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From the State Director, Dr. Connie Smith: Tennessee Managing Office Changes
Pictured Left to Right:
Dr. Connie Smith and Jean Sharp |
Jean Sharp retired officially as Associate Director for AdvancED Tennessee on December 31, 2013. Ms. Sharp has worked successfully in various roles for the Tennessee Department of Education over the past forty-one years prior to joining AdvancED Tennessee. She served as a Field Service Center Director for two regions as State Director for School Approval and finally as Associate Assistant Commissioner, Division of Accountability, Teaching and Learning. She is well respected by educators across the state of Tennessee. She recently served as Nonpublic School Director, AdvancED Tennessee. Jean will be missed, but she plans to continue to work as a volunteer with Tennessee schools. Below is a message to each of you from Jean:
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"I want to express my appreciation to each of you for your assistance, support and kindness as we have worked together, first with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement and currently with AdvancED. I will cherish these professional and personal associations.
I will always be interested in AdvancED and wish you the best as you continue your work in
accreditation and school improvement."
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Colleen Goss joined AdvancED Tennessee as the Associate Director on January 1, 2014. Her previous experiences with Tennessee schools and school systems as head of School Improvement and Turnaround Specialist for the Tennessee Department of Education made her a logical choice to move into her new role. Her previous experiences include K-14 classroom teaching, Gateway Biology Consultant for the Tennessee Department of Education, Regional Consultant with the Appalachian Rural Systemic Initiative and Appalachian Math Science Partnership (both national math science partnership grants for Appalachian Tennessee, Kentucky, North Carolina, West Virginia and Virginia), and assisting schools and school systems as a national data trainer with Using Data Getting Results. Collen also received the Presidential Award for Excellence in Secondary Math and Science.
Theilia Raines, Administrative Assistant, AdvancED Tennessee will continue in her role in assisting schools and school systems with questions and information regarding accreditation and school improvement processes.
Please feel free to contact any of the AdvancED Tennessee Managing Office personnel at 888.413.3669, ext. 5752. We are here to assist you with your accreditation and school improvement needs.
Pictured Left to Right: Colleen Goss, Associate Director; Theilia Raines, Admin Assistant;
Dr. Wayne Strain, Regional Director; Jean Sharp, Associate Director; Dr. Connie Smith, Director
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Demographics Update: Don’t forget to update your school or system demographics in the AdvancED database. We depend on you to ensure that your demographics are kept current on the AdvancED website. To update your demographics, please go to www.advanc-ed.org and login with your email address and password. Select ASSIST and access the Profile in the headings. Please access the Demographics Update link to review and make corrections as needed. If you need assistance, please contact Theilia Raines in our office at 888-413-3669, ext. 5752.
Volunteers for External Review Teams: If you would like to serve on a school or school system External Review Team contact Theilia Raines.
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Tennessee Effective Practices Summit
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AdvancED Tennessee held its annual Fall Effective Practices Summit in October 2013 with over 250 participants. The Summit’s focus was on ‘What Works in Schools’ with effective practices in using the AdvancED Accreditation Process as the organizing infrastructure for all the accountability and school/school system improvement work currently being required throughout all Tennessee schools/school systems.
Tennessee superintendents, principals, and teachers were showcased using effective reading, mathematics, science, and culture improvement strategies. Discussions and demonstrations also were provided on how AdvancED’s ASSIST™, ELEOT and other school improvement tools could be utilized to be time efficient and cost effective in organizing the work to be done for accountability and assessment/improvement purposes.
Across Tennessee, schools and school systems are in the spotlight due to new accountability, assessment, standards, and curricular requirements. As never before, performance standards are being implemented with the Common Core State Standards and the new Constructed Response Assessment (PARRC). Tennessee is in the forefront of reform following the receipt of Race To The Top (First To The Top) award and the state’s new accountability waiver. Improvement is the key to success.
Implementation successes for these initiatives were seen with the release of the NAEP scores or the Nation’s Report Card where Tennessee was found to be the #1 Improving State for the first time in our state’s history. All components are in place for schools and teachers to be successful in improving student performance. We have the support from all our constituencies, so now the ‘how-tos’ for making this work in a cost effective and time efficient manner is what school personnel need. This Summit was a practitioner-based approach to supplying how-tos for performing this daily work.
AdvancED Tennessee’s next Effective Practices Summit will be held October 2014 in Gatlinburg, Tennessee.
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A New Generation is Here!
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The new AdvancED Accreditation Protocol and new components for the AdvancED Adaptive System of School Improvement Support Tools (ASSIST™) coupled with the AdvancED Accreditation Standards mark a new generation of accreditation and school improvement.
