November 2013 CEA Updates

What's Inside

CEA Standards Review Committee: Advancing Standards Clarification into 2014

With this year’s large numbers of sites seeking accreditation from CEA by December of 2013, CEA’s Standards Review Committee (SRC) has received copious amounts of data and feedback collected from those sites to inform their work of recommending potential refinements to the CEA standards.

In addition to reviewing the feedback from sites, the SRC reviews each standard and its discussion section on a prescribed cycle. This year, the SRC is reviewing three sets of standards – Curriculum, Length and Structure of Program of Study (LSPS, for short), and Student Achievement – along with Appendix A of the Accreditation and Reviewer Handbooks and the Glossary of the standards document as well. The SRC’s review of the data reinforced the need to address some identifiable issues of clarity with the standards and the materials related to these three standard areas.

During stage one, the SRC did an editorial review of the Curriculum, LSPS, and Student Achievement standards and their supplemental documents, which resulted in proposed revisions for Commission consideration. These revisions – including some small word tweaks, as well as significant changes to the wording in the LSPS standards discussion – were adopted at the August 2013 Commission meeting and go into effect for all sites seeking accreditation or re-accreditation starting in October 2013. The adopted changes do not affect the intent of the standards, but rather improve their clarity and delineate between the two LSPS standards. They will appear in the 2014 CEA Standards document.

In the second stage, the SRC is focusing on an analysis of several issues embedded in the Curriculum, LSPS, and Student Achievement standards. This stage could not be fully addressed in 2013 because of the unusual demands on the Commission’s and staff’s time to schedule and complete site visits and reviews ahead of the looming deadline. Thus, a task force will be appointed and charged to study four matters of clarity within the assigned standards:

  • The use of “proficiency,” “achievement,” and “assessment” and the intent of the standards where these concepts and terms are used
  • Appropriate positioning of “satisfactory student progress” as a matter of academic progression, academic advising, and regulatory compliance
  • Appropriate positioning of “significant progress relative to the norms of the field” as a factor in curriculum design
  • The role of concrete evidence, direct evidence, and indirect evidence in assessment, including attendance and its relationship to the concepts above

Beginning at the December Commission meeting and continuing into 2014, the task force will gather input from a variety of sources to inform their recommendations. So, when you hear CEA’s call to join the “Task Force on Standards Review” or you see a call for input on proposed changes, please provide the Commission and the field with your support and knowledge as we all work to advance standards, programs and institutions, and student learning.

Nicholas Ferdinandt
Chair of the Commission’s Standards Review Committee

October 2013 Grants of Accreditation

The Commission announced the following decisions at its October 2013 meeting.

Granted 5-year initial accreditation
  • ACCESS Program, Ashland University, Ashland, OH, USA
  • English as a Second Language Program, Eastern Michigan University, Ypsilanti, MI, USA
  • English Language Institute, University of Alabama at Birmingham, Birmingham, AL, USA
  • inlingua Florida Aventura, Aventura, FL, USA
  • inlingua Florida Boca Raton, Boca Raton, FL, USA
  • inlingua Florida Brickell, Miami, FL, USA
  • inlingua Florida Doral, Doral, FL, USA
  • inlingua Florida Fort Lauderdale, Fort Lauderdale, FL, USA
  • iinlingua Florida Orlando, Orlando, FL, USA
  • inlingua Florida Tampa, Tampa, USA
  • inlingua Florida Weston, Weston, FL, USA
Granted 4-year continued initial accreditation
  • LCI Houston, Houston, TX, USA
Granted 1-year initial accreditation
  • American Advanced Institute of Technology (AAIT) Language School, Feasterville, PA, USA
  • American Language Communication Center – Elmhurst, Elmhurst, NY, USA
  • American Language Communication Center – Manhattan, New York, NY, USA
  • ASC English School, Boston, MA, USA
  • Century School of Languages, San Jose, CA, USA
  • ESL Program Harbor Career College, Los Angeles, CA, USA
  • inlingua Metro New York, New York, New York, NY, USA
  • inlingua Metro New York Ridgewood, Ridgewood, NJ, USA
  • inlingua Metro New York Summit, Summit, NJ, USA
  • inlingua Princeton, Princeton, NJ, USA
  • Intercultural Communications College, Honolulu, HI, USA
  • International Academy of English / Las Vegas East, Las Vegas, NV, USA
  • International Academy of English / Las Vegas West, Las Vegas, NV, USA
  • International Academy of English / San Diego, San Diego, CA, USA
  • Language Skills English Center, Boston, MA, USA
  • New York Language Center - Broadway, New York, NY, USA
  • New York Language Center - Jackson Heights, Jackson Heights, NY, USA
  • New York Language Center - Midtown, New York, NY, USA
  • Nomen Global Language Center, Provo, UT, USA
  • POLY Languages Institute Irvine, Irvine, CA, USA
  • POLY Languages Institute Los Angeles, Los Angeles, CA, USA
  • POLY Languages Institute Pasadena, Pasadena, CA, USA
  • Professional and Collegiate English (PACE) International Academy, Orem, UT, USA
  • UCEDA International New Brunswick, New Brunswick, NJ, USA
  • UCEDA International Paterson, Paterson, NJ, USA
Granted 1-year accreditation as an additional branch
  • California School of Languages, Santa Monica, CA, USA
  • A.C.E. at the University of Rhode Island, Kingston, RI, USA
  • LCI Kansas City at Park University, St. Louis, MO, USA
Denied accreditation
  • American Language Center, Huntingdon Valley, PA, USA (under appeal)
  • inlingua Princeton / Stamford, Stamford, CT, USA (final)
  • New York General Consulting, New York, NY, USA (under appeal)
  • Orlando Language School, Orlando, FL, USA (final)
  • Universal English Center, New York, NY, USA (final)

