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Welcome to 2015
Welcome to 2015! A new year signals a time of reflection and resolutions for the year to come and resolutions often focus on personal improvements—to exercise more, eat healthy, save money, be positive, etc. However, you are no stranger to improvement as this is what you do, it’s just the way you go about your day-to-day business. At AdvancED, we value the role we play to facilitate and empower your work as you set about achieving optimal outcomes for your students. And to help enhance your work, we have some exciting innovations to offer this year and beyond.
As you read this spring edition of the newsletter, you will learn more about the new, just released eleot™ app. This resource focuses on data collection to measure the conditions and practices found in learner centric environments for schools seeking improvement and/or accreditation. We’ve also included an article which highlights the application of this resource during a recent school system's External Review at Leyden High School District 212.
We’ve integrated benchmark data into External Review Team findings reported to the education community. These data help provide context for schools and school systems as they review feedback from the team and make future improvement plans. School communities can use this information to provide context for overall performance, help hone improvement efforts and identify programs and practices to celebrate and share. Check out the article included in this edition for further details.
AdvancED also has developed STEM Standards and is currently piloting the protocol nationally. Details on how schools achieve certification which includes peer professional review, will be forthcoming. Please look for additional information as we set to make this available across the nation and in the interim, contact the AdvancED Illinois Managing Office to be placed on the priority list for information release. We also are posed to launch a new survey system which will be available in multiple languages. Again, contact the managing office to be placed on the list for newly released details as they are made available.
As always, we are committed to offering opportunities to help with professional growth. Not only are there several workshops available delivered live and in-person, we also are pleased to announce a partnership with Acacia University to offer electronic graduate level classes. Registration details and direct links are included in the subsequent articles “Continuous Improvement Workshop Series” and “AdvancED Digital Learning Available.”
By now, I’m certain you realize that AdvancED is not just about accreditation. And while accreditation will always remain a hallmark of quality, we also support your ongoing work in the continuous improvement arena. We value the work you do on a daily basis to impact the lives of students and wish to empower you to achieve optimal outcomes in these efforts. To this end, please let us know how we may best draw upon our improvement toolbox – multiple, avant-garde resources and a deep, rich cadre of seasoned professionals – to support and facilitate your journey. Thank you for all you do to improve our communities and enrich children’s lives. Beyond this, thank you for allowing AdvancED to share in the journey. Here’s to 2015 – a year filled with promise and potential!
Becky Densmore
AdvancED Illinois Director
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Many educational professionals have experienced the impact of AdvancED’s vanguard technology Effective Learning Environments Observation Tool™ (eleot™) during External Reviews or through serving on teams. The power of this learner centric resource is far reaching and AdvancED wishes to ensure school professionals have access to eleot beyond AdvancED Performance Accreditation. Last semester, the mobile eleot app was launched to help gauge learner’s experience and early feedback received indicates it is empowering school professionals across the nation. An innovative, formative tool for continuous improvement, eleot helps measure classroom conditions and environments conducive to learning. This benefits continuous improvement work, peer learning and professional development goals. The eleot is quick and simple to use. School leaders load schedules, identify courses, grade levels, time in the classroom and gather beneficial data about the classroom experience. Data then can be easily aggregated and disaggregated providing you with the ability to identify trends and inform the instructional decision-making process. Go to the eleot Web page or contact the AdvancED Illinois Managing Office for assistance. |
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Benchmark Data for External Reviews
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Last year AdvancED introduced the Index of Education Quality™ (IEQ™), a formative measure for placement on a continuum of performance, pinpointing areas of success, as well as areas in need of improvement. The IEQ™ is comprised of three domains of performance: 1) the impact of teaching and learning on student performance; 2) the capacity of leadership to guide the institution toward the achievement of its vision and strategic priorities; and 3) the use of resources to support and optimize learning. The Index of Education Quality provides a holistic measure of overall performance. By basing the score on data aggregated from each AdvancED Standard and diagnostic results from student, parent and staff/teacher surveys, the IEQ provides a benchmark to assess and guide future decisions. Schools and school systems hosting External Reviews now receive an IEQ score when they are accredited.
