Is Accreditation of Private Schools Necessary?

States have assumed the authority (not without challenge) to regulate private schools, but any regulation resulting from this presumption must conform with the First Amendment guarantee of the free exercise of religion.

NAPCIS recognizes and defends the Principle of Subsidiarity and the duty of parents as the primary (not just the "first" in a series, but primary) educators of their children. Parents have a sovereign right to claim freedom from any government intervention in the education of their children. Any state regulation of private schools in the area of accreditation, licensing, or registration impinges on this fundamental principle and duty.

While accreditation of elementary and secondary public schools has become common practice, most states do not engage in any certification of private elementary or secondary schools or they choose to certify them by simply approving them.

States that involve themselves in regulating the certification of private schools through accreditation have been known to insist on the use of one of the six regional accrediting associations, claiming that they have the status of "national" recognition as accrediting agencies. These states make no distinction between "federal" and "national" in their recognition of accrediting associations when, in fact, this distinction is essential. There are no "federally" recognized accreditation associations for elementary and secondary schools (that includes the six regional accrediting associations). These states have chosen not to qualify the limitation of the "national" status in their regulations, or are not aware of the qualification of that status as applying to "federal" recognition of these agencies only for post-secondary education. (Please see the related article, "A Brief History of Accreditation in the United States")

The regional associations have been criticized and avoided as accrediting agencies for private Catholic and independent schools. The broad spectrum of schools in their regional concern allows for no particular model of excellence and no focus on a specific kind of program or school mission. They frequently overstep their bounds and mandates, prompting increased and nagging questions over the legitimacy of their requirements.

Even in a regional association's alliance with another organization, such as the National Catholic Education Association (NCEA) in the process of certification/accreditation, the application of religious and educational standards remains too loose. Excellence has become a relative concept reduced to the lowest common denominator standards of measurement.

The last thirty years has witnessed a decline in education standards, especially in elementary and secondary schools.

Goals 2000, the national education strategy to "revolutionize schools," as President Bush described his "war on illiteracy" was the result of a study published in November of 1988 entitled A SCANS Report For America 2000. SCANS is the acronym for Secretary's Commission on Achieving Necessary Skills. One would expect the "Secretary", in this case, to be the Secretary of Education, but, in fact, the "Secretary" is the Secretary of Labor! The report was generated and written by the Department of Labor, and subtitled, "Learning a Living: A Blueprint for High Performance". It is a survey of what American industry expects of the 21st century worker.

The marriage of Goals 2000 and Outcome Based Education (OBE) was destined, but not a match made in heaven. The offspring of this union has contaminated every public school at every level of instruction and program across this country and around the world with relativism, values clarification, and political correctness. Schools now teach attitudes not academics. Attitude adjustment and training has replaced academic excellence as the goal, the "outcome" of public education.

Private Catholic and independent schools cannot rest assured that the contamination has not spread to their schools. They have not been spared. Goals 2000 and OBE have entered private education through the doors of state teacher credentialing programs and the intrusive process of accreditation offered through the six regional accrediting associations.

Accreditation is not necessary. Students are accepted into colleges based on the evaluation of their application (the student essay has taken on significant screening importance), the results of their Scholastic Aptitude Test (SAT) or American College Testing (ACT) scores and their high school Grade Point Average (GPA). The high school's accreditation or non-accreditation status is not a factor in the evaluation of a high schoolers eligibility for college admission. Maybe, as long as 20-25 years ago, colleges and universities did consider the accreditation status of the applicant's high school. But no longer. Why not? The answer may be summed up in two words: home schooling! Because of the growing number of home schooled students that are applying for college admission, as well as the fact that the best colleges and universities across the country are actively recruiting home schooled students, the accreditation issue is moot in the college admission process. The ever-increasing numbers of home schooled students and the demonstrated quality of their education documented in the eloquence of their application essay, their stellar achievements in a wide variety of extra-curricular activities, and in their outstanding SAT and ACT scores and GPAs have required colleges and universities to eliminate school accreditation as a criteria in their admission policies.

While accreditation is not necessary, it is desirable.

Parents looking for an alternative for the formation and education of their children must be assured that a private Catholic and independent school lives its stated mission, and meets a demanding set of education standards. They will have this assurance if a school is accredited by NAPCIS, a national accrediting association commissioned to evaluate and accredit private Catholic and independent schools.

In addition, accreditation is often a requirement for the consideration of foundation grants and corporate matching funds.

NAPCIS is the first national accreditor to focus on the specific kind of program offered in private Catholic and independent schools and to offer itself as an alternative accrediting mechanism for schools that wish to show that they excel in such a field.

Regional accrediting agencies are gatekeepers for large sums of government money, and are responsible for giving a seal of approval to a broad spectrum of schools, rather than holding schools to any particular model. As such, they are involved in several controversies as political divisions have increased on the question of what constitutes quality and integrity in elementary and secondary education, and what is appropriate or legitimate for accreditors to require.

The NAPCIS Accreditation Commission is a real departure from other accrediting agencies. NAPCIS offers an accreditation with a specific and prestigious meaning to private Catholic and independent schools that provide what NAPCIS considers real teaching and curriculum.

So, while accreditation is not necessary, it is desirable and is now available at no risk to the identity and mission of a private Catholic and independent school.

NAPCIS Accreditation is only available to its member schools. For more information about applying for membership , please contact NAPCIS as directed below.

2640 Third Avenue Sacramento, CA 95818 TEL (916) 451-4963 email: info@napcis.org copyright 1995-2012 NAPCIS