Important Notes
about Writing the Report for the Self-Study and Team Evaluation Information
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about Writing the Report for the Self-Study and Team Evaluation Information
What to include in your Self-study report and when to submit it
14-Aug-2020•Help & Training
All reports are prepared and submitted through the CIS Planning & Reporting Platform (PRP). Evaluators will use the same platform to review and respond to your reports.
The Self-study begins with collecting, presenting and analysing data. Committees responsible for Part 1 should work first, so that other committees can use their data and analysis. This data provides an overview of your school and gives context to the remainder of the Self-study report. Part 1 comprises these main components:
basic information – information about how your school is structured, accreditation history and any recent changes
school overview – narrative and numeric data to contextualize your school in relation to student enrolment, staffing, the students’ achievements, and the local and regulatory environment
overview and analysis of the results of the CIS Community Survey including steps which are being taken to address concerns identified in the survey
financial information – data about your school’s financial planning and its management of finances (Please refer to the template in the resources below)
Part 1 gives us important background information about your school. The financial information is analysed by CIS and, if there are significant financial matters to be addressed in the financial health of your school, an additional evaluator with a finance expertise will be added to the evaluation team.
Self-study committees conduct a review of school operations with reference to the four drivers of the evaluation and accreditation process. Part 2 of the Self-study is divided into nine domains. Each domain covers a major area of your school’s life and includes standards against which your school will rate itself. Throughout the report-drafting process, use the essential questions to spark broad discussion about the domain and the criteria to evaluate against the standards.
Self-study committees should begin their work by:
reviewing the essential questions to understand the context of their domain before discussions on specific standards take place;
examining the Preparatory evaluation findings (commendations and recommendations) for their domain;
considering the data and analysis from Part 1, particularly the results of the CIS Community Survey that relate to their domain;
(for Domains B-I) reviewing the report for Domain A and consider implications for the work in their domain.
The Self-study committee responsible for Domain A should begin work first because other committees will depend on using an up-to-date reflection on your school’s guiding statements to guide their work and reference. This also allows CIS to provide your school with early feedback, which can then be applied to the work of committees responsible for Domains B-I.
Committees for Domains C and D, should work on the same timeline as one another. Each identifiable ‘horizontal’ division of the school must produce a report (e.g. for Early Childhood, Primary/Elementary, Middle School, Upper/High School). These committees should connect frequently to share evidence and emerging findings. The work of these committees should be closely related and aligned, even if their respective evaluations reveal differences. The responses for Domains C and Domain D must have coherency vertically (across range of divisions within one domain) and horizontally (across domains in each horizontal division). To facilitate this, a reviewer or small group of reviewers could be assigned to check all reports from these two domains.
The work of committees for Domains B and E-I provides the opportunity for broad community input into the self-evaluation process. The committees for these domains should take into consideration which aspects of their areas have been identified by Domain C and D committees as significant to the four drivers of the accreditation process.
Additional notes for Part 2
Your school should rate itself against Future Aspirations only if all of the following conditions apply:
-your school was rated as having "Exceeded" any standard at the Preparatory evaluation
-your school rates itself as having "Exceeded" the standard again at the self-study stage
If your school identifies an attribute or practice related to a domain that is not covered by any of the standards within that domain, commentary and evidence of these attributes or practices should be included in the evaluative commentary for that domain.
If your school offers early childhood programmes or special units/programmes, additional guidelines related to the school evaluation are provided. (Note: The guidelines currently aligned to the 2016 version of the standards)
The final section to be written for the Self-study report, usually by the steering committee should be Part 3, which includes:
a summary of your strengths and weaknesses of the Self-study process,
a summary of what your school learned about itself during the Self-study process, and
an outline of how the outcomes of the Self-study process have been integrated to your school’s strategic planning.
At the time when the responses in Part 2 and Part 3 are nearing completion, the responses to Part 1 and Domain A should be revisited and updated, if necessary, so that all report responses are as up-to-date as possible.
