INTERSECTION OF EXEMPLAR ACCREDITATION STANDARDS AND QUALITY MATTERS RUBRIC STANDARDS FOR BEST PRACTICE IN DISTANCE EDUCATION

Accreditation is a systematic review through which the public may be assured of quality education. Advances in distance education present new challenges for accrediting bodies (Legon, 2006). Accrediting bodies typically... [ view full abstract ]

Accreditation is a systematic review through which the public may be assured of quality education. Advances in distance education present new challenges for accrediting bodies (Legon, 2006). Accrediting bodies typically address the quality of the program and institution, not course design. In the United States, Quality MattersTM (QM) standards are used to determine the quality of online course design, not the quality of a program or institution. The primary aim of this paper is to examine the intersection of exemplar accreditation standards from a representative professional association and Quality MattersTM Rubric Standards (QM Standards) for best practice in distance education. The author evaluated exemplar primary standards documents from Accreditation Council for Occupational Therapy Education® (ACOTE) of the American Occupational Therapy Association (AOTA) and QM for congruity and disparity, strengths and limitations. Comparison of ACOTE Standards with QM Standards confirms the unique nature of each process. There are areas of close congruity, areas of marginal congruity, and areas of incongruity across standards.
Key points to the comparison are:
• Individual course design and structure cannot be examined in isolation from curricula, programs, degrees, or organizations for professional education.
• Individual course design and structure should be integral to programs for professional accreditation.
• Integration across accrediting body standards and quality improvement standards will promote best practice for distance education.