AdvancED Systems Accreditation Handbook for Catholic Schools Academic Year 2015-2016 To Enable Every Student to Achieve His or Her Full Academic Potential in a High-Performing School
AdvancED Systems Accreditation
Handbook for Catholic Schools
Academic Year 2015-2016
To Enable Every Student to Achieve His or Her Full Academic Potential in a High-Performing School
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The Catholic schools of the
Archdiocese of Chicago is an
educational system not only that
works but is designed to
perpetuate itself for the benefit of
our faith communities and
the civic order.
Archbishop Blase J. Cupich
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Table of Contents
Chapter 1. Introduction to Systems Accreditation…………………………………………..…..4
Chapter 2. School AdvancED Accreditation Team………….……………..…………….……4
Chapter 3. The Internal Review in 2015-2016…………………….................................….6
Chapter 4. The Archdiocese of Chicago School Improvement Review Visit....………9
Chapter 5. A note on Checklists………..…………………………………………………………...11
Appendix 1. Update School Profile in ASSIST Checklist ……………........................12
Appendix 2. Create the Catholic Identity Stakeholder
Feedback Diagnostic Checklist…………………………………………………….13
Appendix 3. Continuous School Improvement Plan Checklist……………………….....13
Appendix 4. Policy Assurances Checklist……………………………………........................14
Appendix 5. Executive Summary Checklist……………..……………………......................15
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Chapter 1. Introduction to Systems Accreditation
Accreditation is a process of quality assurance designed primarily to distinguish schools
adhering to a set of educational standards, for its ability to effectively drive student performance,
and engage schools in continuous improvement.
The purpose of this handbook is to outline the technical work that will create the
conditions for the School AdvancED Accreditation Team to adjust and adapt to the complexities
of continuous school improvement. All elementary and high schools under the governance of the
Archdiocese of Chicago earned the distinction of systems accreditation in June 2015. In order to
maintain accreditation schools must respond to the AdvancED Improvement Priorities, meet the
five AdvancED Standards for Quality, engage in a process of continuous improvement, and
perform improvement reviews for 20% of schools in the system each academic year.
The Office of Catholic Schools is committed to helping our schools in the Systems
Accreditation process. Questions regarding the Systems Accreditation process can be directed to
the Director of School Improvement and Catholic School Accreditation, Dr. Jorge Peña, by email
([email protected]) or by telephone (312-534-5289).
Chapter 2. The School AdvancED Accreditation Team
School AdvancED Accreditation Team
The School AdvancED Accreditation Team consists of four to eight members and is led
by a Teacher-Chair appointed by the principal. Additional required members of a school’s
AdvancED Accreditation Team are the Principal and the Pastor or an Archdiocesan Initiative
Model (AIM) Board member. An exemplar AdvancED Accreditation Team will be made up of
the Principal, the Teacher-Chair, the Pastor/AIM Board Member, an Assistant Principal/Lead
Teacher, and two additional Teachers.
The work of the School AdvancED Accreditation Team is more important than ever and
that work will be focused the evidence that shows continuous improvement. Time is perhaps the
scarcest resource in schools; meeting at least twice a month for collaborative work on continuous
improvement is strongly recommended. Use norms during collaborative work as ground rules to
conduct effective meetings.
Adopt meeting norms:
1. Assume positive intentions. Take the position that everyone in the group is acting out of desire
toward our shared goal of helping all students learn.
2. Take an inquiry stance. Ask questions that allow insight into a colleague’s point of view. Use
sentence starters such as, “What led you to conclude …?” “I’m hearing you say…is that
correct?” “I’m wondering what you mean by…?”
3. Ground statements in evidence. Make a conscious effort to cite data or offer a rationale when
explaining one’s point of view. Sentence starters such as, “I notice that…” “I see…” “I saw
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evidence of…” can make it more likely that statements are not laced with adjectives and
proclamations. The School AdvancED Accreditation Team can support one another by
asking, “What’s your evidence?”
4. Stick to the norms. Stay within the guidelines of using the norms during a meeting, even if it
feels constraining.
