VISITING COMMITTEE TRAINING SESSION

Part I The Larger Purpose of Accreditation

Part II The New Accreditation Model

(including the new Dashboard)

Part III Visiting Committee Report

Part IV On-Site Visit

Part V Questions and Discussion

I. The Larger Purpose of Accreditation

• “Creditum” = something entrusted to another• Accreditation = trustworthiness• History: until 1960s UC and colleges accredited schools• Accreditation assumes value in

– Self-reflection– Observations, judgments of professional peers– Ethic of continuous improvement

• Tensions– Filling out a tax return vs. opportunity for growth– Unique mission vs. general standards– Spending minimal time vs. cultivating depth of thought

• Benefits– Viewpoint shift: from silos to broad (complicated) view– Generation/analysis of information and moments of truth– Looking with new eyes: professional feedback– Catalyst for needed change/improvement

I. The Larger Purpose of Accreditation

• “Creditum” = something entrusted to another• Accreditation = trustworthiness• History: until 1960s UC and colleges accredited schools• Accreditation assumes value in

– Self-reflection– Observations, judgments of professional peers– Ethic of continuous improvement

• Tensions– Filling out a tax return vs. opportunity for growth– Unique mission vs. general standards– Spending minimal time vs. cultivating depth of thought

• Benefits– Viewpoint shift: from silos to broad (complicated) view– Generation/analysis of information and moments of truth– Looking with new eyes: professional feedback– Catalyst for needed change/improvement

I. The Larger Purpose of Accreditation

• “Creditum” = something entrusted to another• Accreditation = trustworthiness• History: until 1960s UC and colleges accredited schools• Accreditation assumes value in

– Self-reflection– Observations, judgments of professional peers– Ethic of continuous improvement

• Tensions– Filling out a tax return vs. opportunity for growth– Unique mission vs. general standards– Spending minimal time vs. cultivating depth of thought

• Benefits– Viewpoint shift: from silos to broad (complicated) view– Generation/analysis of information and moments of truth– Looking with new eyes: professional feedback– Catalyst for needed change/improvement

I. The Larger Purpose of Accreditation

• “Creditum” = something entrusted to another• Accreditation = trustworthiness• History: until 1960s UC and colleges accredited schools• Accreditation assumes value in

– Self-reflection– Observations, judgments of professional peers– Ethic of continuous improvement

• Tensions– Filling out a tax return vs. opportunity for growth– Unique mission vs. general standards– Spending minimal time vs. cultivating depth of thought

• Benefits– Viewpoint shift: from silos to broad (complicated) view– Generation/analysis of information and moments of truth– Looking with new eyes: professional feedback– Catalyst for needed change/improvement

I. The Larger Purpose of Accreditation

• “Creditum” = something entrusted to another• Accreditation = trustworthiness• History: until 1960s UC and colleges accredited schools• Accreditation assumes value in

– Self-reflection– Observations, judgments of professional peers– Ethic of continuous improvement

• Tensions– Filling out a tax return vs. opportunity for growth– Unique mission vs. general standards– Spending minimal time vs. cultivating depth of thought

• Benefits– Viewpoint shift: from silos to broad (complicated) view– Generation/analysis of information and moments of truth– Looking with new eyes: professional feedback– Catalyst for needed change/improvement

I. The Larger Purpose of Accreditation

• “Creditum” = something entrusted to another• Accreditation = trustworthiness• History: until 1960s UC and colleges accredited schools• Accreditation assumes value in

– Self-reflection– Observations, judgments of professional peers– Ethic of continuous improvement

• Tensions– Filling out a tax return vs. opportunity for growth– Unique mission vs. general standards– Spending minimal time vs. cultivating depth of thought

• Benefits– Viewpoint shift: from silos to broad (complicated) view– Generation/analysis of information and moments of truth– Looking with new eyes: professional feedback– Catalyst for needed change/improvement

II. New Accreditation Model

• Accreditation process should reflect independent school realities and priorities:– Obligation to be mission driven

– Centrality of teaching and learning

– Impact of school climate and culture

– Nature of leadership and change

• Self-study report has been streamlined by– reducing #, improving quality, of questions

