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Policy Manual: Education Review and Verification Processes

Reviewed/Updated October 2024

For education and training to be factored into an applicant’s Career Ladder level, the documentation submitted with a Membership Application and/or Update/Renewal must be verified.

Verification of High School Education

The Nevada Registry accepts photocopies of high school diplomas, transcripts and/or certificates of high school equivalency which list (at a minimum) the name of the school/program, the person’s name, and date conferred (must be printed directly on the documents/computer generated). High School Equivalency test results are accepted in lieu of a copy of the certificate when the document includes (at a minimum), the person’s name, the name of the award, awarding organization and date concurred.

Documentation of a high school diploma is dependent on the applicant’s education level. If the applicant’s highest level of education is a high school diploma, the individual must submit a copy of their diploma or GED certificate from an accredited high school. If the individual does not provide a copy of their high school diploma and/or the diploma is from a non-accredited school, the individual is placed at Level 1.1 of the Career Ladder (if all other required documentation has been provided and the minimum direct service hour requirement has been met).

  • If an applicant graduated from high school after 1940, they could obtain a copy of their transcripts by contacting their high school or the school district where the high school is/was located. If a copy of diplomas/transcripts cannot be obtained, the Registry will accept a signed statement on letterhead from the school or Board of Education/School District. The letter must include the name of the graduate with the graduation date indicated.
  • If an applicant graduated from high school prior to 1940 and is unable to obtain a copy of their diploma/transcripts as described above, a Verification of High School Diploma Form may be submitted with their Membership Application for Career Ladder placement. This form must be signed and notarized to be considered complete. Incomplete forms are not factored into an applicant’s Career Ladder placement.

High School Equivalency

Individuals who did not graduate from high school or have a high school diploma issued outside the United States must provide a copy of their Certificate of High School Equivalency for it to be documented in the “Education” section of their member file. In Nevada, certificates from the following programs will be accepted as verification of a high school education:

  • General Education Development
  • High School Equivalency Test
  • Test Assessing Secondary Completion

To accept Certificates of High School Equivalency issued outside the state of Nevada, Registry staff research and/or connect with that state’s Department of Education to verify the accepted equivalency pathways. If a program recognized by that state’s DOE issued the certificate, it will be accepted as verification of high school education and entered into the “Education” section of the member’s file. In either instance, certificates of high school equivalency that cannot be verified will be electronically saved to the member’s file, but they will not be given credit for a high school diploma.

Proof of high school graduation is not required if the applicant has completed 20 or more credits from a regionally accredited college or university and/or has already obtained a degree. In these cases, copies of official (preferred) or unofficial college transcripts will be accepted in lieu of a high school diploma/high school transcript. If none of the above apply, and a copy of a high school diploma or GED is not provided, the individual will be placed at Level 1.1 on the Career Ladder if they have accrued 1,000 hours of direct experience and have met all other minimum licensing requirements.

Verification of Formal Education

The Nevada Registry accepts official (preferred) and unofficial transcripts that list the institution name, the individual’s name, class titles, semester year/season, credit hours and letter grade(s) earned (all information must be printed directly on the transcripts/computer generated). Class schedules and grade reports are not accepted to document formal education.

Because the Career Ladder is specific to Early Childhood Education (ECE), only ECE degrees and ECE courses are factored into Career Ladder placement. Applicants with formal education in ECE must submit their official (preferred) or unofficial transcripts with their Membership Application and/or Update/Renewal for it to be factored into their Career Ladder level. Because college diplomas frequently do not specify the degree type (major), transcripts listing courses, degree major and conferred date are preferred and may be required in the future.

