At the October 10, 2005, Board of Education the South Redford School District became the 1^st school district in Michigan and the 5^th district in the Nation to receive the District Accreditation from North Central Accreditation, (NCA) using the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence. Michael A. Bugenski, State Director of the Michigan NCA presented a report to the Board of Education on the District’s 1^st Baseline Quality Assurance Review.  

South Redford School District began their journey to improve the system and instructional model over 4 ½ years ago with the implementation of the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence.  The District felt it was important that the NCA process of reviewing and evaluating their continuous improvement process aligned with the Baldrige process. Ironically, about the same time NCA began initiatives with Jim Shipley & Associates and members at the state level to develop a review process aligned with the Baldrige process; through this collaboration an evaluation process was designed and developed that is aligned with the Baldrige process.  

For the NCA this was first time accrediting school districts as systems, which is a different approach than what has been the norm, and requires a district to look at themselves much differently than they had done in the past.  To earn District accreditation NCA looks for three things:

1. The District must meet the NCA standards; in the case of South Redford School District 216 standards were used.
2. Have a continuous improvement process in place.
3. Document the results of improvement in statistical measures.

The Quality Assurance Report used by the NCA reviews 216 individual standards of a given school district. The standards were grouped in seven categories which aligned with the Baldrige process approach that is used across the nation.

The NCA team was prepared with the district self evaluation prior to spending three days in April evaluating and reviewing the data provided by the South Redford District.  As part of their review process the team held a series of interviews with parents, staff and teachers. Michael Bugenski comments, “The team used a series of interviews to collect data and gather supportive evidence that the District met the standards.”  In his report to the Board of Education last week Bugenski categorized the team’s findings in two parts; the District’s strengths and recommendations for improvements. Bugenski noted that many of the recommendations had already been met since the last meeting in April.    

Michael Bugenski, State Director Michigan NCA stated,  “Our recommendation to our state committee and commission is that we would credit you as a District without any reservations or violations, which is a remarkable feat, since there are 216 different standards. We cannot lose sight of the fact that this was a rather intensive feat.”  Bugenski shared some of the District’s many strengths:

• A positive collaborative culture – people feel connected across the District
• A Strategic Plan that has quantifiable measures
• Implementation of the Baldrige Criteria for Performance Excellence across the District
• Involvement of parents, employees, and community in the school improvement process
• A variety of means for community and parent involvement

It is important to note that the South Redford School District uses a data-driven process to make decisions. Bugenski points out, “No consumer or customer selects a product by looking at only one feature or measure; buyers look beyond the price or just one feature.”  In the District accreditation process the NCA looks at multiple measures.  There is more than one way of looking at the District as a total system; because test scores alone are not accurate measures. The NCA utilizes seven categories to measure the system; each of the categories has an impact on student learning. The seven categories are:

• Leadership & Governance

• Strategic Planning

• Valuing Students and Community

• Information System

• Valuing Faculty and Staff

• Helping Students Learn

• Documenting Performance Results

The NCA commended the leadership of the District, the Board, the administration staff, and teachers within the South Redford District system for their strong leadership component. Congratulations on being the 1^st District to make this achievement.

What is NCA?

The North Central Association, Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement handles the accreditation of K-12 and other non-degree granting schools in 19 states; including Federal Government Department of Defense schools and other schools word wide. They recently became a part of a 30 state consortium with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools. They have accredited schools since 1895. See http://www.ncacasi.org/   for additional information on NCA. 

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PowerPoint
presentation on
NCA Accreditation
Baldrige Process