Consistency in decision-making between survey teams and the decision-making body in a professional education program accrediting agency

Abstract

Credibility of an education program accreditor is dependent on consistency in decision-making among program reviews. The use of peer-review accreditation survey teams is a potential source of inconsistency in the review of individual programs, especially so when the agency employs non-prescriptive accreditation standards. The accrediting agency that is the subject of this study utilized multiple steps to ensure consistency in the recommendations from peer survey teams. Analysis of the agreement between survey team recommendations and final decisions by the decision-making body revealed a coefficient of agreement of 0.927, indicated a high degree of agreement. The results suggest the accrediting agency's processes are effective in ensuring that peer review survey teams are applying the accreditation standards consistently between peer teams and the accrediting agency.