1. ACSI HEAP Programmatic Accreditation
Tips for the Chair of a HEAP Visit
Tips for the Chair of a HEAP visit (Programmatic Accreditation for Higher Education Teacher Education programs)

2. Agenda Preparation for the visit Purpose of the team visit
Components of the team visit
Commendations and Recommendations
Evidence
Writing the narrative
Conclusion summary
Tips for writing the report
Use of time during the visit
This presentation is primarily for the Team Chairperson for a HEAP visit. Others may certainly benefit from listening to it as well.
Preparation for the visit
Purpose of the team visit
Components of the team visit
Commendations and Recommendations
Evidence
Writing the narrative
Conclusion summary
Tips for writing the report
Use of time during the visit

3. Preparation = a great visit!
From the very beginning of the process, keep everyone informed
Role of the School’s Accreditation Chair
Role of the chair of the visiting team
Role of the visiting team, as peer evaluators
Clear expectations of time and work involved
Self-study (and ePlatform)
Meetings with visiting team
Final presentation and recommendations
Work with team prior and during the visit
From the very beginning of the process, it is important to keep everyone informed of the expectations and requirements for accreditation. This includes:
Role of the School’s Accreditation Chair – helping them to understand how to organize the process.
Your role…the Role of the chair of the visiting team
Role of the visiting team, as peer evaluators
Clear expectations of time commitments, and work involved
Self-study (and work ePlatform) for the college
Meetings with visiting team during the visit
Final presentation and recommendations
Your work with team prior and during the visit

4. Purpose of the team visit
To validate the school’s self-study.
Confirm strengths and areas for improvement identified by the college in the self-study (evidence, 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 program.
The visiting team will not attempt to change the direction or purpose of the program
Nor compare the school with other accredited programs.
It is important to explain to both the college staff and to your visiting team, 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 college staff are accurate (through evidence, interviews, and observations).
To determine if school policies, procedures, and programs are in accordance with the school’s purpose and mission and that they meet the standards for an accredited program. (In some cases, a HEAP visiting team can also help determine whether the school is making the best use of its resources, although that is not its primary purpose.)
The visiting team will not attempt to change the direction or purpose of the program (other than helping them meet criteria for HEAP)
They are also not there
To compare the school with other accredited programs (other than to refer to accepted or best practice in some areas)

5. 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 colleges, HEAP programs, regional offices, HQ
Confidential, not using this information for their own programs
Volunteers, willing to give time
Pray for visit, throughout the process!
It is important the college staff and the visiting team understand that:
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 colleges, HEAP Programs, ACSI staff
They will be confidential and not use this information for their own programs. (They understand their role in accreditation and their ethical responsibilities.)
Important to understand that they are mostly volunteers, willing to give of their time, often working extra to do the work from their own college at odd hours so they can do this for your school
Please pray for the visit, and the team members, throughout the process!

6. During the visit
It is “class as usual” when the visiting team is present, it should be:
No tests, videos
Typical teaching is best
Just continue teaching, no introductions
Not evaluating individual teachers but rather looking at the teaching/learning interaction of the program.
Looking for level of rigor, theory vs. application, student engagement, etc.
Limited classrooms will be observed
You can help the College’s Accreditation Chair
“class as usual” when the visiting team is present, it should be:
No tests, videos
Typical teaching is best
Just continue teaching, no introductions
Team members are not there to evaluate individual teachers but rather to look at the teaching/learning interaction of the program.
Looking for level of rigor, theory vs. application, student engagement, etc.
Limited classrooms will be observed
Time is short. You want to see the regular classroom experience.
You are not evaluating them as a teacher but looking at the teaching/learning interaction as a whole. (You 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 use collaboration, use of technology, biblical integration, etc.)

