By Kim McClennahan Means
Senior Director
NAEYC Academy for Early Childhood Program Accreditation

For the past several years, the National Association for the Education of Young Children has been working to reinvent our accreditation system. Building on the recommendations of the National Commission for Accreditation Reinvention and the policies of the NAEYC Governing Board, we are increasing the efficiency and effectiveness of NAEYC Accreditation, and continuing to strengthen it as a "standard bearer" for the field of early childhood education.

A variety of improvements have been put in place, and they are already making an enormous difference:

• Expanded staff and new scheduling procedures have significantly reduced the time it takes to arrange on-site visits. Last year, programs waited 12-14 months on average for a validation visit. Today, the average time is about seven months, and in the future system we expect to schedule all visits in six months or less.
• Thanks to the compensated validators working as part of our national field trial, the improvement in Florida has been significant. In January 2004, there were 109 programs waiting for validation visits in Florida. Today, there are less than 40.
• New policies, such as annual reports and unannounced verification visits, are making the NAEYC Accreditation system stronger and more reliable for all stakeholders, including programs, policymakers, funders and families.
• The new NAEYC early childhood program standards and accreditation criteria that are being prepared will help NAEYC Accreditation continue to be the field's benchmark for quality.

We recognize that programs in some areas still wait too long for on-site visits, and we continue working to improve our service. We are also working to strengthen our communications with programs:

• Our new online scheduling system makes it easier for programs to provide the information we need to arrange on-site visits promptly.
• The new Notification of Intent process helps us anticipate and plan for the number of programs that will need visits in coming months.
• We post regular updates about changes in the system on our Web site and in the Accreditation E-Updates - our free emails to programs and validators. If you aren't already receiving the Accreditation E-Update, you can register online at www.naeyc.org/accreditation/e-update.asp.
• We conduct regular conference calls with state and local Affiliate leaders, and with leaders of accreditation facilitation projects, to help them stay informed about the transition.
• We now have two staff members dedicated exclusively to answering calls and emails about accreditation and the transition to the new system.

However, we recognize that some programs and stakeholders still don't know about the improvements we are making to NAEYC Accreditation. We hope you will share this information with your colleagues, and encourage everyone who is interested in NAEYC Accreditation to visit our Web site and get the latest updates. With your support, we will continue to build a high-performing accreditation system that is accessible to all programs, and to all young children and families.