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Operating a High Quality Online Program: A Focus on
Standards and Accreditation
Allison Powell, iNACOL
Liz Pape, VHS
Ray Lindley, Northwest Association of Accredited Schools
Joe Pope, Northwest Association of Accredited Schools
Dan Whitford, Northwest Association of Accredited Schools
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iNACOL Standards

The standards selected are based on the results of a research
review and survey of online course, teaching and program
quality criteria. These quality standards were evaluated and
assembled into easy to use documents for evaluating online
courses, teachers and programs with common benchmarks.

National Standards of Quality for Online Courses (2007)
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National Standards for Quality Online Teaching (2008)

National Standards for Quality Online Programs (2009)
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

iNACOL National Quality Standards
National Standards of Quality for Online Courses – September, 2007
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Fully endorsed SREB Quality Online Course Standards

Added one standard to address 21st Century Skills
National Standards for Quality Online Teaching – February, 2008
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Endorsed SREB Standards for Quality Online Teaching & Online Teaching
Evaluation for State Virtual Schools

Included two standards from the Ohio Standards for the Teaching Profession and
ECOT’s Teacher Evaluation Rubric
+ iNACOL National Quality Standards
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National Standards for Quality Online Programs – October, 2009

Does not endorse any single existing standards
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Based on ideas and concepts from approximately 20 documents along with
contributions from experienced online learning practitioners
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All iNACOL national standards are voluntary

Complete assessment of online program quality requires all three
iNACOL national standards
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All available for download at:
http://www.inacol.org/research/nationalstandards/
Quality Online Programs
NACOL National Standards
for Quality Online Courses
NACOL National Standards
for Quality Online Teaching
iNACOL National Quality Standards for Online Programs
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Structure of Program Standards

Institutional Standards – 9 standards

Teaching and Learning Standards – 3 standards
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Support Standards – 5 standards

Evaluation Standards – 2 standards

Utilizes rubric from The Exemplary Course Project – Scoring Project to
evaluate all standards. This rubric was used to evaluate submissions to
WebCT’s 2001 Exemplary Course Project
+ Rubric

5 – Exemplary: a model of best practice as related to this criterion

4 – Accomplished: excellent implementation; comparable to other
examples
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3 – Promising: good implementation; however, somewhat lacking in
depth or detail

2 – Incomplete: partial implementation of this criterion; additional work
needed; good start

1 – Confusing: not obvious; more work needed; not a good example

N/A – Not Applicable
+ Institutional Standards
Mission Statement
A.

A mission statement of a quality online program clearly
conveys its purpose and goals. It serves as the basis for the
program’s day-to-day operations, as well as a guide for its
strategic plans for the future. Communication between and
buy-in from stakeholders is a critical component of a mission
statement.
Governance
B.

Governance is typically provided by a Board of Directors, an
Advisory Board or a School Board. In a quality online program,
governance and leadership work hand-in-hand, developing
the operational policies for the program and its leadership
staff.
+ Institutional Standards
Leadership
C.

The leadership of a quality online program is accountable to the
program’s governance body, and is responsible for setting and
meeting the operational and strategic goals in support of the
program’s mission and vision statements.
Planning
D.

A quality online program makes planning, managed by the
leadership and staff of the organization, a regular part of the
program. There are several types of planning activities, including
strategic planning, long-range and operational planning, which
defines annual goals. Effective planning is not a one-time activity, but
instead should provide opportunities for reflection on how to
improve the organization’s performance.
+ Institutional Standards
Organizational Staffing
E.

A quality online program recognizes appropriate levels of
staffing are critical to the success of an online program. Staff
should be well trained in order to successfully meet their
performance goals, and are provided with appropriate levels
of support, resources, feedback, and management.
Organizational Commitment
F.

In quality online programs , governance, leadership, and staff
are responsible for creating an organization that demonstrates
a commitment to attaining the program’s goals and mission
statement. Everyone within the organization understands the
mission statement and works to achieve it.
+ Institutional Standards
Financial and Material Resources
G.

A quality online program has adequate financial and material resources
to accomplish the mission of the organization. These resources are
appropriately planned for and expended using sound business
practices.
Equity and Access
H.

