Quality Criteria and Standards required to join the ACSC

Quality Criteria

Principles of Good Practice

Additional Principles

Operational Criteria

Principles of good practice

Members of the Alliance must comply with standards outlined in the General Guiding Principles for Good Practice in the Assessment of Foreign Credentials.

Additional Principles

In addition to complying with the standards outlined in the General Guiding Principles for Good Practice in the Assessment of Foreign Credentials, members of the Alliance must meet the following requirements.

Translation

Key educational documents issued in foreign languages must be translated by recognized organizations or certified translators.

Assessment Outcomes

An assessment report or certificate must be provided to applicants. The assessment outcome should be an official document outlining measures taken to prevent falsification. It must include a general statement of comparability for each credential evaluated. The assessment outcome must clearly indicate the purpose for which the evaluation was performed (e.g., general employment, or advice for admission). A client should have access to the rationale and basis for the assessed outcome on demand.

Operational Criteria

Documentation and reference centre

A documentation centre must give access to a broad range of information resources (published and unpublished) such as historical and up-to-date information on educational systems from a variety of countries.

Continuous research activities must be conducted in order to obtain all the information required to assess specific credentials, and/or to understand foreign educational systems. The service should have the research capacity to obtain information on educational documents through a number of different channels including mail, electronic mail, fax, electronic databases, or other electronic sources.

File management

The file management system must permit easy access to information while ensuring the protection of confidential information. Services should have an articulated policy protecting the confidentiality and privacy of client files. Release of confidential client information to outside organizations must require the explicit consent of the client. File management procedures must ensure the safety and security of client files, including all original documentation contained in those files.

Record keeping of assessment decisions should be structured in such a way that it allows for organized and systematic research on precedent decisions. The service must retain information on the client application for at least five (5) years.

Human resources requirements

Sufficiently trained personnel must provide fair and consistent credential assessments. Assessors or evaluators must have a bachelor degree or the equivalent, and must have completed a documented training program in educational credential assessment.

At least one assessor or evaluator must have a minimum of one year of full time substantive supervised experience in foreign credential assessment covering all levels of education. This experience must be recent and relevant to the services offered.

Evaluators must maintain currency by being involved in training activities, consulting with peers, and/or carrying out research. The service should provide professional development opportunities for its evaluators, such as attending conferences and/or workshops.