"Though we wish we could identify a single factor that significantly improves achievement, what we know as educators and researchers is that a complex set of factors interact to improve student achievement. " 2004 National Study of School Evaluation (NSSE)
The significance of NSSE's statement above becomes abundantly clear as our school improvement committee, of which I am a member, tries to wrap our collective minds around what the accreditation process is, what specifically are we going to be held accountable for vis-à-vis the accreditation standards, and how are we going to provide documentary evidence that clearly demonstrates that our school meets or exceeds referent accreditation requirements.
Notwithstanding, the more I read through the plethora of accreditation materials provided by AdvancED, the more I realize what a monumental task the accreditation process is, especially as our school improvement committee prepares for an upcoming school accreditation visit.
As anyone who has been on a school improvement committee can affirm, it's a real challenge, especially trying to identify the multiplicity of 'factors' and their respective quality indicators inherent in said accreditation standards, and matching up the relevant documentary evidence that demonstrates how well, or to what degree, the school is meeting said accreditation standards.
As we sort out the entanglement, and go through the process of providing the accreditation team a body of evidence that upon the preponderance of the same determines if our school is worthy of accreditation, it becomes apparent that our present data collection process is primarily focused on quality assurance (e.g., end of cycle) with little emphasis on process and quality improvement (e.g., process control, quality in daily work).
Needless to say, an accreditation process that relies on quality assurance without quality control or improvement can undermine exactly what we are trying to accomplish in regard to the idea of achieving excellence within our schools, especially as we focus on improving the overall quality of student learning and achievement.
According to Secretary Arne Duncan, we don't have to go far to find examples of accredited schools that are not preparing our high school students for entry level jobs, bringing directly into focus that getting accredited is somewhat meaningless, if we are not aggressively focused on continuous process improvement and quality in our daily work as we prepare our students for their futures.
Moreover, does 'getting accredited' really reflect the actual potential that a school has to go beyond what is needed to achieve 'accreditation,' or does it serve to stifle our able to truly create a culture of excellence and change that embraces the expectation that when our students leave our educational systems that they are prepared for the 21st Century, as well as having provided them the appropriate educational opportunities to achieve their best.
To overcome what I perceive to be some significant shortcomings of the 'accreditation process' and the implications therein, it seems what is needed is a robust school quality management system that includes a data collection system that systematically enables schools to not only identify documentary evidence (e.g., sources of data and other artifacts) vis-à-vis the accreditation standards for summative purposes, but to also collect the formative data necessary in order to address more immediate opportunities for quality improvement. Moreover, we must compare our performance to establish benchmarks, milestones, and expectations, as we continuously improve student achievement every single day, every week, every month during the school year, not just for the purposes of quality assurance.
In other words, not only do we need to collect the summative data required by the accreditation process in terms of quality assurance that is focused on summative evaluations, but we also need to collect the formative data to be used for school process and quality improvement that is focuses on formative evaluations, allowing for a continuous school improvement effort throughout the school year. Moreover, it goes without saying that the data collected for either evaluation purpose should include both quantitative and qualitative data.
If we truly want to improve our educational systems in America, we must design a school quality management plan that permits the identification of those factors that need to be consistently and continuously monitored and measured to include essential conditions, key success criteria, quality indicators, targets, limits, goals, objectives allocated resources, educational long-term and short-term strategies, significant learning outcomes, and acceptable deliverables.
Given said quality improvement orientation and evaluative foundation, it will provide the framework to evaluate both the effectiveness and efficiency of said educational process by measuring those specific 'factors' that contribute to maximizing and improving the quality of teaching and learning. Moreover, it will enable us to be proactive as we actively identify areas of improvement that we can control, change, and improve on an ongoing basis for the benefit of our students.
Based on empirical research, AdvancED delineates five necessary conditions for improving school systems which provide "a solid foundation for continuous improvement of effective practices", providing an initial reference point that could serve as the foundation from which a quality school improvement plan can be designed upon.
These organizational conditions include effective leadership, policies and practices that sustain improvement, resources and support systems to sustain improvement, quality information, and quality teachers. Notwithstanding, these factors can than be reconciled and aligned with a school system's inputs, processes, and outputs, enabling us to establish quality indicators, performance targets and limits, measures for comparing and improving effectiveness to include frequency of measurement, and ascertain accountability for meeting those quality indicators, and using said data to identify areas of improvement that need immediate and timely action.
Not only will this help us to focus on doing things right, but doing the right things as we establish our focus, allocate limited resources, and provide leadership and guidance vis-à-vis overall organizational efforts as we pursue excellence.