(201 vs. 134)

– Integrating appendices/statistical supplement

• Intent is to promote reflection & analysis

New Self-Study Process includes:

• Reconceived school description (to contextualize report)

• Increased freedom of individual schools to determine organization of self-study process

• Deferred submission of action plan– Provide ample time to create it, taking into account

committee feedback

– Provide option to conform to school strategic planning

– visiting team report to respond to reflective self-study and to help schools build on strengths

New Self-Study Process includes:

•A commitment to assist schools in strengthening their strengths as well as addressing their shortcomings and growth needs

Current Accreditation Organization

I. The School’s Philosophy and Purpose

II. The Governing BodyIII. FinancesIV. Development/Fund-

raisingV. Administration, Faculty,

and StaffVI. Students

VII. The Community of the School

VIII. The Program

IX. Residential Life

X. The Library, Electronic and Print Resources

XI. The School Plant

XII. Health and Safety

XIII. Action Plan: Summary of Self-Study Findings

New Accreditation Organization

Institutional Core Values, Purpose, and Aspirations 1. Mission

 

Teaching and Learning 2. Educational Program 3. Student Learning Experience 4. Faculty and Pedagogy 5. Climate and Community 6. Residential Life (if

applicable)

7. Preschool (if applicable)

Financial Sustainability 8. Admissions and Enrollment 9. Finance 10. Advancement

Operations11. Human Resources12. Facilities: Buildings and Grounds13. Health, Safety, and Wellness

Institutional Stewardship and Leadership14. Governance15. Administration

 

Institutional Improvement and Sustainability16. Self-Assessment and Decision-

Making

Self-Study Chapter Format

Each self-study chapter has followingformat:– Context statement– Standard (against which schools will be

measured)– Indicators (what a school would exhibit if it

were meeting the standard at high level)– Baseline requirements (requiring yes/no

answers; “no” responses require explanations)– Questions (responses needed: self-reflection

and depth of thought are primary objectives)

Standards

• Each chapter has ONE standard

• Each standard is followed by several “indicators,” which are intended to answer the question:

What would a school look like that was meeting this standard in an exemplary fashion?

• Visiting Team determines how effectively the school is meeting the standard

Standard 2: Educational Program

• Guided by the mission, the school clearly defines its curricular and co-curricular programs and provides coherent documentation of them. The programs are regularly evaluated, updated, and strengthened in order to stay current with relevant educational research, to assure the intended outcomes in student learning, and to prepare students for the next stage of their academic careers.

Indicators (Educational Program)

• The faculty and administration actively engage in an ongoing process of curricular and co-curricular reflection, review, and evaluation across grade levels and subject areas to improve student learning.

• There is clear evidence of ongoing instructional planning.

• The curriculum has a coherent and discernable structure that guides faculty decision-making.

• Instructional resources are appropriate to the needs of the educational program.

• Faculty and academic administrators regularly undertake professional development activities to keep them current in educational research and best practices bearing on academic program content and design.

Indicators (Educational Program)

• The curricular and co-curricular programs address the cognitive, social, physical and creative needs of the students, in accordance with the school’s mission.

• The curriculum is designed to engage, challenge, and support all learners enrolled at the school.

• The design and evaluation of the curricular program take into account that the school’s graduates will grow up and live in world that requires understanding and leadership to successfully address complex multi-cultural, global, environmental, and technological realities.

Sample Baseline Requirements

Educational ProgramThe school has a written, published

comprehensive curriculum guide. yes ___ no ___

Faculty and Pedagogy A process of faculty evaluation is regularly

undertaken and documented.yes ___ no ___

Sample Questions

Admissions and EnrollmentDescribe the policies and process by which all admissions decisions are made. Who participates and at what level? Evaluate the effectiveness of this process.

FinanceAnalyze and interpret the school’s dashboard data that pertains to finance. What are the main findings and chief implications for the school that emerge from examining the data?

Sample Questions

Climate and CommunityEvery school is a self-renewing community, into which new members – students and adults alike – are continuously invited. Reflect on the effectiveness with which newer generations enter into, come to embody, and in turn change, the culture of the school.