Commission Reviews for December 2013

In accordance with 602.23 of US Federal Regulations for accrediting agencies, a recognized accrediting agency must provide public notice that an institution or program is being considered for accreditation and must provide an opportunity for third-party comment. Comments are taken into consideration by the Commission in making accreditation decisions. The following programs and institutions will be reviewed at the December 2013 meeting of the Commission. Comments must be submitted to CEA in writing prior to December 1, 2013. Submit comments by email to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..

For 4-year continued initial accreditation
  • English Language and Culture Institute, OR, USA
  • English Language Institute, Sacred Heart University, CT, USA
  • English Language Institute, University of Texas at Arlington, TX, USA
  • ESL-Plus Course of Study, Spanish American Institute, NY, USA
  • Florida English Language Institute, FL, USA
  • Intensive English Program, Indiana University, IN, USA
  • Learning for Academic Purposes, Weber State University, UT, USA
For initial accreditation
  • Atlanta English Institute, GA, USA
  • Bergen County Career Advancement Training, INC. (BCCAT), NJ, USA
  • California English School, CA, USA
  • CAMPUS Education New York City, NY, USA
  • CAMPUS Education Flushing, NY, USA
  • CAMPUS Education Jersey City, NJ, USA
  • CAMPUS Education Palisades Park, NJ, USA
  • CAMPUS Education San Francisco, CA, USA
  • English as a Second Language Program, Los Angeles Pacific College, CA, USA
  • English Language Study Center/Internexus Indiana, IN, USA
  • Evergreen Academy, VA, USA
  • Gulf Language School, TX, USA
  • Hancock International College at Irvine, CA, USA
  • Intensive English Language Center, University of Nevada Reno, NV, USA
  • Intensive English Programs for Workplace Readiness and Business English, The Institute for Health Education, NJ, USA
  • Intercultural Institute of California, CA, USA
  • International Language Plus, OH, USA
  • LIC/LISMA Language Center Long Island, NY, USA
  • LIC/LISMA Language Center Manhattan, NY, USA
  • LIC/LISMA Language Center Palisades Park, NJ, USA
  • LIC/LISMA Language Center Queens, NY, USA
  • Qatar University Foundation Program Department of English, Doha, Qatar
  • TIEP at Lamar, TX, USA
  • Uceda School of West New York, NJ, USA
  • Uceda School of Boca Raton, FL, USA
  • Uceda School of Elizabeth, NJ, USA
  • Uceda School of Hackensack, NJ, USA
  • Uceda School of Orlando, FL, USA
  • Uceda School of Orlando II, FL, USA
  • Uceda School of West Palm Beach, FL, USA
  • Washington Language Institute, MD, USA