The performance-based alternative: improving schools through accreditation : user's manual

56 Pages·1996·2.6 MB·English

by  Montana. Office of Public Instruction

The
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1996
Performance-
Alternative:
Improving Schools
ough
Accreditation
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MONT**« STATE LIBRARY
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User's
Manual
MONTANASTATELIBRARY
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oPGword
erformance-Based Accreditation will help schools further develop
P;I
the learning environments which will facilitate student's knowl-
edge and skill development, preparing each student for a lifetime ofintellec-
tual, social and vocational achievements. Through this alternative accredita-
tion model, the Board ofPublic Education encourages local schools and dis-
tricts to assumeadditional responsibilityfor theperformance oftheirschools
and students.
This manual contains recommendations that represent best practice in
schoolimprovementandisendorsedbythe BoardofPublicEducation. While
the Board expects that any performance-based plan will be the product ofa
serious, deliberative process and will incorporate the five-step process, the
use of this manual in the Performance-Based Accreditation process is not
mandatory. Alocallyderived Plan to Employ Performance-BasedAccredita-
tion will be given equal consideration.
The Board ofPublic Education and the Office ofPublic Instruction are
committed to helping schools pursue Performance-BasedAccreditation. To
that end, the Board requests that guidelines, checklists, processes, and other
tools proven to be useful in the Five-Step Performance-Based Accreditation
process be shared with the Office of Public Instruction and other school
districts.
/6
Montana Board ofPublic Education ublic Instruction
Wilbur Anderson, Chair nan, Superintendent
January 1996
This User'sManualwasdevelopedbya team ofOfficeofPublicInstruction
staff, the Board ofPublic Educations Accreditation Subcommittee, and other
interestededucators. Itwas reviewedby, andincludes recommendationsfrom, a
committee representing the stakeholders ofMontana's educational community:
public andprivate schools, administrators, schools boards, teacher unions,
postsecondary education, andbusiness.
Office ofPublicInstruction Staff:
Project Director: Jack Copps
PrimaryAuthor: Jan Hahn
Contributors:
Nica Carte
Michael Hall
Lynn Hinch
Ron Lukenbill
BoardofPublicEducationAccreditation Subcommittee:
WilburAnderson, Board Chair
Storrs Bishop, Committee Chair
Barbara Keim
LindaVaughey
Wayne Buchanan, Executive Secretary
Cover photography by
Vince McGee and Sanna Kiesling
Adopted by the Montana Board ofPublic Education
January 26, 1996
he l^eriormance--LJasecI r\Iiepnaiiv€:
I
Improving ocnools
h rough Accreditation
I
Preface 5
Chapter One: Defining Performance-Based Accreditation 9
Definition 9
Implications 9
School Improvement and Effectiveness 10
Basic Components ofthe Performance-BasedAccreditation Standard .... 11
ChapterTwo: Selecting Performance-Based
Accreditation For Your School/District 13
ChapterThree: Comparing Performance-Based
Accreditation with Traditional Accreditation 15
Chapter Four: Getting Started 17
Introduction to the Process 17
Key Players 17
Applying for Performance-Based Accreditation 18
Chapter Five: Taking the Five Steps to PBA 21
Purposes ofthe Steps 21
Step A: Developing the PBA Student/Community Profile 21
Step B: Affirming or Developing the School Mission Statement 23
Step C: Identifying Desired Learner Results (Exit Performance Standards) 25
Step D: Analyzing Instructional and Organizational Effectiveness 28
Student Performance 29
Instructional Effectiveness 31
Organizational Effectiveness: Leadership and Climate 32
Step E: Developing and Implementing the School Improvement Plan 35
Process 35
Criteria 36
Chapter Six: Validating School Improvement 37
Initial On-site Accreditation Review 37
Follow-up Reviews 39
Summary 40
Appendices 41
Mr
eta ce
H istorically, Montana has accredited its schools based primarily on
the school's ability to meet uniform state standards. These provi-
sions included such things as limitations for class size, assignment ofprofes-
sional staff, and the courses and programs offered. Although basic resources
and educational programs, personnel and safety standards exist to provide a
frameworkfor the qualityeducation guaranteed byMontana's Constitution,
—
they are not direct measures of quality. They do not tell us what or
—
whether students learn.
In the past decade, Montana's accreditation process has begun to ad-
dress the need for more direct measures ofeducational quality. The Mon-
tana School Accreditation Standards adopted in 1989 include program-area
standards, curriculum development processes, and assessment provisions
which place a stronger emphasis on the results ofstudent learning. In addi-
