NCACS -- Accreditation for nonconventional learning programs

NCACS works in conjunction with the National Association for the Legal Support of Alternative Schools, the accrediting agency for bona fide Voting Members of the Coalition.

Accreditation by NALSAS is not meant to represent an evaluation and approval of the materials, teaching staff or educational philosophy of any NCACS member program. The Coalition does not require member schools to adhere to a particular set of predetermined standards that specify:

Curriculum content -- what exactly is worth learning/teaching;

Teacher qualifications -- what qualifies one person to impart certain areas of knowledge to would-be learners (and disqualifies others);

Educational philosophy -- among all the ways such knowledge might be imparted, which ones do we find to be the most effective teaching/learning approach.

Traditional programs receive accreditation elsewhere, based on the assumption that these three areas of the educational process are relatively fixed qualities, and perhaps should be so for all "schools." By contrast, NCACS member programs participate in a wide range of educational alternatives. Because each member is unique, we do not ask our schools to agree to standardization in curriculum, qualifications or philosophy.

NALSAS applies only one standard to its accredited members: Consumer protection. Our accreditation assures the public at large that at least one member of the NCACS not involved with the control, operation, or proceeds of the applicant program has reviewed and confirmed the program's claims and conditions regarding its location, existence and operations.

Whether such a program is desirable or suitable for meeting the needs of a particular learner then becomes a question for the consumer to determine.

NALSAS
Ed Nagel, Coordinator
PO Box 2823, Santa Fe NM 87504-2823
(505) 471-6928
Ed123Nagel@aol.com