New England Association

of Schools and Colleges

Commission on Public Schools

MPA Fall Conference

November 19, 2015

The Current Status of the Accreditation Process

Changes that have been made in the past 18 months

The Future of Accreditation The work of the Self-Study Redesign Committee

The Value to You and Your School

Accreditation process was ◦ too prescriptive

◦ took too much time

◦ required schools to stop other work

◦ caused HS to be “out of sync” with the rest of the district

◦ redundant with other mandated processes

◦ too expensive

◦ “one size fits all”

Maine Representatives

◦ Dwayne Conway, Principal, Maranacook Community HS, Readfield, ME

◦ Shanna Crofton, Principal, Brunswick HS, Brunswick, ME

◦ Jeff Shedd, Principal, Cape Elizabeth HS, Cape Elizabeth, ME

◦ David Walker, Superintendent, RSU #34, Old Town, ME

The Current Status of Accreditation

Meetings with principals/superintendents in all 6 New England States (2013)

Summer Chairs’ Workshop (2014/2015)

Committee to revise Standards (2014)

Committee to revise Rating Guides (2014)

Reviewing and Revising the Pre-Self-Study and the Self-Study processes (ongoing)

Reviewing and Revising the Accreditation visit protocol (ongoing)

Reviewing and Revising the Standards (late Fall/early Winter)

The Committee on Public Secondary Schools (CPSS)

The Future of Public School Accreditation Committee (BOT)

The Advisory Committee

The PSS/SS Committee

A targeted revision was made in the summer of 2014

A comprehensive revision will begin this late fall/early winter

◦ Standard 5 Rating Guide Revisions Indicator 2

Indicator 3

◦ Changes in Language (All Rating Guides)

Adopting more formative language

Not Yet Meeting the Standard

“Fails”

◦ Changes in what qualifies as “not meeting the standard” (All Rating Guides)

A crosswalk between the CPSS Standards and the Common Core State Standards has been developed/available on our website

A crosswalk between the CPSS Standards and each individual state’s mandates and initiatives has been developed

Crosswalks are available on our website and will be sent out to each school

A crosswalk between the CPSS Standards and each individual state’s mandates and initiatives has been developed

Crosswalks are available on our website and have been sent to each school

Accreditation Portal◦ Self-Study◦ Visiting Committee Report◦ Follow-up process

All 2017 schools will use the portal for their Self-Study

Most visiting committees starting in Fall 2015

The Follow-up functions will be available in 2016

The Future of Accreditation

Brian Walsh Principal Hermon HS, Hermon, ME

Tom McDowell Teacher Yarmouth HS, Yarmouth, ME

Accreditation Protocols◦ Shorter Self-Study (1 year)◦ Differentiate Use of Staff◦ Use of existing artifacts as evidence◦ Focus on school/district priorities◦ Smaller Visiting Committees◦ Fewer recommendations focused on Standards

using Indicators as guidance

Participating Massachusetts Schools◦ Smith Academy, Hatfield, MA (Spring 2015)

Participating Maine Schools◦ Lisbon High School, Lisbon, ME

Participating Maine Schools◦ Boothbay Regional HS, Boothbay Harbor, ME

◦ Medomak Valley HS, Waldoboro, ME

◦ Old Orchard Beach HS, Old Orchard Beach, ME

Participating Massachusetts Schools◦ Reading Memorial High School, Reading, MA

◦ Burlington High School, Burlington, MA

Standards Review and Revision◦ Planned for early winter 2016◦ Completion by the end of the summer of 2016◦ A natural extension of the Self-Study Redesign◦ Time for schools to respond to any changes

Standards Review◦ Less prescriptive◦ More flexible◦ Increased focus on school improvement◦ Greater emphasis on goals rather than specific

strategies to accomplish the goals◦ Focus on Standards using Indicators as guidance◦ Encourage schools to adopt a “growth mindset”

We are currently working with a number of districts who are interested in a district-wide approach to Accreditation

The district would Accredit each of its schools K-12

The process of district Accreditation could look different in different districts depending on the size of the district/number of schools

District Accreditation would allow the district to look at all schools systemically

District Accreditation will allow the district to develop coordinated improvement plans for all schools in a district

The Self-Study and the Accreditation visit would be completed district-wide

The Value to You

Your School and

the School Community

To the School

◦ Allows the school to conduct a rigorous analysis of present conditions so that needed changes may be carefully planned

◦ Provides a focus on the bigger picture and the school as a whole

◦ Allows the school to focus on systemic school improvement

To Students

◦ Assures students that their needs are being met through a quality educational program

◦ Assures that their credits will be accepted should their family relocate

◦ Provides colleges with the assurance that students have received a quality educational preparation

To School Committee Members

◦ Assures the school committee and the public that their programs and policies are consistent with research and best practices

◦ Provides school committee members with an opportunity to gain a comprehensive knowledge of the school

◦ Provides a proven framework to create a school improvement plan

To the Community

◦ Assures citizens that their tax money is supporting quality educational programs and services

◦ Provides an objective third-party peer review of educational programs and services

◦ Provides a demonstrable and positive effect on local property values

◦ Provides a comprehensive qualitative accreditation report to guide future decisions

Annual Membership dues (based on enrollment) ◦ $3,245

◦ Range $2,645 to $4,855

Average cost for 10 Year accreditation visit◦ $18,740 includes

Hotels/Travel/Meals for Visiting Committee

Endicott survey

Reaccreditation Fee

Miscellaneous costs

The portal/smaller Visiting Committees will reduce these costs

School Visitations

Consultancy Services (as needed)

Monitoring of School Progress throughout the 10 year accreditation cycle

Seminars (three major seminars annually)

Conferences (three annually)

Showcase of Model School Programs

Verification of Accreditation status for colleges, employers, ICE

Participating on a visiting team is excellent professional development - 82% agree or strongly agree

Accreditation drives our school to focus on school improvement - 70% agree or strongly agree

Accreditation improves teaching and learning at our school(s) - 67% agree

Schools report the following benefits from accreditation

◦ Opportunity for teachers from different subject areas to collaborate (97%)

◦ Opportunity to review our core values and beliefs (96%)

◦ Experience of receiving peer review (95%)

◦ Requirement to refresh our focus on our strategic direction/plan (94%)

◦ Opportunity to ask hard questions and think critically about where we excel and where we need to improve (86%)

Areas of improvement – part of our improvement plan

◦ 77% said going paperless was the top priority

◦ 71% of respondents think that Standards should be more flexible

◦ Members are also looking for more communication from NEASC-CPSS via social media (76%) and webinars (57%)

◦ Align the Standards more closely with government requirements - 66% agree or strongly agree

Thank You

Maine Principals Association