tion, the state's model learnergoals represent Montana's early effort to estab-
lish what are now known as "content standards," describing what students
should know and be able to do. Nonetheless, the standards themselves still
emphasize what schools provide students, rather than what students learn.
In 1995, Montana's Board ofPublic Education adopted an alternative
accreditation method: Performance-Based Accreditation. This method al-
lows schools to meet accreditation standards by showing through their stu-
dents'performance that they provide a quality education. By encouraging
schools to identifylocalstandards to bemet, design instruction to meetthem,
andmonitorstudentperformancein relationtothesestandards, Performance-
BasedAccreditation (PBA) helpsschools makeaccreditation anatural partof
theirlocaleducationalplanningandevaluationprocesses. Schools maychoose
to demonstrate the accomplishment oflearner results in a variety ofways.
PBA is optional: schools may continue to seek accreditation through the
traditional method.
The performance-based alternative accreditation method can be found
RULE
in the Alternative Standard, Subsection (5), 10.55.604:
—
RULE 10.55.604ALTERNATIVESTANDARD (1)Aschoolmay
apply to the board ofpublic education through the office ofpublic in-
struction forpermissiontouse an alternative toanystandard, sectionof
standards, or the entire setofstandards, excluding standards pertaining
to law or certification requirements. To do so, the school shall provide
the office ofpublic instruction evidence that the opportunity to meet
theaccreditationstandards'learnergoalsareatthecoreofitscurricula
that is, that theschool has put in place curriculum and assessment pro-
cedures which give students opportunities to meet the stated goals and
which have been the results ofthe curriculum development process as
outlined in thestandards. Theboardofpubliceducationmaywithdraw
itspermissionofthealternativeprogramatanytime ifexperienceshows
it no longer provides an educationally sound alternative.
(2) Permission to useanapproved alternative shall begrantedfor
one year. It is renewable for up to an additional five years without an-
nual approval, ifboth the schooland the boardofpubliceducation find
the one-year pilot to beworkable and educationally sound.
(3) Theschoolshallincludeanupdateonitsalternativeprogram(s)
in its annual report to the office ofpublic instruction.
(4) Approval and renewal ofan alternativestandard shall be done
by the board ofpublic education in open meeting, which provides op-
portunityforpubliccommentoneachschoolsapplicationforuseofthe
alternative standard.
(5) A school or school district may submit a plan to employ a
Performance-BasedAccreditationprocesstotheOfficeofPublicInstruc-
tion. The basic performance-based process available for school imple-
mentation shall incorporate five steps or their equivalent:
(a) The development ofastudent/community profile;
(b) Thedevelopmentofaschoolmissionstatementwhich reflects
a locally derived philosophy ofeducation;
(c) The identification ofdesired learner results (exit performance
standards);
(d) The analysis ofinstructional and organization effectiveness;
(e) The development and implementation ofa school improve-
ment plan.
A school or school district granted approval for a Performance-
Based Accreditation process shall be subject to an on-site accreditation
reviewat the end ofan initial three-yearperiod bya team ofindividuals
selected by the Office of Public Instruction. After a successful initial
review, the school shall besubject to accreditation review bya visitation
team atminimum five-yearintervals. Schoolsareencouraged tocoordi-
nate on-site reviews with each self-evaluation phase ofthe process. Ac-
credited schools electing this formative process may petition the Board
of Public Education to waive existing standards except those that are
required by law. (Eff. 4/28/95)
The Board expects that the Plan to Employ Performance-Based Ac-
creditation (PBA) submitted by a school district will be the product of a
deliberative process. This guide provides resources, references, and sugges-
tions to help schools formulate a PBA plan.
Morespecificinformation about Performance-BasedAccreditation pro-
cesses as theyhave been implemented regionallycan be found in the manuals
published by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, the Na-
tional Study of School Evaluation, and other accreditation organizations.
Effectiveschoolspublications are available from the Office ofPublic Instruc-
tion and the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. The resources
appendixlistspublicationsandpeoplewho canprovide technical support for
schools interested in Performance-Based Accreditation.
Ihis method allows
schools lo meet
accreditation
standards by
showing tnrouqn
their students
lU
periormance
pf<
fheif provide a
quality education.
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