AdvancED Accreditation is rooted in a commitment to continuous improvement. This visionary new accreditation protocol creates a stronger alignment between internal and external diagnostic review, stakeholder feedback and student performance results. The result is a performance-based accreditation process that provides schools and school systems with a comprehensive analysis to drive continuous improvement.
Along with the AdvancED Protocol, ASSIST now provides the tools to guide your next internal and external review for accreditation, including Surveys, Student Performance Diagnostic and Stakeholder Feedback Diagnostic tools. As a state-of-the-art, web-based system, ASSIST provides the tools, data and information needed to help identify underlying root causes to problems of practice, support institutions with data-based decisions and guide the improvement process.
While none of these components are required until you host your External Review (formerly Quality Assurance Review), ASSIST is designed to be used regularly to monitor, assess and guide continuous improvement. Please begin using all these tools and resources today. If you have questions about the AdvancED Accreditation Standards, Accreditation Protocol or ASSIST, please contact Connie Smith or Theilia Raines in the AdvancED Tennessee Managing Office.
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Tennessee State Council Members
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AdvancED State Councils provide guidance and leadership to managing offices in the delivery of accreditation and professional services at the state level. They advocate for public and private school concerns and issues during Council meetings and in statewide discussions. They assist the managing office in strategic planning, support the implementation of the AdvancED accreditation protocol, provide leadership in the design and delivery of professional development across the state and work to ensure high quality service to schools and school systems in the state. The AdvancED Tennessee State Council is comprised of administrators from AdvancED accredited schools and school systems and representatives of higher education.
The AdvancED Tennessee office would like to recognize and convey our appreciation to those who serve on the AdvancED Tennessee State Council: Chairman Dr. Sean Impeartrice, Chief Academic Officer, Clarksville-Montgomery County School System; Vice-Chairman Mr. Edward (Eddie) Hickman, Director of Schools, Maury County Public Schools; Mr. Robert Davis, Principal, Gordon Elementary School; Mrs. Margaret Ann Gilmore, Assistant to the Chief Academic Officer, Shelby County Schools; Mrs. Kathryn Lipscomb Huffman, Assistant Principal, Munford Middle School; Dr. Gene Johnson, Assistant Superintendent, Sullivan County Department of Education; Mr. Sam Miles, Director of Schools, Henry County School System; Dr. Sherry G. Morgan, Educational Consultant; Dr. Larry E. Peach, Retired Dean of Education, Tennessee Tech University; Dr. Stella H. Simpson, Adjunct Professor, Trevecca Nazarene University; and Mr. David Stephens, Deputy Superintendent, Shelby County Schools.
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Preparing for Your External Review
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As we welcome Winter, then Spring of 2014, many schools and school systems are preparing for their External Review. We also are eagerly anticipating your External Review and are excited to see your continuous improvement efforts first-hand. We look forward to seeing the everyday happenings of your schools and the learning environment that you have created for your students.
We have found that when schools and school systems use their External Review as a school improvement tool, it helps them pinpoint specific areas for improvement and celebrate areas of achievement. The benefits of your External Review do not end with the review. You can continue to use the AdvancED Standards, Protocol and ASSIST to maximize your school improvement efforts all year.
We understand the importance of using improvement gains from the previous year to plan for improved academic successes with various subgroups of students in the future. The AdvancED Standards, Protocol and ASSIST are the perfect trio of tools and resources to help guide your efforts.
We will be sharing information about some exciting enhancements coming to AdvancED that will help you improve your school or school system more quickly than ever.
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ASSIST (AdvancED Adaptive System of School Improvement Support Tools) was launched nearly two years ago. Institutions are successfully managing their continuous improvement efforts along with accreditation requirements, because ASSIST successfully merges process, content and technology into a dynamic web-based platform. It supports end-to-end management of both the school improvement and accreditation processes involving all levels of the education system.
ASSIST now provides the tools to guide your next internal and external review for accreditation, including surveys, Student Performance Diagnostic and Stakeholder Feedback Diagnostic tools. In fact, more than two million students, parents, and teachers across the United States and around the world have completed the AdvancED surveys about the quality of their educational institutions using ASSIST. Institutions also can submit a Self Assessment, Executive Summary and school improvement plan in ASSIST.
We invite you to log in to ASSIST from the AdvancED website today to discover how to organize your tasks in a timely manner!
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AdvancED, the home of NCA CASI, NWAC and SACS CASI, is dedicated to
advancing excellence in education worldwide.
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