REACH Accreditation Preparing Your School for a Team Visit Welcome to the training for REACH Accreditation, Preparing Your School for a Team Visit. Office of Academic Services

Preparation = a great visit! From the very beginning of the process, keep everyone informed of the process Role of the consultant Role of the steering committee (and chair) Role of the subcommittees Role of the visiting team, as peer evaluators Clear expectations of time commitments Subcommittee work Steering Committee meetings Meetings with visiting team, final presentation This presentation is primarily for the Steering Committee Chairperson. Others may certainly benefit from listening to it as well. From the very beginning of the process, it is important to keep everyone informed of the process and requirements for accreditation. This includes Role of the consultant Role of the steering committee and chair Role of the subcommittees Role of the visiting team, as peer evaluators Clear expectations regarding time commitments throughout the process Subcommittee work (once a month until work is completed) Steering committee work (once a month throughout the process) Meetings with the visiting team and final presentation

Purpose of the team visit To validate the school’s self-study. Confirm strengths and areas for improvement identified by the school in the self-study (conference, interviews, observations, etc.). To determine if policies, procedures and programs are in accordance with the school’s purpose and mission and meet standards for an accredited school. The visiting team will not attempt to change the direction or purposes of the school or Compare the school with other accredited schools. It is important to explain to the staff that the purpose of the visiting team is To validate the school’s self-study. That is, to confirm that the strengths and areas for improvement identified by the school are accurate (through conference, interviews, observations, etc.). To determine if school policies, procedures and programs are in accordance with the school’s purpose and mission and meet the standards for an accredited school. (help determine whether the school is making the best use of its resources) The visiting team will not attempt to change the direction or purposes of the school or To compare the school with other accredited schools.

Visiting Team Members Come desiring to be helpful Brothers and sisters in Christ Professional colleagues with similar interests, goals, and experiences Come from other accredited schools. Volunteers, willing to give of their time Pray for the team members, throughout the process! Introduce the team members to staff when possible. Visiting team members: come desiring to be helpful They are brothers and sisters in Christ professional colleagues with similar interests, goals, and experiences come from other accredited schools. Important to understand that they are volunteers, willing to give of their time, often working extra to leave substitute plans, do make-up work in order to come and help your school Please pray for the team members, throughout the process! Introduce the team members to staff when possible. It will help the team and will help your staff members.

During the visit It is “school as usual” when the visiting team is present… No tests, videos, or field trips Typical teaching is best Chair near the door with all day’s lesson plans Just continue teaching Not evaluating you as a teacher but rather looking at the teaching/learning interaction as a whole. Will use a form (Classroom Observation Tool for Accreditation – COTA) It is important to tell your staff… It is “school as usual” when the visiting team is present No tests, videos, or field trips Typical teaching is best (don’t try something completely new just for the team) Put a chair near the door with all day’s lesson plans (team members should not have to walk half way across the room to find an open spot) They should also be able to see how the segment they observe fits into the overall lesson and even unit, if possible. Just continue teaching. Don’t stop and introduce them. Their time is short. They want to see the regular classroom experience. They are not evaluating you as a teacher but looking at the teaching/learning interaction as a whole. (They are equally as interested in the student-teacher interactions, student-student interactions, higher order thinking skills, transitions, student engagement in the lessons/materials, whether or not they see collaboration, use of technology, biblical integration, etc.) Will use a form to help them concentrate on observable components primarily from Standard 5. (Classroom Observation Tool for Accreditation – COTA)

Observations Goal is to visit most classrooms (usually 15-20 minute segments) Not possible in all visits, team has to decide on visits that will be representative of the school No individual teacher’s name will appear in the report. No results given to administrators. Observations give an overall sense of the teaching/learning environment. specifically Standard 5. Questions in a section? Sometimes teachers are interviewed individually Teachers should prepare students Observations: goal is to visit most classrooms (usually 15-20 minute segments) not possible in all visits (to visit every classroom), if not, team has to decide on visits that will be representative of the school Again, no individual teacher’s name will appear in the report. no results given to administrators. Assure your teachers that “teacher evaluation” is not the point of these observations. observations give an overall sense of the teaching/learning environment, specifically Standard 5. If team members have questions regarding a section? sometimes teachers are interviewed individually Teachers should prepare students. Tell them to just be normal and continue class as usual.

Non-academic Staff Non-academic staff, office staff, aides, etc. may be interviewed individually and/or collectively Give them the same assurances. Not an individual evaluation. Non-academic staff, office staff, aides, etc. may be interviewed individually and/or collectively Give them the same assurances. Not an individual evaluation of them or their services.

Encourage staff to participate To get to know team members. Lessens anxiety and they find a rich resource. To share freely and honestly with the team. Honesty will yield the best results for your school. Remind the staff that discussions are confidential and no names appear in the report. Encourage staff to get to know team members. It greatly helps to lessen the tension as they perceive the genuine, sincere interest of the team members. Encourage the staff to share freely and honestly with the team and to be as cordial as possible since this free and open dialogue is what will make the accreditation process work. Again, remind the staff that all discussions are confidential and no names appear in the report.

Great job, everyone! and Thank You! Prepare your staff Know how it was accomplished Know that it was based on evidence Know the results (priorities, conclusions) Be able to articulate what part they played Also good for the staff to understand the next steps. Plan a celebration! You won’t know the final outcome but you will be able to say, We completed our part. Great job, everyone! and Thank You! Know how it was accomplished Know that it was based on evidence Know the results (priorities, conclusions) Make it available to all who want to read it. Share conclusions with faculty. Staff members should be able to articulate what part they played Also good for the staff to be clear about expectations for the result of the visit and what will come of the visiting team’s report. (Understand the next steps.) Know that the CSIP was built from the report and school improvement over the next five years will be significantly influenced by this report. Plan a celebration! The visiting team will probably let you know what their overall recommendation is but it still has to go to the commission for final approval. You won’t know the final outcome but you will be able to say to your staff, We completed our part. Great job, everyone! and Thank You for your hard work! You can say Farewell to the visiting team and celebrate with your staff. Ice cream bars for everyone! Some schools give their staff a Dress-Down Day the following Monday…all kinds of options. Have fun with it!