7. When you get ready to write the HEAP Visit Report, the ePlatform will walk you through all the required sections. There are some prompts that ask questions or give you some ideas of what goes in each. The titles are self-explanatory.
Most of the sections are descriptive. When you write the paragraphs, think of them as summaries. Do not think about needing to be exhaustive but rather, think about what would a commissioner need to know in order to approve this teacher education program for the next five years. After a report with these sections and 5-10 (each) commendations, recommendations, and suggestions, along with your team’s final recommendation, a commissioner should have a pretty good idea about this program.
If it is NOT an initial visit, you will have the “Response to Previous Recommendations” section - Update previous recommendations with current information. Finish with an assessment from the team’s perspective…”complete,” “in process,” or “not started.” When responding to previous recommendations, you may find that the answer they gave several years ago is no longer true or has changed for the better. Feel free to update it with a current entry. For example, add a new heading… Spring 2017 – and give your new information. It needs to be accurate. Finish with an assessment from the team’s perspective…”complete,” “in process,” or “not started.”

8. Commendations and Recommendations
Commendations – an opportunity to highlight the program, read at the highest levels
Recommendations – the “meat” of the report, possibly the most important part
Commendations and recommendations must be found in the narrative. No surprises.
Comms and reccs should not conflict.
Written in complete sentences
Reccs start with an action verb (1-2)
Reccs are not prescriptive
Focus on school improvement. Don’t use deficiency language.
While the descriptive sections are important, the meat of a HEAP report is really found in the Commendations, Recommendations, and Suggestions.
The commendations declare what is really good about the program. What overall strengths did you, as the visiting team, affirm. Why is this so important? The provost, vice president, and possibly the president of the college is going to read this report and see what ACSI says is really good about the Teacher Education program at this university. This is our opportunity to reinforce the best practices we’ve identified in the program and especially point out the good work they are doing for Christian education, assuming the team sees it.
The recommendations are their roadmap for improvement over the next five years. In some ways, this is the most important section of the report. This will figure into their departmental goals and possibly into their strategic planning. Think about the impact this section will have on the health of the Teacher Education department and the lives of the teachers yet to be trained when writing these recommendations.
Commendations and recommendations must be found in the narrative of the report along with an explanation as to where the information came from and what specific aspect was weak or strong. No commendation or recommendation should be a surprise if it has been discussed somewhere in the text of the report.
Make sure the commendations and recommendations don’t conflict. If they are close, be sure to differentiate what parts are weak or strong.
All commendations and recommendations are written in complete sentences:
Recommendation statements should start with an action verb or two (like “Review and develop…”
Do not use verbs like “continue,” “consider,” or “should.” If you can’t find something stronger to say, don’t put it in. It is possible that the college should “review” or “revise” rather than “consider” if there is a concern.
You may use a second sentence if you need to give additional context or explanation. However, that may have been supplied in the narrative portion of the report.
Don’t be prescriptive in recommendations. Don’t prescribe that they purchase something, hire someone, or adopt a specific program, even if that IS their preferred solution to the problem. Focus on the result the indicator points to. Make it substantive. If there is an industry standard that they should review, you may include that. It may be better suited for a suggestion.
Make sure the focus is on school improvement. Even if the recommendation comes from a deficiency perspective, put it in terms of being on the path of improvement. (Example: students are failing a qualifying test at a higher rate over the past few years. Test changed, timing changed, so they analyzed the failures and move the sequence of the class. Made a difference.)

9. Evidence
Team members must list 2-3 key sources at the end of each commendation, recommendation, and suggestion. Example: (Evidence reviewed: interviews with faculty, students, and staff; student handbook)
Evidence should support the statement in the commendations and recommendations.
Evidence needs to be specific. (Sept. board mtg. minutes or student handbook) What groups of people did you interview? (interviews with faculty and students or cooperating teachers)
Only capitalize proper nouns. (interview with provost is correct, not interview with Provost because his/her name was not used.)
It is important to talk about evidence with the Accreditation Chair. They have to include it with their self-study.
Team members must list 2-3 key sources at the end of each commendation, recommendation, and suggestion. Separate items of the same type with commas, and items of different types with semicolons. Example: (Evidence reviewed: interviews with faculty, students, and staff; student handbook)
The evidence listed should support the statement in the commendations and recommendations. Some reports are weak in terms of evidence, or hard to follow because the conclusion that is drawn could not have been derived from the evidence mentioned. (Ex. Sometimes it looks like surveys or interviews were used and yet they are not listed as evidence.)
Evidence needs to be specific. “Documentation” or “Interviews” is not specific enough. What document? (Sept. board meeting minutes or student handbook) What groups of people did you interview? (interviews with faculty and students or cooperating teachers)
Only capitalize proper nouns. (“interview with provost” is correct, not “interview with Provost” because his/her name was not used.)

