Accreditation Visitations
Accreditation is…
Accreditation is not…
Accreditation
• Accreditation is a means for a school to
determine their compliance with a set of
standards and benchmarks, determining
strengths and opportunities for growth based
on evidence. Survey results are only one
piece of evidence. Then a plan is formulated
for improvement.
Accreditation
• Accreditation is not about “wordsmithing” or
creating fancy documents.
• Accreditation work should be honest and
professional.
Accreditation
• Accreditation is a means to obtain an accurate
picture of where a school is and where it
wants to be. The action plan is the road map
of how to get there.
• Done well, the process will show the school
where it needs to improve. The school staff
determine which areas they want to
document for accreditation purposes and
write the action plan on those areas.
Continuous Improvement Process for
Accreditation (CIPA)
Steering Committee – Guides the process; educates
the staff; administers the survey; oversees the
writing of the action plan (Co-chairs; Chair of each
Domain)
Domain Committees:
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Mission and Catholic Identity
Governance and Leadership
Academic Excellence
Operational Vitality
CIPA
Work is completed online: www.eas-ed.org
Login to see the school ARCA and forms.
Level of
Compliance
CIPA
CIPA
CIPA
The importance of the Continuous Improvement
Process for Accreditation is the discussions that
the stakeholders have as they determine the
school’s level of compliance. This should be a
vehicle to put everyone on the same page. The
general terms are defined by the diocese and
the school, evidence is gathered and
determinations are made. An action plan
emerges.
Sample Action Plan
Goal 1
Angel Gabriel Catholic School faculty will use
Catholic intellectual tradition to help students
think critically about the world around them.
Eighth graders will demonstrate an improved
understanding of Catholic intellectual tradition
and seventh graders will demonstrate an
improved ability to debate by the spring of 2020
(2.5)
Sample Action Plan
Goal 2
Angel Gabriel Catholic School will update our
facilities management and technology plans so
that we have an integrated set of planning
documents that will enable the school to better
use our resources. Through implementation of a
new integrated plan, there will be a cost savings
of 2% by 2018 and the ability to add $20,000 to
upgrade technology in 2017. (12.1)
Two-day Visitation
Validate Benchmarks and Action Plans
• Review the school’s ratings and evidence
• Validate the work that has been completed,
making suggestions and recommendations for
improvement
• Electronic – login on website to view prior to
visit and to work during visit:
• www.eas-ed.org
Visitation Team
• Chairperson and two team members (more
if larger school)
• Chairperson from outside the diocese;
Team members may be from within the
diocese
• Each team member reviews a different
Domain
During the Visitation
• Team members review the Domain
Committee Reports, Benchmark Ratings,
Evidence, and Comments.
• Observations and interviews are some of the
first-hand evidence used to validate the
benchmark ratings and action plans.
• A team can always ask for more or specific
evidence.
During the Visitation
• Meet with Pastor, Administration, Staff, Parents,
and Students; Sample Questions
Pastor
• How are you involved with the students, staff,
and administrators (5.5)?
• Do you see Catholic identity, scripture, Catholic
Tradition, and Catholic social teachings integrated
into all subject areas (2.4, 2.5, 2.7)?
• How do you see the staff as role models for the
students (3.4)?
During the Visitation
• Observe each classroom for 10 to 20 minutes to
validate level of compliance with specific
benchmarks:
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Mission statement visible 1.4
Catholic Culture visible 2.6
Role Model 3.4 / supports faith life 4.5
Instruction allows students to become evaluators,
problem solvers, decision makers 7.3
Instruction prepares students to be excellent users of
technology 7.4
Instruction addresses affective dimensions 7.5
Instruction engages and motivates all students 7.6
Reviewing the Action Plan
• Is the goal specific and measurable?
• Will the evidence demonstrate success of the
goal?
• Are a timeline, person responsible, and
resources listed for the steps?
• Taken as a whole do the steps lead toward
success of the goal?
Completing the Report
The visitation report is the team’s
response on each benchmark and a
form that is uploaded on the Forms
tab regarding the action plan and
general comments.
Completing the Report
• Each team member presents their Domain to
the team
• Discussion on any benchmarks where the
team member does not agree with the school
• Comments are made on all “disagree” marks;
Comments may be made on “agree” marks
• Team makes any comments or
recommendations for the action plan and any
general comments not covered else where
Questions
• If this is the first visitation training you have
attended, please email me. We need trained
visitors in each diocese.
• Mary Camp, FCC Associate for Accreditation
mcamp@flacathconf.org; office – 850-224-7906;
cell – 850-728-4272