CALL FOR PEER REVIEWERS

Commission on Early Childhood Associate Degree Accreditation

The NAEYC Commission on Early Childhood Associate Degree Accreditation invites higher education faculty to apply to become peer reviewers. Peer review with a site visit is an essential element in the accreditation of higher education programs. It provides an opportunity for collegial interaction focused on issues relevant to the accreditation decision. The peer review team reads the program Self-Study Report, conducts a site visit that includes interviews and observations, and provides a summary of the team’s findings for Commission review.

Qualified individuals will be invited to participate in reviewer training. Part one of reviewer training is generally held online asynchronously over a week-long period every spring. Part two involves completing a site visit as part a three-person peer review team. The peer review team travels to a host institution to observe the program in action for three days.

Peer reviewers are asked to commit to one site visit per year, though there are opportunities to participate more frequently for those whose schedules allow.

The main functions of the peer review team are to:

• Evaluate the self-study report and generate team questions before the site visit.
• Interact with program faculty, students, administrators, and community members during the site visit in order to gather additional information related to the accreditation decision.
• Write a peer review report summarizing the team’s findings after the site visit. This report is returned to the program for a written response and forwarded to the Commission for use in making the accreditation decision.

The Commission actively seeks peer reviewers who can bring ethnic, cultural, geographic, and gender diversity to bear on the accreditation process. Peer reviewers must have:

• A graduate degree in early childhood/child development/child-family studies or related discipline
• An understanding of student assessment in higher education programs
• Familiarity with the NAEYC Standards for Professional Preparation
• Experience as full- or part-time early childhood/child development faculty in an institution of higher education

How to apply:

• Complete the NAEYC Peer Reviewer Application
• Send the completed application and accompanying material to:

NAEYC, Higher Ed Accreditation & Program Support
1313 L Street, NW, Suite 500
Washington, DC 20005-4101

For further information: Contact Megan Grosart at mgrosart@naeyc.org or 202-350-8862.