Moreover, it serves as a basis for re-engineering those things that don't work or inherently have little or no effect on the quality of student achievement, allowing us to revise and re-align outdated policies and procedures, to adjust manpower requirements and budgets, and to reallocate resources to support those 'factors' that directly impact student achievement.
Additionally, AdvancED identified three core tasks and effective practices for improving educational institutions which are interdisciplinary in nature, providing a cross-functional organizational perspective that directly supports the development of a school quality improvement plan. By using referent core tasks and effective practices, we are able to identify those performance indicators that are directly correlated to student achievement, helping us to develop a measurement system that includes quality performance indicators together with their respective targets and limits as well as a means to establish accountability for their achievement.
As described by AdvancED, "the first core task is to ensure desired results by expecting desired results and monitoring performance". In other words, we must ensure desired result by setting and maintaining high expectations for student achievement through a clearly defined vision for student learning, established guiding principles, a community strategy plan, and measureable goals and objectives.
Once established, said vision must be communicated clearly and effectively to all stakeholders to include administration, staff, parents, students, and other stakeholder that establishes a belief that they collectively can achieve excellence and significantly improve student achievement.
Moreover, AdvancED advocates "a vigorous methodology for monitoring everyone's performance that uses data to make informed decisions about teaching and learning. By using a comprehensive school quality improvement program, it will provide the necessary "feedback for improvement in instructional practices and student performance to include measures of students’ academic, cognitive, and metacognitive skills".
The second core task identified by AdvancED that can be used to design referent school quality improvement plan was the idea of improving "teaching and learning by supporting students in their learning and maximizing teachers’ effectiveness."
AdvancED recommends that "schools and districts must support students in their learning by (1) maintaining system-wide expectations for student learning that reflect academic, cognitive, and metacognitive skills; (2) delivering on the expectations for student learning through a curriculum that is coherent and rigorous; (3) aligning an assessment system with curriculum which is enacted in the classroom through instruction support the equitable opportunity of students to learn through individualization and differentiation; (4) providing student support services and special programs to optimize individual student learning; (5) supporting a student learning community that includes student involvement beyond the classroom and that offers a safe environment; and (6) involving families and the community in supporting children as learners.
Additionally, AdvancED states that "equally important as supporting students is the system’s support for teachers and the practices that maximize teachers’ effectiveness.
These practices help teachers to (1) use instructional strategies that provide students with focus, feedback, and sufficient opportunities to master skills; (2) use appropriate strategies to assess the performance of student academic, cognitive, and metacognitive skills; (3) adapt instruction to meet individual needs and engage learners; (4) maximize the use of time for instruction; and 5) create a classroom environment conducive to learning optimize technology and multimedia as learning tools.
When taken together, those 11 factors delineated above can be translated into measurable performance indicators with their respective targets and limits and assigned accountability, enabling us to measure the degree to which we meet these performance indicators, hold school personnel accountable for their achievement, and allow us to identify those areas of improvement that we need to work on.
Lastly, AdvancED encourages a "Culture of Improvement" where "schools and districts must cultivate an environment which has improvement embedded in its daily practices by (1) sharing a common vision and goals that have student learning as the focus; (2) improving individual and collective performance by coming together regularly for learning, decision-making, problem solving, and celebration; (3) enhancing continuously individual effectiveness through inquiry, practice, and peer reflection, and (4) supporting a culture of collegiality, collaboration, respect, and trust."
Only through a shared leadership for the improvement of teaching and learning throughout the school and district, a vigorous commitment to school quality improvement that is focused on measurable performance, and the standardization of 'best practices' that support quality improvement for both teaching and learning will we begin to see some significant school reforms and changes that the entire professional learning community can support.
And yes, we need to absolutely change the culture of self-preservation that permeates our present educational institutions which I believe is the single most important factor that is impeding our ability to keep up with the times, and keeping us from embracing and celebrating those desperately needed changes and wide sweeping school reforms that ultimately will benefit our students, their academic achievement, and their ability to compete in a 21st Century global economy.
_________________________________________________
Personal Opinion Disclaimer
The opinions of the author expressed herein do not necessarily state or reflect those of any particular educational institution.
Moreover, comments or opinions expressed on the Blog are those of their respective contributors only. The views expressed by the author or outside contributors do not represent the views of any educational institution, their respective management, or employees.
The intent of this blog is to provide a place where educators can kick off their shoes, relax, and express what is on their minds, hopefully stimulating a sincere and honest dialogue about issues that we all face as educators, nothing more nothing less.
_____________________________________________________
