National Association of Independent Schools

Last updated
National Association of Independent Schools
AbbreviationNAIS
Type Non-governmental organization
Purpose K-12 education
Main organ
Independent School
Website nais.org

The National Association of Independent Schools (NAIS) is a U.S.-based membership organization for private, nonprofit, K-12 schools. Founded in 1962, NAIS represents independent schools and associations in the United States, including day, boarding, and day/boarding schools; elementary and secondary schools; boys', girls', and coeducational schools. NAIS has affiliate members internationally as well.

Contents

NAIS's mission is to be the national voice of independent schools and the center for collective action on their behalf.

Membership

As of the 2010–11 school year, NAIS represented approximately 1,400 member independent schools and associations in the United States, serving more than 562,000 students and 121,000 teachers, administrators, and other staff. Membership in NAIS is open to independent pre-college schools operated by nonprofit organizations. To become a full member of NAIS, a school must have operated for at least five years and must be accredited by an accrediting organization approved by NAIS. [1]

Accreditation criteria

Over the course of a 10-year cycle, associations prepare a self-study demonstrating compliance with the Criteria for Effective Independent School Accreditation Practices. The criteria provide common ground for member associations by delineating best practices, policies, and procedures. In addition, associations use the Model Core Standards—a set of "ideal" standards—in assessing their own standards.

As part of the process of "accrediting the accreditors," each member association:

Accountability serves two purposes: ongoing association improvement and advancement.

Background

History

The NAIS was organized in 1962, the result of the merger of the Independent Schools Education Board and the National Council of Independent Schools. [2] [3]

In response to requests from several state, regional, and national accrediting organizations, the NAIS commission on accreditation was established by the NAIS Board of Trustees in 2001 and convened for the first time in 2002. The 19 member commission's work was intended to assure the quality of independent school accrediting programs. The commission's primary responsibility was to develop a public understanding of and credibility for state and regional accrediting programs. In addition, the commission developed criteria for effective independent school accreditation practices, standards, and successful accreditation policy and procedure models and engaged in research to inform accreditation practice. It was composed of members from state and regional accrediting associations that were members of NAIS, at-large members, and NAIS Board members.

The NAIS commission on accreditation disbanded in 2018. The successor organization, the International Council Advancing Independent School Accreditation (ICAISA), began formal operations in 2018 as an independent 501(c)(3) organization. [4]

Organizational structure

The NAIS board of trustees comprises eighteen members, led by the officers and the executive committee. Board members serve three-year terms. The board appoints the NAIS president, who oversees association business with the aid of a small staff.

Over the course of a 10-year cycle, associations prepared a self-study demonstrating compliance with the Criteria for Effective Independent School Accreditation Practices. The criteria provided common ground for member associations by delineating best practices, policies, and procedures. In addition, associations used Model Core Standards – a set of “ideal” standards — in assessing their own standards. As part of "accrediting the accreditors", each member association hosts a visit from other accredited association members, receives written recommendations, and engages in follow-up activities to improve the state or regional accreditation process. As with school accreditation, this served two purposes: institutional improvement and quality assurance.

Accreditation commission

The following are state, regional, and international accrediting organizations that were members of the NAIS commission on accreditation and became founding members of the International Council Advancing Independent School Accreditation (ICAISA):

State accrediting associations

Regional, national and international accrediting associations

See also

Related Research Articles

The ABET is a non-governmental organization that accredits post-secondary education programs in applied and natural sciences, computing, engineering and engineering technology.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Forest Stewardship Council</span> Global forest certification system

The Forest Stewardship Council GmbH (FSC) is an international non-profit, multistakeholder organization established in 1993 that promotes responsible management of the world's forests via timber certification. This organization uses a market-based approach to transnational environmental policy.

The Joint Commission is a United States-based nonprofit tax-exempt 501(c) organization that accredits more than 22,000 US health care organizations and programs. The international branch accredits medical services from around the world.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">New York State Association of Independent Schools</span> Academic organization

The National Association of Schools of Art and Design (NASAD), founded in 1944, is an accrediting organization of colleges, schools and universities in the United States. The organization establishes standards for graduate and undergraduate degrees. Member institutions complete periodic peer review processes to become, and remain, accredited. NASAD accreditation should not be confused with regional accreditation.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities</span> University accreditation organization in the U.S.

The Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU) is an independent, non-profit membership organization recognized by the United States Department of Education since 1952 as an institutional accreditor for colleges and universities.

Accreditation is the independent, third-party evaluation of a conformity assessment body against recognised standards, conveying formal demonstration of its impartiality and competence to carry out specific conformity assessment tasks.

The Council on Social Work Education (CSWE) is a nonprofit national association in the United States representing more than 2,500 individual members, as well as graduate and undergraduate programs of professional social work education. Founded in 1952, this partnership of educational and professional institutions, social welfare agencies, and private citizens is recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation as the sole accrediting agency for social work education in the United States.

Association of Christian Colleges and Theological Schools, ACCTS, is a Christian theological "approval" board that is not recognized as an educational accreditor by the United States Department of Education (USDE). It is located in the state of Louisiana. Gary Wilson is the current president.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Council for Higher Education Accreditation</span> University accreditation organization in the U.S.A.

The Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) is a United States organization of degree-granting colleges and universities. It identifies its purpose as providing national advocacy for academic quality through accreditation in order to certify the quality of higher education accrediting organizations, including regional, faith-based, private, career, and programmatic accrediting organizations.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Northwest Association of Independent Schools</span>

The Northwest Association of Independent Schools (NWAIS) is a nonprofit membership association that provides accreditation, professional development and support services to over 110 elementary, middle, and secondary independent schools in Alaska, British Columbia, Idaho, Montana, Nevada, Oregon, Utah, Washington and Wyoming.

The International Accreditation Forum, Inc. (IAF) is the world association of Conformity Assessment Accreditation bodies and other bodies interested in conformity assessment in the fields of management systems, products, services, personnel and other similar programs of conformity assessment. Its primary function is to develop a single worldwide program of conformity assessment which reduces risk for business and its customers by assuring them that accredited certificates may be relied upon.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Commission for Academic Accreditation (United Arab Emirates)</span> UAE government agency

The Commission for Academic Accreditation (CAA) is the national quality assurance and regulatory agency responsible for evaluation and accreditation of higher educational institutions and universities in the United Arab Emirates. Established in 2000, it comes under the country's Ministry of Education.

Canadian Accredited Independent Schools (CAIS) is a national organization for independent schools in Canada. The current executive director is Patti MacDonald.

Higher education accreditation in the United States is a peer review process by which the validity of degrees and credits awarded by higher education institutions is assured. It is coordinated by accreditation commissions made up of member institutions. It was first undertaken in the late 19th century by cooperating educational institutions, on a regional basis.

Educational accreditation is a quality assurance process under which services and operations of educational institutions or programs are evaluated and verified by an external body to determine whether applicable and recognized standards are met. If standards are met, accredited status is granted by the appropriate agency.

Pre-tertiary-education accreditation is a type of quality assurance process used in the United States under which services and operations of pre-tertiary schools and educational institutions or programs are evaluated by an external body to determine if applicable standards are met.

Higher education accreditation is a type of quality assurance process under which services and operations of post-secondary educational institutions or programs are evaluated to determine if applicable standards are met. If standards are met, accredited status is granted by the agency.

The SA8000 Standard is an auditable certification standard that encourages organizations to develop, maintain, and apply socially acceptable practices in the workplace. It was developed in 1989 by Social Accountability International, formerly the Council on Economic Priorities, by an advisory board consisting of trade unions, NGOs, civil society organizations and companies. The SA8000's criteria were developed from various industry and corporate codes to create a common standard for social welfare compliance. The current (2014) version of the standard is built on earlier 2001, 2004 and 2008 versions.

References

  1. ↑ Membership, NAIS website, accessed October 6, 2010
  2. ↑ "Mission and Purpose – International Council Advancing Independent School Accreditation (ICAISA)". www.icaisa.org. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  3. ↑ "National Association of Independent Schools | Encyclopedia.com". www.encyclopedia.com. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
  4. ↑ "Home – International Council Advancing Independent School Accreditation (ICAISA)". www.icaisa.org. Retrieved 2020-08-15.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.