TVSC Awarded AdvancED School Accreditation
AKRON, Ind. – The Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation has been awarded continuing accreditation by the AdvancED Accreditation Commission and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. This means that the system and all of its schools are accredited, and that the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation is recognized across the nation as a quality school system.
As an accredited institution, Tippecanoe Valley is part of the AdvancED network of over 32,000 schools and systems in over 71 countries that are committed to continuous quality improvement through accreditation.
The accreditation process involves three ongoing components: 1) meeting high quality standards; 2) implementing a continuous process of improvement; and 3) engaging in quality assurance through internal and external review.
The system’s accreditation is for a five-year term with regular monitoring of progress and reporting occurring during the term.
“School System Accreditation as conferred by the AdvancED Accreditation Commission provides the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation a nationally-recognized mark of quality for our system and all the schools within our system,” shared TVSC Superintendent Brett R. Boggs. “It demonstrates to our community our commitment to excellence, our openness to external review and feedback, and our desire to be the best we can be on behalf of the students we serve.”
Dr. Mark Elgart, president/CEO of AdvancED, stated, “AdvancED School System Accreditation is a rigorous process that focuses the entire school system on the primary goal of creating lifelong learners. The Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation is to be commended for engaging in this process and demonstrating a commitment to continuous improvement.”
Tippecanoe Valley initiated the accreditation process in the fall of 2012 by completing an Internal Review, including a self-assessment diagnostic based on the AdvancED Standards of Quality that serve as the foundation of the accreditation and school improvement process. The self-assessment collaboratively engaged staff members and stakeholders in purposeful, honest dialogue and reflection to assess the school corporation’s and individual school’s adherence to the Standards. The results of the self-ratings were later reviewed by the visiting External Review Team as a component of the External Review.
In early February 2013 a team of five highly qualified educators conducted a three-day External Review to examine Tippecanoe Valley’s adherence and commitment to the accreditation criteria. The External Review was a rigorous process that included the examination of evidence and relative data, interviews with stakeholders, and observations of instruction, learning, and operations. The AdvancED External Review Team used the AdvancED Accreditation Standards and Indicators and related criteria to guide its evaluation, looking not only for adherence to standards, but also for how the school corporation functioned as a whole and embodied the practices and characteristics of quality.
The External Review Team discovered a number of “Powerful Practices” occurring in the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation:
The Corporation’s adoption of Jim Collins’ “Hedgehog Concept” from Good to Great has provided strong and uniting focal points for the school system. One of the district’s chosen goals, the development of character, has created a tangible and characteristic culture of giving and caring at all levels of the district. In addition, this goal provides opportunity for all children to learn valued life skills as well as learning and thinking skills.
Corporation and school leadership have committed to research-based, reflective practices to monitor and support teachers through supervision and evaluation.
The district has invested in the work of teachers as collaborators by providing dedicated collaboration time for all teachers at all levels. This investment has yielded shared best practices, effective and timely interventions for struggling learners, common essential goals and objectives, professional deliberations regarding assessment and evaluation, and has increased professional knowledge among faculty and across all staff.
True community exists within and between the schools and citizens of Tippecanoe Valley. Students are well known, parents are well informed, and there are many opportunities for families and learners to interact.
Tippecanoe Valley Schools know their students well. Each child is followed closely via both formal and informal means, to build strong relationships and to ensure advocacy for each child in achieving his or her highest potential.
Tippecanoe Valley Schools effectively incorporate multiple and coordinated learning support services to identify and to address the unique needs of students in the system.
Tippecanoe Valley Schools employs highly qualified staff and ensures training and mentoring, monitoring and development across all position descriptions.
Tippecanoe Valley Schools supports the mission and goals of the system by providing fiscal and other resources to train, collaborate, and to implement strong educational practices.
Tippecanoe Valley Schools maintains impressive, effective, and efficient facilities for the students.
Tippecanoe Valley Schools provides, coordinates, and evaluates the effectiveness of its information resources to assure students’ access to information via multiple means.
Tippecanoe Valley Schools provides a progressive, strategically planned broad spectrum of technology experiences and resources for the students enrolled, with sufficient support and training to maximize effective applications of technology across the curriculum.
The corporation’s focus on literacy engages all students in all schools in strong, powerful literacy instruction which has resulted in significant increases in standardized testing results, and has created a culture of accelerated reading proficiency and appreciation for reading for pleasure and enrichment in all schools at all grade levels.
The External Review Team also identified “Opportunities for Improvement”:
Create a formal communications plan to ensure efficient, inclusive, and effective information exchanges utilizing electronic and social media as appropriate.
Review scope and sequence of all content and life skill areas of the K-12 curriculum. Develop common grading practices to ensure clear communication of student achievement to parents, faculty, and to the students themselves.
Two “Required Actions” were identified by the External Review Team:
Create a professional development plan that includes all staff, identifies common expectations, and provides transparent processes for accessing professional development funding to assure that all staff are assessed and trained relative to the evaluation, interpretation, and use of data, and other identified needs.
Revise the strategic plan and create a process for regular, timely and inclusive review of the corporation’s priorities and long range plans that support the purpose and direction of the system.
Parents and community members can learn more about the system accreditation process at advanc-ed.org. Additional information about the findings from the External Review is available by contacting Superintendent Brett R. Boggs at 574-353-7741, ext. 1006.