Reflect on a time in the last six years when the climate of the school became significantly challenging. Describe the process used to identify and address the problems that arose.

Sample Questions

Climate and Community

Take ten pictures or five 30-second videos that richly convey the climate of the school. Please submit them with an explanation of how these particular samples were created and why they were chosen.

The New Dashboard

Self-Study process requires schools to analyze and interpret dashboard data pertaining to various standards.

Some schools will lack data from prior years and will not be penalized for this.

Objective of Dashboard:–to facilitate schools’ probing use of data during and beyond accreditation process–to enable teams to gain perspective, beyond the self-study’s narrative responses, by examining the school’s use of evidence

The Independent School Dashboard

• Independent School Dashboard is:• one Excel workbook, consisting of

- worksheets for each of 10 data categories- space for data entry- charts that will populate based on data

entered

• adapted from NAIS Trustee Dashboard• workbook will be available to download

from CAIS website

Independent School Dashboard

Example: Fundraising

Admissions Data

             

      For September of      

  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Applications 200  150  145  200  250  275 

Acceptances 100  110  110  100  90  90 

New students 70  60  65  70  70  70 

   

     

Website: visits to the admissions 

page      

  2009-2010 2010-11 2011-2012 2012-2013 2012-2013 2013-2014

   Unique visitors 500  500  600  600  700  700 

   Total visits 700  750  800  800  850  850 

   

  2008 2009 2010 2011 2012 2013

Apps/new 35% 40% 45% 35% 28% 25%

Accept rate 50% 73% 76% 50% 36% 33%

Yield 70% 55% 59% 70% 78% 78%

Admissions Graphs

Admissions Graphs

In addition

• Worksheets on:– Annual budget– Enrollment by grade– Endowment–debt ratio– Student attrition– Tuition– Financial aid– Faculty compensation– Staffing

Interpreting Data: Reference Points

• For context in interpreting dashboard data, visit NAIS website to obtain CAIS statistical summary

• NAIS.org > Analyze > Facts at a Glance > California Association of independent Schools > then choose most recent year

• http://www.nais.org/Articles/Documents/CAISCAFactsAtAGlance201213.pdf

• Averages and medians available for enrollment, diversity, fundraising, class size, income/expense, salaries and more

III. The Visiting Committee Report

Visiting Committee Report (VCR) includes these components:

– Introduction • School’s profile, exactly as written by school in its

self-study• Visiting Committee’s commentary regarding

school and its written profile

– Assessment of progress report– Comments on self-study process– Assessment of school’s performance with

regard to 16 accreditation standards

Format for Assessment of Standards

Section Reports

Each of 6 sections include:• Context statement (which can include significant

opportunities and challenges, along with guiding questions to promote further self-reflection)

• Notable strengths

• Recommendations

• Ratings for all chapter standards (highly effective, effective, somewhat effective, or ineffective) included in each section

The Visiting Committee Report

• Summary Listings

– Major Recommendations• Number the recommendations• Include citations

– 16 chapter ratings

• Documentation and Justification Statement

– Recommendation to Board of Standards regarding Status of Accreditation

– Thorough statement of rationale

Visiting Committee Report

• Recommendation to CAIS Board of Standards and WASC Commission

– Formerly: Terms of 6, 6R, 3, 2, 1

– Currently:•7-year cycle•Accreditation “Status”

– 7 years, with» mid-term progress report» mid-term progress report and visit» mid-term progress report, visit, and additional

requirements

– Probationary Status» 2-year: urgent change needed» 1-year: immediate change needed

IV. The On-Site Visit

•Activating the committee – Chair initiates personal contact with team members– Members identify areas of interest and expertise– Chair organizes committee’s work after consulting with

Head of School– Well ahead of the visit, team members must:

• Review accreditation manual• Read self-study• Draft initial responses

– Chair maintains contact and sends reminders– Be prudent stewards with regard to expenses

•Team identity– Most appropriate role: tactful and truthful observers and

reporters– Be mindful of how team is perceived by the school

The On-Site Visit

• Interviews and Observations– Organization of interviews depends on school’s self-study

committee structure– Goal is to generate insightful, constructive conversation– Attention should be paid to consistency between stated

mission and lived realities– Team members should compare notes on their

initial/evolving impressions– Classroom visits are encouraged but not required

• Challenges– Over- or under-involved head– Requests for individual “hearings”– Avoiding rushed writing– “What status are we getting?”

