School Improvement NCA Accreditation

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School ImprovementNCA Accreditation

• What It Is
• What Weve Done
• Where Were Going
• April 16, 2008

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What Is School Improvement?

• State Requirement
• Rule 10 Regulation and Procedures for the
  Accreditation of Schools
• Systematic on-going process of evaluation and
  improvement

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What is Accreditation?

• Accreditation is a voluntary method of quality
  assurance developed more that 100 years ago by
  American universities and secondary schools.
• The goal of accreditation is to evaluate, verify,
  and improve the institutions quality.

AdvancEd 2005
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• Accreditation focuses on the following questions
• What are the characteristics of a good school?
• What methods may be employed to evaluate the
  effectiveness of a school in terms of its
  objectives?
• By what means and process does a school develop
  into a better one?
• How can the regional school accreditation
  associations stimulate schools to continuous
  growth?
• AdvancEd 2005

National Study of School Evaluation founded in
1933
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Accreditation Options

• State Accreditation
• NCA Accreditation
• Building Accreditation
• District Accreditation

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Why District Accreditation?

• Supports system wide continuous improvement
  focused directly on improving student learning
  for all students.
• Supports and enhances a common language of school
  improvement across content areas, grade levels,
  and buildings.
• Ensures collaboration in planning for
  improvement, anchored in a common vision for
  education.
• Provides the school system and community with
  validation and recognition for improvement
  efforts.

AdvancEd 2005
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Benefits of NCA Accreditation

• Mark of Quality
• External recognition of a commitment to quality.
• Proven Process for Improvement
• Clear process for school improvement that are
  grounded in best practices from the education and
  business fields.
• Vehicle to Meet Local, State, and International
  Requirements
• Framework and support system to help meet
  requirements.
• Professional Development
• Annual conferences and state workshops.
• Peer Review and Support
• Opportunity to gain valuable input, validation,
  and support from peers.

AdvancEd 2005
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Benefits of NCA Accreditation

• Best Practices
• Connection to the best practices of over 23,000
  public and private schools.
• Technical Assistance
• Customized assistance to maximize improvement
  efforts.
• Publications, Websites, and Resources
• Guides, handbooks, primers, resources, tools, and
  websites aimed at enhancing improvement efforts.
• Reciprocity of Credits
• Transferability of credits for students from
  school to school.
• Access
• Greater accessibility to sports programs, federal
  loans, scholarships, postsecondary education, and
  military programs that require regional
  accreditation.

AdvancEd 2005
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Accreditation ProcessHow is the AdvancEd
accreditation process different from current
practices?
NCA AdvancEd
Accreditation Term One year Five years
Standards Verification Verified through online report Verified on-site by QAR team
Online Report Basis of annual accreditation decision used to verify adherence to standards generates violations Annual online report is eliminated and replaced by online in-depth standards review and two-year progress report both of which serve as valuable self-assessment and progress tools for schools.
Improvement Cycle Five years Continuous
Improvement Model Performance Accreditation, Transitions, or Validation Feedback Visit Choice of school that meets AdvancEd standards Performance Accreditation
Required External Review Two visits in 5 year cycle At least one visit in 5 years
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Requirements for Accreditation

• Engage in Continuous Improvement
• Meet High Standards
• Demonstrate Quality Assurance Through External
  Review
• Observations
• Practices
• Environment
• Interviews
• Groups
• Individuals
• Artifacts
• Standards Assessment Report
• The School Improvement Plan
• The Schools Vision and Mission
• Student Achievement Data

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Nebraskas Continuous Improvement Framework
AdvacEd Continuous Improvement Framework
Profile What is your current reality?
Vision What future are you pursuing?
Plan Implementation What actions will you
take to improve?
Monitoring Results What have you accomplished?
Nebraska Department of Education
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Nebraska AdvancEd Framework

• Creating the Profile
• Engaging Stakeholders
• Collecting Data
• Reflecting and Analyzing
• Setting the Goals
• Determining Strengths
• Identifying Priorities
• Establishing Areas of Need
• Planning to Improve
• Determining Strategies
• Establishing Timelines
• Finding Resources
• Implementing the Plan
• Monitoring and Evaluation

