From NCA Outcomes to Baldrige to NCA District Accreditation

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From NCA Outcomes to Baldrige to NCA District
Accreditation

• One School Districts Journey

NQEC November 15, 2005 Miami, Florida
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• Cherie Cornick
• Curriculum Director
• cornick_at_southredford.net
• 313-535-4000 ex 1010
• 26141 Schoolcraft,
• Redford MI 48239
• http//southredford.net/district/accreditation
  NCA
• http//homepage.mac.com/cornick1

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Outcomes

• Understand of the relationship between the
  Baldrige Criteria and NCA CASI District
  Accreditation Standards and Criteria
• Know one districts rationale for moving to
  District Accreditation
• Build a network of districts pursuing District
  Accreditation

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NCA CASI Vision

• The North Central Association Commission on
  Accreditation and School Improvement assures the
  public of quality learning opportunities by
  holding the education profession to ever-higher
  standards.
• NCA CASI is the professional leader in delivering
  quality accreditation and related services to
  education entities worldwide.

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NCA CASI Mission

• Through accreditation and related services, NCA
  CASI continuously improves the quality of
  education and challenges education entities to
  prepare each and every learner for success.
• Core activities that support the mission
• Set quality standards for the education
  profession
• Provide external review and validation of
  education entities
• Accredit education entities that achieve the
  standards and engage in continuous improvement
• Challenge and support education entities to
  continually improve student performance

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NCA Services

• 9000 schools
• Elementary
• Middle School
• Secondary
• College Prep
• Vocational
• Special Purpose
• Unit
• Post secondary

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Member States of NCA
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What is NCA District Accreditation?

• Accreditation of the district as a system that
  monitors the improvement processes in the schools
  rather than schools as individual building with
  their own goals
• National pilot last year with four school
  districts
• Michigan pilot with two school districts
• South Redford was the first in Michigan to have a
  base line visit.

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NCA District Accreditation

• Standards and Criteria can be found
• http//www.ncacasi.org/district/
• Jim Shipley and Associates

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NCA Performance Accreditation

• Capacities
• School Improvement Plan (SIP)
• Information System (IS)
• Process of Schooling (PS)
• Vision, Leadership-Governance, and School
  Community (VL)
• Resources and Allocation (RA)
• Membership
• Improvement
• Emergent
• Developing
• Increasing
• Exemplary

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South Redford School District

• Redford, MI
• Western edge of Detroit
• 3450 students
• 28 free and reduced lunch and growing
• 30 African American
• 200 teachers

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South Redfords History with NCA

• All K-12 school continuously accredited since
  1975
• Early accreditation checked compliance with
• Certification of teachers
• Square footage and books per student
• Pupil teacher ratio
• Outcomes
• 2 academic goals, 1 affective goal
• 5 year cycle goals, plan, data, effectiveness

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Need to Challenge Beliefs

• That state assessments did not reflect student
  achievement
• That student achievement needed to increase
• That not all students can be successful
• That low test scores were the result of all the
  new kids

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History of District

• Began in 1920s
• Highest number of students in 40s and 50s
• Achievement above national averages
• Viewed as very good
• 1990s reports cite national data but not results
  of state assessments
• 1998 below state average in most areas

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Culture of South Redford

• Very good teachers and principals
• Confident in curriculum and instruction
• Not concerned about alignment to state standards
• Kept data private within the school
• Didnt talk about MEAP results or share them
  between schools

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Need

• A process for improvement other than NCA Outcomes

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Baldrige Education Criteria

• All students are expected to succeed.
• The system is designed to accomplish the goal.

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South Redford Implementation

• Spring 2000 - Orientation for
• Administrators
• Union representatives
• Key teacher leaders
• Board of Education
• Jim Shipley and Associates Model for support and
  implementation

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South Redford Implementation 2001-2002

• Two day orientation for teaching staff and
  administration in groups of 30
• Third day of classroom application for teaching
  staff
• One day orientation for support staff
• Evening orientation for parents

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South Redford Implementation 2002-2003

• Training of Trainers
• Initial and third day training for new teachers
• Follow up in buildings
• School and Classroom Systems Checks
• Frustration trying to maintain two systems of
  improvement
• NCA Outcomes and Baldrige

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South Redford Implementation 2003-2004

