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Oregon Road Conditions & Cams Email Story to a Friend September 6, 2005 Washington Elementary School Title I math teacher Bryant Weakly sets up the hallway art board outside his classroom. Mail Tribune / Bob Pennell The accreditation squeeze Standards ensure quality education and strain the budget By ANITA BURKE Mail Tribune Since 1997, Washington Elementary School has completed a rigorous, voluntary evaluation each year to earn an "accredited with merit" mark from a regional school accreditation organization. Meeting the standards of outside observers was a matter of pride for teachers and administrators at the school, located in the heart of a poverty-stricken neighborhood. Roughly a third of students are learning English for the first time and nearly two-thirds of them move in and out of the area during the year, said Principal Stephanie Johnson. Plaques touting the school’s achievement hang in the halls. "We always took it on as an extra challenge," Johnson said. Advertisement Last spring, however, school officials learned they no longer could qualify for the "with merit" commendation. Budget cuts had taken away positions that the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools required — media specialists in the school’s library and child development specialists who provided counseling. "We decided as a staff that it wasn’t worthwhile when we couldn’t get merit," Johnson said. Washington won’t seek accreditation this year. Ruch Elementary School dropped out of the process last year for similar reasons, Medford School District officials said. Still, Medford is the only Jackson County public school district with accredited elementary and middle schools. High schools typically maintain accreditation so their credits are transferable and to meet admission requirements of some university systems. Currently, all the county’s high schools are accredited, but Crater High School dropped out of the process for several years before becoming accredited again last year. Accreditation is "an indicator of quality programs," said Medford Superintendent Phil Long. He said the district used to encourage schools to seek accreditation as a way to measure school improvement. But a growing array of state and federal accountability programs now provide similar tools. Budget constraints also have made it increasingly difficult to meet accreditation requirements. "Do you try to align your programs so you are accredited or to serve the needs of students?" Long asked. The state doesn’t require accreditation for any school — public or private, said Ray Lindley, director of Oregon Department of Education’s office for educational improvement and innovation. "It’s like a Good Housekeeping seal of approval," he said of the voluntary process. Oregon officials don’t regulate private schools at all, although the education department does maintain a voluntary registry, Lindley said. Public school districts must comply with state regulations and file an annual report proving their compliance in 49 areas to be considered "standard." Only standard schools can give credit, grant diplomas and receive state money. Oregon currently has no non-standard districts or schools, Lindley said. "We just look at whether schools meet state law," he said. "Accreditation is a qualitative look at how well schools are meeting those standards." The Northwest Association of Accredited Schools is the primary organization that accredits schools in the region and the only one that accredits both public and private schools, said Lindley, who represents his department on the association’s commission. Oregon has 391 accredited schools and the bulk of those are high schools, said Dick Darst, the association’s executive secretary for the state. "Parents generally always demand accreditation for high schools so their students can transfer and be accepted into institutions of higher education that demand graduation from accredited schools," Darst said. "Private elementary and middle schools do it primarily for prestige and professional acknowledgment that their programs meet standards," he said. That’s why Grace Christian Schools sought accreditation in 1998, said Superintendent Ray Johnson. Grace Christian and its sister school, Cascade Christian High School, are accredited by both the Association of Christian Schools International and the Northwest Association of Accredited Schools. "We wanted to prove to parents and the community that we were meeting standards," he said. "This was an opportunity to let people know that we know our business." Johnson encourages other schools to seek accreditation because the evaluation helps unite teachers and administrators and push them to focus on students. "It’s not just pushing paperwork for some bureaucracy," he said. "It really is about improving your school." Darst said that the public elementary and middle schools who seek accreditation typically have a strong dedication to school improvement. However, he has seen schools around the state abandon the accreditation process because tight budgets have made it difficult for them to meet the association’s standards relating to class sizes, librarian qualifications, availability of counselors