The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction becomes the first State Education Agency to be Cognia Accredited
ALPHARETTA, GA / ACCESSWIRE / July 2, 2024 / Cognia®, the global school improvement organization and the largest education accreditor in the world, has developed and implemented an accreditation protocol for use by states. The North Dakota Department of Public Instruction (NDDPI) is now Cognia accredited and is the first state education agency (SEA) ever to be accredited by a regional accrediting body.
"The purpose of accrediting SEAs is to strengthen their capacity to help schools improve education for all children. Parents and the community now can see the extent to which state agencies can lead and actively support schools and districts in setting conditions for learning excellence across all schools," said Dr. Mark Elgart, president and CEO of Cognia.
"State accreditation is not about passing a one-time inspection," Dr. Elgart says. "Cognia examines the 'whole' state organization and its policies, programs, practices, learning conditions, and cultural context. The process for state accreditation helps state agencies increase their efficiency, improve collaboration, eliminate redundancy and silos, and work more effectively with schools and districts to help them meet improvement goals."
The possibility of accrediting state agencies was first suggested during the 2022-23 school year by North Dakota's state superintendent Kirsten Baesler, one of the nation's leading advocates for continuous improvement in education.
"While we have always strived to do good work, receiving positive feedback and confirmation of this work from a third-party reviewer like Cognia is truly meaningful," noted Kirsten Baesler, North Dakota's state superintendent for public instruction. "We believe in the importance of rigorous evaluations for our school districts, and it is only fair that we hold ourselves to the same high standards."
As part of the accreditation process, Cognia sets standards for performance and has the state education agency demonstrate how it achieves 23 standards and other key competencies. Cognia sends a professional review team and gathers evidence using Cognia's Performance Standards and research-based tools. They meet with the SEA's partners (including district leaders and state and local officials) and stakeholders (including parent and community partners) and make observations to form a complete picture before finalizing the review process. A thorough report provides the department with a broad understanding and detailed insights into where state education agencies are excelling and where they need to further focus and invest resources.
For more than 125 years, Cognia and its antecedent accrediting organizations have worked to establish standards for performance of schools (since 1895), school districts (2004), state charter school authorizers (2017), and state education agencies (2024). With the research and development established over the past two years, Cognia is now in position to accredit state education agencies responsible for the education of more than 51 million students in grades PK-12.
NDDPI's Greatest Strengths
Among the notable achievements in the review Cognia identified five areas that were NDDPI's greatest strengths, including:
Developing and nurturing an authentic environment with an unrelenting focus on children.
Instilling and investing in maintaining a climate of collaboration and partnership with all schools, communities, other state agencies, and key stakeholder groups.
Proactive and innovative efforts to address the supply of high-quality teachers and principals through apprenticeships, including securing available funding to initiate and sustain these programs.
Being a national leader in initiating innovative programs such as Be Legendary Board Training and the K-12 Cybersecurity and Computer Science curriculum.
Designing and implementing programs to meet students' needs and inform instruction, including the ND A+ program and the Native American Essential Understandings.
Codify, coordinate, and communicate
The accreditation engagement review team identified key areas for improvement that NDDPI needs to address in the future. For example, they include:
Codify: Establish systems to improve the ability to monitor and adjust state improvement actions.
Calculate: Further study North Dakota graduates' success in the workforce, postsecondary education or military to inform and strengthen efforts to ensure students are ready and prepared for success after high school.
Communicate: Ensure that the general public and school community understand with clarity and transparency the expectations for student achievement under Every Student Succeed Act.
Coordinate: Determine the effectiveness of state teaching and learning initiatives to support student and staff success and build on what works and eliminate what is not needed.
Characteristics of effective agencies, setting standards
To launch the new accreditation model for state agencies, Cognia identified six characteristics of highly effective state agencies focused on everything from providing ongoing technical assistance to stakeholders, collaborating with constituents and leading innovative initiatives to using data to make informed decisions and resolving issues between local education agencies, partners, and other entities.
Cognia then developed 23 standards for accreditation of state education agencies across six areas, including:
Healthy culture,
Leadership,
Policy management,
Communications and support,
Partnerships, and
Continuous improvement
Trusted eyes outside the agency
"At a time when state agencies need to eliminate duplication of work and effort, it is crucial for state leaders to have trusted eyes outside the agency that can walk them through a research-based process with high standards and meaningful protocols," Superintendent Baesler said.
"In the future, state agencies will get out of the compliance business and be in the business of supporting school districts to reach their goals," said Dr. Elgart. "Accreditation of state agencies helps move states forward by holding themselves accountable for improvement and what matters most."
Cognia has accreditation, assessment, and improvement solutions for states. To speak to an expert on Cognia State Accreditation contact us at Cognia.org.
About Cognia
Cognia® is a global, nonprofit improvement organization dedicated to helping schools and other education providers grow learners, teachers, and leaders. Cognia offers accreditation and certification, assessment, and improvement services within a framework of continuous improvement. Serving 40,000 public and private institutions from early learning through high school in more than 90 countries, Cognia brings a global perspective to advancing teaching and learning. Find out more at cognia.org.
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SOURCE: Cognia
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