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NOWS Development Process
The first phase of the National On-Water Standards Development process focuses on developing high quality content for the On-Water Standards and the Rubrics that can be used to assess performance on those standards. Content development was led by an On-Water Standards SME Team who guided the development and reached consensus about the content to be included in the Standards. For more information about the process used to develop the working drafts of the standards, see the documents below.
With development of the content completed, the documents were provided to The American Boat & Yacht Council (ABYC) who used its ANSI-approved (American National Standards Institute) process to turn the draft content into fully-functioning American National Standards. For information about ABYC or its approach to developing American National Standards, please visit ABYC’s website.
Overview: NOWS Development 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.
A Complete History: NOWS Program Activity
The NOWS Program has been underway since 2011. During that time, the NOWS Subject Matter Expert Team has made great progress in developing On-Water, skills-based standards for the SAIL, POWER, and HUMAN-propelled domains of recreational boat operation. This document provides a complete history of NOWS Program activities and accomplishments over the years.
Development of National Standards - COMPLETE!
The NOWS Program was initiated in June of 2011. This graphic summarizes the publication dates for all four American National Standards for On-Water skills-based Instruction produced by the Program.
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