• Key Actions in Vision
• Examine Research Based Factors
• Determine Beliefs
• Develop a Shared Vision
• Determine Expectations for Student Learning
• Key Actions in Profile
• Describe Students Their Performance
• Describe School Effectiveness
• Determine Target Areas for Improvement
• Key Actions in Plan
• Identify Gaps Between current expected student
  performance
• Set Improvement Goals
• Develop Action Plans
• Implement, monitor, and adjust interventions
• Key Actions in Results
• Identify Measures to Determine Results
• Analyze Document
• Evaluate Success of Interventions
• Communicate Use Results for Further Improvement

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Meeting High Standards

• Vision and Purpose
• Governance and Leadership
• Teaching and Learning
• Documenting and Using Results
• Resource and Support Systems
• Stakeholder Communication and Relations
• Commitment to Continuous Improvement
• AdvancEd 2005

Replaces the Capacity Assessment Instrument
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Quality Assurance Review

• Comprehensive review of the School Improvement
  Plan
• Determines if the school meets the seven
  standards for accreditation
• Provides high quality feedback with commendations
  and recommendations for growth and improvement
• Makes an accreditation status recommendation

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What is the difference between QAR and Assessment
Quality Review?

• Quality Assurance Review
• School Improvement/ Accreditation Requirement
• Once every 5 years

• Assessment Quality Review
• Review of Assessment Process and Procedures
• Assessing the Assessments

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Six Quality Assessment Criteria

1. The assessment reflects the state/local
   standards.
2. The students have the opportunity to learn.
3. The assessment if free from bias and insensitive
   situations.
4. The assessment is at the appropriate level.
5. The assessments are reliably scored.
6. The assessment mastery levels are appropriate.

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Where is Cozad at in the School Improvement Cycle?
Last School Improvement Cycle Ended in 2005-2006
January of 2006 New School Improvement Team
Selected
Phil Parker Jim Terry Stacy Blackmore Karen
Klein Teresa Osborn Bill Shaffer Kelli
Teahon Theresa Besmer Nancy Niles
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Year 1 2006-2007

• Proposed Activities
• Make the Commitment
• Establish Support for the School Improvement
  Process
• Get Started
• Select Steering Committee
• Select Profile Committee
• Establish Timelines
• Discuss the roles of the principal and faculty
• Collect and Analyze Data
• Build School Profile
• Analyze Disaggregate data
• Triangulate Data
• Develop the Mission and Goals
• Revisit Mission Statement
• Select Appropriate Goals

• Cozad Activities
• Make the Commitment
• Introduced PLC Concept
• Sent Team Coaches to PLC Training
• Get Started
• Select Steering Committee
• Steering Committee Training and Professional
  Development (Began in Jan. 2006)
• Collect and Analyze Data
• Analyze Disaggregate data January In-service
• Develop the Mission and Goals
• Essential Skills List

Unification of NCA CASI, SACS CASI, and NSSE
now AdvancED Accreditation
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School Improvement Team Facilitator John
Heckenlively
Accreditation Team Nancy Niles-Chair Bill
Beckenhauer Teresa Osborn Kelli Teahon Bill
Shaffer Todd Hilyard
PLC Team Jim Terry-Chair Theresa Besmer Karen
Klein Woody Blackmore Dale Henderson
John Grinde Chad Dumas - ESU 10 Consultant
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Year 2 2007-2008

• Proposed Activities
• Develop the School Improvement Plan
• Establish goal committees
• Identify assessment to measure performance
• Identify interventions to support the goal
• Create the staff development plan
• Refine the school improvement plan

• Cozad Activities
• Implemented PLCs
• Developed team mission, vision, and values
• Wrote SMART goals
• Disaggregate data
• SAT 9 (Demographics)
• ITBS
• State Standards (State Report Card)
• Develop the School Improvement Plan
• Identify goal
• Best practice research to determine interventions

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Why PLCs The Impact on the School Improvement
Cycle?

• Places Focus on Student Learning
• Involves Everyone
• Collaboration for a Common Purpose
• Builds Capacity and Understanding
• Teacher Level Decision Making
• Facilitates the School Improvement Process
• Helps Fulfill Standards of Accreditation
• Will Help to Clarify the Districts Mission
• Accountability - No Excuses!