5. Start and end on time. This norm is enormously important for developing the trust and
respect of all team participants.
6. Be here now. Stay on task. No surfing the web, checking/responding to email messages,
sending text messages during meetings. The Team functions most efficiently when this is
consistently honored and enforced. The above norms come from Meeting Wise- making the most of collaborative time for educators (2014) by Kathryn Parker Boudett and
Elizabeth City.
Responsibilities of the Teacher-Chair of the AdvancED Accreditation Team
The Teacher-Chair of the AdvancED Accreditation Team is responsible for the following:
Serving as the key point of contact between the Office of Catholic School’s Director of School
Improvement and Catholic School Accreditation (Dr. Jorge Peña) and the school. Note: the
Principal is to be included in all pertinent topic/discussions related to a school’s AdvancED
Internal Review;
Along with the Principal, oversees the accreditation and continuous school improvement
process;
Organizes and facilitates the School AdvancED Accreditation Team meetings;
Along with the Principal, supports stakeholders throughout the accreditation and continuous
school improvement process by answering questions and providing guidance;
Along with the Principal, ensures that requirements of the accreditation and continuous school
improvement process are met; and
Manages the logistics and schedule for the External Review visit.
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Responsibilities of the Principal
The principal is responsible for the following:
Support Teacher-Chair and leads the Accreditation and Internal Review;
Supervise the school’s continuous improvements efforts;
Participate in School AdvancED Accreditation Team meetings;
Approves the following written reports submitted by the school as part of the Internal Review
process:
o Student Performance Diagnostic,
o Stakeholder Feedback Diagnostic,
o Self Assessment Diagnostic,
o Continuous School Improvement Plan, and
o Executive Summary.
Chapter 3. The Internal Review in 2015-2016
In the Internal Review schools in the Archdiocese of Chicago are to undergo the steps
marked with the letter ‘X’ as listed in the following table. The timeline with due dates and the
training dates for the steps are posted on the Accreditation page of the OCS Resource Portal. The
steps are described below the table.
Internal Review Steps 2014-2015 2015-2016
Review/Revise Demographics & Profile Yes Yes
Student Performance Diagnostic Yes No
Create the Catholic Identity Stakeholder Feedback
Diagnostic No Yes
Self Assessment Diagnostic No No
Update the Artifact Management Tool Yes Yes
Implement and evaluate the Continuous School
Improvement Plan Yes Yes
Answer the Archdiocese of Chicago Assurances Yes Yes
Update the Executive Summary Yes Yes
Review/Revise School Demographics and Profile Information in ASSIST
The AdvancED ASSIST on-line platform will be used to manage and facilitate the Systems
Accreditation process. The Teacher-Chair reviews and/or updates the school’s demographic and
profile in ASSIST. The school’s principal reviews and approves any changes to the profile before
it is uploaded to ASSIST. The profile is the name of the head of school (Principal), name of
primary contact (Teacher-Chair), school website, and religious denomination. Use the Update
School Profile in ASSIST Checklist in Appendix 1 for the steps on updating the school profile.
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Create the Catholic Identity Stakeholder Feedback Diagnostic
The Catholic Identity Stakeholder Feedback Diagnostic is intended to summarize the
school’s stakeholder feedback results by facilitating the process of analyzing stakeholder feedback
data in order to identify areas of achievement as well as areas in need of improvement. AdvancED
Catholic identity surveys are for the following stakeholder groups: parents, students in K-12, and
teachers. Use the Catholic Identity Stakeholder Feedback Checklist in Appendix 2 for the steps
on creating this diagnostic.
Update the Artifact Management Tool
The evidence to support Indicators for the Standards is organized in the Artifact
Management Tool (AMT). The evidence in the AMT is designed to help the School AdvancED
Accreditation Team think about the practices and/or processes being implemented that support
their responses to the Levels in each Indicator. The evidence helps school stakeholders to engage
in a discussion about how the school knows it is adhering to the Standards and Indicators. The
AMT is used to provide structure for evidence gathering by providing hyperlinks within this
document. The Office of Catholic Schools (OCS) has a folder in the cloud-based platform
Google Drive for each school to manage their AMT. OCS provides the electronic hyperlink to
access the AMT.