A quality online program’s policies and practice support students’ ability
to access the program. Accommodations are available to meet a variety
of student needs.
Integrity and Accountability
I.

In a quality online program, leadership is transparent in its management
of the program, providing regular and timely information on progress
towards attainment of goals, alignment with policies and standards, and
achievement of student learning outcomes.
+ Teaching and Learning Standards
Curriculum and Course Design
J.

A quality online program will have a well thought-out
approach to its curriculum and course design whether it
develops its own courses and/or licenses curriculum from
other educational providers.
Instruction
K.

A quality online program takes a comprehensive and
integrated approach to ensuring excellent online teaching for
its students. This process begins with promising practices but
is equally committed to continuous improvement and
adaptation to student learning needs through professional
development.
+ Teaching and Learning Standards
Assessment of Student Performance
L.

A quality online learning program values student academic
performance and takes a comprehensive, integrated approach
to measuring student achievement. This includes use of
multiple assessment measures and strategies that align closely
to both program and learner objectives, with timely, relevant
feedback to all stakeholders.
+ Support Standards
Faculty
M.

A quality online program supports the faculty by providing
opportunities for them to develop their professional skills
through mentoring, professional development, and technical
assistance.
Students
N.

A quality online program has student support services to
address the various needs of students at different levels within
the organization. The levels of support are appropriate and
adequate for student’s success.
+ Support Standards
Guidance Services
O.
•
A quality online program has guidance services to support students
and parents to ensure success of the online program. Depending on
the program, these services are either directly provided by the
program or a service provider, or in the case of supplemental
programs, these services may be provided by the local school.
Organizational Support
P.

A quality online program has organizational support to oversee the
instructional learning environment as it is conveyed through the
technology. Some organizational support services may be
distributed between the program and other entities, depending on
the physical location where the students are taking their online
courses.
+ Support Standards
Parents/Guardians
Q.

In a quality online program, parents and guardians play an
integral part in their students’ educational life. They work as a
team with faculty, administrators, guidance services, and
organizational support to ensure a quality educational
experience for their students.
+ Evaluation Standards
Program Evaluation
R.

A quality online program recognizes the value of program
evaluation. Program evaluation is both internal and external
and informs all processes that effect teaching and learning.
Internal evaluations often are more informal in nature and may
provide immediate feedback on a targeted area of inquiry.
External program evaluations typically look at the entire
program from an objective perspective that will bring
additional credibility to the results.
+ Evaluation Standards
Program Improvement
S.

A quality online program established a culture of continual
program improvement. Improvement planning focuses on
using program evaluations, research, and promising practices
to improve student performance and organizational
effectiveness. It fosters continuous improvement across all
aspects of the organization and ensures the program is
focused on accomplishing its mission and vision.
+ Committee


Liz Pape –Virtual High School Global
Consortium
Matthew Wicks – Matthew Wicks &
Associates
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

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Sandi Atols - Chicago Public Schools
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Kim Bonniksen – Insight Schools
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John Bourne – Sloan Consortium
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David Brown – Western Association of
Schools and Colleges
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Craig Butz – Connections Academy
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Allison Cleveland – K-12, Inc.
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Jacque Dewey – Virginia Beach City
Public Schools
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Jed Friedrichsen – BlendedSchools.net
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Vicki Jensen – Florida Virtual School
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Karen Johnson – Minnesota Department of
Education
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Ken Kastle – Middle States
Association of Accredited Schools
Ron Legon – Quality Matters,
University of Maryland
Ray Lindley – Northwest Association
of Accredited Schools
Janet Moore – Sloan Consortium
Julia Parra – New Mexico State
University
Susan Patrick – iNACOL
Allison Powell – iNACOL
Connie Radtke – Appleton E-School
Chris Rapp – Idaho Digital Learning
Academy
Mickey Revenaugh – Connections
Academy
Sue Sullivan – New Jersey
Department of Education
Bill Tucker – Education Sector
Janna Vega – Idaho Digital Learning
Academy
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NAAS Standards for Accreditation

