Accreditation Progress Report Green Hope High School Dr James E Hedrick 2500 Carpenter-Upchurch Road Cary, North Carolina, United States 27519 Prepared for the AdvancED Quality Assurance Review Report Status : Accepted Report Open Date : April 24, 2008 Report Due Date : May 1, 2010 Report Submitted Date : April 26, 2010 Report Accepted Date : June 22, 2010
AdvancED Accreditation Progress Report Page 2 of 7 Accreditation Progress Report Contents 10 About AdvancED and NCA CASI/SACS CASI 3 20 Introduction to the Accreditation Progress Report 4 30 Recommendation 1 5 31 School Response 5 32 Reviewer Response 6 40 Recommendation 2 6 41 School Response 6 42 Reviewer Response 7
10 About AdvancED and NCA CASI/SACS CASI Background Dedicated to advancing excellence in education worldwide, AdvancED provides accreditation, research, and professional services to 27,000 schools in 65 countries AdvancED provides accreditation under the seals of the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI) and the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI) The Accreditation Process To earn and maintain accreditation, schools must: 1 2 3 Meet the AdvancED Standards for Quality School Systems Schools demonstrate adherence to the seven AdvancED standards which describe the quality practices and conditions that research and best practice indicate are necessary for school systems to achieve quality student performance and organizational effectiveness Engage in continuous improvement Schools implement continuous improvement focused on improving student performance and school effectiveness Demonstrate quality assurance through internal and external review Schools engage in a planned process of ongoing internal review and self-assessment In addition, schools host an external Quality Assurance Review team once every five years The team evaluates the school's adherence to the AdvancED quality standards, assesses the efficacy of the school's improvement process and methods for quality assurance, and provides commendations and recommendations to help the school improve The school acts on the team's recommendations and submits an Accreditation Progress Report at prescribed intervals following the Quality Assurance Review The AdvancED accreditation process engages the entire school community in a continuous process of selfevaluation and improvement The overall aim is to help schools be the best they can be on behalf of the students they serve AdvancED Accreditation Progress Report Page 3 of 7
20 Introduction to the Accreditation Progress Report Purpose The Accreditation Progress Report (APR) is a critical component of the AdvancED accreditation process It engages the school in a detailed review and analysis of the steps it has taken to address the recommendations made by the AdvancED Quality Assurance Review (QAR) team Completing the report helps the school focus and reflect on its continuous improvement efforts It is the responsibility of the school to address each of the QAR report's recommendations within the 5-year term accreditation Deadlines for completion of the report are based on the school's accreditation status and must be met to maintain accreditation Some schools may complete multiple reports during the 5-year term to demonstrate that they have fully addressed the recommendations Structure of the Report The APR is organized around the recommendations in the school's QAR team report The APR lists the recommendation from the report along with the rationale and evidence supporting the recommendation The school then indicates the progress that it has made toward meeting the recommendation and provides a more detailed response describing the actions it has taken and the results obtained The school provides a response for each of the QAR team recommendations Following the school's response is the reviewer's response Each APR is read by an AdvancED reader in the state or regional office who reviews the school's response to determine if the recommendation has been met The reader provides his/her assessment of the progress the school has made and then offers comments to the school If recommendations remain in progress or not addressed, a new APR will be created with a new deadline for completion As noted earlier, the school must address the recommendations within the 5-year accreditation term Conclusion The Accreditation Progress Report is a useful report for members of the school and broader community It helps community members see and monitor the ongoing improvement efforts of their school It demonstrates how the school uses its accreditation for the ongoing benefit of the students it serves AdvancED Accreditation Progress Report Page 4 of 7
