Merry Clark, MA
Director, Academic Services, ACSI
What are some of the characteristics of an accredited school or program?
- It is devoted to a mission. It has a clear understanding of what the results of its program should be.
- It is student oriented. Its goals must express what it does for the whole student.
- It knows itself. It operates from a vision of service to students, families, and the community.
- It is self-correcting. It demonstrates a capacity to control its own quality.
- It keeps its promises. It delivers the programs and services that it advertises.
- It accepts objective evaluation. It welcomes periodic evaluations by qualified, outside evaluators.
- It plans for its future. It continuously has plans that include quality-improvement strategies.
- It examines student success. It obtains and analyzes objective evidence on student growth and strives for higher levels of learning for all students.
- It participates in the responsibilities of the academic profession. It participates in the self- enewing activities of evaluation and growth.
- It is recognized. It cares enough about what it does to seek verification by a recognized accreditation authority.
ACSI is excited to announce the new REACH (Reaching for Excellence Through Accreditation and Continuous Improvement for Higher Achievement) accreditation manual. The 10 standards in this document are comprehensive declarations of quality procedures and practices. The manual includes the standards and indicators for all ages that a school or a program serves. Each standard has a set of corresponding indicators, a rationale/impact statement, and rubrics. The indicators describe exemplary practices, processes, and procedures of an educational program that is highly effective in meeting the standards. The rationale/impact statements describe what would be observable and supportable in an educational entity that is effectively putting the standards into practice. The rubrics assist in a self-evaluating process of determining compliance with the standards.
ACSI designed its accreditation program to assist member schools in achieving a standard of excellence and to encourage them in a continuous process of assessment and ongoing institutional development. The process of achieving and maintaining accredited status proclaims a commitment to doing things well. The major benefit to a school or a program is the documentation of an intensive appraisal of each component of its ministry. The subsequent benefit is the status of being an accredited school or program. As John Schimmer writes, “Accreditation is a process of recognizing educational institutions for their standards, performance, integrity and quality” (1984, 227).
The accreditation program has two major characteristics. First, the program probes the spiritual aspects of each component of an organization. Second, the program addresses the educational quality and integrity of a school or a program. The latter characteristic focuses on whether a school or a program is true to its own statements of philosophy, mission, and goals and whether it is meeting quality standards recognized by ACSI.
What are some characteristics of a school or a program that should pursue ACSI accreditation?
- It is ready to assert itself by publicly identifying with a known standard for quality in Christian school education.
- It is beyond the survival mode, moving toward establishing itself.
- It, its staff, or its educational program has become stagnant.
- It desires to systematically strive for excellence.
- It is interested in maintaining its quality program and strengthening those areas that need improvement.
- It is interested in an assessment of its entire program by Christian school educators using a Christ-centered model.
ACSI is a charter member of the National Council for Private School Accreditation, which fully recognizes ACSI’s accreditation program. In addition, ACSI has working relationships with all the U.S. regional accrediting groups and does joint accreditation visits for ACSI schools that wish to have status with both organizations.
A school or a program that commits to striving for excellence through accreditation is agreeing to a process of ongoing review to strengthen and improve its effectiveness and the quality of its instruction. ACSI encourages you to contact your regional office to learn more about REACH and the accreditation process.
Reference
Schimmer, John. 1984. Accreditation. In Administration of the Christian school, ed. Roy W. Lowrie Jr., 227–43. Colorado Springs, CO: Association of Christian Schools International.
CSE 12.4 Accreditation