STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT PROCESS
Did you ever wonder how the CAATE Standards for accreditation and the
educational competencies for athletic training are developed and vetted?
This article explains when and how accreditation standards are reviewed and specifically
addresses the latest comprehensive review and revision of the Standards. This article also
explains the development of the next set of curricular content (competencies) that will be
part of those standards.
The CAATE recognizes that the standards that govern accreditation of professional,
post-professional, and residency programs should be responsive to changing demands.
Because modifications to the standards range from simple clarification or reorganization to
substantial change, a process that accommodates multiple types of changes is necessary.
Identification of proposed changes that should be presented to stakeholders for comment
is equally important. Early in 2014, the CAATE appointed volunteer professionals to the
newly formed Standards Committee. The Standards Committee reviews the Standards for
all program types (professional, post-professional graduate degree and residency) and
recommends changes to the Commission.
The Standards Committee reviews the Standards according to the three categories listed
below: exigent need, annual reconciliation and comprehensive review.
Exigent Need
Definition
Exigent need changes to the standards are those that need to
be made quickly to respond to changing requirements from
external agencies, such as the government or the Council on
Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Standards Committee
review and recommendations to the Commission occur on an
as-needed basis.
Procedure
Once the need for an exigent change has been identified, the
change will be recommended by the Standards Committee
and approved by the Commission.
Communication
Stakeholders are informed of changes but generally do not
with stakeholders
provide input.
Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) 2015
1
STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT PROCESS (CONT.)
Annual Reconciliation
Definition
Annual maintenance changes are based on
recommendations from data review and reports from users
of the standards (eg, site visitors, program directors, other
administrators). Annual maintenance changes may include
clarification or revision of current standards or the addition of
new standards.
Procedure
Standards Committee proposes change(s) which are reviewed by
the relevant CAATE committees. Following revision, the proposed
changes are forwarded to the Commission for approval.
Communication
The need to get stakeholder feedback and public comment
with stakeholders
before submitting the final proposal to the Commission is
considered for each proposed change. Public comment will
be sought for any proposed changes that impact budget or
impose other significant administrative burden on programs.
Comprehensive Review
Definition
A comprehensive review of all standards using an allencompassing process modeled on best practice.
Procedure
A comprehensive review will occur every 5 years.
Communication
The proposed standards will be circulated to stakeholders
with stakeholders
for feedback. This feedback will be used to revise the
standards before the Standards Committee submits its final
recommendations to the Commission.
With the decision to move the professional programs to the master’s degree and the fact
that the 2012 Standards are now 4 years old, it was time to start a comprehensive review of
the Standards. This review initially began with a thorough review of approximately 20 peer
health care professions’ current accreditation Standards and a review of literature relative
to core competency implementation within health care professional education. Previous
athletic training educational competencies were in a stand-alone document which is
inconsistent with the process of most accreditors, so therefore, the Standards Committee
was tasked with including the educational competencies in the CAATE Standards for the
Accreditation of Professional Athletic Training Programs (Standards). These Competencies
will replace the current Athletic Training Education Competencies (5th edition) used in the
professional program Standards. At the request of the CAATE, a Steering Committee from
the Athletic Training Strategic Alliance was appointed to develop the Competencies. The
Steering Committee is comprised of two appointed representatives each from the BOC,
Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) 2015
2
STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT PROCESS (CONT.)
CAATE, and the NATA. The Steering Committee has met multiple times since the degree
announcement, both in-person and via phone conference. They jointly created the
overall framework and process for the development of the curricular content Standards.
The Steering Committee identified a working group of diverse professionals, both clinicians
and educators. To find the members of this working group, the Steering Committee asked
multiple committee chairs to identify individuals who would be ideal for this project. This
group met in January 2016 and created a preliminary draft for the Steering Committee to
review. The Steering Committee is now (at the time of submission-see timeline on page 4) in
the process of revising and editing this draft of curricular content. The Steering Committee
intends to solicit stakeholders from a variety of practice settings to participate in focus
group feedback on the curricular content standards prior to beginning an open comment
period. In addition to the input of all of these participating professionals, the process by
which the curricular content Standards have been developed has also included analysis
of current state practice acts, best practices from a variety of peer health care professions,
as well as recommendations from physician groups and organizations.
After a near year-long process, the Standards Committee (at the time of the submissionsee timeline on page 4) is close to completing the first draft of the Standards to be
released for open comment and public feedback. There will be two separate initial
open comment periods, one for the draft of Professional Standards (minus the curriculum
requirement section), and one for just the curricular content section of the Standards.
In addition to the periods of open comment, the Commission intends to host multiple
focus group opportunities at the NATA Symposium in Baltimore to allow stakeholders the
opportunity to comment further on these drafts. Following this extensive solicitation of
comment and feedback, the Standards Committee and Steering Committee will begin
revisions accordingly. Additionally, the Commission plans to implement a process by which
better contextual explanations are provided following periods of open comment so that
stakeholders understand the feedback that was received by all participants, and which
revisions were implemented as a result.
The Commission anticipates an extensive revision process to incorporate thoughtful
feedback obtained through the various opportunities to be provided. An implementation
timeline for the new Standards with embedded curricular content (Competencies) has
not been determined, but the Commission is able to say that implementation will not
be required any earlier than the 2019-2020 academic year. The final timeline will be
determined after the development process concludes and any resources necessary for
implementation have been identified. In the meantime, we encourage interested parties
to direct questions or concerns to the CAATE Office. We look forward to this exciting
transitional period in athletic training education, and to the feedback that will be provided
in this process.
Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) 2015
3
STANDARDS DEVELOPMENT PROCESS (CONT.)
Timeline for First Draft of Standards
Proposed Timeline for Completion
Task
6-8 weeks following face-to-
Completion of rough draft by Standards Committee
face meeting
(Meeting scheduled March 2nd, 2016)
4-6 weeks after rough draft
Focus group feedback completed
completed
1-2 months after focus group
Completion of final first draft by Standards
feedback received
Committee
2-3 weeks after completion of
Development of open comment survey and release
final first draft
of first draft of Competencies for open comment
30 days after open comment
Review of open comment feedback by Standards
period begins
Committee, begin revisions accordingly
Timeline for First Draft of Competencies
Proposed Timeline for Completion
Task
2-4 months
Completion of rough draft by Steering Committee
(Beginning January 2016)
4-6 weeks after rough draft
Focus group feedback completed
completed
1-2 months after focus group
Completion of final first draft by Steering Committee
feedback received
2-3 weeks after completion of
Development of open comment survey and release
final first draft
of first draft of Competencies for open comment
30 days after open comment
Review of open comment feedback by Steering
period begins
Committee, begin revisions accordingly
Commission on Accreditation of Athletic Training Education (CAATE) 2015
4