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by Colin Powell This year, West said teachers were pleasantly surprised by the accreditation team visit with their focus on the teaching and learning elements of the school. Composed of 13 educators from the New England region, the team spent four days on Deer Isle, visiting classrooms and writing reports. The team’s introduction to the community was on Sunday, October 25, when the school hosted a panel discussion with members of the community. West said the event was a great way for the visiting team to get a sense of the community. As the team only spends four days on the island, West said it was important to show them what the community here is like and what strengths and challenges exist in both the school and the towns. After Sunday’s discussion, the visiting team jumped right into shadowing students and interviewing teachers, administrators and students. After watching the teachers in action, the team took student work back to the hotel with them. “It doesn’t matter what the teachers are doing if the students are not learning,” West pointed out. After observing the school for all of Monday and part of Tuesday, the accreditation team then spent a lot of time writing down their observations and compiling a report. West said he has been a part of three accreditation visits for other schools and noted that while the visit is brief, “it’s amazing how much you can learn about a school in four days.” He added that with 13 team members sitting in on nine classes each, if they all note a particular strength or weakness, a fairly strong conclusion can be drawn. At the beginning of each day of the visit West met with the chairman and vice chairman of the visiting team. He said that on their last day, the chairman presented an overview of the team’s findings, which often foreshadows the final report’s strengths and weaknesses. West said that if the school’s self-study, composed before the accreditation visit, was done accurately, there should be no surprises after the visit. Indeed, West said the team’s findings closely resembled the school’s own perceived strengths and weaknesses. Going forward, West plans to prioritize updating the school’s formal written curriculum. This, he said, includes integrating school-wide expectations with specific course work and identifying course-specific learning goals. “This could take two to three years,” said West. “We could do it faster by hiring someone from outside the school, but then teachers don’t have ownership of the process.” West said the accreditation team also found a need for more professional development to better integrate technology into the school and continued improvement in school climate, with more respect from students shown to the faculty, staff, and their fellow students. The strengths mentioned in the team’s overview supported much of what the school has been doing over the past few years to improve. Amongst their list, the team found the school’s mission and vision statement being used to guide policy and making decisions. They also lauded the work class integration in courses like CREST, boatbuilding and applied physics. The close relationship between the school and the community, including financial support and multiple, strong partnerships were also noted as a strength of DISHS. West explained that the next step in accreditation will be for the visiting team report and the school’s self-evaluation report to be considered by a group at NEASC and a final report and a renewal of the school’s accreditation being given. Throughout the process, West has emphasized that far from being an onerous task, accreditation provides the school with positive feedback on what has been done, and solid recommendations for continued improvement. Return to the Island Ad-Vantages home page. |
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