Update January 2014

We got it!!! We are NCCA Accredited for the next 5 years. So go take the exam in the test center. If you have already passed the exam in the test center, you do not need to do anything. Your cert is NCCA Accredited automatically.

Update October 2013

We heard back from the NCCA. They only asked us for one thing this time.. which is a good sign. They want a statistical report that validates the passing score of the exam as being a fair assessment. To provide them with the required document, our ACTION Advisory Council held a standard setting session on October 7, 2013. PSI will generate the necessary report and we will submit it to the NCCA by the end of the month. We hope to have this item reviewed at the next NCCA meeting which is usually held in November.

Update August 2013

We heard back from the NCCA. This is what they said...

"Our Director of Accreditation Services let me know that once again the Commission’s agenda was too full to review every program on it. Because this has happened multiple times, she will guarantee that your program is reviewed on the August call (I believe it’s scheduled for August 20th), and staff will provide you the Commission’s review update as soon as possible after that meeting."

The NCCA says to allow 45 days from the meeting to hear a response. So that takes us to the end of September. Which coincidentally, September 30 is the one year anniversary of when we submitted the accreditation application.

Update July 2013

We submitted the answers to the few questions back in May. At the time they indicated that our response would be reviewed during their May meeting and we should expect a written response by the end of June.

When July rolled around and we still hadn't heard from them, we asked about the status. This was their response:

"I apologize that you were not informed of your program’s current review status. I have just been informed that the review of your deferral response was postponed due to the volume of items on the Commission’s meeting agenda. I will email you a revised timeline as soon as I know more."

Considering that our response was just a few pages long, and that we applied for NCCA Accreditation over 10 months ago, and that we paid thousands of dollars for them to review our application... we are quite irritated by this lack of response.

But I don't think it is in our best interests to make a fuss about this. The NCCA is made up of people from within the industry and we are a low cost competitor invading their turf. So we are already not the most popular company around.

We hope that politics isn't playing a part in this delay but we can't help but wonder. Remember our trademark dispute with ACT, Inc., the makers of the college entrance exam similar to the SAT? They have held key positions within NCCA. We would hope that representatives from ACT Inc and other fitness certifications would recuse themselves from reviewing our application, but we have no way of knowing if that is the case.

 

 

Update May 2013

Just wanted to let everybody know that we received a response from our NCCA Accreditation application. As expected, they came back with more questions for us (just like last time)...

The Good News is.... None of their questions were worrying.

In fact, they are all simple clarifications.

So we are gathering the required documents and will submit them by May 15, 2013. Hopefully they will have enough information to make their decision.

So when will we have full NCCA Accreditation?

We really don't know. It is in the hands of the NCCA now. But we are hoping for early summer 2013.


If I pass the exam built to NCCA Accreditation standards in a testing center, will my certification be accredited by the NCCA when final approval comes through?

Yes it will. You don't need to do anything.

 

 

Update March 2013

Many of you have been asking about our NCCA Accreditation application. You may recall that we submitted the monster 300+ page application late last year. And as expected, the NCCA has come back with a list of questions and requests for clarifications. This is totally normal... nobody gets a "Yes" right off the bat.

The Good News is....

None of their questions were worrying.

The biggest change we had to make was the way we report exam results when a candidate fails the exam. Previously we included a lot of detail about which questions they got wrong. While we viewed this as helpful, the data was not statistically reliable enough at that level of detail. So they want us to summarize the score report and provide less detail. Easy enough!

They also wanted to make sure that we were financially viable. Again easy! We have been in business for 4+ years now and profitable every year. We have 48 months of bank records we can happily dump on them for their review.

And lastly, we had to buff out or appeals policy. They wanted more details on how somebody could appeal their exam score. We had some summary procedures but nothing at the level of detail they were wanting. So we are in the process of writing the expanded policy.

What happens next?

We will submit our responses to them in March. They will review our responses at their next review meeting. They can either respond with a "Yes" or come back with additional questions.

So when will we have full NCCA Accreditation?

We really don't know. It is in the hands of the NCCA now. But we are hoping for first half of 2013.

If I pass the exam built to NCCA Accreditation standards in a testing center, will my certification be accredited by the NCCA when final approval comes through?

