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How was I chosen?
Every head of an ISACS accredited school is invited annually to submit the names and qualifications of faculty, administrators and trustees who would be well qualified to serve as an evaluator. From this database of over 2000 names, the ISACS Director of Accreditation Services selects and invites appropriate team members for each school being evaluated.
What will I do?
Tentative assignments are included with the invitation. The visiting team leader may adjust assignments once the team is assembled. Your job will be to find congruence between what the school describes about itself in its self-study and what is observable during a three-day on-site visit.
Can I be effective in such a short visit?
As in almost all professions, there is a body of knowledge and skills educators acquire through years of experience. Anyone who has visited someone else’s classroom, especially in another school, knows that it takes only a few minutes to get a feel for what makes this classroom good or even great. With careful observation and questioning, subtleties will be discovered that will lead to major truths about the place.
Who pays for this visit?
There are no out-of-pocket expenses to the visiting team member, one serves as a guest of the school. Since your head-of-school has recommended you for this service, your own school should provide either a substitute or coverage for your assignments.
How do I prepare?
Your recognized experience as a teacher, administrator or trustee, along with good skills of observing and communicating are all the background that is needed. The school to be evaluated will send the materials you need to read in advance of your visit. The visiting team leader will provide other coaching that may be needed in understanding the protocols and unique attributes of each school.
What will I bring on this adventure?
Along with whatever personal possessions will be needed for a three-day visit, it will be helpful, but not essential, to be able to bring your own PC laptop computer outfitted with MS Word. Since this experience involves work under pressure, a sense of humor is really helpful; a willingness to get along without great amounts of sleep may be helpful; and, a desire to be of service to others in our profession is an absolute necessity.
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