In response to a need for institutions to have a deeper understanding of their institutional effectiveness, AdvancED® introduced in the 2013-14 school year an innovative and state-of-the-art framework to measure institutional performance.  The Index of Education Quality™ (IEQ™) provides institutions a holistic measure of their overall performance based on a comprehensive set of indicators and evaluative criteria.  As a formative tool for improvement, it graphically pinpoints areas of success as well as areas in need of support and/or focus.

In the past, accreditation reviews resulted in a recommended accreditation status.  Labels such as accredited, advised, warned or on probation were used to describe the status of an institution relative to a set of static standards.  These labels, with the exception of accredited, were oftentimes perceived as punitive in nature and not as a formative measure by which a school or system could improve.  Each institution's initial IEQ score is the starting point for improvement and provides a benchmark to assess and guide the institution.  Using the IEQ, institutions have the opportunity to focus their attention, activities and actions resulting in positive impacts and measurable improvements designed to optimize learning for every student.  As institutions document these changes and submit them for review, their IEQ scores are updated to reflect this progress and guide the next steps on their improvement journey.

Setting an IEQ score became part of AdvancED’s accreditation process in the fall of 2013. Moving forward, if you have completed an External Review during 2013-2014, or if your school belongs to a system engaged in AdvancED Performance Accreditation, you will be able to access your IEQ™ score from the Adaptive System of School Improvement Support Tools (ASSIST™) via a dashboard.  From the dashboard, you can update your school’s demographics, see the latest documents/reports for your institution and see your IEQ™ score.

As a reminder, institutions will continue to receive a comprehensive report of the team’s findings with recognition of Powerful Practices, Opportunities for Improvement and Improvement Priorities through the External Review process.  The addition of the AdvancED Index of Education Quality further enhances the accreditation process as a lever for continuous improvement and enhances an institution’s understanding of where it is situated on a continuum of performance and improvement.  If you have questions about IEQ, please don't hesitate to contact our office.

In a recently published article, AdvancED CEO Mark A. Elgart, Ed.D. advocates for increased use of formative assessment. Co-authored with W. James Popham, Ed.D., a UCLA emeritus professor, It’s Time to Abandon Our Rube Goldberg Accountability Contraptions emphasizes that “today’s accountability systems fail to identify the root causes of underperformance and therefore fail to enable actionable strategies for improvement.” The Huffington Post article goes on to discuss support for continuous improvement through the use of a comprehensive formative-assessment strategy and ongoing diagnostic review. Read the complete article now.

Access to high quality training and information is crucial to support a culture of continuous improvement. Continuous improvement efforts have some distinct implications for training personnel.  For example,

1. Faculty and staff who are affected by the improvement work may require professional development to ensure successful execution as a result of the product developed.
2. Building and teacher leaders who are to be involved in the efforts to make improvements could benefit from training to ensure they fully comprehend the process.

To create an organizational culture that embraces continuous improvement, professional development is crucial to ensure skill acquisition and knowledge attainment. We are pleased to offer a fall workshop series to support this vital work. All sessions are held in Naperville at University of Illinois Business Innovation Services, 1100 E. Warrenville Road.  The sessions are:

Deep Dive Into the Data: Inquiry and Inferences
October 22, 2014
9:00 a.m. - 3:30 a.m. (Registration begins at 8:30 a.m.)

Enhancing Improvement Efforts: Using Stakeholder Feedback
October 28, 2014
1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. (Registration begins at 12:30 p.m.)

Identifying and Organizing Artifacts
November 6, 2014
1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. (Registration begins at 12:30 p.m.)

Building a Strategic School: Setting the Context for Improvement
December 2, 2014
1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. (Registration begins at 12:30 p.m.)

Customized in-service is available. Please call the AdvancED Illinois Managing Office to make arrangements. 

The I Hotel and Conference Center was the backdrop for the AdvancED Illinois 2014 Fall Conference. Nearly 175 educators, administrators, policy makers and those passionately committed to improvement and change assembled to learn and share how vital student centric learning environments are to the future of education. 

During the conference, a special awards ceremony was held to recognize Dick Spohr as the 2014 AdvancED Excellence in Education Award Winner. Susie Morrison, Deputy Superintendent/Chief Education Officer Illinois State Board of Education, presented the award. Her comments included the lessons she learned from Mr. Spohr over the years of their association. Dick spent his entire career as a high school administrator, always maintaining a strong belief in the value of improvement for his school to benefit the students he served. Past recognition includes: Illinois Secondary Principal of the Year by MetLife and the National Association of Secondary School Principals, U.S. Department of Education Blue Ribbon School under his tenure as principal for Carlinville High School, Herman Graves Award for Lifetime Service to Illinois Principals Association, and Unity High School Athletic Hall of Fame. Dick resides in Atwater with his wife, Ruth.

In addition, Quality Award recognition also was presented at the conference. The state-level awards are presented to team members and Lead Evaluators who have demonstrated extraordinary service and dedication to facilitate educational quality through AdvancED Performance Accreditation. This year’s award winners include: Mr. Mateo Trujillo, assistant principal Olive Harvey Middle College High School, awarded the Quality Service award; Mr. Jerry Douglas, director Chaddock School, received Quality Leadership recognition; and Mrs. Julie Garofalo was presented the Quality Performance award.

You can read details of each award and along with downloading a nominations form (see Resources) for the Quality Award series. Nominations are accepted through August 1 for consideration of the current year.

Please be certain to mark your calendars for next year’s annual conference. It is scheduled September 24 -25, 2015 in Champaign. Details and information will be made available in 2015!