External Visit/Accreditation Results
by Michelle Keszler
March 18, 2010
Every five years, Bridgeport Public Schools seeks to be accredited by the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA). By meeting accreditation requirements our district has demonstrated to an outside group that we have met high standards. The biggest benefit to our students is that we have access to many resources through NCA, their credits are easily transferred to other schools, and they have more access to federal loans, scholarships, post secondary education, and military programs that require regional accreditation.
We have recently hosted our external visitation. A team of nine teachers and administrators from other area schools have recommended that we be accredited for another five years. The team spent two days in our buildings. They visited with teachers, administrators, parents, students, and board members. It was their job to decide to what extent we are meeting the quality standards established by NCA.
The visitation team had several commendations for our district, but were also required to give us ideas for improvement. The team noticed many strengths but listed three that they believed needed to be highlighted. They noted that our district offers numerous technology opportunities to students and staff; our staff is qualified, caring, and very capable of fulfilling all responsibilities; and that we used a strong, school-wide focus during implementation of the K-6 reading and k-12 math programs. They also gave us three required actions for us to complete. They include: provide time, resources, and support for teachers to continually improve student learning; provide time and resources to maximize teachers’ abilities to use data to drive instruction and improve student performance; and communicate with all stakeholders to evaluate the current mission/vision/goals of our district.
Our district needs to address the three recommendations within two years in order to uphold our accreditation. The help of our stakeholders is needed. All community members: parents, business operators, retirees—will be asked to help us revisit the mission of our district. We will set up a formal process for this and more information will be available next fall. The district is also currently evaluating our calendar to find ways to maximize our time and make collaboration a reality.
As always, if you have any suggestions or questions about our school improvement process and activities please contact the school improvement chair, Kevin Myers at 262-1574.