10. Team’s Narrative Section
Section/Standard narratives:
Include context in the narrative for commendations and recommendations.
Summarize important facts from the school’s self-study and include those.
DO NOT copy large sections without editing them from the “team’s perspective”
Refer to mission statement or goals where appropriate
Let’s talk about the standard narratives:
Be sure to include some context in the narrative for all commendations and recommendations. Think about a new department chair reading this report a couple of years later…they might have questions like “did the students say this? Did the faculty share that information? Did that come from the self-study or was that something the team saw on their own? What evidence did they use?” They should be able to ascertain that from reading the report.
Summarize important facts from the school’s self-study and include those in the various sections.
DO NOT CUT AND PASTE FROM THE SCHOOL’S SELF STUDY WITHOUT EDITING TO READ AS FROM THE TEAM’S PERSPECTIVE. You are free to use some of that information but usually you need to re-write it and often, shorten it. Also, do not copy from Annual Reports without verifying the information! It may have changed.
The mission statement will be asked for early in the report. You may want to refer back to it (or the goals for the Education Department) as you evaluate their program. Are they really accomplishing their stated mission?

11. Team’s Recommendation
The team writes a short statement regarding their recommendation about what they think should happen with this program’s accreditation.
Accredited (for the next five years)
Or not (If the team is NOT recommending accreditation, they should leave this section completely blank. It will not print. Contact the ACSI Academic Services for suggestion.

12. Conclusion Summary
Include key themes in the first paragraph of the Conclusion Summary.
Not all the commendations and recommendations will be mentioned. Highlight most significant.
Overall strength of the program. Well-organized? Academically rigorous? Well-balanced with secular and Christian education? Highlight 1-2 strong themes.
The last few paragraphs are boiler plate.
Thank-you’s
Include a brief comment about key themes in the first paragraph of the Conclusion Summary. Make it unique to the college.
While not all the commendations and recommendations will be mentioned, comment on a few key concepts to give this a personal feel.
Try to give the overall strength of the program. Was it well-organized? Academically rigorous? Well-balanced with secular and Christian education? Highlight a strong theme or two rather than just copying the text of the sample report.
The last few paragraphs are pretty much boiler plate.
Change the names of the college and who you would like to thank.

13. Be Specific Be consistent throughout on names of items.
Use their terminology when possible.
Personalize the reports for the grades they have in their certification. (K-8, or K-12)
In the introduction and demographic sections, you will be asked for: (see sample)
Who they are accredited by? There may be many organizations/accrediting bodies.
What majors lead to ACSI certification?
Do any graduate programs lead to certification?
How many students are in each program?
Mid-term or renewal, and what years?
If you call something by one name in one area of the report, be consistent throughout (Education Department, not School of Education, or Department of Education). The sample report has “Secondary/Certification Faculty” to talk about the professors in content areas that offer education degrees outside the Education Department (such as the Secondary English teacher). Ask the chair of the department what is preferred and personalize the report everywhere.
Find out if they call their students “pre-service teachers” or “candidates” at some point. You will have to use “students” in some places, but try to use their terminology when at all possible. “Students” can get confusing when it is not clear if you are talking about the college students or the K-12 students in the Christian/secular schools.
Also, personalize the reports for the grades they have in their certification. If they only have a program for grades K-8, then use that. Some are PK-12. Be specific.
On the first page of the report, list: (see the sample)
Who they are accredited by? There may be many organizations/accrediting bodies.
What majors lead to ACSI certification (and are there other departments involved)?
Do any graduate programs lead to certification? If so, which ones, how many in each?
How many students are in the various programs (above)?
Reason for the visit (mid-term or renewal) and what years?

