On-Water Standards Development Process

The first phase of the National On-Water Standards Development process focuses on developing high quality working drafts of the On-Water Standards and the Rubrics that can be used to assess performance on those standards. Developing these working drafts is led by an On-Water Standards SME Team who guides the development and reaches consensus about the content of the Standards. For more information about the process used to develop the working drafts of the standards, see the documents below.
 
Once the working drafts are completed, the documents are provided to The American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC) who uses its ANSI-approved (American National Standards Institute) process to take the On-Water Standards working drafts through to functioning as American National Standards.  For information about ABYC or its approach to developing American National Standards, please visit ABYC’s website.

Overview of National On-Water Standards Program Status

 
The National On-Water Standards Program was initiated in June of 2011. This graphic summarizes the current status of the project thus far and the time line for its completion. 

Developing On-Water Standards and Rubrics working drafts: A 4-Version Process

 
Developing high-quality working drafts of On-Water Skills-based Standards is no small task. It involves a 4-version process in which Versions 1 and 2 result in consensus on paper as to the content of the Standards. Versions 3 and 4 result from field-testing what is on paper at different venues around the country (with real people in real boats) to help ensure that what is on paper will actually work in the field. This document provides more detail about the 4-version process used to develop the working drafts.

Complete history of the On-Water Standards Project

 
The On-Water Standards has been underway for over seven years.  During that time, the Subject Matter Expert team has made great progress in developing National On-Water, skills-based Standards for the SAIL, POWER, and HUMAN domains of recreational boat operation.  This document provides a complete history of program activities and accomplishments over the years.