stage 2 of the accreditation process is the point at which programs apply and self-assess to document evidence of meeting high-quality standards. Programs in Stage 2 are actively preparing evidence for an accreditation site visit. They also demonstrate that they meet the accreditation eligibility requirements. 

Programs in Stage 2 receive: 

• Self-assessment tools, tips, and planning guides
• Site visit preparation tools, tips, and planning guides
• Trainings and webinars
• Official documentation to acknowledge status

If you are ready to apply and conduct a self-assessment, then you can complete the application and submit the application fee on the NAEYC Accreditation Portal. 

Once approved, prepare to advance to Stage 3: Candidate for Site Visit anytime within 12 months. 

Stage 3: Candidate for Site Visit

Programs in this stage are prepared to host an accreditation site visit.

These programs are afforded the same level of support and access to resources as in Stage 2. 

Here’s an overview of the site visit:

• The NAEYC accreditation site visit provides an independent assessment of program quality by an assessor who has been rigorously trained to provide a reliable rating of the program. 
• Once an assessor is assigned to your program, he or she will contact the program administrators to plan the visit. 
• Data from the program records and the site visit will be used to make an accreditation decision.
• The Council for NAEYC Early Learning Program Accreditation oversees the accreditation decision by determining, reviewing, and overseeing the accreditation standards and policies. 
• Your program will receive your Accreditation Decision Report within three months of the site visit with one of the following accreditation decisions:

Accredited for a Five Year Term:

• Program met 80% of the assessment items measured across all standards together, and
• Met 60% of the assessment items measured in each single standard, and
• Program met 100% of required assessment items, and 
• Each class selected to be assessed met 70% of the assessment items measured

Deferred:

• Program met less than 80% of the assessment items measured across all standards together, and/or
• Met less than 60% of the assessment items measured in each single standard, and/or
• Program did not meet 100% of required assessment items, and/or
• Each class selected to be assessed did not meet 70% of the assessment items measured

Deferred programs have a couple options, which you can learn more about here. 

Once accreditation is achieved, actively maintain accreditation status, Stage 4. 

Stage 4: Maintain Accreditation

Accredited programs continuously ensure that their environment, policies, and practices are aligned with the standards. 

Accredited programs maintain their accreditation status by:

• Adhering to accreditation policies
• Continuing to meet the accreditation standards and assessment items. 10% of accredited programs are randomly assessed via site visit yearly.
• Reporting all critical incidents to NAEYC within 72 hours. The nature of the incident may require verification of evidence with or without a site visit.
• Submitting annual reports with fees

Programs should begin to reexamine their evidence when they submit Annual Report 3 and prepare for a renewal site visit when they submit Annual Report 4. 

You can learn more about how to maintain your NAEYC accreditation here. 

Throughout this blog series, we have provided a thorough overview of accreditation for Early Childhood Education providers. In Part 1, we defined accreditation, discussed the differences between state licensing and accreditation, and identified several key accrediting organizations. In Part 2, we shared the benefits of accreditation and looked at the 10 standards of accreditation through the NAEYC. And here in Part 3, we explored the path to NAEYC accreditation. 

We hope this series has provided valuable insight into accreditation for your early learning program. 

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