October 1998 Montana Adopts a New Method of Accreditation
T wo years ago, 18 Montana schools pioneered an alternative method to fulfill state accreditation requirements. These schools volunteered to participate in the state’s pilot of a school improvement process that empowers teachers and community members to translate their vision for improved student learning into accreditation standards.
The pilot schools and their partners—the Montana Office of Public Instruction, the Montana Board of Education, the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, and NWREL—form the coalition MISTA: Montana Improving Schools Through Accreditation.
Traditionally, Montana awarded accreditation based on a school’s ability to meet uniform state standards. But in March 1995 the state adopted an alternative method called Performance-Based Accreditation (PBA), which allows schools to meet state accreditation requirements through a locally delivered and locally controlled school improvement plan that focuses on improved student performance.
According to the performance-based alternative standard, schools choosing to participate in PBA must complete five steps over a period of three to five years:
- • Develop a student/community profile
- • Develop a school mission statement that reflects a locally delivered philosophy of education
- • Identify desired learner results
- • Analyze instructional and organizational effectiveness
- • Develop a school improvement plan and put it into practice
MISTA school teams—which typically consist of a principal, a teacher who serves as committee chair, several staff members, and often a board member or parent—immersed themselves in this new work and spent countless hours organizing local support and volunteers to meet the PBA standard. The School Improvement Program at the
Laboratory has supported the state and the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges in this process by developing and providing training for these pilot schools. Schools that successfully complete the school improvement process are awarded accreditation by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges.
"These MISTA schools will be among the first in the Northwest to earn accreditation through a method that focuses on an individual school’s vision of how to help students reach higher levels of achievement," notes Janice Clinard, curriculum and assessment specialist with the Montana Office of Public Instruction.
Now that the pilot schools have completed the process, staff from these schools will be assisting a crop of new schools ready to begin the program. This fall NWREL will initiate a new round of training for Montana schools: a "training of trainers" will prepare the pilot schools for their new role, and ongoing training of the new schools will support them in the transition to this method of accreditation.
"Our pilot schools will be stepping up and taking more ownership of the program," says Joan Shaughnessy of NWREL, who will be leading this year’s training.
More than 30 schools representing 19 Montana school districts are planning to participate in this fall’s training. New schools will start their work in October and receive support for the next two years. The first training dates are October 5-6 (Missoula), October 7-8 (Great Falls), and October 8-9 (Billings). For more information about this training or MISTA, contact Janice Clinard at (406) 444-3714 or Jack Copps at (406) 677-2883.
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