Strategies That Work
BY MARK A. ELGART/School Administrator, August 2020

Oliver Grenham, chief education officer in Westminster, Colo., says students are accustomed to outsiders conducting classroom observations. PHOTO COURTESY OF WESTMINSTER, COLO., PUBLIC SCHOOLS

School systems can use the accreditation process to fuel internal improvement. Several strategies can drive change.

»SELF-ASSESSMENT. When the Norris, Neb., School District had staffers complete a self-assessment as part of the school district review process, they rated a wide range of quality indicators 3’s or 4’s on a four-point scale. Even so, the process reinforced the areas of improvement external reviewers would later identify.

“We had to really reflect on our original responses,” says John Skretta, the former superintendent in Norris. “Realistically, everything we needed to know was, in one fashion or another, embedded in the self-assessment.”

»OBJECTIVE DATA. Classroom observations and survey data generated by external reviews provide objective, third-party confirmation of where practices are and are not being implemented with fidelity. Feedback is rarely a surprise, school leaders say, but external accreditors’ respected voice lends credibility to calls for change.

»PRIORITIZATION. External reports pinpointing the most critical areas of improvement can help focus internal efforts. “One thing we tried to do is manage how many objects of change we have in the system at any given time,” says Pamela Swanson, superintendent of Westminster Public Schools in Colorado.

»ADDRESSING POINTS OF PRIDE. While most districts have practices or cultures that define them, the outside perspective accreditation brings can shine a light into areas where assumptions fall short of reality. In Westminster, Colo., classroom observations revealed that despite widespread staff and community support for competency-based education, implementation was inconsistent throughout the district, especially in the grades that had adopted it most recently.

»LOOKING BEYOND CLASSROOMS AND BUILDINGS. In Farmington, N.M., parent surveys conducted as part of the district review revealed challenges connecting with the community. As a result, leaders improved central-office communications and consolidated administrative functions and staff from a half dozen buildings throughout the city into a “one-stop shop.”

»LEVERAGING ACCREDITATION PRACTICES. Many districts, including Farmington and Westminster, have continued stakeholder surveys and classroom observation protocols from external reviews as part of internal improvement efforts. “Kids and teachers and principals are so used to people looking at things, it’s just common practice now,” says Oliver Grenham, Westminster’s chief education officer.

»CELEBRATING SUCCESSES. Accreditation feedback often reaffirms areas of excellence within a school district. As with evaluations of individual educators, it’s important for leaders to communicate successes as well as areas for improvement.
“It’s a wonderful means of reaffirming for schools what they are doing right,” Skretta says. “It recognizes how hard you’re working and where you’re making a positive impact.”