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What is the District Goal and How Was it Decided?

• Recommendation of the Previous External Team
  Visit
• Lack of Implementation of Interventions
• Student Achievement Data

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What Were the External Teams Recommendations?

• Middle School
• The school improvement plan needs to be clearly
  connected to the school mission.
• Even though the staff has been surveyed about
  activities they are currently doing to support
  this goal, there is no evidence of a written
  intervention plan to address the identified goal.
  
• An intervention plan, including activities, staff
  development plans, and a timetable, needs to be
  developed.
• The faculty should research appropriate
  intervention strategies and choose those they
  feel appropriate.

NCA External Team Report
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• High School
• We would recommend including data on SPED
  students as well as former students.
• Data could be disaggregated by factors that may
  be more meaningful, such as free/reduced lunch or
  by quartile.
• Charts and tables could be clearer with labels
  and explanations for all the data.
• The goal is relatively narrow as it only focuses
  on computation skills.
• Many of the math related activities that teachers
  are doing in their classrooms, especially
  non-math classes, include much more that
  computation.
• You might want to consider broadening the goal to
  be more comprehensive of math skills and
  concepts.
• STARS data could also be used as another
  assessment.
• You need to decide if the assessments are telling
  you what you need to know about your progress in
  meeting the goal.
• Does the goal need to be broadened to include
  more math concepts and skills.
• The administration needs to continue building the
  staffs understanding and capacity for school
  improvement.

NCA External Team Report
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• Summary, Commendations, and
• Next Steps
• Continue to work on the math curriculum.
• Align with state standards
• Develop continuity between all grade levels
• Visit other schools which have successful math
  programs
• Consider raising graduation requirements for
  math.
• Provide release time for staff to work on the
  school improvement process and for staff
  development.
• Develop specific interventions and identify
  assessments that deal with the goal of improving
  math computation.
• Develop a plan for teacher accountability beyond
  just submitting what is now being done in class
  for math skills.

NCA External Team Report
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Continuous Improvement Process Alignment Worksheet
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Why Do We Need Data and Who Is It For?

• Inform Instruction
• Support District Decisions
• Document Program Growth
• Monitor Student Progress
• Identify At-risk Sub-groups
• Classroom Teachers
• Parents
• School District
• Community
• State Requirement
• Federal Requirement

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Student Performance Data
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Student Performance DataNRT - ITBS
ITBS 2007 Grade Grade Grade Grade Grade Grade 2007 ITBS High School Grade Grade Grade Grade
NCE 3 4 5 6 7 8 NCE 9 10 11 12
                       
Total Reading 54 53 49 50 48 46 Total Reading 53 52 51 51
Word Analysis 57 53 47 49 47 47 Vocabulary 48 49 45 46
Comprehension 55 52 51 51 48 45 Comprehension 54 53 52 53
Math Total 54 46 49 49 48 50 Math Total 55 50 51 53
Concepts/Probs/Data 46 49 51 48.5 49 50.5   54 53 52 54
Computation 44 45 46 47 45 48   54 46 49 51
Language Total 54 52 54 51 51 46          
Cap/Punc 50 50 53 51 52 45.5 Revising Written Materials 51 48 53 53
Usage Expression 61 57 57 51 49 48          
Spelling 56 55 54 53 51 48 Spelling 53 53 53 52
Science 56 56 59 54 56 51 Science 53 53 57 55
Social Science 58 58 60 53 48 47 Social Science 53 51 52 56
Listening 47 47                  
Composite 55 55 55 52 50 48 Composite 53 54 56 57
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AYP Goal for 2006-2007 Elementary 74 Middle
School 69 High School 72 AYP Goal for 2007-2008
Elementary 83 Middle School 79 High School 81
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Program Comparison
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Cohort Comparison
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SAT 9
ITBS
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Whats Next?

• Year 3, 4, 5, and Beyond
• Implement the School Improvement Plan
• Determine baseline performance
• Implement interventions
• Monitor and Document Implementation
• Modify plan as needed
• Monitor short-cycle and long term goals
• Continue to collect and analyze data
• Quality Assurance Review
• Continue the Process
• Identify a new goal

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How Will the State Test Change What We Are Doing?
NDE 2008
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Questions?