As part of its continuous process of quality improvement, NCCA initiated another review and update of the Standards in May 2013. A Steering Committee and three Task Forces were established for this purpose. In addition to determining that the Standards retained their currency and relevance, the intent of the revision was to add clarity, particularly as change has created greater complexity. As a result, several standards were added or expanded and require additional evidence to demonstrate compliance. These additions reflect practices, policies, and procedures that accredited programs should have had in place previously and therefore, are not intended to increase the difficulty of attaining accreditation. Rather, by adding clarity, NCCA anticipates that organizations will better understand expectations of certification program quality.
Consistent with the purpose of providing greater clarity, the Glossary has been expanded and includes more cross-referencing. In addition, many of the definitions have been revised such that they contain less technical jargon with no loss of technical accuracy.
The revised Standards retain their focus on certification programs and continue to be organized into five sections: (1) Purpose, Governance, and Resources, (2) Responsibilities to Stakeholders, (3) Assessment Instruments, (4) Recertification, and (5) Maintaining Accreditation.
To earn or maintain accreditation by NCCA, the certification program must meet each Standard and provide evidence of compliance through the submission of required documentation.
Accompanying each Standard are Essential Elements, which are directly related to the Standard and specify what a certification program must do to fulfill requirements of the Standard. Additional Commentary is also provided as guidance to demonstrate compliance with the Standard.
The 2013-2014 revision process was guided by the following tenets:
1.The Standards must embody the fundamentals required for protection of the public.
2. Many different types of credentialing programs will seek NCCA accreditation. The Standards and the terminology used must be adaptable to a wide variety of programs in order to achieve NCCA’s public service mission.
3. Each Standard must present a concept still valuable and relevant to the mission of NCCA accreditation and to current certification practice.
4. The documentation required for accreditation must be explicit and minimize redundancy and repetition.