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Welcome Back to a New School Year!
Since my 2012 retirement from the Anchorage School District, I don’t feel quite the urgency about getting ready for school in August, but we do appreciate how busy everyone is this time of year. We wish you a great start to the school year. With our first exciting year of AdvancED accreditation behind us, we are busy scheduling External Review dates for our 2014-2015 schools, and we look forward to working with all our schools. Welcome back!
Finally, I would like to share with you some information on AdvancED Training. We will be holding training in October and December including an online opportunity. Here is what is available:
Schools Training:
Saturday, October 18,
8:00 a.m. - 3:00 p.m. (the day before the Fall Principals
Conference)
400 W Northern Lights Blvd, Anchorage, AK 99503
Cost: $75 ($150 for 3 or more from the same school)
Lead Evaluator Training:
Friday and Saturday, December 5 and 6,
Friday, 8:00 a.m. - 4:00 p.m.
Saturday, 8:00 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.
400 W Northern Lights Blvd., Anchorage, AK 99503
No Cost; certificates will be issues.
Online Training:
We are planning an online version of the Schools Training for
principals and school teams, which will consist of 6-7 sessions
of 45-60 minutes each over a period of weeks. We hope to
offer it twice, once in the fall (targeting 2014-2015 schools)
and once next spring (2015-2016 schools).
Information to follow.
We hope you can join us at any of these events.
Mary Johnstone
Director, AdvancED Alaska
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AdvancED Launches Redesigned Website
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AdvancED recently launched a redesigned website to provide visitors with an improved online experience. The result is a fresh, new look with streamlined navigation, real-time social media interaction and more concise and relevant information. The new AdvancED website includes improved location maps for the over 40 AdvancED Managing Offices worldwide using Google Maps and mobile device viewing capabilities. The new website truly reflects the work and scope of AdvancED from our advocacy efforts to our partnerships. Please visit the site to see the new look and learn more about AdvancED. |
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AdvancED Advocates for More Formative Assessment
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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.
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Fall AdvancED Reporting Requirements
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Please update your demographic information in ASSIST, the online management system for accreditation. If there is a new principal, phone number or change in enrollment, please update this information in ASSIST. Also, be sure to create a 2014 Executive Summary in ASSIST by November 1.
If you are a new principal and need your School Access Code and more specific instructions for using ASSIST, please email or call our office.
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External Reviews Scheduled for 2014-15
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The following school systems and schools are scheduled for an External Review in 2014-2015: Craig Elementary and Middle School, PACE Statewide Correspondence School, Tok School, Haines High School, Juneau-Douglas High School, Thunder Mountain High School, and Yaakoosge Daakahidi Alternative High School in Juneau, Kashunamiut School in St. Mary’s, Petersburg High School, Sitka High School, the Alaska Job Corps Center in Palmer, and Lumen Christi High School and the Adult Learning Center in Anchorage.
School systems applying for AdvancED School System Accreditation with reviews in 2014-2015 include the Galena and Lower Kuskokwim School Districts.
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Changes in External Review Fees
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When an institution hosts an External Review, AdvancED assesses an External Review fee to cover administrative costs related to the review. In the past, an institution was invoiced this fee after the External Review. This year, this procedure has been changed so that an institution hosting an External Review during the 2014-2015 school year will receive a separate invoice for the External Review with the fee due in August of 2014. The External Review fee will apply only during the school year in which the institution hosts an External Review with AdvancED. This change in procedure will assist institutions with their budgeting and planning processes. Please make sure that the appropriate personnel for your institution are aware of this change in procedure.
The External Review Fee for Alaska is $750. This is an increase as the AdvancED Alaska Council voted in May to raise the honorarium for Lead Evaluators from $300 to $500 for 2014-2015. The Lead Evaluator expends a considerable amount of time before and after the review ensuring a smooth and seamless review process for schools and school systems. If you have any questions, please feel free to contact our office.
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Serve on an External Review Team
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One of the very best ways to learn about the AdvancED accreditation and school improvement process is to serve on an External Review Team. If you are interested in doing so, email Mary Johnstone, AdvancED Alaska Director. Reviews will occur throughout the 2014-2015 school year, with most falling in the spring of 2015. They will last two days, but require arrival a day early (e.g., Sunday through Tuesday.) This is great professional development. We’d particularly like to schedule leaders of schools with their own External Review the following year.
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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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