All California schools are evaluated by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges every six years to maintain their accreditation. In preparation for the multi-day visit of WASC officials in the spring, the entire staff collects data that one teacher organizes into the school’s official report. English teacher Susie Choe is authoring the report for the third year in a row.
“For M-A, or any school, to be considered a credit-worthy school, you have to have some kind of accreditation. Some outside agency has to give their stamp of approval on us,” Choe said. Without a valid accreditation, school credits and diplomas will not be accepted by most colleges and employers.
The report includes other data, like AP and CAASPP test scores, which is used to monitor the academic standing of M-A and develop long-term goals.
Since the end of last year, teachers have been using their professional development meetings to discuss how well they are reaching school goals outlined during their last WASC process while collaborating with staff from other departments. “We get to actually learn what everyone else is doing,” Choe said.
Compiling the current 50-page report is a tedious process and can take months to put together. The requirement used to be 300 pages, however, and required more teachers to work to compile the report.
Every six years, WASC renews M-A’s accreditation, with a check-up every three years that helps shape school policy. This spring, WASC officials will visit M-A as part of the renewal process.
“Something that has happened in previous WASC reports, like the very first one I did six years ago, was that they asked us to include more heterogeneous classes,” Choe said. The comments on that report directly influenced the district’s choices on detracking.
A heterogeneous class is when students of various abilities, both on honors and non-honors tracks, take the same courses. In the last few years, M-A has streamlined some tracked courses taken by underclassmen in order to create more heterogeneous classes.
“They said, ‘Hey, it looks like there are two different schools at M-A.’ We have an honors-AP school, and then we have a non-honors school, and they’re getting vastly different curricula. So what can you do to bring it together so that it’s not just a class for AS kids and a class for non-AS kids? M-A has really worked on that in the last six years,” Choe said.
The 2019 report also praised M-A’s broad course offerings and extracurriculars, as well as the commitment of administrators, teachers, and staff. They commended efforts to celebrate diversity and ease the transition for new students.
Choe explained that the process is a valuable opportunity for staff to evaluate their curriculum and align their goals with other teachers and departments. “The accreditation process is actually a really good time for teachers to reflect on our own practices,” she said.
M-A plans to renew its accreditation with WASC at the end of this year.