Implement and evaluate the Continuous School Improvement Plan
A learning organization is one where educators continually expand their capacity to create
the results they truly desire, where new and expansive patterns of thinking are nurtured, where
collective aspiration is set free and where educators and students are continually learning how to
learn together (P. Senge, 2006, The Fifth Discipline: The Art and Practice of the Learning Organization). This is the
spirit of the five elements of the Continuous School Improvement Plan: School Profile Data,
Measurable Improvement Goal, Planning, Implementation, and Evaluation.
Step 1- School Profile Data. The School AdvancED Accreditation documents
comprehensive TerraNova and Explore test data on school performance.
Step 2- Measurable Improvement Goals. Each
school is assigned two improvement goals: goal one-
students in grades three to eight are to meet or exceed the
Aspire summative assessment benchmarks in reading; goal
two- students in grades three to eight are to meet or exceed
the Aspire summative assessment benchmarks in
mathematics.
Step 3- Planning. The planning process identifies
measurable objectives, strategies, activities, resources, and a
timeline for achieving an improvement goal. a. Measurable
objectives: a written statement that describes something that
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is to be measured and achieved to determine the effectiveness of the educational program. b.
Strategies: plans of action designed to achieve the measurable objective, professional development
to support the measurable objectives. c. Activities: specific actions that involves student
experiences, includes formative and summative assessments. d. Resources: specify resources and
support systems to accomplish the strategies and activities, such as instructional time, material
resources, fiscal resources, and/or support services. e. Timeline: a timetable for the strategies,
activities, and the benchmark of deliverables for Quarters 1, 2, and 3 or Trimester 1 and 2. An
example of a Continuous School Improvement Plan is posted on the OCS Resource Portal.
Step 4- Implementation. The faculty and administration are to hold one another
accountable for the overall quality of the implementation of all measurable objectives and
strategies. The Student On-Track Record is a tool to monitor the assessment of the measurable
objectives by documenting when the objective was assessed, identifying the students who are
proficient, and targeting students for re-teaching who may not demonstrate proficiency after
formative assessments. The School AdvancED Accreditation Team monitors the documentation
of the Student On-Track Record.
Step 5- Evaluation. The Evaluation process allows the School AdvancED Accreditation
Team to reflect on the improvement efforts and make the necessary changes to sustain continuous
improvement efforts. The School AdvancED Accreditation Team analyzes the School Profile
and the documentation on the implementation process to evaluate the Measurable Improvement
Goals, the Planning, and Implementation to evaluate successes and make adjustments in areas
needing improvement. The answers to the diagnostic questions in the Continuous School
Improvement Plan guides the School AdvancED Accreditation Team in evaluating school
improvement efforts. Use the Continuous School Improvement Plan Checklist in Appendix 3 to
guide the School AdvancED Accreditation Team in creating the Continuous School Improvement
Plan.
Answer the list of Archdiocese of Chicago Assurances
The assurances are policy statements that are answered with a “yes” or “no.” The Principal
of the School answers the three policy assurances: 1. Archdiocese of Chicago Assurances, 2.
AdvancED Assurances, 3. Early Learning Assurances (schools with a Pre-K program). Each policy
assurance has a text box for comments that is used when a policy assurance is answered as a “no.”
For each assurance answered “no,” the Principal is to write in the text box an explanation as to why
the policy assurance is a “no,” and what the school is doing to make the policy assurance a “yes.”
The Continuous School Improvement Plan is uploaded through the Archdiocese of Chicago
Assurances. Refer to the Policy Assurances Checklist in Appendix 4 when the Principal answers
the policy assurances.
