WELCOME TO THE TEN-YEAR EVALUATION VISIT TRAINING MEETING ID: You will be muted during the webinar. To ask questions, use the chat box at the bottom of the control panel. If you have difficulty connecting, call Peggy Bloomfield at

TEN-YEAR EVALUATION VISIT TRAINING FOR VISITING TEAM MEMBERS February 2013

5 year cycle Recognized nationally by NAIS and in Virginia by the State Board of Education through VCPE Visiting team observes; Accreditation Committee guides; VAIS Board decides. Accreditation

Looks closely at the all areas of the school Identifies future areas of focus to further accomplish the school’s mission Captures a snapshot of the school at that point in time

The Mission of the Visiting Team See the school through its lens… not your own.

The Mission of the Visiting Team Learn and understand the school’s mission… and see it in action.

The Mission of the Visiting Team Provide feedback to the school… through the visiting team report.

The Mission of the Visiting Team Assess the degree to which the school meets… the 73 Standards for Membership.

The Mission of the Visiting Team Enjoy excellent professional development… and camaraderie!

Where to start?

Before Your Visit Receive, review, and markup the school’s report Review the areas of the curriculum assigned to you Connect to Google Docs for the visit Study the Standards of Membership (Google doc)Google doc Download and read the VAIS Visiting Team Member Guide ( Ask questions during your conference call

On Your Visit Use the "doc box.”

On Your Visit Engage school representatives in conversations Use Appendix F: Suggested Questions for School Representatives from the member guide

On Your Visit Observe classes and other activities to see the school living out its mission.

A few points about classroom visits… Do not interrupt instruction…be an observer. Drop in for minutes. Observe ways in which the curriculum is being implemented in the classroom. Your purpose is not to evaluate faculty members.

Writing the Visiting Team Report Each report has a primary and secondary writer. The whole team will review and approve the final report. Balance the number of commendations and recommendations. Include commendations that make that school stand out from others. The Accreditation Committee struggles with any negative votes on Standards that do not have correlating recommendations in the visiting team report, or challenges and strong recommendations that don’t have context.

Sample Section from a Report COMMUNITY OF THE SCHOOL The feeling of community goes beyond the classroom and the school as it reaches into the hearts and minds of the broader community. Students are admitted after careful consideration of their “fit” with the school’s mission. Meaningful relationships are built between families and the school. ETC. COMMENDATIONS The Visiting Team commends the School for: 1.Fostering positive relationships within and among all those impacted by the school. 2.ETC. STRONG RECOMMENDATION The Visiting Team strongly recommends that the School: 1.Institute a plan to establish a strong alumni relations program. RECOMMENDATIONS The Visiting Team recommends that the School: 1.Continue to investigate the use of additional social networking tools. 2.ETC.

Sample Section from a Report COMMUNITY OF THE SCHOOL The feeling of community goes beyond the classroom and the school as it reaches into the hearts and minds of the broader community. Students are admitted after careful consideration of their “fit” with the school’s mission. Meaningful relationships are built between families and the school. ET COMMENDATIONS The Visiting Team commends the School for: 1.Fostering positive relationships within and among all those impacted by the school. 2.ETC. STRONG RECOMMENDATION The Visiting Team strongly recommends that the School: 1.Institute a plan to establish a strong alumni relations program. Currently the school has a form on its website for alumni to use in submitting information. There are 25 alumni listed in the database and no communications are targeted at that audience. The school would benefit from assigning a staff member to oversee this effort and determining specific information that would be helpful to gather in assessing the school’s instruction and program. RECOMMENDATIONS The Visiting Team recommends that the School: 1.Continue to investigate the use of additional social networking tools. 2.ETC.

Quick Tips for Writing Reports Use starter adjectives listed in the Member Guide. Be specific without being prescriptive. Avoid group editing by passing reports first to the overall report editor.

VAIS Standards Study Standards using the (Google doc)Google doc You must vote on each Standard as written in its entirety. Abstain only if there is a direct conflict of interest.

STANDARDS CASE STUDY The Dewey Lower School does not have a large lending library due to space constraints. However, each classroom teacher has an extensive collection of books around the curriculum content that they are responsible for. Dewey is a feeder school to Decimal Academy. After conducting a survey of Dewey’s middle-school aged alumni who attend Decimal Academy, feedback shows that those students have difficulty conducting research for their papers, especially in understanding the cataloguing system in the library. STANDARD 30: The School has adequate library resources to provide for the program of the school and the needs of the students and the professional staff. 1. Do you have enough information to determine whether Dewey passes Standard 30? 2. If not, what else would you want to know? 3. Does this information help you in assessing Standard 27? (Standard 27 regards follow-up on graduate success. – Is the school doing a pretty good job with this?)

Confidentiality and professionalism

Visit Highlights -- Sunday Visiting team arrives mid-day for orientation meeting School presents its philosophy, mission, and community of the school Meetings are scheduled with school representatives to review areas covered in the self-study Tour of campus, generally led by students Visiting Team meets to review afternoon meetings and VAIS Standards of Membership on the Google Doc

Visit Highlights -- Monday Team leaders meet with Board Observe student arrival Visit classrooms and co- curricular activities Observe an emergency drill Meet with parents, students, and alumni Meet with administrative personnel and faculty Write and approve individual sections of the report Continue to work through Standards review on Google Doc

Visit Highlights -- Tuesday Continued visits to classrooms and co-curricular activities Follow-up meetings with faculty and administrative personnel are held as needed Visiting team continues the writing and reviewing of its report Visiting team continues to work through Standards review on Google Doc

Visiting team completes its report and Standards voting if not completed on Tuesday evening Visiting team completes evaluations Team leaders hold an exit meeting with the head of school Team members hold an exit meeting with school representatives Team departs mid-day Visit Highlights -- Wednesday

And then what? Maintain confidentiality about the school. All marked-up materials and report drafts should be shredded before you depart. Complete your evaluation survey to help VAIS continue to improve its process. Update your information on the VAIS database so you can serve again!

THANK YOU for your commitment to the accreditation process! Please provide VAIS with feedback on how we can improve any areas of our support to you and your school.