How does a school become accredited?

Visiting Team Reports

Directory of
Accredited Schools

• Utah Schools
• Northwest Schools

Utah Board Rules regarding Accreditation

Questions most often asked:

1. What is the purpose of the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools (NAAS)/Utah State Office of Education (USOE) accreditation process?
   To ensure excellence in education by holding schools accountable to rigorous standards and a process of continuous improvement.

2. What is involved in the accreditation process?

The process is divided into five phases:

• First Phase: This phase involves the development of a school profile, refining the school's mission and belief statements, and the creation of the school's desired results for student learning. This phase takes approximately one year and involves the whole school community.
• Second Phase: This phase involves an analysis of each department's/grade level effectiveness and the organization's effectiveness.
• Third Phase: This phase involves the development of the school's action plan that will guide the school's work for the next 3 to 5 years.
• Fourth Phase: After the action plan has been developed, a visiting team from the State will spend anywhere from 1 to 3 days at the school site. The visiting team will serve as the school's "critical friend", validating the schools finding and proposed actions as well as identifying areas of concern the school may have missed in its analysis.
• Fifth Phase: This phase of the process is the implementation phase and will last from 3 to 5 years, depending on the length of accreditation the school is given. During this phase, the school is expected to act on the visiting team's recommend-ations as well as on the stated improvement efforts identified in the school's action plan.

3. What do we have to produce?
   The school will produce a self-study report that concisely document the school's self-study process and action plan. This report will be shared with the community and the visiting team.

4. When is the report due?
   Typically, the report will be due one month prior to the school's accreditation visit.

5. How do we know when we will be visited?
   Every middle and high school has been placed on a rotation schedule for accreditation school site visits and will be notified by the State Office. The school will have an opportunity to contact and schedule the exact date with the State Office.

6. How many people will visit our school?
   The size of the team will depend on the size of the school. Typically, a large school can expect to have 7 to 8 people on the team.

7. How long will the visit be?
   The length of the visit will depend on the size of the staff the visiting team will meet with. Generally, schools with fewer than 20 staff members can expect a one-day visit. Schools with 20-75 members will have a two-day visit and larger schools will be visited over a three-day period.

8. What are the terms of accreditation and who determines the length of term?
   Following the state's approval process, a copies of the visiting team report are sent to the school and the schools district's superintendent.
   
   The term of the accreditation for a school will vary. Schools may be awarded a one, three, or six year term. The visiting team will recommend a term of accreditation to the State School Accreditation Committee. The committee, upon reviewing both the school's yearly report and the visiting team's report will determine the actual term the school is given. NAAS will follow up by sending a certificate of accreditation to the school.

9. What if we don't pass?
   As we are transitioning from the old accreditation to the new process, the state's philosophy will be to accredit schools for a minimum of one year. The school will be closely watched and supported as they come into alignment with the program goals of accreditation.

10. What does it mean not to be accredited?
    In the State of Utah, by law all schools are required to be accredited. Accreditation ensures that the credits/diploma a student earns is the result of quality educational experience. Therefore, schools that are not accredited run the risk of having another school, college, or the military service not accepting the units or diploma a student earns.

11. Does the state provide funding for this process?
    The school/district is responsible for all expenditures associated with this process. This includes the cost of attending statewide inservices on the new process, and any travel and accommodation expenses incurred by any visiting team member.

12. What support is available to schools going through this process?
    The state provides regional inservice opportunities for school leadership teams as well as consultative assistance. Schools can contact Linda Alder at the Utah State Office of Education or one of the State Accreditation Facilitators who can help answer their questions.

13. What can we expect of the visiting team when they arrive?
    The visiting team will want to meet your staff before school on the first day. They will also want to meet with your leadership team and department chairs sometime during the visit. Most of the time will be spent visiting classrooms and informally interviewing students, staff, and parents. Please do not schedule events for the visiting team to attend. The visiting team chair will contact the principal prior to the visit to arrange any necessary meeting the chair may feel is necessary.

14. Who will be on the visiting team?
    The visiting team will consist of a representative from the State, an administrator, and certified staff from schools throughout the state that have been trained to serve on a visiting team.

15. What will the visiting team use as criteria for reviewing the school?
    The team will use the NAAS standards, State regulations, and visiting team pre-visit questions to review the schools programs, policies, and practices.

16. What does the school have to provide the visiting team?
    To help the team do an effective job, the school should provide the team with a quiet meeting room that is equipped with one or two computers and printers.
    
    The school is responsible for paying for or reimbursing any overnight accommodations, mileage, and meal expenses incurred by a visiting team member (using the district rate).

17. What should I do to get started?
    Two years prior to the year of accreditation, the school should identify a small group (5-8) of school personnel to attend one of the state's inservices offered each fall. The workshop will provide an overview of the process and some of the support materials necessary to get started.

18. How do I register to bring my leadership team to one of the regional inservices offered by the state?
    In the fall, a letter will be sent out to all school superintendents and principals inviting them to attend one of the state inservices along with a registration form. The cost is $150.00 for a team of five (5) members. This cost includes workshop materials for the team, as well as continental breakfast and lunch. If for some reason you do not receive a registration form, please contact Linda Alder at the Utah State Office of Education.

19. What materials do I need to purchase?
    It is recommended that the school acquire copies of the national standards for each of the major content areas, in addition to the following National Study of School Evaluation (NSSE) publications:

    *School Improvement: Focusing on Student Performance
    *Survey of Instructional and Organization Effectiveness
    *Survey of Goals for Student Learning
    Schoolwide Indicators of Quality
    
    * If you attend a state sponsored inservice these materials will be firnished there.

20. Does the state have sample accreditation reports I can review?
    Although there are many school accreditation reports available, we are all in a state of transitioning from the old accreditation process to a new and better format. As reports, aligned with the new process become available, the state will be sharing these reports with school teams that attend the state inservices.