The mission of the North American Council for Online Learning (NACOL) is to increase educational opportunities and enhance learning by providing collegial expertise and leadership in K-12 online teaching and learning. "National Standards for Quality Online Teaching" is designed to provide states, districts, online programs, and other organizations with a set of quality guidelines for online teaching and instructional design. The initiative began with a thorough literature review of existing online teaching quality standards, a cross-reference of standards, followed by a research survey to NACOL members and experts to ensure the efficacy of the standards adopted. These guidelines should be implemented and monitored by each district or organization, as they reserve the right to apply the guidelines according to the best interest of the population for which they serve.