Yes it will. You don't need to do anything.

 

Update September 2012

Our NCCA Accreditation application is done and submitted!


It was a huge commitment...

346 pages long,

802 days to complete

and about $30,000 investment!

 

We hope you will appreciated the results for years to come.




Q&A


What happens next?


We Wait.

We don't expect an answer until January. That answer can be a "yes" or "no". But most likely it will be a request for clarification. Given that our application is 346 pages long, they are bound to have a few questions. And based upon the experience of other certs in the industry, we expect them to ask for more information.


So when will we have full NCCA Accreditation?


We really don't know. It is in the hands of the NCCA now. But we are hoping for early 2013.


If I pass the exam built to NCCA Accreditation standards in a testing center, will my certification be accredited by the NCCA when final approval comes through?

Yes it will. You don't need to do anything.

 

 

Here is a history of how we got here:

Jan 2011: The ACTION Certification Advisory Board has completed its work on the Job Analysis Survey. This is a critical milestone in the application process.

Feb 2011: We recently completed the data gathering part of the survey thanks to all the people who participated. Our statisticians have crunched the numbers and reported to the Advisory Board.

March 2011: The Advisory Board is using the data to construct the new exam that is built to NCCA standards.

April 2011: The first few sections of the exam are nearing completion. We have begun designing the CEU and Recertification Program that is required for NCCA Accrediation.

May 2011: The CEU and Recertification Guide is getting final edits. The Candidate Handbook Outline is being developed. About half of the exam is approved. There are a few sections where we are developing additional questions and a few sections where we are still debating the best questions for the subject matter.

June 2011:

• The ACTION Certification exam built to NCCA Standards is now complete.
• The Recertification Guide is complete.
• The Candidate Handbook outline was approved by the board and is under full development.
• The ACTION Advisory Board is meeting to determine the cut score (passing score) for the new exam. Some follow up activities and statistical testing will be done to ensure that the passign score is valid.
• Negotiations with several test center vendors are underway.

July 2011:

• We have entered in an agreement with PSI/Lasergrade Test Centers to host the ACTION Certification exam built to NCCA Standards. PSI/Lasergrade has over 250 test centers across the United States and Canada.
• The ACTION Advisory Board approved the passing score for the exam.
• We are working with PSI/Lasergrade on the required integration between our database system and their testing center database. ACTION Certification will send PSI/Lasergrade the list of eligible candidates who can take the exam. PSI/Lasergrade will send exam results in a file to ACTION Certification.
• We are working on the format of the exam score report to provide appropriate feedback to exam takers. There are two versions of the report (one for Pass and one for Fail).

 

August 2011:

• The new ACTION Certification Exam built to NCCA Accreditation Standards will be available at over 250 PSI/Lasergrade Testing Centers starting in early September.
• The current online exam will be retired September 30, 2011. After this date, only the new exam will be available.
• The Exam Score reports are complete
• We are working on the database integration with PSI/Lasergrade

 

September 2011:

• The new ACTION Certification Exam built to NCCA Accreditation Standards is now available at over 250 PSI/Lasergrade Testing Centers.
• Instructions on how to locate the nearest test center and register for the exam have been posted in the "Get Certified" section of the portal.
• The database integration with PSI/Lasergrade is complete.

October 2011 through ?:

• We need to have 500 completed examinations before submitting our final application to the NCCA Accreditation board. Once we have 500 completed exams, our statistician will crunch the numbers that are required for our application. The only way to speed up this process is to take the exam.
• We are completing all the necessary documentation in parallel while we wait for the necessary exams to be completed.

June 2012

• We have filed our letter of intent with ICE (Institute of Credentialing Excellence) notifying them that we will be submitting our final NCCA Accredidation application by their September 30, 2012 deadline. ICE only considers applications three times per year so our letter of intent ensures that they will devote resources to our application.
• We have completed the required number of exams that are required for statistical analysis. Our psychometrician will begin analyzing the data and generating the reports required for the NCCA Accreditation application.
• We are editing the candidate handbook and recertification guide. These two documents are key appendices for our application.

September 2012

Final Application Submitted!