Effective operating standards help ACE National and its affiliates improve the quality, consistency and continuity of programming and administrative functions throughout all the communities we serve. This set of standards, demonstrates our commitment to excellence and our accountability to our students, schools, mentors, and sponsors. The Maturity Matrix is a tool that allows affiliates to evaluate themselves against program standards. In addition, ACE National can use the tool to assess ACE’s overall operation. Each program standard has four levels of maturity: Not Meeting, Meeting Expectations, Exceeds Expectations, and Excellence. An affiliate may rank low on the Maturity Matrix (Not Meeting) in some categories and high (Excellence) in others. This will help the affiliate learn areas of its operation where improvement is needed, guiding the affiliate’s strategic plan. Affiliate Self-Assessment The first step is for an affiliate to perform a self-assessment based on the nine Matrix categories. The affiliate should review the criteria for each category and rate itself accordingly, using the drop-down menu in the “Assessment” column. The affiliate should utilize the “Notes & Evidence” column to provide reasoning for the assessment selected. After self-assessing, the “Affiliate At-a-Glance” sheet will give the affiliate a snapshot of its strengths and weaknesses, while identifying areas that need improvement. Not only does the Maturity Matrix give an affiliate subjective assessment, but it also provides ACE national leadership a comparison of the ACE program across the country.
