On any given year, Catholic schools in Arkansas are undergoing evaluation of 12 standards in order to maintain accreditation under the Arkansas Nonpublic School Accrediting Association.
“Accreditation is like quality control for schools. For parents looking for a school, they know we’re reporting to someone else and doing what a school should be doing,” said St. Edward School principal Jason Pohlmeier in Little Rock.
ANSAA is a nonprofit educational organization that began accrediting non-public schools in the state after it formed in 1989.
Out of the 31 Catholic schools in Arkansas, ANSAA has accredited 25. The remaining six schools are considered “non-accredited associate schools,” which means they are seeking accreditation but have not gone through the ANSAA process yet.
This year, one of those six schools, St. Raphael School in Springdale, is scheduled for first-time accreditation.
“For us, it is different because we are a newer school,” said St. Raphael School principal Karen LaMendola. “It helps validate that what we’re doing is correct. We are meeting the standards and doing great things. It’s like a seal of approval. You know when you see it that it meets a certain quality.”
St. Edward School in Little Rock, St. Joseph in Paris and St. John School in Russellville are the schools renewing their accreditation in 2012.
“It keeps us from being complacent in what we’re doing. We are doing the major things, but might not evaluate it as often. With this, we periodically check and verify that we’re doing those things. It’s easy to become complacent, and this helps keep us from that,” Pohlmeier said.
Catholic schools have an advantage over many independent schools in the state because they have their own district of sorts — in maintaining standards set by the diocese and reporting to the Catholic superintendent of schools, Vernell Bowen.
“Not all schools have that support of a larger entity. We’re blessed to have the diocese and that consistency between schools. Students in Catholic schools are learning and hearing similar things across the diocese, as we’re following a strong curriculum,”
Catholic schools also have more supervision, as they are also accountable to the diocese in maintaining standards.
“The Catholic school system does a good job. They have their own annual reports that go into their superintendent. They are doing a good job of tracking what they schools are doing regularly,” said ANSAA executive director Beverly Gray, a former Catholic school principal.
Accreditation begins with a self-study. This is an in-depth study based on the 12 standards categories where schools answer questions on how they meet the standards, collect data on their school and analyze the answers and data.
Once the self-study is completed, ANSAA assembles a team of teachers and administrators for a site visit where they have areas of focus based on the standards. The school receives a report on the visit, which is about 45 pages and includes commendations and recommendations.
The ANSAA board votes on accreditation after the site visit.
After initial accreditation, schools submit annual reports to ANSAA and renew their accreditation every seven years.
“It’s important to let the public and parents know that we’re serious about education and learning,” said St. John School principal Mark Tyler. “It shows we have high standards for students and staff and offer the best education possible.”
For Catholic schools, part of the accrediting process looks at how Catholic schools are meeting their mission of Catholic education.
“Catholicity is important in the Catholic school environment. We look to see is it alive and well in the school. It should feed throughout the school and what they do,” Gray said.
As a principal of a Catholic school, LaMendola said it is an important mission that encompasses every learning opportunity.
“They are engrossed in being Catholic and what it means to be Catholic. It’s not just in a 30-minute period, it’s all day,” LaMendola said.
The 12 standards are main categories that include curriculum, staff, finances, facilities and technology. In each category, some of the standards are mandatory, Gray said, and without meeting them you cannot be accredited.
“Schools can lose their accreditation if mandatory standards are not annually met and a continual process is not made to meet a stated deficiency,” Gray said.
Other standards are more difficult like ones dealing with curriculum or poor performance on standardized testing.
Several of the smaller Catholic schools in Arkansas can’t be accredited because they don’t meet all the mandatory standards yet, Bowen said.
One issue that is cost-prohibitive for some is that ANSAA requires all school administrators to have an advanced degree in school administration or certification.
“My job is to make sure that those schools are providing a quality education despite not meeting some of the mandatory standards,” Bowen said.
The standards cover all the points needed for a quality education, Pohlmeier said, from looking at whether a school has the right amount of classes, the facilities to accommodate students, to how they use technology. LaMendola describes the standards them as a puzzle.
“The standards are all-encompassing and build on each other. They are a puzzle where all the pieces must fit and be strong to make a strong, finished puzzle,” she said. “It’s like how we’re providing a Catholic education — it’s about their whole being, not just one part. It’s so much more than just grades on a report card. We’re developing the whole child.”
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