NAAS accreditation provides benefits at all levels of the
educational system:
1.
2.
3.
4.
For the public, accreditation verifies that schools
are doing what they say they are doing.
For parents, accreditation assures them that their
children are receiving a quality education that will
be recognized across state lines, between schools,
and by colleges and universities across the world.
For the school, accreditation engages the entire
school staff in meeting rigorous standards and in
continual improvement.
For the students, accreditation provides an
environment of quality and a commitment to
helping all students achieve.
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NAAS Standards for Accreditation
TEACHING AND LEARNING STANDARDS
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1. Mission, Beliefs, and Expectations for Student Learning
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2. Curriculum
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3. Instruction
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4. Assessment
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NAAS Standards for Accreditation
SUPPORT STANDARDS
 5. Leadership
and Organization
 6. School
Services
 Student Support Services
 Guidance Services
 Library Information Services
 Family and Community Services
 7. Facilities
and Finance
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NAAS Standards for Accreditation
SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT STANDARD
 8. Culture
of Continual Improvement
 School Improvement Plan
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Online Education Programs
 Multi-district Online
 Public or Non-profit
Providers
 School
District Created Online Programs
 Private
Online Schools
 Online Courses
 Comprehensive High Schools
 Alternative Schools
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Washington State Requirements
 Senate
Substitute Bill 5410
 Regulates
 Online
 Online
Online Education in Washington
programs must be accredited
programs must be approved by the Office
of Superintendent of Public Instruction
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iNACOL/NAAS Standards
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Building a partnership between
regional accreditation and online
providers – iNACOL
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Creation of standards by online community with
involvement of regional accreditation system
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Online Standard Categories

Institutional Standards
 Teaching
and Learning
Standards
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Support Standards
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Evaluation Standards
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Institutional Standards
1.
Mission Statement
2.
Governance
3.
Leadership
4.
Organizational Staffing
5.
Organizational Commitment
6.
Financial and Material Resources
7.
Equity and Access
8.
Integrity and Accountability
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Teaching and Learning Standards
9.
Curriculum
10.
Instruction
11.
Assessment of Student
Performance
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Support Standards
12.
Faculty
13.
Students
14.
Guidance Services
15.
Organizational Support
16.
Parental/Guardians
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Evaluation Standards
17.
Program Evaluation
18.
Program Improvement
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Comparison of Standards
 Distance
learning Standards
 Three Categories of Standards
 8 Standards
 124 Indicators
 iNACOL
Pilot Standards
 Four Categories of Standards
 18 Standards
 84 Indicators
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Accreditation Process
 Schools
and programs must conduct a selfstudy and site visit
 Self-study
is a four step process
 Create a school/program profile
 Review their mission statement
 Meet the NAAS Standards
 Create a school/program improvement
plan
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Review of the Standards
 Conduct
a survey of the standards
 4 3 2 1 Scale
 Have a plan to address standards rated below 3.0
 Identify
areas of strength and areas of growth for
each category of standards
 Institutional
 Teaching and Learning
 Support
 Evaluation
 Use
results to create guiding questions for site
visitation team
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Site Visitation
 Professional
 Team
Peer Review
of six educators conduct site review
 Identify commendations for each category
of standards
 Identify recommendations for each
category of standards
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Final Steps
 NAAS
Accreditation Consultant reports site
visit findings to the Washington State
Commission
 State
Commissioners report to NAAS
Regional Commission who makes final
determination regarding accreditation
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Apex Learning Site Visit
 “We
huddled this morning to see what we
might recommend as improvements to the
process. Frankly, we could not come up
with a single recommendation. We re-read
the standards and they all seem to be a
good fit.
Jack Babani, Apex Learning
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Apex Learning Site Visit
 The
self-evaluation was very beneficial –
we did not feel that we were going through
the motions or jumping through hoops. The
bottom line is – run with this for a year
before tweaking anything.
Jack Babani, Apex Learning
Questions
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Contact Information
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Dr. Ray Lindley, naasitrc@comcast.net
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Dr. Liz Pape, lpape@govhs.org
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Joe Pope, joepope@awsp.org
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Allison Powell, apowell@inacol.org
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Dan Whitford, Danwhitford@wavecable.com
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Standards can be found at
http://www.inacol.org/research/nationalstandards/