Accreditation Standards

Strand 8: Commitment

The school maintains a system promoting continuous school effectiveness and school improvement that focuses on student spiritual growth and academic performance, and it aligns all functions of the school with the adopted expectations for student spiritual growth and academic performance. Improvement efforts and activities are prompted and informed by the information obtained through earlier data gathering and by reflecting on and assessing the various components of the school effectiveness and school improvement process.

In addressing the following Standards for this Strand, the school:

  1. intentionally maintains a systematic plan for effectiveness and improvement that (1) centrally focuses on the mission and purpose established for the school; (2) maintains an accurate current description of its students, including their spiritual growth and academic performance; (3) measures school effectiveness; (4) establishes and pursues measurable goals focused on student growth and performance; (5) documents and uses objective and verifiable information that the processes yield, highlights major foci for school improvement; and, (6) documents and uses the information to determine what the foci should be for school improvement.

  2. identifies 2-5 major targets for special emphasis in the systematic plan that are realistic, obtainable, observable, and measurable;

  3. employs in the improvement plan a specific and realistic timeline with benchmarks and projected target dates for the completion of identified goals, which include not only academic, financial, or physical plant goals, but also distinctively Christian objectives — or those features of the school’s intended purpose which distinguish it from the secular schools in the community;

  4. engages Board-defined ministry partners/stakeholders in the process of continuous improvement.

  5. aligns the plans for continuous effectiveness and improvement with the mission and purpose of the school and the expectations for student growth and performance;

  6. provides professional development for school staff to help them to understand and use delivery systems and interventions to achieve growth and performance goals;

  7. maintains the data gathered and communicates the results to Board-determined stakeholders in order to maintain accountability.

  8. gathers, evaluates, and documents the effectiveness of its continuous process of improvement.