Accreditation Protocol for Public School Districts in the US

District accreditation indicates that a public school district has worked to align its practices within the district and with the NEASC Standards for Accreditation, which are used for are used for all three levels of public schools accredited by NEASC: elementary, middle, and high schools. Accredited districts have completed a multi-school, community-wide self-assessment process, and have hosted a visiting team of peers who review the individual schools and the district office in terms of common goals and the Standards for Accreditation.

District Accreditation encourages greater K-12 alignment, including common goals, language, and strategic planning.

Process

Districts pursuing accreditation will use the same protocol developed for public schools, but the planning is personalized for each school district in order to facilitate a streamlined process and to accommodate the different sizes of districts and varying number of schools within them. 

Regardless of size, the schools in a district work together on

• a single Self-Reflection completed by a committee drawn from each school and the central office
• a single Collaborative Conference held with a team of peer educators
• the development and implementation of a district-wide growth plan
• a reflective summary report 
• a combined Decennial Accreditation Visit for all of the schools

This combined, collaborative approach eliminates the need for multiple separate visits and reports makes the district approach a much more viable option for many school systems.

Accreditation

The award of District Accreditation signifies that the schools in the district have met the Standards for Accreditation at an acceptable level and are committed to maintain those Standards. Continued Accreditation is dependent upon the schools and the district demonstrating ongoing, reflective progress to improve teaching and learning and the support of teaching and learning within their schools throughout the K-12 continuum.

We choose to enter into the accreditation process as a district because having all schools in our district strategically use common language, common practices, and common habits of learning unifies us. And it strengthens the experience for students  ̶  there’s an alignment in their learning. Going through the process as a district helped all of us in the district see students’ learning journey as a trajectory from kindergarten through graduation: a common path through all their years with us. 
 

Gretchen McNulty, Superintentent of Schools, Falmouth Public Schools, Falmouth, ME 
 

At our school board workshop we had the opportunity to discuss our NEASC visit. First of all, the NEASC Visiting Team was wonderful and connected so well with many in our school community. Recommendations and commendations were insightful and have already helped to confirm our vision and plans going forward. Pursuing this process K-12 was definitely the right decision for our district; we look forward to receiving our report and continuing on this journey.

Geoff Bruno, Former Superintendent of Schools, Falmouth Public Schools