ACAP Accreditation

ICE 1100 Standard

ICE is proud to publish the first American National Standard for certificate programs, ICE 1100 2010(E) – Standard for Assessment-Based Certificate Programs (2009). The Standard specifies essential requirements for certificate programs and provides guidance to program providers, consumers, and others on what defines a high-quality program. This Standard is free to ICE members and is available to non-members for a fee of $75 per copy through the ICE Store.

ICE 1100 2010(E) - Standard for Assessment-Based Certificate Programs © 2009 ICE

 

Background Information

In January 2007, ICE established a Certificate Task Force, comprised of ICE members and other key parties, to:

• identify characteristics of quality certification and quality assessment-based certificate programs;
• outline the distinguishing features of each; and
• explore what ICE’s future role might be with respect to assessment-based certificate programs.

 This effort resulted in the publication of a document entitled Defining Features of Quality Certification and Assessment-Based Certificate Programs, which highlights the similarities and differences between the two types of programs.

Based on the recommendations of the Certificate Task Force, the ICE Board established the Main Committee for Assessment-Based Certificate Programs in January 2008 and charged the committee with developing a national standard for assessment-based certificate programs.

The 41-member Main Committee, which first met in February 2008,  included representatives from the following key stakeholder groups:

• providers (organizations that provide assessment-based certificates);
• users (individuals or organizations that use assessment-based certificate programs in some capacity, such as individuals who participate in such programs, employers, public advocacy organizations, accrediting bodies, and organizations that award continuing education credit);
• government (any government agency having jurisdiction over assessment-based certificate programs or which uses assessment-based certificate programs in some capacity); and
• general interest (an individual or organization directly impacted by certificate programs, e.g., consultants or vendors who provide services to the certificate industry, but do not fall under any other category).

 

The ICE 1100 Standard was approved as an American National Standard on March 25, 2009. In 2010, a committee was formed to develop an accreditation program based on this standard. After a pilot program conducted in 2011, the Assessment-based Certificate Accreditation Council (ACAC) finalized the process by which assessment-based certificate programs may be accredited to the ICE 1100 Standard.

Download Background Paper on the ICE 1100 2010(E) Standard

This paper provides detailed information on the development of the ICE 1100 Standard. This publication is free to anyone and provides a wealth of information on the development of the standard, rationale for key requirements, and linking the requirements to industry best practices. If you would like a copy of the standard itself, members may download a copy for free using the link provided above. Non-members who wish to purchase a copy of the standard must visit the ICE Store.