NCA CASI District Accreditation: A Systems Approach to School Improvement
By Peggy Siegel, Jim Shipley, and Marilyn Westcott
Peggy Siegel is the Director of Strategic Alliances for NCA CASI. Jim Shipley and Marilyn Westcott of Jim Shipley & Associates work with school districts and schools across the country, supporting them with system-wide improvement. They have worked closely with NCA CASI in the development of the district accreditation framework.

The Need for a Systems Approach
In this climate of increasing accountability, today's education stakeholder expects high performance and a system in which no child is left behind. School districts and schools are held accountable for ensuring adequate yearly progress of all students. This level of sustained performance cannot occur just in one classroom or even one building. It requires coordinated collaboration across schools and strong support from district leadership. It requires a systems approach to continual improvement driven by customer needs, expectations, and requirements. In other words, high student performance is the result of a systematic and systemic approach to school improvement.

It is clear that the 'bits and pieces' approach to school improvement - often referred to as 'random acts of improvement' - rarely yields long-term results. The key to sustained and continual school improvement is knowing that you have improved and understanding specifically how you achieved the improvement.

A Framework for System Improvement: NCA CASI District Accreditation
In the fall of 2004, NCA CASI will launch the District Accreditation Standard and Criteria and Supporting Protocol which are designed to enhance the capability of a district or system to support its schools in continually improving student and school-wide performance. The NCA CASI District Accreditation process describes high performing learning systems in which teachers, administrators, support staff, parents, community leaders, and students are partners in producing high quality learning. The process provides a tool for district and school leadership to meet the increasing accountability demands facing them and improve student performance.

The District Accreditation framework is built on three components of a systems approach and supporting process:

• Systems Integration - NCA-CASI Standard and Criteria
• Systems Alignment of Goals and Measures - Strategic Plan
• System-wide Continuous Improvement - The continuous "plan, do, study, act" cycle
  These three components create a practical way of translating stakeholder needs, expectations, and requirements into system performance excellence.

Demonstration Sites
In 2003-04, NCA CASI worked with three school districts to test and pilot the District Accreditation framework. The three demonstration districts are: Cuba, a small rural district of less than 900 students adjoining the Navajo Nation in Northwest New Mexico; Hutchinson, a district with nearly 5,000 students in Kansas; and Dublin City Schools, a suburban district with 12,500 students north of Columbus, Ohio. Their experiences will be used to fine-tune the rollout of District Accreditation to all interested school districts beginning this fall.

Initial Feedback from Dublin, Ohio, Demonstration Site
Dublin City Schools is the first district to achieve NCA CASI recognition for implementing Transitions district-wide. Transitions is NCA CASI’s exemplary school improvement model that is based on individual student performance. The district is integrating their Transitions work with the new District Accreditation framework.

“District Accreditation provides a model to look at the district as a system of interlocking parts, which are dependent upon one another for success,” notes Dr. Sharon Zimmers, Superintendent of Dublin City Schools, one of the demonstration sites. “The district accreditation process makes the Transitions work being done in our individual buildings more powerful,” observes Dr. Linda Fenner, Dublin’s Executive Director of Curriculum. Adds Fenner: “Feedback mechanisms among the various departments and grade levels will help us identify and leverage the best strategies for all learners.”

Getting Started with District Accrediation
A first step for a district interested in exploring NCA CASI District Accreditation is to address the following questions:

Leadership and Governance
	How do district leaders set and communicate direction, model organizational values, and monitor performance expectations that are consistent with the needs of students, staff, and the community?
Strategic Planning
	How does the district develop a guiding document of strategic goals, measures, and action plans that emphasize student learning and continual improvement?
Valuing Students and Community
	How does the district analyze the performance of its students as they enter, progress through, and exit each level of schooling?
	How does the district systematically monitor community priorities and satisfaction with system performance?
Information Systems
	How does the district ensure the availability of comprehensive and current information on the performance of the system, schools, classrooms, and students?
Valuing Faculty and Staff
	How does the district address training, evaluation, motivation, and recognition of faculty, staff, and students?
Helping Students Learn
	How does the district design, implement, and improve the processes that drive the school, curriculum, instruction, key programs, and support programs?
Documenting Performance Results
	How is the district performing in the following areas: student learning, student-stakeholder satisfaction, financial results, faculty and staff results, operational effectiveness, governance and social responsibility?

The answers to these questions begin to paint a picture of the district as an integrated system in which the aligned relationships between the components are more significant than the components alone.

Learning More
Interested in learning more about District Accreditation? Want to be trained as a District Accreditation chair? Visit the website at www.ncacasi.org/standard/district for copies of the standard and criteria and other relevant information, or contact your NCA CASI state office at 800-525-9517, option 2.

Promising Practices
Western Heights School District: Delivering Real-time, Relevant Information to the Classroom
By Lisa McLaughlin, Western Heights School District, Oklahoma

Western Heights School District in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, facilitates effective data-driven decision-making at all levels (district, site, classroom and student) through a Zone Integration Engine and sophisticated goal analysis process.

The system focuses on the use of emerging technologies to deliver real-time, relevant information on student performance to every teacher in every classroom. Performance data may then be analyzed and used to determine instructional needs for each student and the professional development needs of teachers.

Through the system, data is extracted from disparate software applications and integrated into a reporting architecture from a number of sources at the touch of a button. This cutting-edge, non-proprietary model eliminates the need for multiple points of data entry and effectively assists schools with the reporting requirements of No Child Left Behind Act, while delivering timely information to teachers. In addition, the data warehouse element allows for inclusion and comparison of data across multiple years.