Update the Executive Summary
The Executive Summary is a narrative that captures the school’s story, providing context
for the Self-Assessment. The Executive Summary contains the vision and cultural context of the
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institution, a summary of student performance, key information about how the school provides
teaching and learning, and a discussion of challenges and opportunities are highlighted in the
document. There are guiding questions that assist the school in crafting and updating each section
of the Executive Summary. Refer to the Executive Summary Checklist in Appendix 5 before
updating the Executive Summary.
Chapter 4. The Archdiocese of Chicago School Review Visit
The AdvancED accreditation process requires the Archdiocese of Chicago create and
implement an internal process whereby 20% of schools are visited each academic year.
Each year during the five-year accreditation term, about 20% of schools will be visited by an
Office of Catholic Schools Accreditation Review Team consisting of Principals, Assistant
Principals, schools’ AdvancED Accreditation Team-Chairs, and leadership from the Office of
Catholic Schools. The School Improvement Review schedule is posted on the accreditation page
of the OCS Resource Portal.
Chapter 5. A note on checklists
The checklists in the appendices are not intended to be comprehensive. The steps listed
in the checklists are the minimum necessary steps to complete the task; additions and
modifications to fit local practice are encouraged. The checklists identify for the school’s
AdvancED Accreditation Team any pre-work to perform prior to meeting, steps to perform during
group work when the Team assembles to create a diagnostic, and post group work for the Teacher-
Chair or Principal to perform. There are instructions above each checklist for the School
AdvancED Accreditation Team to follow. The pre-work are activities performed by individual
Team members that are designed to prepare them for the group work when Team members meet.
The group work are activities performed by the Team to create a diagnostic. The post group work
are activities performed by the Teacher-Chair or Principal after the Team group meeting; the post
group work generally consists of clerical tasks in ASSIST.
The purpose of the checklists is to give the School AdvancED Accreditation Team
opportunities to adapt according to their expertise and experience. The checklists are designed for
Team members to talk to one another for collaborative work and prompt the school’s AdvancED
Accreditation Team to function better as a team.
Principal performs these
steps.
1a. If Principal is new
to the school: Use the
Access Code to create
an account and log
into ASSIST.
1b. If Principal is
returning: log into
ASSIST.
2. Click on the Profile
tab.
3. Review the
Demographics tab.
If the demographics need to
be updated, then Principal
performs these steps.
1. In the Profile tab, in
Demographics, click
on Update
Demographics.
2. Click on blue
Manage
Demographics link
and make any
changes to the
demographics.
3. Click on the Save
button at the bottom
of the page.
4. Close the window.
5. Refresh
Demographics page in
ASSIST to view
changes.
Appendix 1: Update School Profile in ASSIST Checklist. Deadline- September 14, 2015
Review Demographics Update Demographics
AdvancED Accreditation Team
Members or entire faculty
prepare for collaborative work.
1. Generate the
Response Count
Summary Report in
Assist.
2. Answer the prompt
in Questionnaire
Administration in the
Data Document
3. Enter the values for
survey items in the
tables in the Data
Document
4. Identify the three
survey items with the
highest values.
5. Identify the three
survey items with the
lowest values.
6. Reflect on the
implications of these
findings.
AdvancED Accreditation Team or
entire faculty creates the
Catholic Identity Stakeholder
Feedback Diagnostic.
1. Review the
populated Data
Document.
2. Answer the
Diagnostic Questions
3. Reflect on the
answers to the
Diagnostic Questions
and discuss the
implications of these
findings.
4. Answer the
Evaluative Criteria
Teacher-Chair and Principal
performs these steps.
1. Principal reviews and
approves the
diagnostic.
2. Create the
Stakeholder Feedback
Diagnostic in ASSIST.
3. Upload the data
document
4. Transfer Evaluative
Criteria
5. Copy and paste the
answers to Diagnostic
Questions.
6. Click on the blue
complete button.
7. Download the
diagnostic as a PDF
and email it to the
principal.
Appendix 2: Catholic Identity Stakeholder Feedback Diagnostic. Deadline- February 1, 2016
Group work Post group work Individual Pre-work
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AdvancED Accreditation Team
Members or entire faculty o
prepare for collaborative work.
