AdvancED Accreditation

Carlinville Community School District #1 is accredited by AdvancED, the newly unified organization of the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI), and National Study of School Evaluation (NSSE).  AdvancED is dedicated to advancing excellence in education through accreditation, research, and professional services.

 

During the 2008-2009 school year, Carlinville schools was awarded District Accreditation status from AdvancED.  To earn and maintain District Accreditation from NCA CASI or SACS CASI, school systems must:

 

Adhere to the AdvancED Accreditation Standards for Quality School Systems.

Engage in ongoing self-assessment and continuous improvement.

Document results of improvement efforts.

Complete a STandars Assessment Report between six weeks and six months prior the Quality Assurance Review.

Host a Quality Assurance Review Team once very five years.

Act on the Quality Assurance Review Team's recommendations.

Submit a progress report two years following the Quality Assurance Review.

 

For our school district, this process continues an ongoing cycle of self-assessment and school improvement that we already had in place through the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. The district enjoyed recognition through the highest accreditation NCA offered, the Transitions Endorsement. District Accreditation is very similar through the unified organization of AdvancED, which includes NCA-CASI.

 

The AdvancED Accreditation Standards for Quality School Systems now serve as the foundation for the accreditation process.  The seven standards and accompanying indicators are tied directly to the research factors that impact student learning.  The seven standards address the following areas.

 

Vision and Purpose

Governance and Leadership

Teaching and Learning

Documenting and Using Results

Resources and Support Systems

Stakeholder Communications and Relationships

Commitment to Continuous Improvement

 

Accredited school systems adhere to the standards and use them as a tool for ongoing self-assessment.  They use the standards to continually ask themselves, "What more can we be doing to benefit our students?"

 

Accredited school systems use a disciplined and system-wide approach to document and maintain evidence of their adherence to the standards.  They are continually ready to answer the question, "How do we know we meet the standards?"