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AUC Accreditation Commendations & Required Actions

Written by Dr. George Kafkoulis. Posted in Uncategorised

The Archimedean Board is proudly making public the Archimedean Upper Conservatory's  Accreditation Report. The Summary of Findings includes 3 Commendations and 2 Rquited Actions:

Commendation 1

Commendation Statement:

The leadership, faculty, and staff of Archimedean Upper Conservatory foster teamwork and dedication throughout the school community giving strong evidence of an educational environment that is deeply committed to its vision and its work.

Commendation 2

Commendation Statement:

Through the exceptional leadership of a committed and knowledgeable board, president, and director, the mission, vision, and purpose of Archimedean Upper Conservatory continue to be developed, promoted, implemented, monitored, and sustained over time.

Commendation 3

Commendation Statement:

Because of the clear articulation and effective leadership, all stakeholders understand the school's mission and its relationship to their respective roles and work collaboratively and collectively toward its fulfulliment.

Required Actions

Required Action 1

Create a process to adopt and implement a comprehensive evaluation system to provide systematic professional growth of all personnel.

Required Action 2

Establish a professional development team comprised of teachers, administrators, and support staff whose primary responsibility is the creation, alignment, and implementation of a comprehensive professional development plan that is aligned with identified needs within the School Improvement Plan.

Please read below the entire Summary of Findings and the whole report as a downloadable PDF.

 

 

Archimedean Upper Conservatory

 AdvancED Quality Assurance Review Report 2012

 The following are excerpts from the  AdvancED Quality Assurance Review Report 2012. The whole document is included as a PDF into this article.

 Summary of Findings

 

A Quality Assurance Review Team representing the SACS CASI Florida State Office (SACS-CASI-FL), a division of AdvancED, visited the Archimedean Upper Conservatory in Miami, Florida, United States on 04/23/2012 - 04/24/2012.

 

During the visit, members of the Quality Assurance Review Team interviewed 4 members of the administrative team, 20 students, 33 parents, and 14 teachers. The team also reviewed documents, student performance data, and other artifacts provided by the school. Specifically, the team examined the school's systems and processes in relation to the seven AdvancED standards:

 

  1. Vision and Purpose
  2. Governance and Leadership
  3. Teaching and Learning
  4. Documenting and Using Results
  5. Resource and Support Systems
  6. Stakeholder Communications and Relationships
  7. Commitment to Continuous Improvement

 

The AdvancED standards focus on systems within a school and systematic methods of attaining high student performance and organizational effectiveness. The power of the standards lies in the connections and linkages between and among the standards. The Quality Assurance Review Team used the AdvancED standards to guide its review of the school, looking not only for adherence to individual standards, but also for how the school functions as a whole and embodies the practices and characteristics of a quality school.

 

Through its examination of the school's adherence to the standards, the Quality Assurance Review Team identified the following commendations and required actions.

 

Commendations

The Quality Assurance Review Team commends the school for the following strengths and accomplishments. While additional strengths are noted in the detailed review of each standard that appears later in this report, the commendations listed below are the strengths that the team believes are most deserving of being highlighted.

Commendation 1

Commendation Statement:

The leadership, faculty, and staff of Archimedean Upper Conservatory foster teamwork and dedication throughout the school community giving strong evidence of an educational environment that is deeply committed to its vision and its work.

Evidence:

Stakeholder opinions, ideas, and suggestions are valued, listened to, evaluated, and subsequently acted on.

Rationale:

The culture of teamwork, support, and camaraderie has resulted in a sharing of ideas, successes, and the promotion of student academic success.

Commendation 2

Commendation Statement:

Through the exceptional leadership of a committed and knowledgeable board, president, and director, the mission, vision, and purpose of Archimedean Upper Conservatory continue to be developed, promoted, implemented, monitored, and sustained over time.

Evidence:

The board chair and director effectively articulate the school's vision and mission to students, teachers, parents, and community.

Rationale:

Because of the clear articulation and effective leadership, all stakeholders understand the school's mission and its relationship to their respective roles and work collaboratively and collectively toward its fulfillment.

Commendation 3

Commendation Statement:

Because of the clear articulation and effective leadership, all stakeholders understand the school's mission and its relationship to their respective roles and work collaboratively and collectively toward its fulfulliment.

Evidence:

The teaching staff adjusts instructional objectives, is aware of current performance levels, and articulates which strategies are being used to ensure learning and achievement.

Rationale:

This focus has resulted in the school's receiving a top ranking based on the Florida Comprehensive Assessment Test (FCAT) data from the Florida Department of Education.

Required Actions

In addition to the commendations, the Quality Assurance Review Team identified the following required actions for improvement. The team focused its required actions on those areas that, if addressed, will have the greatest impact on improving student performance and overall school effectiveness. The school will be held accountable for addressing each of the required actions noted in this section. Following this review, the school will be asked to submit a progress report on these required actions.

Required Action 1

Required Action:

Create a process to adopt and implement a comprehensive evaluation system to provide systematic professional growth of all personnel.

Evidence:

Although artifacts described an evaluation process, it was not evident that a comprehensive plan for evaluating personnel is being implemented in a systematic manner.

Rationale:

The absence of a formal performance system for evaluating personnel will not result in systematic feedback to teachers and other personnel as to the degree that school wide improvement priorities are being achieved.

Required Action 2

Required Action:

Establish a professional development team comprised of teachers, administrators, and support staff whose primary responsibility is the creation, alignment, and implementation of a comprehensive professional development plan that is aligned with identified needs within the School Improvement Plan.

Evidence:

While the team noted that opportunities to participate in professional development activities are readily available, evidence was not found that the professional development activities offered support the instructional needs of teachers and the learning needs of students.

Rationale:

Establishing a team to create a comprehensive plan through which professional development is delivered to teachers will ensure that all planned professional development is aligned and focused, by way of an analysis of data, according to the instructional needs of teachers and learning needs of students.