The 379. 158 Pllpbai 1996 Performance- Alternative: Improving Schools ough Accreditation i STJTT DOCUMENTS COLLECTION m 1 9 2000 MONT**« STATE LIBRARY If>iS £. 6th AVE. HELt^.A MONTANA 59620 User's Manual MONTANASTATELIBRARY 3 0864 0014 7323 3 F oPGword erformance-Based Accreditation will help schools further develop P;I the learning environments which will facilitate student's knowl- edge and skill development, preparing each student for a lifetime ofintellec- tual, social and vocational achievements. Through this alternative accredita- tion model, the Board ofPublic Education encourages local schools and dis- tricts to assumeadditional responsibilityfor theperformance oftheirschools and students. This manual contains recommendations that represent best practice in schoolimprovementandisendorsedbythe BoardofPublicEducation. While the Board expects that any performance-based plan will be the product ofa serious, deliberative process and will incorporate the five-step process, the use of this manual in the Performance-Based Accreditation process is not mandatory. Alocallyderived Plan to Employ Performance-BasedAccredita- tion will be given equal consideration. The Board ofPublic Education and the Office ofPublic Instruction are committed to helping schools pursue Performance-BasedAccreditation. To that end, the Board requests that guidelines, checklists, processes, and other tools proven to be useful in the Five-Step Performance-Based Accreditation process be shared with the Office of Public Instruction and other school districts. /6 Montana Board ofPublic Education ublic Instruction Wilbur Anderson, Chair nan, Superintendent January 1996 This User'sManualwasdevelopedbya team ofOfficeofPublicInstruction staff, the Board ofPublic Educations Accreditation Subcommittee, and other interestededucators. Itwas reviewedby, andincludes recommendationsfrom, a committee representing the stakeholders ofMontana's educational community: public andprivate schools, administrators, schools boards, teacher unions, postsecondary education, andbusiness. Office ofPublicInstruction Staff: Project Director: Jack Copps PrimaryAuthor: Jan Hahn Contributors: Nica Carte Michael Hall Lynn Hinch Ron Lukenbill BoardofPublicEducationAccreditation Subcommittee: WilburAnderson, Board Chair Storrs Bishop, Committee Chair Barbara Keim LindaVaughey Wayne Buchanan, Executive Secretary Cover photography by Vince McGee and Sanna Kiesling Adopted by the Montana Board ofPublic Education January 26, 1996 he l^eriormance--LJasecI r\Iiepnaiiv€: I Improving ocnools h rough Accreditation I Preface 5 Chapter One: Defining Performance-Based Accreditation 9 Definition 9 Implications 9 School Improvement and Effectiveness 10 Basic Components ofthe Performance-BasedAccreditation Standard .... 11 ChapterTwo: Selecting Performance-Based Accreditation For Your School/District 13 ChapterThree: Comparing Performance-Based Accreditation with Traditional Accreditation 15 Chapter Four: Getting Started 17 Introduction to the Process 17 Key Players 17 Applying for Performance-Based Accreditation 18 Chapter Five: Taking the Five Steps to PBA 21 Purposes ofthe Steps 21 Step A: Developing the PBA Student/Community Profile 21 Step B: Affirming or Developing the School Mission Statement 23 Step C: Identifying Desired Learner Results (Exit Performance Standards) 25 Step D: Analyzing Instructional and Organizational Effectiveness 28 Student Performance 29 Instructional Effectiveness 31 Organizational Effectiveness: Leadership and Climate 32 Step E: Developing and Implementing the School Improvement Plan 35 Process 35 Criteria 36 Chapter Six: Validating School Improvement 37 Initial On-site Accreditation Review 37 Follow-up Reviews 39 Summary 40 Appendices 41 Mr eta ce H istorically, Montana has accredited its schools based primarily on the school's ability to meet uniform state standards. These provi- sions included such things as limitations for class size, assignment ofprofes- sional staff, and the courses and programs offered. Although basic resources and educational programs, personnel and safety standards exist to provide a frameworkfor the qualityeducation guaranteed byMontana's Constitution, — they are not direct measures of quality. They do not tell us what or — whether students learn. In the past decade, Montana's accreditation process has begun to ad- dress the need for more direct measures ofeducational quality. The Mon- tana School Accreditation Standards adopted in 1989 include program-area standards, curriculum development processes, and assessment provisions which place a stronger emphasis on the results ofstudent learning. In addi- tion, the state's model learnergoals represent Montana's early effort to estab- lish what are now known as "content standards," describing what students should know and be able to do. Nonetheless, the standards themselves still emphasize what schools provide students, rather than what students learn. In 1995, Montana's Board ofPublic Education adopted an alternative accreditation method: Performance-Based Accreditation. This method al- lows schools to meet accreditation standards by showing through their stu- dents'performance that they provide a quality education. By encouraging schools to identifylocalstandards to bemet, design instruction to meetthem, andmonitorstudentperformancein relationtothesestandards, Performance- BasedAccreditation (PBA) helpsschools makeaccreditation anatural partof theirlocaleducationalplanningandevaluationprocesses. Schools maychoose to demonstrate the accomplishment oflearner results in a variety ofways. PBA is optional: schools may continue to seek accreditation through the traditional method. The performance-based alternative accreditation method can be found RULE in the Alternative Standard, Subsection (5), 10.55.604: — RULE 10.55.604ALTERNATIVESTANDARD (1)Aschoolmay apply to the board ofpublic education through the office ofpublic in- struction forpermissiontouse an alternative toanystandard, sectionof standards, or the entire setofstandards, excluding standards pertaining to law or certification requirements. To do so, the school shall provide the office ofpublic instruction evidence that the opportunity to meet theaccreditationstandards'learnergoalsareatthecoreofitscurricula that is, that theschool has put in place curriculum and assessment pro- cedures which give students opportunities to meet the stated goals and which have been the results ofthe curriculum development process as outlined in thestandards. Theboardofpubliceducationmaywithdraw itspermissionofthealternativeprogramatanytime ifexperienceshows it no longer provides an educationally sound alternative. (2) Permission to useanapproved alternative shall begrantedfor one year. It is renewable for up to an additional five years without an- nual approval, ifboth the schooland the boardofpubliceducation find the one-year pilot to beworkable and educationally sound. (3) Theschoolshallincludeanupdateonitsalternativeprogram(s) in its annual report to the office ofpublic instruction. (4) Approval and renewal ofan alternativestandard shall be done by the board ofpublic education in open meeting, which provides op- portunityforpubliccommentoneachschoolsapplicationforuseofthe alternative standard. (5) A school or school district may submit a plan to employ a Performance-BasedAccreditationprocesstotheOfficeofPublicInstruc- tion. The basic performance-based process available for school imple- mentation shall incorporate five steps or their equivalent: (a) The development ofastudent/community profile; (b) Thedevelopmentofaschoolmissionstatementwhich reflects a locally derived philosophy ofeducation; (c) The identification ofdesired learner results (exit performance standards); (d) The analysis ofinstructional and organization effectiveness; (e) The development and implementation ofa school improve- ment plan. A school or school district granted approval for a Performance- Based Accreditation process shall be subject to an on-site accreditation reviewat the end ofan initial three-yearperiod bya team ofindividuals selected by the Office of Public Instruction. After a successful initial review, the school shall besubject to accreditation review bya visitation team atminimum five-yearintervals. Schoolsareencouraged tocoordi- nate on-site reviews with each self-evaluation phase ofthe process. Ac- credited schools electing this formative process may petition the Board of Public Education to waive existing standards except those that are required by law. (Eff. 4/28/95) The Board expects that the Plan to Employ Performance-Based Ac- creditation (PBA) submitted by a school district will be the product of a deliberative process. This guide provides resources, references, and sugges- tions to help schools formulate a PBA plan. Morespecificinformation about Performance-BasedAccreditation pro- cesses as theyhave been implemented regionallycan be found in the manuals published by the Northwest Association of Schools and Colleges, the Na- tional Study of School Evaluation, and other accreditation organizations. Effectiveschoolspublications are available from the Office ofPublic Instruc- tion and the Northwest Regional Educational Laboratory. The resources appendixlistspublicationsandpeoplewho canprovide technical support for schools interested in Performance-Based Accreditation. Ihis method allows schools lo meet accreditation standards by showing tnrouqn their students lU periormance pf< fheif provide a quality education. oies ,t