By VICKI URBANIK

The Duneland School Corporation has been awarded a prestigious five-year district accreditation, an accomplishment that has been in the works for three years.

The accreditation, through the North Central Association school accreditation program, follows a national protocol for school systems aimed at “systemic, systematic and sustainable improvement.” The district accreditation is the highest accreditation that a school system can receive, said Duneland Assistant Superintendent Monte Moffett.

Only about 30 schools in the nation have gone through the process, said Chesterton High School Assistant Principal Kevin Zeck, who outlined the program at last week’s school board meeting along with Chesterton Middle School teacher Christine Bullock.

The AdvanceED Accreditation Commission awarded the Duneland Schools the accreditation as a quality school system, based on a recommendation from a quality assurance review team.

Zeck said the review team conducted on-site visits, during which the team interviewed 271 stakeholders in the school system, including Superintendent Dirk Baer, four school board members, 18 administrators, 52 teachers, 30 support staff, 72 community members and 83 students. He said it’s important to note that the majority of those interviewed were not staff members, but parents, students and other community members.

The AdvancEd team came up with both commendations and recommendations for improvement.

Among the commendations, the review team found that the Duneland Schools have been successful in creating a “caring, dedicated school community and culture.” More specifically, the team found that Duneland teachers put students first and that the teachers are dedicated and professional.

The team also found that Duneland has a shared vision and purpose for improving student performance, in such ways as forming the District Internal Review Team committed to continuous improvement. In addition, the review team commended Duneland for forming an effective governance and leadership structure, concluding that the school corporation is recognized for high quality leadership with a board that’s perceived as being supportive of the teaching and learning process.

The review teams’ fourth commendation praises Duneland for its implementation of a quality professional development program for all staff members.

The recommendations that the team proposed were not a surprise because they were areas that Duneland has already identified as being in need of improvement, Zeck said.

The recommendations included a need to make better use of school data for instructional and organizational decision-making and the need to develop a comprehensive assessment plan to evaluate student progress. Further, the team found that Duneland needs to make improvements in its use of technology, including the development of a “district technology committee” that would assess and evaluate the school’s hardware and software needs as well as training programs for staff using the technology.

Further, the team found that Duneland should increase its use of technology to improve communication with parents regarding student performance and that the schools should develop an internal and external communication plan.

The district accreditation was awarded for five years. Duneland School Board President John Marshall said the accreditation process involved a great deal of effort and work, and he commended Zeck, Bullock and the many other Duneland staff members for their participation in the process.

Posted 5/12/2008