All report responses should be submitted through the CIS Planning and Reporting Platform no later than eight weeks in advance of the Team Evaluation. Once the report has been submitted, this will be accessible to CIS and the evaluation team leaders. Both the School Services Advisor (SSA) and the School Support & Evaluation Officer (SSEO) linked to your school will review the report for completeness and communicate with your school and the evaluation team leaders about any issues. The SSEO also prepares a summary evaluation of the school’s report and discusses this, as necessary, with the evaluation team leaders.
Access to the Self-study report is given to the rest of the evaluation team no later than four weeks prior to the visit. Take note of any developments taking place after the Self-study report has been submitted and inform the evaluation team about these when they arrive at your school.
Should the Self-study report be found to be incomplete or unsatisfactory in some way, CIS will decide whether the report is acceptable, and your school will be informed. This could require more information to be made available urgently, or could even lead to a late postponement of the Team Evaluation.
Resources
Generating report in PDF from Weave (video)
Additional guidelines on schools with early childhood programmes (Aligned to the 2016 version of standards / 2019 version TBC)
"Your school is required to use the Community Survey as a part of the Self-study report, but you are not required to use it annually."
"Form a Community Survey committee to oversee the survey process, ensuring constituents are briefed about the purpose and role of the survey in the overall accreditation process. The committee should encourage participation by all sectors of the school community, including requesting any translations from CIS in order for the community to participate.
After the survey is conducted, CIS will provide consolidated Community Survey reports. The committee should then analyse the data with respect to:
strengths and areas for improvement identified by each constituent group,
differences between constituent groups and the rationale for them,
actions that will be needed in the Self-study period,
core standards,
your school-identified priorities, and
any longitudinal trends that become apparent (if using the survey over time).
/ 6-Aug-2018•Help & Training
A Team Evaluation takes place between 12 and 18 months after the Preparatory evaluation, depending on the timing in the school year. The exact dates for the visit are discussed at the Preparatory evaluation and noted on the outcome letter to the school from CIS, with confirmation closer to the time of the Team Evaluation. Once the dates have been confirmed, any changes made by your school will be subject to CIS’ policy on late postponement or cancellation of visits.
The dates should avoid national holidays or major events taking place in the country and be when the school is in session. No formal examinations or formal assessments for the students should take place during the visit.
Following the completion of the Self-Study, a team of evaluators will visit your school for a week-long evaluation. Your school will be evaluated in terms of your own principles, cultural context and values, goals for your students, and outcomes for your students.
to provide an external assessment of the conclusions of your school’s Self-study in the context of your own guiding statements, and
to evaluate the school against the CIS school evaluation standards and make a recommendation about accreditation.
The evaluation team will:
assess if there has been widespread participation in the Self-study stage
visit lessons and observe all types of learning contexts for the students (informal and formal) and review students’ work,
tour the facilities
talk with students, parents, board members and staff, including chairs responsible for sections of the Self-study report
triangulate evidence to verify information and opinions
work as a team to prepare the response to your school’s Self-study report
make an overall judgement on the school’s commitment to ongoing school improvement, commitment to the four drivers, and alignment with the CIS accreditation standards
make an overall recommendation to CIS about accreditation or re-accreditation
The evaluation team will not:
evaluate individual teachers’ performance
recommend specific solutions to solve problems (except if there are health, safety or security issues, child protection issues or financial/legal concerns to resolve)
give disproportionate attention to personal specialities or interests
let personal biases influence responses
promote preferred educational theories or programmes
volunteer information on ‘how we do it in my school’
give undue time and attention to impromptu pressure groups or individuals
15-Aug-2020•Help & Training
Please note the information below is for on-site visits. For virtual visits, go to the virtual visit guidance page.
CIS provides a template schedule for evaluation team leaders to adapt, according to the school being evaluated, the composition of the evaluation team, and the responsibilities as assigned among evaluators. Do not make any scheduling arrangements until your school receives the suggested schedule from the evaluation team chair. Consult the chair on exactly who is and is not to be included in any meetings between evaluators and representatives of the school.
The normal school schedule and activities should be maintained during the Team Evaluation.