• no time for promises• Role of CAIS Boards of Standards and Board of

Directors

Revised CAIS Policies

Code of Ethics

Statement of Fundamental Membership Requirements

V. Questions and Discussion

Sample: Strengths

The school’s mission, which is especially clear and inspiring in conveying the institution’s core values, is a central and powerful strength of the school. In an era when many independent schools have felt compelled to construct and fund-raise for impressive facilities that rival those of small colleges, Ridgecrest’s mission speaks eloquently to the values of “simplicity” and “love for the outdoors,” which set it apart from peer institutions in a distinctive way. It is striking that the on-campus community overtly cherishes human relationships and downplays materialistic concerns, and this creates a “purity” of atmosphere, in which learning has a deep and lasting impact.

Sample: Strengths

Shoreline Country Day School benefits from an extremely talented and focused Board, whose collective deliberations and actions constantly yield high value outcomes for the school. Board processes and procedures ensure that it maintains an especially effective mix of needed expertise, and programs for orientation and ongoing trustee education position the members to maximize their positive impact in Board work. They characteristically bring high energy and acknowledged wisdom to seemingly every endeavor, as evidenced by their innovative master site-planning efforts, a very successful and harmonious head search, and a recently revised policy that has expanded financial aid.

Sample: Challenges

South Bay Jewish Day School, has, since its inception in 1977, been deeply committed to providing a Jewish day school education to every qualified student whose family desired it, regardless of a family’s ability to pay. The lasting effects of the recession, however, have placed unprecedented strains on both the parents’ and the school’s financial resources, and the segment of the student body receiving financial aid has now risen to 55%. Financial reserves that have been used to balance the budget since 2008-09 will be exhausted in two years, and the school must quickly work to resolve the conflict between its enduring commitment to funding a Jewish education for all families who desire it for their children and the obvious imperative to remain financially solvent.

Guiding Questions

What strategies for resolving this conflict have been developed in Jewish day schools in other parts of California or the nation, where similar financial forces have been experienced?

If the school were to alter its historic commitment to providing financial aid to all families that demonstrated both financial need and a desire to have their children attend the school, how would it best prepare the community for such a

potential policy change?

Sample: Challenges

Einstein Preparatory School has expended significant energy in the last three years in mapping its curriculum, quite an achievement in a school where the courses offered (and their content) have intentionally reflected the personal academic interests of a highly talented and exceptionally engaging faculty. With this accomplishment in place, the challenge and opportunity in the near term is to further develop the curriculum so that it systematically reflects the values articulated in the school’s new mission statement — most notably creative problem-solving, global connection, and ethical decision-making.

Guiding Questions

Are there any exemplary programs in schools around the country that emphasize the values of the new mission statement? If so, could virtual or physical field trips be arranged that would allow faculty teams to discuss these programs with their creators and determine their potential usefulness to EPS? Could a budget be allocated for this work?

How can the school structure its conversations in a way that doesn’t automatically equate more practice in ethical decision-making with less time for calculus?

Sample: Recommendations

That the Board of Trustees, Head of School, and Business Manager immediately collaborate to develop and adopt a credible balanced budget for the coming year, without drawing upon reserves, that serves as many financial aid candidates as possible, while restoring the school’s near- and long-term financial viability. (Standards 8 and 9; self-study pp. 75-77, 83-84; interviews with Finance Committee and administrative team)

Sample: Recommendations

That the faculty and administration create and implement a process and timeline for curriculum revision that enables the school to integrate such emphases as creative problem-solving, global connection, and ethical decision-making into the educational program, drawing, as appropriate, upon the experience and perspectives of other schools, as well as upon the input of the students at EPS. (Standards 2, 3, and 4; self-study pp. 3, 36, 41-45; student and parent satisfaction surveys from 2012; multiple interviews with faculty across departments and with academic administrators)

V. Questions and Discussion