iNACOL Standards
iNACOL conducted a comprehensive review of course standards available. Based on this review, the Southern Regional Education Board (SREB) Standards for Quality Online Courses, used by the 16 states in the southern United States is adopted as the source for the iNACOL National Standards for Quality for Online Courses. iNACOL added a standard to include 21st Century Skills. The standards selected are based on the results of a research review and survey of online course quality criteria. These quality standards were evaluated and assembled into an easy to use document for evaluating online courses with common benchmarks. This document and its details may be accessed from the iNACOL website.“Standards help ensure the quality and consistency of online learning in K-12,” said Susan Patrick, President and CEO of iNACOL. “The National Standards of Quality for Online Courses offers an important measuring tool to help policy leaders, schools, and parents across the nation evaluate course quality and implement best practices.”
Texas Virtual School Network has adopted the National Standards of Quality for Online Instruction. TxVSN further created a rubric which a team of reviewers and the project manager use to evaluate submitted courses. The reviewer's and project manager's responses are averaged together. Potential Provider Districts will receive a detailed course summary report that includes the National Standards rubric. Please feel free to download a sample rubric to use as a tool in a peer review of the course.
iNACOL has developed a National Standards of Quality for Online Instruction supplemental document that provides detailed explanations for each of the standards. Please feel free to download this document to assist your course development team in understanding the standards that will be used to evaluate the course.