Additionally, in the fall of 2014, AdvancED began providing benchmark data for each Indicator and for each component of the Evaluative Criteria in the External Review Report. These benchmark data represent the overall averages across the entire AdvancED Network. The AdvancED Network average provides an extraordinary opportunity for school communities to understand their context on a global scale rather than simply compared to a state, region or country. It is important to understand that the AdvancED Network averages are provided primarily to serve as a tool for continuous improvement and not as a measure of quality in and of itself. Benchmark data, when wisely employed, have a unique capacity to help institutions identify and leverage their strengths and areas of improvement to significantly impact student learning.
Together, the IEQ™ and the AdvancED Network benchmark data provide a powerful framework that recognizes and supports the journey of continuous improvement. Schools and school systems can use both as the starting point for continuous improvement. For further information, please contact the AdvancED Illinois Managing Office.
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A Model of Excellence for Digital Learning
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An External Review Team collected data from Leyden High School District 212 located in Franklin Park using eleot™. The results indicated the school system’s performance in digital learning far exceeded AdvancED Network (AEN) averages. The AdvancED Illinois Managing Office learned after the review, Dell Computers produced a video of the system’s innovative and pioneering use of technology and published it on their Customer Story Web page. Click on the link to view this inspirational story! The work the school system has completed and the strides they have made with technology integration in to classroom instruction to create digital learning environments is, without question, impressive and rightfully recognized by Dell Computers and corroborated through eleot data. Please be certain to congratulate your colleagues at Leyden School District including Dr. Nick Polyak, Superintendent and Mr. Mikkel Storaasli, Assistant Superintendent for Curriculum and Instruction for the outstanding leadership the system is demonstrating to ensure all students are ready for college, careers, and digital citizenship!
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Continuous Improvement Workshop Series
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Continuous improvement is an organizational commitment to ongoing learning and improvement. It is a goal to always get better and an orientation that “good” is never good enough. Ongoing improvement is a process of change and can be both a means and an end. The bottom line, it is about continually becoming stronger organizationally and operationally, performing at higher levels, and achieving greater things. AdvancED Performance Accreditation is a continuous improvement process designed to provide school communities with a holistic approach to achieving optimal outcomes and achievement gains. The AdvancED Illinois Managing Office has developed a workshop series structured around key milestones of the internal review planning process which helps prepare for an External Review. All sessions are stand-alone and scheduled in Naperville at University of Illinois Business Innovation Services, 1100 E. Warrenville Road. Please contact our managing office if help is needed along the way.
Continuous Improvement through Accreditation
This session is offered as a customized in-service to help School Improvement Teams plan and organize internal review logistics. ASSIST orientation is provided along with overviews of the AdvancED Diagnostics and Surveys. Please email Becky Densmore at the AdvancED Illinois Managing Office to make arrangements.
Identifying and Organizing Artifacts
March 6, 2015
1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m. (Registration begins at 12:30 p.m.)
Building a Strategic School: Setting the Context for Improvement
March 23, 2015
1:00 p.m. - 3:30 p.m.(Registration begins at 12:30 p.m.)
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AdvancED Digital Learning Available
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AdvancED recognizes the value of your time and is offering professional learning to meet every busy schedule with the introduction of the AdvancED Digital Classroom. Busy professionals can learn about continuous quality improvement and accreditation around the clock by visiting the Digital Classroom on the AdvancED website. Please visit the site to register for any one of the following courses:
Not only is valuable insight gained about the External Review and school improvement processes, graduate credit hours can be earned for several of the courses through our partnership with Acacia University, an accredited university. Our courses are instructor-led by AdvancED personnel or experienced instructors affiliated with AdvancED. Most classes are eight weeks or 16 weeks. Don’t delay; register for one or all of these enriching courses.
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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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