1. Review the 2015-16
CSIP.
2. Analyze Aspire
Summative data
reports in grades 3-8:
Subject Proficiency by
Grade, Subject
Proficiency by Group.
Subject Proficiency by
Student, and Skills
Proficiency by Student.
3. For reading and
math, identify the
lowest performing
strand in grades 3-8.
4. .
5. Generate preliminary
answers to the
Diagnostic Questions in
Step 5- Evaluation of
the CSIP.
6. For Teacher-Chair
only: use the CSIP
2016-17 template
found in the OCS
Resource Portal to
populate Step 1- School
Profile Data, and write
the Measurable Goals
in Step 2.
AdvancED Accreditation Team
or entire faculty creates the
Continuous School Improvement
Plan.
1. Discuss results from
the Aspire summative
assessment.
2. For reading and
math, identify the
lowest performing
strands and
benchmarks.
3. Answer the
Diagnostic Questions in
the Evaluation section
in the 2015-16 CSIP.
4. Discuss Step 1 and
Step 2 of the 2016-17
CSIP.
5. Complete Step 3-
Planning of the 2016-
17 CSIP.
6. Complete Step 4-
Implementation
Process of the 2016-
17.
Teacher-Chair and Principal
performs these steps.
1. Enter the information
in Step 3- Planning in
the 2016-17 CSIP.
2. Enter the information
in Step 4-
Implementation
Process in the 2016-17
CSIP.
3. Email an electronic
copy of the 2016-17
CSIP to the Principal for
review and approval.
Appendix 3: Continuous School Improvement Plan Checklist. Deadline- June 10, 2016
Group work Individual Pre-work Post group work
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Principal performs these steps.
1. Principal ensures the
Continuous School
Improvement Plan
(CSIP) is of high quality
and complete.
2. Principal has an
electronic copy of the
CSIP.
3. Principal has
approved the CSIP.
Principal performs these steps.
1. Log into ASSIST.
2. In the Assurances
tab, click on Start
Assurances.
3. Click on the drop-
down arrow and choose
Archdiocese of Chicago
Assurances.
4. In the Description
box, type 2016-2017
and click the blue Start
button.
5. Answer the policy
assurances.
6. Upload the CSIP
when prompted by the
assurance.
7. Click on blue
Complete button after
the last assurance is
answered.
Appendix 4: Policy Assurances Checklist. Deadline- June 10, 2016
Review CSIP Answer Assurances
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AdvancED Accreditation
Team Members or entire
faculty prepare for
collaborative work by
performing the steps below.
1. Review the latest
version of the
Executive
Summary.
2. Document any
new information for
part 1- Description
of school.
3. Document any
new information for
part 2- School
purpose.
4. Document any
new information for
part 3- Notable
Achievements and
Areas of
Improvement.
5. Document any
new information for
part 4- Additional
information.
AdvancED Accreditation
Team or entire faculty
updates the Executive
Summary.
1. Discuss the new
information for part
1- Description of
school.
2. Discuss the new
information for part
2- School purpose.
3. Discuss the new
information for part
3- Notable
Achievements and
Areas of
Improvement.
4. Discuss the new
information for part
4- Additional
information.
5. Teacher-Chair
documents all new
information for
each part of the
Executive
Summary.
Teacher-Chair or Principal
performs these steps.
1. Revise the
Executive Summary
with new
information.
2. Principal reviews
and approves
diagnostic.
3. Log into ASSIST
and Click on the
“Diagnostics &
Surveys” tab.
4. Click the “Start
Diagnostic” button.
5. Click on the
“Choose a
Template” drop-
down arrow and
select “Executive
Summary.”
6. Type a
description, such as
2016-2017.
7. Click on the blue
“Start” button.
8. Copy and paste
the responses for
each of the
Executive
Summary.
9. Click on the blue
“Complete” button
after Part 4.
10. Click on the
PDF button and
save a copy.
Post group work Group work
Appendix 5: Executive Summary Checklist. Deadline: June 10, 2016
Individual Pre-work