Coursework Classification

For a course to be considered ECE, it must contain content specific to the direct care, education and development of children between birth and eight years of age, as evidenced by the course title and/or description. Course numbers and course descriptions may also be utilized if the course title is not specific enough to decide. In general, course titles containing the following key words may be classified as ECE: child, early childhood, child development, infant/toddler, preschool, Pre-K, human growth and development, early childhood special education, Grades/Ages 0-K, 0-5, 0-8, K-3. Partial credit will be granted for courses covering the entire life span. Partial credit may also be granted if the course contains only a portion of content specific to children ages 0-8. A total of 33.33% of the total credits earned will be granted if full credit cannot be granted. Applicants requesting additional consideration of courses not clearly ECE or related to ECE can submit a College/University Course Description Form which is available to download on the ‘Membership-Related Forms’ page of the program website. The full course description from the college/university’s course catalog corresponding to the year/semester the course(s) were taken must be submitted with the form to be considered. The course syllabus may be submitted in addition to the course description (optional).

All courses are entered in semester hours. For the purposes of Career Ladder placement, all academic courses are equated to a sixteen-week semester. Courses taken in quarter or trimester credits will be adjusted to this standard by multiplying the total number of quarter credits by .667.

Courses taken in high school may transfer and count as college credits when an individual’s college transcript shows the college course name, grade and credit issued. When college transcripts do not show credit granted for high school courses, those high school courses will be counted as training hours (each high school credit multiplied by 15 hours).

Courses will not be accepted/applied toward Career Ladder placement if any of the following apply:

  • The individual’s name or institution were not printed on the transcript(s).
  • Transcripts do not contain the year, quarter or semester season (Winter 2002, Fall, etc.) courses were completed.
  • Coursework and/or degree was completed at a non-accredited/non-regionally accredited school. The Registry only accepts courses and degrees earned at regionally accredited institutions of higher education (see Procedures for Verifying the Accreditation Status of Institutions of Higher Education section below).
  • Courses completed are not considered ECE.
  • All credits must be awarded a letter grade of ‘C’ or better to be accepted. Because courses with a grade of ‘D’ or below are not counted toward degrees at colleges and universities, they also do not count toward Career Ladder placement.
  • Pass/Fail/Satisfactory courses do not count unless the institution provides a key of terms on what the criteria for Pass/Fail/Satisfactory indicates.
  • Coursework in progress is not accepted. Only completed education is factored into Career Ladder placement.

Degree Classification

The following are examples of ECE degrees: Early Childhood Education, Early Childhood Special Education, Child Development and Preschool Education. This is not an exhaustive list. Determinations regarding other degrees not included in this list are made on a case-by-case basis by looking at the degree sheets from the college/university’s course catalog and/or coursework listed on official (preferred) or unofficial transcripts. For the purposes of Career Ladder placement, an ECE degree classification will be assigned only when a degree has been officially awarded from a regionally accredited institution of higher education and when the degree level (AA, BA, etc.), type (major) and conferred/awarded date are listed on official (preferred) or unofficial transcripts and/or diploma.

The Nevada Registry does not define ‘related’ degrees. Instead, a degree in any field of study becomes ‘related’ when 30 or more ECE college credits are identified on a transcript (per the Coursework Classification policies listed above). What this means is individuals with degrees in fields other than ECE may still place at the level commensurate with their degree but must submit college transcripts showing at least 30 college credits in ECE or possess a state teaching license with an Early Childhood, Early Childhood Special Education, 0-K or 0-2 Special Endorsement to do so. When a person possesses a non-ECE degree and 30 ECE credits, the level of the ladder commensurate with the highest degree earned will be granted regardless of when the ECE credits were obtained and whether they were a part of a degree or not. For example, a person with an associate degree in ECE and a (non-ECE) bachelor’s degree would place at 5.2 on the Career Ladder because of the ECE credits completed as part of the Associate degree program (level placement is congruent with the highest degree earned).

Procedures for Verifying the Accreditation Status of Institutions of Higher Education

The Nevada Registry only accepts college/university classes and/or degrees from post-secondary schools that are regionally accredited. The accrediting organizations identified below are recognized by the Council for Higher Education Accreditation (CHEA). Recognition by CHEA affirms that the standards and processes of the accrediting organization are consistent with the academic quality, improvement and accountability expectations that CHEA has established, including the eligibility standard that most institutions or programs each accredits are degree-granting.

