The Standards Review Committee, made up of a number of sitting Commissioners and assisted by staff, is charged with reviewing the CEA Standards for English Language Programs and Institutions on a regular cycle to ensure that they are clear, comprehensive, and current. The Committee also is convened to assure that the discussion and context sections of the standards remain appropriate to support effective self-study by sites and evaluation by site review teams.

The SRC is obligated by CEA procedures to develop a plan for reviewing standards that incorporates data on standards compliance from a variety of sources.

To accomplish its work, the SRC

• carries out a review of the standards document as a whole each 10 years
• conducts a review of all of the standards areas on a 3-year cycle
• documents those standards that are found during site review to have the most violations
• reviews input on the standards from sites following site visits
• surveys members of the Constituent Council or the wider field
• seeks input from focus groups of knowledgeable professionals
• conducts research assignments

The goal of SRC procedures is to ensure that the standards intent and language are reviewed and possibly revised only after methodical study and with a broad base of input.

Based on appropriate input, the SRC conducts its reviews in several stages. First the committee does an editorial review of all of the standards being reviewed and their supplemental documents. This review often results in proposed revisions for Commission consideration. Proposed revisions to the context and discussion areas of the standards (and to the glossary of the standards document) range from adjusting a few words here and there to overhauling the wording to clarify intent of a standard. Such changes must be approved by the Commission before being implemented.

Proposed revisions to the wording of an individual standard must also be approved by the Commission, and then any proposed change must be posted for public comment. Calls for comments are posted on the CEA website and also sent to the relevant professional associations, accredited and in-process sites, and CEA reviewers.

Changes adopted by the Commission and revisions to individual standards, if adopted, result in language adjustments made to the CEA Standards, which go into effect for all new sites seeking accreditation or reaccreditation starting with the next accreditation workshop. They also appear in the updated CEA Standards document on the CEA website.

Selected summaries of past review activities of the Standards Review Committee, detailing changes to the CEA Standards, including mark-ups with explanations of changes, are available on CEA’s standards review projects webpage.

Comments Invited

The Commission welcomes ongoing comments on the standards. Continued input is an important step in ensuring that the CEA Standards continue to be valid measures of quality in English language instruction and administration.  If you have any questions, please This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it..