Click here to read more about Western Height's innovative use of technology, or visit The Education Station website which features Western Heights in a Champions of Industry video. You may view the video by connecting to www.theeducationstation.com and following these links: Public preK-12, School videos, School video locator, and Western Heights.

Mentone Elementary School: Leveraging the NCA CASI Process & Materials to Secure Grant Funds
By Angela Miller, Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation, Akron, Indiana

Staff development has been key in our district's improvement process. Each school has aligned staff development needs directly to the goals in the school's action plan. These goals have given each building a focus, and staff development is targeted not scattered. This is crucial when a school has been flagged by the state as a failing school. An immediate plan of action is needed to make significant school improvement, and Mentone Elementary experienced such a success from their NCA CASI action plan and profile.

Click here to read how Mentone Elementary School used the NCA CASI framework to secure a Comprehensive School Reform federal grant of $ 237,884 to support their improvement efforts.

Resources

Useful Websites and Resources on Systems Improvement

Click here for a list of useful resources aimed at helping you implement systemic and systematic improvement.

Commission Corner
Ton to Lead Commission in 2004-05

James Ton, Principal of Chesterton Middle School in Indiana, will serve as the Chair of the Board of Trustees for the 2004-05 school year. Since the 2001 school year, Ton has served as Principal of Chesterton Middle School in Chesterton, Indiana. Prior to that, he spent 15 years as Principal of Westchester Middle School. He has also held assistant principal, teaching, and university instructor positions throughout Indiana. We welcome him to the chair position and thank Bill Fisher, now past chair, for the excellent leadership and guidance he provided during the 2003-04 school year.

New Online Administrator PR Kit

To help you celebrate your accreditation with your community, we have created an on-line Administrator Public Relations Kit available at www.ncacasi.org/members/prkit. The kit includes:
Ready-to-use press releases;

• An advertisement template;
• Q&A guides targeted to specific audiences;
• A brief video introduction to NCA CASI accreditation;
• The official NCA CASI logo that can be placed on your school letterhead or website; and
• A link to the NCA CASI store where you can find flags, door decals, and diploma seals.

Changes to Dues for 2004-05 School Year

The NCA CASI Board of Trustees approved the following changes to the annual accreditation dues for the 2004-05 school year:

The board also approved a 10% dues reduction for districts that have all of their schools accredited and that pay their dues by September 30th. This 10% dues reduction will replace the current affiliate status dues structure. If you have any questions about these changes, please contact your state office at 1-800-525-9517, option 2.

You might find it helpful to know that many schools and districts are using Title II part A funds to pay for attending NCA CASI workshops and for their accreditation dues. Check with your district or state authorities to see how you can use these funds to support your accreditation/school improvement work.

New and Revised Accreditation Criteria

At the March 31, 2004 meeting of the NCA CASI Board of Trustees, board members adopted new and revised existing accreditation criteria for early childhood, elementary, middle level, secondary, and unit schools. The changes will become effective in the 2005-06 school year. Click here to view a summary of the changes.

Tell Us How We're Doing!

Take a few minutes to complete the on-line 2004 Customer Satisfaction Survey. You can access the survey at www.ncacasi.org/surveys/respond?survey_id=1200638.

Annual Meeting Notes

Mark your calendars for NCA CASI's 110th Annual Meeting
Meeting the Needs of EVERY STUDENT EVERY STEP of the Way
April 17-20, 2005 - Chicago, IL

Keynote speakers:

• Dr. Willard Daggett, President, International Center for Leadership in Education
• Dr. Rick Stiggins, Founder, Assessment Training Institute

Call for Presenters
NCA CASI is accepting presentations for the 110th Annual Meeting. To submit a presentation, visit www.ncacasi.org/event/meeting/cfp.

Upcoming Professional Development

Spring Training
Developing Surveys for Your School Profile
May 26, 2004
8:30 am - 3:00 pm
Schaumburg (Chicago area), Illinois
Led by Bill Banach and Mike Bugenski, this session provides you with everything that you need to conduct an effective survey - from the essential steps to sample size to types of questions. Visit the events and training section at www.ncacasi.org/eventsandtraining to find out more and to register.

Summer Institutes
Offered by the National Study of School Evaluation (NSSE)

Using Data to Improve Student Achievement
June 15 -18, 2004
Schaumburg (Chicago area), Illinois

Skills for New School Leaders: Learning and Leading the School Improvement Process
June 28 -30, 2004
Schaumburg, Illinois

To register and find out more, visit www.nsse.org and click on Professional Development or call 800-THE-NSSE.

Mark the Date: 2005 Assessment Conference
March 3, 2005
Holiday Inn South, Lansing, Michigan
Keynote speaker: Dr. Tom Guskey, Professor, University of Kentucky

School Improvement Specialist Program

The NCA CASI School Improvement Specialist Program provides professionals with training in developing, implementing and assessing school improvement processes designed to enhance student learning. Offered in partnership with the University of Nebraska-Lincoln, this highly interactive, web-based program enables individuals to develop expertise, learn key concepts, and form networks with other professionals throughout the world. To learn more about the program, visit http://extended.unl.edu/ncaimprove. New cohorts of students will start August 23, 2004, and in January 2005.

Request a Workshop in Your Area

Would you like a workshop in your area? Do you have a workshop topic you want addressed? Just visit our website at http://www.ncacasi.org/event/workshoprequest and submit your request. We'll do whatever we can to accommodate your specific request

How to Reach Us

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Thank you for reading this issue of NCA CASI e-News. To see a copy of this newsletter on-line or to view past issues of e-News, go to http://www.ncacasi.org/enews/index. Please report problems to enews@ncacasi.org.

North Central Association
Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement
P.O. Box 874705
Tempe, AZ 85287-4705
800-525-9517
http://www.ncacasi.org

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