and updated textbooks. "Schools can come up with creative solutions to those things, but they would have to have a deviation because they don’t meet our standards," Darst said. If schools can explain how they meet student needs even without meeting a standard, the association will accredit them, but note that they deviated from a rule. Darst said the association’s dues can be an issue for some schools. Elementary schools pay $300 plus 15 cents per student and high schools pay $400 plus 15 cents per student. Facing a budget crunch in the late 1990s, Crater High School decided to abandon the accreditation process, Central Point schools Superintendent Randy Gravon said. The school’s staff — already overloaded by large class sizes after layoffs — felt the additional paperwork repeated what they already did as part of the district’s improvement plan, so they wanted to focus resources in other areas. In fall 2003, Central Point mom Jessica Lavell was surprised — and outraged — to discover her local public high school wasn’t accredited. Lavell had homeschooled her son but he wanted to take electives at Crater and core classes through a nationally accredited correspondence school, Alpha Omega Academy. Academy officials said they would accept credits from any accredited high school, but they couldn’t find any accreditation information for Crater. "Accreditation is very important for a high school," she said. "It shows they meet standards." Lavell took her concerns to the school board and it agreed the high school should seek accreditation again. "Our community felt it was important and if our community wanted it, we decided we should do it," Gravon said. Crater Assistant Principal Mike Meunier said the school went through "a significant application process" to evaluate its programs, which met all standards, and paid a $665 fee to be accredited last year. "It’s nice to be recognized as having a good program as a comprehensive high school," he said. "The biggest benefit of accreditation is the positive PR of being on the list." Gravon noted that Scenic and Hanby middle schools also used to be accredited. He said the school’s programs still meet all requirements and the district would consider seeking accreditation again if the community indicated it was important. School officials in Eagle Point, Ashland and Phoenix all said they haven’t considered accrediting elementary or middle schools and haven’t heard from parents concerned about accreditation in the district. Reach reporter Anita Burke at 776-4485, or e-mail The accreditation squeeze ">[email protected] . Accredited schools in Jackson County, 2004-05: High schools: Ashland Butte Falls Crater, Central Point Eagle Point North Medford South Medford Phoenix Prospect Rogue River Distance education: Southern Oregon Online School Special purpose schools: Armadillo Technical Institute, Phoenix CrossRoads School, Medford Lithia Springs School, Ashland Job Council Alternative School Middle schools: Hedrick, Medford McLoughlin, Medford Third-party accredited: Grace Christian Schools, Medford Cascade Christian High School, Jacksonville Rogue Valley Adventist School, Medford St. Mary’s School, Medford Elementary schools: Sacred Heart, Medford Hoover, Medford Jefferson, Medford Washington, Medford Wilson, Medford List provided by Northwest Association of Accredited Schools. For a statewide list see www.cosa.k12.or.us/naas/naashome.htm . The list is updated annually in January. School evaluations are submitted in October. Review and site visits continue through the end of the year. About school accreditation: The Northwest Association of Accredited Schools got its start in 1917 when people began to demand consistency in educational conditions, said Leonard Paul, associate director. The group has undergone name changes since then, but it has maintained its focus on ensuring school quality, he said. The Northwest association is one of six affiliated, regional accrediting organizations. It accredits schools in Oregon, Washington, Idaho, Montana, Alaska, Utah and Nevada. The regional approach enables the association to reflect local and state concerns as well as universal measures of quality in 11 areas, including library services, class sizes, building safety, record keeping and student activities, Paul said. To maintain accreditation, schools must complete an annual evaluation, due in October. The evaluations are reviewed and accreditation information is posted in January. Site visits are done every six years. The group, which accredits public and private schools, accepts the work of other, specialized accrediting organizations that have standards that match those of the NAAS, Paul said. These "third-party accreditations" reduce paperwork for schools, he said. Other accepted accrediting bodies include National Lutheran School Accreditation, Accrediting Association of Seventh-Day Adventist Schools, the Association of Christian Schools International and Pacific Northwest Association of Independent Schools. Mail Tribune Home | Local News | Sports | Business | Obituaries | Life | Opinion AP News | Archives | Site Map | Community | Classified Copyright © 1997-2005 Mail Tribune, Inc. All rights reserved. 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