How Online Learning Platforms Facilitate NACEP Accreditation

How Online Learning Platforms Facilitate NACEP Accreditation

Written by: Julie Cavanaugh, Customer Success Specialist & Educational Consultant, Pearson

Now more than ever schools are turning to online learning, so why not utilize online learning platforms to help your program with accreditation?

NACEP accreditation recognizes programs that have consistently met or exceeded rigorous, peer-reviewed standards in six areas: Partnership, Curriculum, Faculty, Students, Assessment, and Program Evaluation. These program standards create a quality framework to ensure that students are taking authentic college courses for transcripted college credit while in high school. Becoming a NACEP accredited program requires the submission of a variety of evidence documenting practice, policy, and procedures that meet or exceed NACEP’s Standards. Online learning platforms, like those offered by Pearson, can be an important ally in working towards accreditation.

Alignment via online learning platforms 

An accredited program ensures that college courses offered by high school teachers are as rigorous as courses offered on the college campus. Coordinating online platforms between the college and the high school keeps assignments aligned and curriculum tight. By having identical content, the programs are meeting equivalency standards and comparison criteria (exams, homework, lab exercises, essays, etc.). Grading policies and rubrics can be the same within digital platforms to ensure continuity (number of tries, points deducted per wrong answer, extra credit, rubrics provided within the platforms, etc.) which helps programs demonstrate alignment with NACEP’s Assessment and Curriculum Standards. 

Embedded professional development 

Providing the depth and breadth of professional development needed to keep dual enrollment faculty up-to-date can be a challenge. Pearson offers weekly, discipline-specific, live and on-demand webinars for MyLab® and Mastering® that cover registration, assignment creation, testing, best practices, and other topics that help meet training criteria. Plus, you have access to training documents like how-to videos and planning toolkits. These resources can assist with documenting faculty professional development to meet NACEP’s Faculty Standards. 

Downloadable assessment data  

Programs need fast access to accurate data reports that highlight key course performance metrics including student pass/fail rates, content mastery, assignment completion, and formative assessment scores. With online platforms, course data can easily be downloaded and exported to Microsoft® Excel files for detailed analysis, allowing programs to make data-driven decisions and laying the foundation for program evaluation.

Viable alternative to in-person labs and hands-on experiences

Online platforms offer alternative learning experiences for students, especially during COVID-19 when the flexibility of online learning is essential and budgets are being stretched. Pearson’s Mastering platform is one example of a versatile tool, providing virtual laboratory exercises and dissections that engage students as if they were in the physical lab space. Struggling to offer content because the high school laboratory lacks necessary equipment? Mastering can help bridge the gap so that all students have equivalent laboratory experiences. 

In addition to science offerings in Mastering, MyLab provides less expensive, virtual experiences for other “hands-on” Career and Technical Education fields, including automotive technology, culinary science, carpentry, and more. Creating real options for hands-on exercises provides your program maximum flexibility in instruction to help students continue to thrive despite COVID disruption. MyLab and Mastering present dual enrollment programs with an opportunity to document the ways they ensure equivalent content, even in the midst of a rapid shift to online coursework.

Pearson: your accreditation ally

Our MyLab and Mastering online learning platforms offer all these important benefits to help you document your activities in preparation for NACEP accreditation, while also improving the student and teacher experience. In addition, instructors have maximum control over their course, offering the flexibility to easily create courses to fit program needs. Courses can be shared with colleagues and adjuncts, copied for next semester, linked to an LMS, and more.

With the uncertainty of COVID-19 weighing heavily on instructors and programs, a solid back-up plan is needed for online and remote learning that has academics integrated with realistic experiences. By partnering with Pearson for your dual enrollment program, you can get:

• award-winning digital learning platforms that can be personalized for each student
• online homework and tutorial services that engage students and improve results
• preparation, intervention, and assessment diagnostics that gauge student readiness
• technology and services to provide in-depth data and analytics for your program
• college and career readiness tools that promote personal and social skills

Want to know more?

Register for our webinar on August 13 at 1:00 pm ET for a more in-depth look at how MyLab and Mastering can help with NACEP accreditation. 

Learn more about Pearson dual enrollment programs

Explore MyLab & Mastering features for educators.

Learn more about NACEP and accreditation.

About the author 

Julie Cavanaugh earned a BS degree in Biochemistry & Microbiology from North Carolina State University as a member of the Park Scholarships. She pursued graduate studies at Duke University and completed an MS degree in Biology at Texas A&M Commerce. With a vigorous background in STEM, she decided to pursue a career in secondary education full time. Julie is intimately aware of the specific challenges faced by dual enrollment programs as she served as an instructional coach and program coordinator for Sheldon Early College High School in Houston, Texas. She later transitioned to a dual-credit instructor role teaching Biology I & II in conjunction with Lee College and Hargrave High School. Julie joined the Pearson Customer Success team to help better serve customers in the dual enrollment and APHE space. She resides in Houston, Texas, where she is pursuing her MBA at the Jones Graduate School of Business at Rice University.

Dual enrollment programs

The dual enrollment component of K–12 education is a dynamic and changing part of the landscape. With a plethora of products and services, Pearson is committed to providing solutions to the diverse and unique needs of your program. Learn more about Pearson dual enrollment programs.