Continuous School Improvement- Accreditation
School Improvement is a vehicle to implement the Department of Defense Education Activity (DoDEA) Community Strategic Plan. Through School improvement, the district and the schools establish rigorous standards that will inspire and prepare all students for success in a dynamic, global environment. Schools develop their individual plans (SIPs) around the 4 goals of the DoDEA Community Strategic Plan (CSP). Isles District Schools' Goals and Interventions can be viewed here.
One aim of School Improvement in the Isles District is to provide the best learning environment possible for our students. To ensure this, schools go through the school accrediation process with NCA-CASI (founded in 1895), which accredits public and private schools and districts in 30 states, the Navajo Nation, Latin America, and the Department of Defense Schools worldwide.
In 2006, NCA CASI, SACS CASI, and the National Study of School Evaluation, unified to form AdvancED. Dedicated to advancing excellence in education, AdvancED provides accreditation, research, and professional services to 23,000 schools in 65 countries, serving 15 million students. NCA CASI and SACS CASI serve as accreditation divisions of AdvancED. Through AdvancED, NCA CASI and SACS CASI have defined shared, research-based accreditation standards that cross state, regional, and national boundaries. Accompanying these standards is a unified accreditation process designed to help schools continuously improve.
AdvancEd's Seven Standards for Quality Schools (click for annotated description) |
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To earn and maintain accreditation from NCA CASI or SACS CASI, and to provide the best learning environment possible, our schools must:
1) Meet the Seven AdvancED Standards for Quality Schools. Schools demonstrate adherence to the seven AdvancED standards which describe the quality practices and conditions that research and best practice indicate are necessary for schools to achieve quality student performance and organizational
effectiveness. These seven standards include:
2) Engage in continuous improvement. Schools implement a continuous improvement process that articulates the vision and purpose the school is pursuing (vision); maintains a rich and current description of students, their performance, school effectiveness, and the school community (profile);
employs goals and interventions to improve student performance (plan); and documents and uses the results to inform what happens next (results).
3) Demonstrate quality assurance through internal and external review. Schools engage in a planned process of ongoing internal review and self-assessment. In addition, schools host an external quality assurance review team once every five years. The team evaluates the school's adherence to the
AdvancED quality standards, assesses the efficacy of the school's improvement process and methods for quality assurance, and provides commendations and recommendations to help the school improve. The team provides an oral exit report to the school and a written report detailing the team's
recommendations. The school acts on the team's recommendations and submits a progress report two years following the review. NCA CASI and SACS CASI accreditation engages the entire school community in a continuous process of self-evaluation and improvement. The overall aim is to help schools be the best they can be on behalf of the students they serve.
Schedule of AdvancEd/NCA Quality Assurance visits in the Isles District:
(Subject to change)
| SY2007-8 | SY2008-9 |
SY2009-10 |
SY2010-11 | SY2011-12 |
Menwith Hill |
Lakenheath ES |
SHAPE ES |
Alconbury ES Alconbury HS Croughton |
Bahrain EHS |
