PUBLIC RELATIONS GUIDE



I. The Journey to Accreditation

Forty million adults in this country can not read or write well enough to reach their potential at work, at home, or in their community. Literacy Volunteers of America, Inc. (LVA) has created a major initiative to establish quality and accountability standards for volunteer literacy service providers: the LVA Accreditation Initiative.

The purpose of Accreditation is to ensure that everyone who receives tutoring from volunteers receives quality services. It also establishes minimum standards and identifies outstanding educational and management practices within the LVA network and beyond, encouraging every volunteer literacy organization to excel in its efforts.

The initiative consists of three-year cycles, each of which builds on the previous cycle, so that current best demonstrated practices become new minimum standards in a dynamic, ongoing process. Best demonstrated practices are the engines that drive Accreditation. The initiative calls for all LVA organizations to undergo a rigorous Accreditation process to retain affiliation. During this process, liaisons and state offices will provide ongoing support in every way possible to assist affiliates with Accreditation. Accreditation is LVA�s most far-reaching plan since its founding in 1962.

Accreditation will accomplish:

  • more effective literacy instruction
  • more effective nonprofit management in the literacy arena
  • greater accountability for quality outcomes
  • the establishment of universally recognized, national standards for volunteer literacy services
Flexibility will be the cornerstone of the LVA Accreditation Initiative. LVA will no longer mandate specific instructional methods and materials. Local programs must, however, prove their effectiveness by documenting outcomes in terms of both learner achievements and management practices. This approach maximizes accountability while encouraging innovation, thereby improving the quality of services provided.

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