• Initial training for new teachers and follow-up
• School and Classroom systems checks
• Investigation of NCA District Accreditation
• Initial training for superintendent and
  curriculum director

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South Redford Implementation 2004-2005

• PDSA modeling in classrooms
• Required PDSA in Classrooms
• Required PDSA in Schools
• Link PDSA and Systems Checks to Teacher and
  Administrator Evaluation Systems
• Board of Education Systems Check
• NCA District Accreditation
• Training for administrators and building
  improvement team leaders
• Goal Teams work sessions
• Baseline district visit and report

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Baldrige NCA District
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Baldrige NCA District

• NCA Criteria and Exemplary Criteria similar to
  Proficient and Advanced levels of Systems Checks
  Level III
• NCA
• Leadership and Governance
• 16 standard criteria
• 14 exemplary
• Strategic Planning
• 9 standard criteria
• 7 exemplary criteria
• Shipley Systems Check Level III
• Leadership - 3 proficient, 3 advanced
• Strategic Planning - 2 proficient, 2 advanced

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Baldrige NCA District

• NCA Standards and Criteria similar but not
  identical for the district and school
• District identified instead of school
• More exemplary criteria specific to schools and
  classrooms or to the district system

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Baldrige NCA District

• A great fit for districts using Baldrige Criteria
• Developed by NCA and Jim Shipley

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NCA District Accreditation

• Begins with and application similar to a System
  Check Level 3
• Baseline visit
• Focus groups for each standard
• Participants were administrators, teachers,
  parents, students, and Board of Education
• Visiting team made up of Michigan NCA, county
  staff, other school districts
• Report of strengths and opportunities for
  improvement
• Annual reports
• Visit within 5 years to evaluate improvement

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Baseline Visit Focus Groups

• Leadership and Governance
• What is the process of developing the vision,
  mission, core values and beliefs about students
  for the district?
• Who was involved in the process?
• How are the mission, vision, and beliefs used to
  align the school and classroom activities?
• How does the governing board develop, document,
  and communicate policies?

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Monitor School Level Improvement Process

• Responsibility of the District to monitor school
  improvement process
• Form is flexible
• Designing the process now
• Adaptation of District baseline process
• Will parallel District focus groups
• Teams to be mostly district administrators and
  teachers
• An external person
• Continue to monitor improvement cycles

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• Questions regarding NCA District Accreditation

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Changes In Culture

• School and District data is public
• Decisions based on data
• Data used to challenge beliefs about teaching and
  learning
• More realistic about where we are and where we
  need to improve

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Changes in Data

• All achievement as measured by state assessment
  on upward trend
• Almost all above the state average
• Many in the top 5 or 10 out of 35 in the county

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Changes in Classroom Learning Systems

• Using PDSA to improve the Classroom Learning
  Systems
• Students
• More aware of the learning outcomes
• Have input into planning learning
• Taking responsibility for charting and changing
  what they do to learn
• Teachers
• Listening to student needs
• Using data with students
• Realizing that more students can achieve standards

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Changes in Administration

• Requires constant attention on the part of
  leadership to maintaining the system and move it
  forward
• Modeling PDSA to solve district problems
• Meeting agendas are built around Baldrige
  categories
• Using data
• Getting feedback through surveys
• More thoughtful about processes

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Next Steps

• School baseline visits
• Design a system to monitor building improvement
• Implement a data management and analysis system
• Continue focus on district, building and
  classroom use of PDSA
• Really understand the realm and responsibilities
  of each system.
• Document processes
• Continued support for all staff and levels of the
  system

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Seymour Sarason

• Changing a system
• is not for
• the conceptually
• and interpersonally
• faint hearted.

Source The Predictable Failure of Educational
Reform Can We Change Course Before It Is Too
Late?
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Productive Educational Change

• is not the capacity to
• implement the latest policy,
• but rather
• the ability to survive
• the vicissitudes of
• planned and unplanned change while
• growing and developing.

Michael Fullan
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The process of educational change todayis like
trying to redesign an aircraftin flight,with
passengers aboard.
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Change requires a prepared mind.
Lola May
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ChangeREQUIRESa willingness to
RISKINCOMPETENCE.
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We have not answered all our questions, nor
solved all our problems, but we are confident
that we are now confused at a higher level
about more important things.
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South Redford School District

• Redford, MI