Accreditation Leadership

Traditionally assigned to the ‘Curriculum Guy/Gal”

Curriculum leaders can run, but cannot hide from this one.
 WHAT IS
accreditation and why
Accreditation: to certify (a school, college,
or the like) as meeting all formal official
requirements of academic excellence,
curriculum, facilities, etc.
Who Accredits?
Governments and governmental bodies
Special programs
 International Baccalaureate Organization (IBO)
PYP
MYP
DP
Council of International Schools (CIS)
Various US regional organizations
 WASC, NEASC,MSASC, Etc..
Various religious organizations
ONESQA-whatever that is
Why does anybody care?
Accreditation eases the process by which
our students move from one school to
another
Qualifies graduates for college admission
Provides school owners a measure of
external validation for the school program
Valid for 1-8 years (depending)
This is a VERY big deal!
Input Model vs. Output Model
Input is the traditional mode for accreditation
Output is newer-maybe more threatening?
With the right attitude:
 It will help a school be its best by forcing it to look its’
own practices and success/failure
 Affirm what the school is all about
 Trigger reflection about what the school is about
 If done it right, the process can drive decision making
in the immediate future
 Resource allocations
 If done right, can serve as a core for elements of
strategic planning
If done right, can unite school stakeholders
With the wrong attitude:
It is a dreary, intensive, task
It creates a competing vision for the school
 Multiple
 Overlapping
 Contradictory

It is ignored by all

It is an absolute PR nightmare for the school
 People get fired.
The generic process:
 An officer conducts a pre-visit to determine
qualification
 A Self-Study is conducted
 Involving the whole organization
 BOD, Admin, Teachers, Parents , Etc…
 Data driven
 A written report is generated
 An inspection visit
 It isn’t cheap
 The visiting team reports- makes recommendations
 Term awarded, or follow-up requirements
 The school carries out recommendations
 Start over…
A sample:
WASC: Western Association of Schools and
Colleges
Provides accreditation to schools across the world
The guidebook is almost 200 pages long
 WASC=We are still confused
What comes first?
(W.A.S.C. process in 25 words or
Decide and state precisely what you want
students to be able to do
Evaluate whether you are doing it
Make plans for maintenance or improvement.
Fundamentally the W.A.S.C
accreditation …
Is School Improvement/decision making process
Is ongoing and data driven
Is determined by stakeholder needs and student
achievement
Mandates school wide effort and buy-in
It is not…

A valentine to yourselves
An opportunity for revenge.
It is also not a clear or easy
process
READ the requirements!!!!!!!!
Treat them as technical reading
Don’t assume that people ‘will understand’ your
school like you do.
The self study collects/generates:
 Descriptions of the organization
 Demographics, etc….
 Major recent changes.

 Clear statements of purpose

 ESLRs

 “Proof” that students are meeting school goals

 Proof that the organization is meeting other required
criteria.
 Internal recommendations for maintenance and/or
improvement.
 An ‘action’ plan
Simple?
Not easy, but not rocket science
The four general areas he
WASC organization
Organization for Student Learning
Curriculum and Instruction
Support for Student Personal and Academic
growth
Resource management and development
The task broken down:
For each of the areas reviewed you will make
some judgments
 Are students being well served in these areas? How
do you know?
 In each area, what are your strengths and
weaknesses?
 What suggestions for improvement can be made?
 See FOL pdf.
Write an action plan with input
from stakeholders to adress
the self-study
ACTION PLAN ELEMENTS
 A statement of area for improvement
 Brief statement of the rationale for identifying this
need in the source of the data used to justify its
inclusion in a broader plan.
  Expected Schoolwide learning result ESLR addressed.
  Specific steps to be taken
  A timeline for all work
  Person(s) responsible for this work
  Resources needed, including time.
  Way of assessing progress/product
  Means to report progress to all members of the school
community.
SEE SAMPLE
THE ULTIMATE TASK:
Bring an entire school community together
while having precious little authority to do so.