Distance Education Standards

Emphasis on the quality of student-teacher interaction, effectiveness of tools used to deliver subject matter, and clear carefully developed curricula remain at the heart of distance learning as they are at the heart of all learning. These standards are set to achieve these essential goals.

Assocations should develop evaluative criteria for both blended schools (face-to-face instruction and distance education) and virtual schools (all distance education - no brick and mortar).

NCPSA accredits associations and schools through those associations, not curricula  or programs. NCPSA definition of a school:

A school …

  1.  Is an administrative unit
  2.  Is a legal entity
  3.  Is a learning provider, imparting skills and knowledge              to students
  4.  Is a provider of services within a community of learning
  5.  Is not simply a single home-based private educational            program
  6.  Voluntarily subjects itself to peer review
  7.  Is responsible for the education provided in their name
  8.  Undertakes the assessment and continual                              improvement of their quality, giving particular                           emphasis to student learning
  9.  Provides dynamic interaction between instructors                    and students and among students
10.  Provides more than just tutorial assistance to students

NCPSA Distance Education Standards