Middle States Accreditation
The faculty and staff are currently involved in Designing Our Future, a unique accreditation protocol that uses a coherence theory of evaluation and strategic planning as vehicles for school improvement and growth in student performance.
The primary determinants of progress are the input of resources and actual student performance. Designing Our Futurerequires the school to base its improvement efforts on a vision of a preferred future and thus the process is future-oriented. Designing Our Futureprovides for a continuous review of programs and services, and allows diverse community members to participate in charting the future of the school.
Designing Our Futureprotocol requires that the school meets the Middle States standards. An assessment of the school’s adherence to the twelve standards is integrated into the self-study process. The results of the self-study become the basis for the school’s improvement goals. A strategic plan is developed for each goal — detailing activities, timelines, individuals/groups responsible, and resources needed to achieve these goals.
Middle States Standards are qualitative statements that reflect research-based best practices evident in high performance schools. The Twelve Standards cover all areas of a school’s operations:
- Philosophy/Mission
- Governance and Leadership
- School Improvement Planning
- Finances
- Facilities
- School Climate and Organization
- Health and Safety
- Educational Program
- Assessment and Evidence of Student Learning
- Student Services
- Student Life and Student Activities
- Information Resources and Technology
When the self-study is completed, the school community hosts a visiting evaluation team assigned by MSA for up to three days. The visitors help the school community identify discrepancies between its mission and beliefs, classroom practices, and results. The visiting team writes a comprehensive report listing major strengths and opportunities for improvement/recommendations. The school is required to develop an improvement plan/ strategic action plan that will assure the school’s continuous improvement on all levels.
Our self-study will be completed by the end of the present school year, and the visiting team will be at St. Therese School in the Fall 2010.
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