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The National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA) and The National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA): An overview

Judy Ahn-Ewing & Janice Walbert

The National Organization for Competency Assurance (NOCA) was established in 1977. It is a membership organization dedicated to providing educational, networking and advocacy resources for certification organizations. NOCA's membership is composed of more than 600 organizations responsible for certifying specific skill sets and knowledge bases of professions and occupations at the national and international level.

The National Commission for Certifying Agencies (NCCA) is the accreditation body of NOCA. NOCA provides educational resources and best practices for organizations with certification programs, whereas, NCCA evaluates those certification programs based on predetermined and standardized criteria. Certification programs may apply and be accredited by the NCCA if they demonstrate compliance with each accreditation standard. NCCA's Standards exceed the requirements set forth by the American Psychological Association and the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission.

NCCA accreditation is a voluntary process. Just as with any accreditation program, whether it is Programmatic Accreditation through organizations such as the Commission on Accreditation of Allied Health Education Programs (CAAHEP) or Lab Accreditation, accreditation status demonstrates to the profession and the public that a program has undergone an independent or third party review of practices, and meets the established standards for accreditation. NCCA has accredited programs from approximately 150 professions and occupations, including 60 healthcare professions. For a complete list of accredited programs, see www.noca.org.

ABRET has looked to NOCA/NCCA for many years as the primary resource in the certification industry. A thorough evaluation of the accreditation standards, the value of NCCA accreditation, and the associated costs to pursue accreditation was performed and considered by the ABRET Board of Directors in the early 1990's. A subsequent review in 2001 prompted ABRET to commit the necessary resources to achieve accreditation of all examination programs. To that end, ABRET established practices in line with the Standards, including further development of the recertification program, and the addition of a public member to the board. ABRET became a member of NOCA and began preparations to apply for accreditation by the NCCA in 2003.

For ABRET, accreditation will demonstrate that the examinations are psychometrically sound and legally defensible. For ABRET certificants, NCCA accreditation is a symbol of quality to employers and means the credentialing program complies with established standards. ABRET is committed to accredit all of its examination programs. An application has been submitted for the CNIM examination and a response from NCCA is expected this spring 2008. There are plans in place to submit applications for accreditation for the EEG and EP programs. The new CLTM examination will be eligible for submission for review after one year of exam administration. ABRET looks forward to announcing success on all four programs.

For more information on NOCA and NCCA, please visit www.noca.org.

This page last updated: March 12, 2008