Draft Standard on Assessment-Based Certificate Programs Available for Review
The National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA) is pleased to announce that the draft standard for assessment-based certificate programs (draft 3.0) is available for open comment through October 10th, 2008. This standard pertains to non-degree granting programs that provide education and training to aid participants in achieving intended learning outcomes and require that participants meet a performance, proficiency or passing standard on an assessment prior to receiving the certificate (hence the term, “assessment-based certificate program”). For a more detailed history of this project please refer to the “introductory” section of the draft standard.
The NOCA standards development process is an open and transparent one in which we encourage all interested parties to participate by submitting comments, questions, concerns related to the draft. The NOCA Main Committee responsible for the development of the draft standard is seeking your comments at this phase of the standard development process so that it can ensure the final published standard reflects the consensus of all interested parties. An additional public review period will be held at a later date.
NOCA will be hosing a teleconference/webinar program on Thursday, October 2nd, at 2:00 pm ET to provide an orientation to the requirements proposed in the draft and explain the standard development process. Included will be an opportunity for you to ask questions and comment on the draft standard. Lenora Knapp, PhD, the Main Committee Chair, will be facilitating the event. If you are interested in participating in this program, please send an email to Liz Grater at egrater@noca.org to be added to the registration list.
When submitting comments, please indicate the item number of the requirement you are addressing, the issue/concern related to this requirement and a recommended solution to the issue/concern. Comments should be submitted no later than October 10th to the following address:
NOCA
ATTN: Main Standards Committee on Assessment Based Certificate Programs
2025 M Street NW Suite 800
Washington, D.C. 20036
E-mail info@noca.org
Fax 202-367-2165
Documents Available for Download:
NOCA Achieves ANSI Accreditation
NOCA has been developing standards covering credentialing and competency assurance since its inception over 30 years ago. The NOCA Board reemphasized NOCA’s commitment to develop high quality standards in an open and transparent environment by submitting an application to the American National Standards Institute (ANSI) to become an accredited developer of American National Standards. Accreditation was granted in July 2008. ANSI accreditation provides third-party validation that NOCA’s standards development process ensures openness and due process.