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‘District accreditation more practical, efficient for PSS’
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Posted on Mar 22 2012
By Moneth Deposa
Reporter
Reporter
Two officials from the North Central Association of Colleges and Schools, or NCA, are on-island for the formal transition of the CNMI-Public School System from individual schools accreditation to a system-wide evaluation process.
Dr. Mark Elgart, president and chief executive officer of Advanced NCA, and deputy chief accreditation officer of the U.S. Regional and State office Services, David S. Hurst, yesterday facilitated a workshop for PSS administrators, program managers, and members of the Board of Education that aims to help them successfully achieve their goal for student learning.
After years of affiliation with the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, PSS ended its accreditation with the organization and aligned itself with NCA. The objective is to transition from school level to a district level accreditation process.
Education Commissioner Dr. Rita A. Sablan said yesterday that PSS is now heading toward the new direction.
“It’s a new beginning and a new era for PSS. Today, we learned great things and ideas that are critical in the 21st century education environment,” she told Saipan Tribune.
According to Hurst, moving to the new accreditation approach is “more practical and efficient” because it is expected to deliver quick progress. “The accreditation process through NCA Advanced is more of a partnership and we don’t focus so much on coming in to see and say what’s wrong and what needs to be fixed. Our approach is we work and sit down with them to figure out how we can best serve the students of the district,” he said.
He added NCA performs more of a supportive partner and less of an evaluator for all districts and schools it is accrediting.
Before over 60 participants gathered at Pacific Islands Club Saipan’s Napu Room, Hurst and Elgart talked about Advanced standards, the importance of systems thinking, the Advanced NCA expectations for accreditation, and how to use student and stakeholder data effectively, among others.
Hurst said NCA has been in the accreditation work since 1895 and has over 30,000 institutions under its fold of which 70 percent to date have already transitioned from individual school accreditation approach to district-wide accreditation process.