14. Specifics highereducation@acsi.org
Full-time, part-time, and adjunct Ed. Dept. faculty
Chair of the Education Department
Visit schedule, keep it general
Groups of faculty are fine (Ed. Dept. faculty) or (Secondary/Certification faculty).
Describe students such as “current student teachers” or “junior year pre-service teachers.”
Quotes are a great addition to the report.
The ePlatform does not support attachments
At some point in the report (usually the introduction or the section on the Educ. Dept.), tell us how many full-time, part-time, and adjunct faculty.
Be sure to note who is the chair of the education department.
For the visit schedule, keep it general and fairly short. You may list faculty names but do not list student names or names of cooperating teachers/administrators, etc.
Groups of faculty are fine (Education Department faculty) or (Secondary/Certification faculty).
Describe students such as “current student teachers” or “junior year pre-service teachers.”
Quotes are a great addition to the report. However, use only three to four in any one section and they do not replace actual narrative text. They should be in addition to what you, as the team, write.
The ePlatform does not support attachments. If you do need to submit additional documents, you will need to send those separately to ACSI. Use

15. Editing and Formatting
Basic report is formatted by ePlatform
Draft the report in Word, copy into the ePlatform after edited
See the Tips for the HEAP Team Chair for formatting and editing
Print the report in pdf to view it for editing.
Before you send the report to the college, make sure at least one other team member helps edit
Allow the college to preview for accuracy
Basic report is formatted by ePlatform
Most of the work should be drafted in Word, only copied into the ePlatform after edited
See the Tips for the HEAP Team Chair for formatting and editing suggestions
Print the report in pdf to view it for the final edit.
Before you send the report to the college, make sure at least one other team member helps you edit for accuracy, spelling, grammar, punctuation, and capitalization.
Allow the college to look it over for accuracy before the final copy is turned in to ACSI.

16. Review with Team Members
Listen well and take notes. You will need specifics when it is time to write your section of the report.
Leave your cell phone and other devices on silent. Only check them on break. Discipline yourself to be “all in” on the visit while you are there.
Avoid too much off-topic chatter between teammates. The time on a HEAP visit is very limited. You are a professional.
Listen well and take notes. You will need specifics when it is time to write your section of the report. You will be less valuable to your team if you have only vague memories.
Leave your cell phone and other devices on silent. Only check them on what is determined to be your break. Although no one may say anything to you, it will be a frustration to your team members if you are frequently checking your phone/laptop for messages or s. Discipline yourself to be “all in” on the visit while you are there. It is short so you have to make the most of the time!
Avoid too much off topic chatter between teammates. Although it is great to get to know new people or catch up with old friends, the time on a HEAP visit is very limited. You are a professional. The chair is not likely to ask you to get back to work.
You will need to maintain focus to get the job done.
Stay Focused!

17. Use your time wisely
You may be tempted to ask all kinds of questions that interest you. Focus first on the HEAP visit items and then ask other questions.
Asking questions is an art and a science. Put people at ease by giving context for questions. Explain the school improvement purpose of accreditation.
Know the HEAP instrument and what needs to be asked. Time is short.
Day Two – verify planned recommendations/ suggestions with decision-makers. Recommendations will be around for five years on annual reports.
You will learn a lot if this is your first time at a new college. You may be tempted to ask all kinds of questions that pertain more to what you are interested in rather than what has to be asked for the HEAP visit. Please focus first on the HEAP visit items and then if there is time during breaks or after the visit, then bring up additional topics of interest between colleagues.
Asking questions is an art and a science. Put the people at ease by giving them context for the questions. Start by complimenting the college and their work with the college (even if they are a student teacher or cooperating teacher), and then explain the school improvement purpose of accreditation. Help them see that they can have a part in identifying what is really great and what could possibly be improved in this place.
The second part of asking good questions is knowing the HEAP instrument and what needs to be asked. The time allotted to interview any particular group is short, so have a list of question ideas jotted down to help keep you on track. Talk with your teammate ahead of time to use the time efficiently and make sure someone takes notes.
Day Two – make sure you go back to each person who holds decision making authority over all the things you are planning to put into recommendations/suggestions. That might be the chair of the education department or it may be more than one person. They need an opportunity to verify what you are going to recommend. Maybe you missed something or maybe you just need to re-word something slightly. These recommendations will be around for them to respond to for five years on annual reports. The team needs to get this right and you want it to be as helpful as possible.

18. Thank You!
Your participation in the HEAP process contributes to Christian Education and the future of teacher preparation.