Adjunct Faculty Online Handbook

Beginning of the Semester

Council on Accreditation and School Improvement July 2004
Southern Association of Colleges and Schools
Council on Accreditation and School Improvement
1866 Southern Lane
Decatur, Georgia 30033

Accountability for School Improvement
The School Improvement Mission

Since its inception in 1895, the mission of the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI) is to "help schools improve student learning through accreditation." Schools accredited by SACS CASI must meet research-based standards that reflect the essential elements of a quality and effective school, engage in a continuous school improvement process, and demonstrate quality assurance. Accreditation is a voluntary activity, and by electing to participate, schools agree to meet the accreditation standards and to demonstrate the capacity to engage in continuous school improvement.

In keeping with the mission, SACS CASI accredited schools must identify and implement a continuous school improvement process that is focused on guiding professional personnel and other stakeholders in a school community to create action plans to improve student learning. Continuous improvement requires a school to collect and analyze student achievement data as a basis for determining the school's priorities for improving student performance. Every school is expected to implement a continuous improvement plan focused on improving student learning, to execute and demonstrate progress in achieving the goals of the action plan, and to participate in a regular cycle of peer review.

The role of SACS CASI and the State Education Agency

The SACS CASI region includes the states of Alabama, Florida, Georgia, Kentucky, Louisiana, Mississippi, North Carolina, South Carolina, Tennessee, Texas, and Virginia. Each state's education agency serves as the regulatory, governmental entity for public schools throughout the state. In contrast, SACS CASI is a non-governmental, non-profit organization serving public and non-public schools, where membership is voluntary. However, each state education agency throughout the region and SACS CASI share a similar purpose and mission which is to assist schools in their capacity to improve student performance.

The state education agency is responsible for implementing the laws and regulations set forth by state and federal legislation (No Child Left Behind). In every state, a program of accountability for student achievement is focused on determining student performance levels at each school, setting expected gains for student achievement, and monitoring the school's capacity to facilitate improvement in student achievement. To meet the desired achievement levels set by the state and federal government, every school is expected to engage in a Council on Accreditation and School Improvement July 2004 Southern Association of Colleges and Schools continuous improvement process focused on student performance. Although SACS CASI does not set student performance achievement levels, every accredited school is expected to set its own levels for improvement which take into consideration an analysis of student performance data including student achievement requirements that are set by the state (and federal) education agency.

The Responsibility of the School

A SACS CASI accredited school is expected to use the accreditation process to monitor, guide, and execute a process of improvement that is focused on student learning. In determining the priorities for improving student learning, the school is expected to take i