The Council on Chiropractic Education (CCE) is an American agency recognized by the United States Department of Education for accreditation of programs and institutions offering the Doctor of Chiropractic degree. The CCE seeks to ensure the quality of chiropractic education in the United States by means of accreditation, educational improvement, and public information. The CCE develops accreditation criteria to assess how effectively programs or institutions plan, implement, and evaluate their mission and goals, program objectives, inputs, resources, and outcomes of their chiropractic programs. The CCE is also recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA) and is a member of the Association of Specialized and Professional Accreditors (ASPA).
Accreditation of healthcare provider training programs ensures graduate competency and provides a means for programs to improve. Accreditation consistency assures the public that healthcare providers have similar basic training across world regions. Currently, it is unknown if chiropractic accrediting agencies have congruent standards globally. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to investigate similarities and differences in student competencies and program standards among four chiropractic accreditation agencies worldwide. A quantitative content analysis was performed on accreditation standards from regional international accreditation agencies responsible for accrediting the majority of the world’s chiropractic degree programs. Agencies included the Council on Chiropractic Education (United States), the European Council on Chiropractic Education (Europe, United Kingdom, South Africa), the Council on Chiropractic Education Australasia (Australia, New Zealand, Malaysia), and the Council on Chiropractic Education Canada (Canada). The contents of the accrediting standards were coded using a standardized coding list. A modified Delphi technique was used by 21 international experts from December 1, 2023, to April 18, 2024. After four rounds of consideration to achieve consensus, the contents were analyzed for frequency and congruence of coded items across the accrediting agencies’ standards. A two-way analysis of variance was conducted to identify if there were any differences among the accreditation agencies. Neither student competencies [F(3,8) = 0.007, p > .05] nor program standards [F(3,4) = 0.002, p > .05] differed significantly across the accrediting agencies. The statistical relationships between accreditation agencies and coding frequencies remained stable across all coded items, with no single code exhibiting differential performance depending on the accrediting body. The overall model showed R2 = 0.96 for student competencies and R2 = 0.87 for program standards; thus, the models’ predictions align with the observed data. The study findings demonstrate congruence for student competencies and program standards among chiropractic accreditation agencies across multiple geographic regions. The patterns of content were stable and consistent across the four accrediting agencies, with no evidence of differential effects among the agencies. In addition, this study provides essential details and standardized codes for agencies’ documents, which may facilitate dialogue and comprehension among agencies, educators, regulators, governing officials, and other stakeholders in chiropractic education. The study protocol was prospectively registered with Open Science Framework on November 30, 2023 https://doi.org/10.17605/OSF.IO/259WC .
Journal of Public Health DentistryVolume 45, Issue 4 p. 278-278 Chiropractic Agencies Join American Public Health Association Dr. Carl Cleveland Jr., Dr. Carl Cleveland Jr. President Cleveland Chiropractic College of LASearch for more papers by this authorDr. Bruce Nordstrom, Dr. Bruce Nordstrom Executive Vice President International Chiropractors AssociationSearch for more papers by this authorDr. Gerald Brassard, Dr. Gerald Brassard Executive Vice President American Chiropractic AssociationSearch for more papers by this authorDr. Marino Passero, Dr. Marino Passero President Council on Chiropractic EducationSearch for more papers by this author Dr. Carl Cleveland Jr., Dr. Carl Cleveland Jr. President Cleveland Chiropractic College of LASearch for more papers by this authorDr. Bruce Nordstrom, Dr. Bruce Nordstrom Executive Vice President International Chiropractors AssociationSearch for more papers by this authorDr. Gerald Brassard, Dr. Gerald Brassard Executive Vice President American Chiropractic AssociationSearch for more papers by this authorDr. Marino Passero, Dr. Marino Passero President Council on Chiropractic EducationSearch for more papers by this author First published: December 1985 https://doi.org/10.1111/j.1752-7325.1985.tb01170.xAboutPDF ToolsRequest permissionExport citationAdd to favoritesTrack citation ShareShare Give accessShare full text accessShare full-text accessPlease review our Terms and Conditions of Use and check box below to share full-text version of article.I have read and accept the Wiley Online Library Terms and Conditions of UseShareable LinkUse the link below to share a full-text version of this article with your friends and colleagues. Learn more.Copy URL Share a linkShare onFacebookTwitterLinked InRedditWechat No abstract is available for this article. Volume45, Issue4December 1985Pages 278-278 RelatedInformation
