Self-Study Preparation

 In this section of its report, the Visiting Team provides observations and recommendations regarding the school’s self-study preparation based on what was seen and heard during the Team’s visit to the school. The school’s Self-Study and Recommendations are broken down into four components: Internal Coordinators, The Planning Team, Leadership and Governance and Implementing a Culture of Change. In the following section, please provide observations and recommendations about each of the components of the school’s Self-Study and Recommendations. 

 A.      Internal Coordinators

 A required component of the protocol is the appointment of a team of Internal Coordinators. The primary functions of the Internal Coordinators are to:

• Coordinate the school’s planning process and development of a plan for growth in student performance.
• Oversee planning and preparation for the Visiting Team.
• Prepare for the Mid-Term report.
• Provide the energy, enthusiasm, and expertise to move the process forward.

 Instructions:

Provide observations and recommendations regarding:

• Examples of how the Internal Coordinators contributed to the success of the self-study effort;
• The amount of assistance provided to the Internal Coordinators to help them perform their duties; and,
• How the responsibilities of the Internal Coordinators will be accomplished after the Team Visit and during the implementation of the Plan for Growth and Improvement.

The Visiting Team observed that:

The Visiting Team recommends:

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The Planning Team

• Develop the vision for the school by creating or reaffirming a statement of mission.
• Develop a set of beliefs to serve as the ethical code for the institution.
• Develop a profile of the knowledge, skills, and qualities the institution expects of its graduates.
• Identify the areas of student performance that are the priorities for growth and improvement.
• Oversee development of the action plans to achieve the performance objectives
• Monitor implementation of the action plans.
• Conduct a periodic review of the progress being made to achieving the objectives.

The protocol requires that the Planning Team includes a varied spectrum of the school’s community of stakeholders. Because Middle States’ member institutions are so varied in type and situation, Middle States does not prescribe what groups constitute a school’s stakeholders. This is a local decision. However, it is also important for the head of the school and at least one representative of the governing body to serve, when appropriate, on the Planning Team. In this role, the leaders should serve as “equals among equals” by serving on the Team as members with the same authority and influence as all other members of the Team. The school’s leadership and the Planning Team will be expected to provide a rationale for the composition of the Planning Team.

Because the school is committing itself to developing a planning ethic and a culture of continuous improvement, the Planning Team should be institutionalized. The institution must find ways to integrate the work of the Planning Team into the culture and life of the school. In most cases, this will require a concerted effort and the willingness to examine how the institution thinks about institutional growth and improvement and who is responsible to lead it.

Instructions:

Provide observations and recommendations regarding:

• How well the Planning Team functioned;
• To what degree the Planning Team’s membership is representative of the school’s community of stakeholders and the diversity present within the school and its community; and,
• How the responsibilities of the Planning Team will be accomplished after the Team Visit and during the implementation of the Plan for Growth and Improvement.

 

The Visiting Team observed that:

The Visiting Team recommends:

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Role of the School’s Leadership and Governance

The primary role of the leadership and governing body of the school—those in positions of authority and influence within the school—in the school improvement process is to serve as the “champions” for developing a planning ethic and the growth and improvement process. This critical role for leaders also applies to the heads and governing bodies of larger organizations of which the school may be a part. It is very difficult for an individual school within a larger system to plan strategically for improving student performance without the clear support and assistance of its parent organization. They, too, must “champion the cause.”

Because a major goal of the self-study and accreditation process is to ensure that the school has a vision and a plan to achieve the vision that is accepted and supported by all, leaders must communicate publicly, clearly, and often that: 

• the planning process is important for the future of the school and its students; and
• they will provide the leadership, resources, and support needed to make the process and the plan successful.

  Instructions:

Provide observations and recommendations regarding:

• The roles the school’s Leadership and Governance played in the self-study process;
• Examples of the kinds of support given to the Internal Coordinators and Planning Team by the School’s Leadership and Governance; and,
• The degree to which the School’s Leadership and Governance support the self-study and accreditation process and the school’s Plan for Growth and Improvement.

The Visiting Team observed that:

The Visiting Team recommends:

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Implementing a Culture of Change

 A sound planning ethic is critical to achieving the school’s mission, its objectives for growth and improvement in student performance and organizational capacity, and to its capacity to effect the intended growth. While successful planning is reflective of the school’s context and culture, it should be visionary in describing what the school and its stakeholder community want for their students and pragmatic in specifying the steps to reach that goal. . A planning ethic means that planning for growth and improvement becomes part of what the school and its community of stakeholders do as much as teaching, and providing programs, resources, services, and activities. A planning ethic requires continuous clarification of the community’s unique Mission, Core Values, Profile of Graduates, and student and organizational performance goals. It requires that the community is action-oriented by developing and implementing long-term, strategic action plans that integrate programs, services, facilities, and support to address the school’s growth objectives.

  A planning ethic also requires the school to commit to involving its stakeholders in meaningful ways in the setting of objectives, developing plans to achieve and measure those objectives, and the implementation of those plans. 

 Therefore, an important element of the planning process is communicating with the school’s staff, students, governing board, and other stakeholders to ensure they are aware of the requirements of the Designing Our Future protocol, the school’s planning process, Foundation Documents, objectives, action plans and, eventually, its accomplishments as it implements its plan. The communication process should include means for obtaining input from the members of the school’s stakeholder community and feedback regarding the products of the planning process (i.e., mission, objectives, action plans). Stakeholders cannot support and take ownership in what the school is doing unless they first know about it and are invited to join in the process.

 Instructions:

Provide observations and recommendations regarding how the school is implementing a Culture of Change, including:

• The school’s plan for monitoring implementation of the action plans;

• The school’s plan for ensuring that the assessments designated for measuring the performance objectives are administered and that the results are collected, analyzed, and used to determine the efficacy of the action plans; and,

• The school’s plan for celebrating the school’s successes in moving toward achievement of its objectives.

• The school’s plan to keep its community of stakeholders informed about the progress the school is making toward achieving its objectives and its Plan for Growth and Improvement; and,

• The school’s plan to provide opportunities for the school’s community of stakeholders to provide input into and participate in implementing the Plan for Growth and Improvement.

• The group of stakeholders given responsibility to conduct the Periodic Reviews of the Plan for Growth and Improvement;

• The frequency with which the plan will be reviewed;

• The school’s plan for revising action plans if needed;

• How information and data obtained from administering the assessments identified for measuring accomplishment of each objective will be collected; and,

• Who has been given responsibility for ensuring that the assessments for each objective are administered and the data and information obtained from the assessment are collected, analyzed, and reported.

 

The Visiting Team observed that:

The Visiting Team recommends:

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