Green Hope High School hosted a Quality Assurance Review team on 03/25/2008-03/26/2008 Through interviews with school stakeholders, classroom observations, and a review of school documents and student performance results, the team developed a Quality Assurance Review (QAR) report detailing its findings from the visit The full report can be viewed at wwwadvanc-edorg The QAR report contained commendations and recommendations for the school The school is responsible for addressing each of the recommendations in the report At prescribed intervals based on the school's accreditation status, the school must complete an Accreditation Progress Report Below, please find the recommendations from the QAR report and the school's response to each recommendation Following the school's response is the reviewer's progress response and comments 30 Recommendation 1 Source: QAR Date: 2008-04-24 Recommendation: Increase the focused interventions needed to support all students' chances of success on all End-of- Course tests Evidence: Green Hope High School will need to continually seek out ways in which to meet with students that need extra help The school is looking at a "one-lunch" period which would allow meeting time with students who ride the bus over an hour each way daily This would allow the faculty access to the students who are currently so hard to reach Rationale: The faculty must have access to the students who need remediation and the single lunch period would certainly be a way to make that available 31 School Response Progress Status: Response: One Lunch was added to Green Hope High Schools plans for interventions for all students This concept is now in its 2nd year and appears to be benefiting all students A schedule has been built that ensures every class having tutorial opportunities twice a week (Other before school and after school opportunities vary by department) None of the subject areas overlap For example, Math might meet Monday the 1st half of lunch followed by English the 2nd half This allows 23 minutes of concentrated remediation as well as opportunities for lunch Students must attend 2 tutorials per subject per quarter Each department tracks the attendance and the results of the program During this year we have added an additional twist to the tutorials, an Opportunity for Mastery In essence this allows students who have failed a test to come to tutorials for additional help to Master the test concepts and then to retake the test Grades on retakes have been capped but allow the students to earn a passing grade An Intervention task force has been AdvancED Accreditation Progress Report Page 5 of 7
32 Reviewer Response created that brings together several faculty members who work closely with our at-risk youth All areas seem to be providing positive opportunities for all students to succeed Progress Response: Comments for Institution: After reviewing the school s response, AdvancED concurs with the school s assessment that this recommendation has been completed The school has taken the necessary steps to address the recommendation made by the Quality Assurance Review team The school is encouraged to monitor its ongoing activities to ensure that the actions taken to address this recommendation are sustained over time 40 Recommendation 2 Source: QAR Date: 2008-04-24 Recommendation: Establish clear guidelines for identifying students who may be at-risk of not being proficient on End-of-Course tests Evidence: Green Hope High School has an outstanding 90+% proficiency rate on End-of-Course tests The remediation groups are in place to make it even higher Rationale: With a proficiency rate this high and the remediation in place, if the students are identified and targeted earlier, the proficiency rate should increase---which means the school will be even better than it already is 41 School Response Progress Status: Response: Green Hope High School continues to strive for excellence in all our students As such we have used various scores to identify at-risk students and provide opportunities for advancement EOG scores for rising freshman are used to properly place them in select classes and to allow success to occur on a regular basis Teacher feedback, evaluations, and recommendations are used each semester for current students Of course, parents are a vital part of this process and are called on to provide support and feedback to ensure their child s success On-going tools such as SAS s EVASS system are employed to isolate scores and factors which may identify students so plans can be implemented by teachers, through IEP s (Individual Education Plans), or with the help of SST (Student Support team) In addition to these tools we are using our Pyramid of intervention and Personal Education Plans to update the processes for success and to update the AdvancED Accreditation Progress Report Page 6 of 7
42 Reviewer Response Intervention task force The Student Assistant Program (SAP) coordinator and the Intervention Specialist focus attention on spear heading the identification, meeting with, and follow through of the students with lower than desired proficiency scores These are on-going events that require constant updating and review Progress Response: Comments for Institution: After reviewing the school s response, AdvancED concurs with the school s assessment that this recommendation has been completed The school has taken the necessary steps to address the recommendation made by the Quality Assurance Review team The school is encouraged to monitor its ongoing activities to ensure that the actions taken to address this recommendation are sustained over time AdvancED Accreditation Progress Report Page 7 of 7