Notices

August 14, 2024. Council of Scholars recommendation on revision of AALE Program Standards

The AALE Council of Scholars completed a review of comments on the AALE PK-12 School Standards received from PK-12 accredited members and site visitors who participated in site evaluation reviews within previous years.  Based upon the comments submitted, the Council of Scholars concluded that the following suggested revisions should be made to the AALE PK-12 School Standards at this time: 

Standard 2 Criterion 2.a:
The school implements and maintains a clearly defined and comprehensive assessment program to identify student needs, to guide instruction accordingly, and to measure individual achievement and academic growth.
Recommended revision:
The school implements and maintains a clearly defined and comprehensive assessment program to identify student needs, to guide instruction accordingly, to measure individual achievement and academic growth, and which may go beyond state and federal requirements in fulfilling criteria set forth in Standard 2: Learning Objectives and Assessment.

Standard 8 Criterion 8.a.7:
8.a The school publishes and makes available clear and accurate statements describing:  …
7. Policies regarding proper use of computers and internet technology
Recommended revision:
8.a The school publishes and makes available clear and accurate statements describing:  …
7. Policies regarding proper use of computers, internet technology and AI platforms;

The Council of Scholars recommendations are open to comment from accredited PK-12 school members through September 12, 2024. Comments may be sent to aaleinfo@aale.org  subject line: Systematic Review 2023-24. 

January 24, 2024 

See Notice under Annual Elections.

October 10, 2023. Systematic review of AALE PK-12 School Standards

The AALE Board of Trustees has opened a systematic review of the AALE PK-12 School Standards. All PK-12 school members are provided with an opportunity to participate in the review process. For further information see: AALE Standards review 2023-24.

February 14, 2023

See Notice under Annual Elections.

August 15, 2022. Annual Reporting Forms

All accredited members are required to submit a completed Annual Reporting Form for academic year 2021-2022 by October 18, 2022.

October 13, 2021. Temporary Site Visit Policy extended for 2021-22 

The AALE Board of Trustees has extended the temporary site visit policy through December 31, 2022.

February 17, 2021. Board of Trustees completes systematic review of AALE Program Standards

The AALE Board of Trustees completed the 2020-21 systematic review of the AALE Program Standards at the February 16, 2021 Board meeting. The Board agreed with the recommendation of the Council of Scholars, “that no revisions should be made to the AALE Program Standards at this time and that all comments received will be placed on file for use in future discussions which may require examining AALE Program Standards in light of addressing institutional accreditation requirements”. 

December 14, 2020. Council of Scholars recommendation on revision of AALE Program Standards

The AALE Council of Scholars completed a review of comments on the AALE Program Standards received from post-secondary accredited members and site visitors who participated in site evaluation reviews within the previous five (5) years and concluded that no revisions should be made to the AALE Program Standards at this time. All comments received will be placed on file for use in future discussions which may require examining AALE Program Standards in light of addressing institutional accreditation requirements. This decision is open to comment from accredited programmatic college and university members through January 15, 2021. Comments may be sent to aaleinfo@aale.org  subject line: Systematic Review 2020-21. 

October 14, 2020. Systematic review of AALE Program Standards 

The AALE Board of Trustees has opened a systematic review of the AALE Program Standards. All institutional and programmatic college and university members are provided with an opportunity to participate in the review process. For further information see: AALE Standards review 2020-21 


October 14, 2020. Temporary Site Visit Policy for 2020-21 extended 

The AALE Board of Trustees has extended the temporary site visit policy through December 31, 2021.


August 1, 2020. Temporary Site Visit Policy for 2020-21

In light of the COVID-19 interruption to the delivery of on-site education and corresponding educational practices in and outside of the US, the American Academy for Liberal Education (AALE) has adopted a temporary policy pertaining to site visits for initial accreditation and renewal of accreditation and required interim site-visits. 

Effective August 1, 2020 AALE will allow for virtual site visits to occur for all site visits scheduled through December 31, 2020.

Effective January 1, 2021 through August 31, 2021 virtual site visits will be allowed on a case-by-case basis. The AALE Executive Committee will review the operating conditions at the institution where the site visit is to be conducted and available travel/lodging conditions to and near the institution to determine if the health safety of the site visitors can be ensured to the reasonable satisfaction of the full Executive Committee. If the Executive Committee concludes that operating conditions at the institution and/or available travel/lodging conditions to and near the institution place the health safety of site visitors at risk, a virtual site visit will be allowed. 

Virtual site visits will be interactive, and can include conference phone calls and video sessions. Simple exchange of document reviews or emails will not constitute a virtual site visit.

Then within a reasonable amount of time after a virtual site visit, an on-site visit will be required to review facilities. The follow-up on-site visit may be conducted by one (1) site visitor chosen by the site visit team.

Actions taken by the Executive Committee under the Temporary Extension of Accreditation Policy for 2020-21 are final and are not subject to the appeals process outlined in the AALE Policies and Procedures Handbook.