Overview

A globally recognized standard of excellence, NEASC Accreditation attests to a school’s high quality and integrity.

Accreditation of public schools by the New England Association of Schools and Colleges indicates that an educational institution has completed a community-wide self-assessment process and has hosted a visiting team of peer reviewers who evaluate the institution in terms of its own stated goals and the Standards for Accreditation of the Commission on Public Schools.

The award of Accreditation signifies that the school has met the Standards for Accreditation at an acceptable level and is committed to maintain those Standards. Continued Accreditation is dependent upon a school demonstrating ongoing, reflective progress to improve teaching and learning and the support of teaching and learning.

Accreditation is the oldest and most traditional of the Standards-based systems of accountability. A study of the regional Accreditation process conducted by The LAB at Brown University1 found that the NEASC Accreditation visit, the “signature event of accreditation,” is built upon a legitimate and valuable methodology for learning how well a school functions. This methodology, which is centered on a dynamic of inquiry, involves a visiting team of peers generating knowledge about practices in the school and then drawing conclusions about how well they align with the Standards for Accreditation. The Visiting Team also identifies commendations and recommendations for what the school should do to improve. The results of that assessment are then made publicly available as an indication of the quality perceived and attested to by objective professional peer educators.

The attendant follow-up procedures are designed to ensure that all valid recommendations are acted upon in a timely fashion. The Commission expects that within five years the vast majority of the recommendations in the Accreditation Report will be completed or have a program/plan in place that will bring them to completion within a reasonable time. The Commission’s general expectation in evaluating all reports is that the school will continue to make “reasonable progress” toward meeting the recommendations. This process of self-reflection provides for continuous reassessment in light of both changing school and community needs and advances in pedagogy and school administration/organization.

¹ Thomas A. Wilson. Visting Accreditation: Strengthening the Regional Accreditation Process. Providence, RI: Northeast and Islands Regional Educational Laboratory at Brown University, 1999.