National Career Academy Coalition Certifications

The National Career Academy Coalition (NCAC) is an organization of schools organized into small learning communities as school academies. These academies are designed to ensure that in large high schools, every student’s academic needs, interests, and aspirations are addressed by teachers who are well acquainted with their students.

National Career Academy Coalition (NCAC) certification for career academies is an indication of the degree to which the research based model is being implemented based on the 10 National Standards of Practice (NSOP). Certification levels are progressive, ranging from "In-Progress, Certified, Model, to Model with Distinction". An array of practitioners from professional educational organizations across the country developed the standards, first presented by the Department of Labor, in 2004. NCAC has been the certifying organization for academies since 2009. The NSOP have remained unchanged, and the criteria for alignment with the standards has been updated when necessary. 

Certification is a recognition of the commitment to postsecondary education and career readiness, and an understanding students need to be prepared for both.  At NCAC, it is understood there are a range of postsecondary options for students, complimenting the range of careers available to them.  

The following Hawai`i Academy school career academies are NCAC certified academies: