| Partnering for school improvement. | | | |  | | NEW ENGLAND ASSOCIATION OF SCHOOLS & COLLEGES | | | Commission on Public Schools | | | | | | The importance of parent voices in accreditation | | | Dear colleagues: Last fall, The New York Times reported that Mayor William DeBlasio's administration was spending $1 million to survey and train parents in struggling New York City schools to become more engaged in their children's education as part of an effort to improve student performance and attendance [1]. New York City had discovered what NEASC has always known: that having an active parent community is enormously valuable to student success and high quality education.
In fact, parent involvement in a school is one of the guiding indicators which helps NEASC evaluators assess the strength of a school's community resources for learning. As stated by the Committee on Public Secondary Schools (CPSS) Accreditation Standard #7, "The achievement of the school's 21st century learning expectations requires active community, governing board, and parent advocacy." Schools are encouraged to "actively engage parents and families as partners in each student's education and reach out specifically to those families who have been less connected with the school." Please refer to Standard 7, Indicator 7 on the NEASC website.
Parent voices are critically important throughout the Accreditation process, particularly during the school's reflective Self-Study period at the beginning of the 10-year Accreditation cycle. During this phase, the entire school community - students, professional staff, and parents - are invited to participate in a set of surveys developed by the Endicott College Research Center which measure conditions that impact the dynamics of the school community and school performance. Parents are asked to respond to questions about everything from the methods their child's teacher uses in the classroom, to available technology, to health and support services. The survey also asks parents to reflect on the importance of education in their community and to consider their child's relationships in the school. You can read the survey here.
In addition to the Endicott survey, parents are often invited by the school principal to participate on Standards Committees formed for the Self-Study. These committees conduct comprehensive, evidence-based assessments to determine whether the school is in alignment with the accreditation standards. Similarly, during the on-site visit by the team of NEASC-trained volunteers who review the school's Self-Study report, parents are interviewed along with other members of the school community to further validate the evidence provided for the evaluation.
Like everyone involved in accreditation, parents work very hard to build a consensus for every conclusion that is drawn about the quality of education in the school. Their voices are critical to the pursuit of sustained excellence in education.
Best Regards, | | 
George H. Edwards,
Director, Commission on Public Schools | | A parent's perspective on the accreditation process | | Lydia Abu Rahmeh, Parent of 9th Grader
RHAM High School - Hebron, CT "The NEASC standards and accreditation process helps keep schools focused on what's best for the kids." "Being involved in the accreditation process as a parent made high school less of a black hole for me, because I could see it from the inside," says Lydia Abu Rahmeh, a Connecticut parent whose son is a ninth-grader at RHAM High School, a NEASC-accredited school in Hebron, CT. In 2015, Lydia served on one of the school's accreditation self-study committees, an experience that she says she appreciates. "Getting to know the school staff and witnessing their dedication to kids, depth of knowledge and sense of humor made me feel really confident in my son's education," Lydia says. | | | Welcome our new Associate Director | |  | Bill Wehrli joins the Committee on Public Secondary Schools The Commission on Public Schools is pleased to announce the appointment of Bill Wehrli as Associate Director for the Committee on Public Secondary Schools. Bill comes to the Commission with over 25 years of experience working in public schools. After starting his career as an English and Social Studies teacher in comprehensive high schools and programs for at-risk students in California, Bill returned to New England and worked for 10 years as an assistant principal and interim principal at Amherst Regional High School in Amherst, MA. Most recently he served for 8 years as principal of Pioneer Valley Regional School in Northfield, MA. In each school he led the process of accreditation and has a strong commitment to using the standards and process to focus on school improvement. He earned his bachelor's degree in American Studies from Wesleyan University, and his master's degree in Administration, Planning and Social Policy from Harvard University. The entire staff at NEASC welcomes Bill. | | |  |
The CPS staff will be exhibiting at ignite'16 this year.
Stop by booth #807 and say hi!
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Enriching Students will be holding their first Summit on April 15th in Portsmouth, NH. Successful models for providing personalized learning opportunities at the secondary level will be discussed.
Presenters from NEASC member schools will be featured: - Brian Pickering - Principal - ConVal High School, Peterborough, NH
- Brian Stack - Principal - Sanborn Regional High School, Kingston, NH
- Justin Brown - Assistant Principal - Colchester High School, Colchester, VT
- Noble High School - North Berwick ME
To learn more, visit: www.enrichingstudents.com/conference | |  |
CTE Month® is a public awareness campaign that the Association for Career and Technical Education (ACTE) holds each February to celebrate the achievements and accomplishments of CTE programs across the country. The 2016 theme is "Opportunities for Career Success". #ctemonth
Read about some of our member school's CTE Month activities: - Maine: Maine's career and technical education schools and educators of applied technology and workforce development are being recognized during the month of February.
- Connecticut: ACTE visits the A.I. Prince Technical High School in Hartford, CT.
| | Education activities and events to note: | | March 6-12 Teen Tech Week
presented by the Young Adult Library Services Association (YALSA) | | APRIL Evaluation Seminars, Committee on Public Secondary Schools
for schools who will host visiting committees in the next six months - April 8, 2016 - University High School of Science, Hartford, CT
- April 11, 2016 - Old Orchard Beach High School, Old Orchard Beach, ME
- April 12, 2016 - NEASC Office, Burlington, MA
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