The criterion for acceptance is twofold:

  1. The college/university must be regionally accredited (nationally accredited programs are not recognized).

To determine whether a college/university is accredited, Registry staff search the U.S. Department of Education Database of Postsecondary Institutions and Programs found at: http://ope.ed.gov/accreditation/

  1. The accrediting agency must be recognized.

Schools must be accredited by one of the regional accrediting bodies recognized by the U.S. Department of Education listed below (as of February 2021):

  • Accrediting Commission for Community and Junior Colleges (ACCJC) Western Association of Schools and Colleges
  • Higher Learning Commission (HLC)
  • Middle States Commission on Higher Education (MSCHE)
  • New England Commission of Higher Education (NECHE)
  • Northwest Commission on Colleges and Universities (NWCCU)
  • Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges (SACSCOC)
  • WASC Senior College and University Commission (WSCUC)

Courses, certificates and degrees from non-regionally accredited institutions are not accepted/factored into Career Ladder placement. If an institution listed on a transcript or degree is not regionally accredited and/or was not accredited by one of the accrediting agencies listed above, the document will be saved to the member’s file, but they will not be given credit for any degree or courses listed. The individual is then placed on the Career Ladder at the highest level that can be supported by the remaining documentation submitted with the application. An electronic staff memo will be created to document the reason(s) for non-acceptance of any coursework, certifications or degrees.

Verification of Credentials/Certifications

The Nevada Registry accepts PDFs of educational accomplishments resulting in credentials and certifications. Copy must include (at a minimum), the person’s name, the name of the award, awarding organization, date concurred and expiration date (if applicable). A transcript from the awarding organization is accepted if it includes the information listed above.

Verification of Foreign Degrees

The Nevada Registry is not able to translate or determine the equivalency of transcripts and/or degrees earned at colleges/universities outside the United States. For coursework/degrees from other countries to be considered for Career Ladder placement, educational documents must be translated and evaluated for U.S. equivalency by an organization approved by the National Association of Credential Evaluation Services (NACES). The list of current NACES-approved members is available at http://naces.org/members.html. Because it can be costly to have foreign coursework/degrees translated and evaluated, members are encouraged to do so only if the coursework they have completed is in Early Childhood or a related field AND when they can ensure the evaluation report will include verification their degree is equivalent to a degree as awarded by regionally accredited institutions of higher education in the United States. Transcripts/degrees/diplomas from colleges/universities outside the United States submitted without a statement of equivalency from one of the NACES-approved agencies will be electronically saved to a member’s file but the information will not be entered into the database/factored into Career Ladder placement. A memo will be made in their account about why it was not included.

Verification of Montessori Education

Individuals who have obtained a Montessori diploma through a Montessori Accreditation Council for Teacher Education (MACTE) Recognized Organization (MRO) or a regionally accredited Montessori college certification program, will be placed at Level 3.2 on the Nevada Early Care and Education Professional Career Ladder.

  • When an applicant with a degree in another field also submits a Montessori diploma, the highest level of formal education obtained will be granted. If an applicant submits a Montessori diploma but does not have a formal degree, Level 3.2 will be granted, provided they have 4000 hours of direct experience.
  • Diplomas/certificates received from the above-mentioned accrediting bodies are considered equivalent to 30 college credits in Early Childhood Education, if documentation of matriculation to an accredited college or university in Nevada has been verified.
  • Because Montessori Certification has been determined to be equivalent to 30 college credits, individuals who have formal degrees in other fields of study but who are also Montessori Certified Teachers (as defined above), will be placed at the level reflective of their formal college degree.
  • Incomplete Montessori training is not recognized on the Career Ladder.
  • All the above policies apply only when training is specific to Infant/Toddler, Early Childhood (Pre- Primary ages 3-6) and/or Elementary I (Primary ages 6-9) certifications