First day of weekend before
The evaluation team chair, co-chair and secretary meet with the head of school and the evaluation visit coordinator to discuss the final logistical preparations for the week.
Second day of weekend before
Your school should arrange to introduce the evaluation team to all members of the school staff and representatives of the wider community at a social gathering. At this time, evaluators can also tour the school. Also, your school’s leadership team and accreditation coordinator should meet with the evaluation team leaders for a meeting focusing on:
informing the evaluation team of any updates since the Self-study report was submitted
briefing the evaluation team on the Self-study process and outcomes
the major strengths of the school and upcoming challenges
any sensitive areas about which the school might be seeking an external, objective view
outcomes the school hopes will emerge from the Team Evaluation.
Social occasions with the evaluators, other than the initial gathering, should be avoided. Consult with the team chair before making any plans involving time commitments for evaluators during the week.
Typically the evaluation team will be at the school for the first four days of the school week and work at the hotel on the last day of the school week.
Resources
See the sample schedule for the rest of the week.
Next: Preparing the workspace
Back to: Team Evaluation
6-Aug-2018•Help & Training
The evaluation team will require a team room at the hotel and the school. Schools with multiple campuses should ensure that a team room is available at each campus. All team rooms must be lockable when not in use, and secure enough to ensure the confidentiality of discussions and the security of documentation/equipment. The evaluation team chair and secretary should have keys.
The hotel team room should be available to use any time the team is not at the school (weekends and evenings). Ideally, the hotel team room is booked for the entire duration of the visit. In such cases, the school should ensure that the room may be locked when not in use.
Both rooms should be available for use when the first member of the evaluation team arrives. The rooms should sufficiently large for the whole team to work in comfort, with a table big enough for each evaluator’s laptop and some individual workspace. An additional table in the room is helpful to hold office supplies and refreshments.
The Team Evaluation should be as paper-free as possible. Any sources of evidence should be submitted along with the Self-Study report prior to the visit. Only where this is not possible, hard copies should be provided in the team rooms.
Provide a list of absentee members of staff to the evaluators, updated at the beginning of each day. This is only required at the school, and is preferably sent by email, to the whole team.
Evaluators will usually bring their own laptop/device. For some evaluators, bringing their own laptop may not be possible, in which case they can request that the school provide them with one for the duration of the visit. Schools should ensure that laptops provided to evaluators are equipped with MS Office. Evaluators will also need access to the school’s intranet or be provided with a temporary password to access relevant evidence on the school’s shared server.
During the visit, a member of school staff should be on call at all times to deal with all technology requirements as quickly as possible. The evaluation team should be given the contact number of this person.
Resources
Review the
Possible outcomes of the Team Evaluation and planning for the future
6-Aug-2018•Help & Training
At its final full meeting, the evaluation team will reach a consensus on the overall recommendation it will make to CIS about accreditation. A recommendation will be made in one of four forms:
A. Award Accreditation or Re-Accreditation
B. Award Accreditation or Re-Accreditation with specific qualifications
The school aligns with the core standards, but certain recommendations must be met within a given period of time. Under such circumstances, the school will be requested to address and report on these recommendations as special issues, and the report may be followed by a special issues evaluation on site.
C. Postpone Accreditation or Re-Accreditation for some specified reason(s)
The school may align with many of the core standards but falls short in certain specific areas which could be satisfactorily addressed within a specified time. Under these circumstances, the school will be requested to address and report on the special issues. This will be followed by a special issues evaluation on site before the school’s accreditation status is re-considered.
D. Not award Accreditation or Re-Accreditation
The school aligns poorly with a substantial number of core and other standards and has shortcomings of a relatively serious nature in one or more of the domains and in relation to one or more of the four drivers.
Once the Team Evaluation is complete, the evaluation team’s response to the school’s Self-study report is submitted within 10 days from the end of the visit.
Appropriate structures within CIS are used to carefully review the evaluation team’s response and consider the recommendation about accreditation. The evaluation team’s response is copy-edited, then reviewed by two report readers and your school’s School Support & Evaluation Officer. These individuals submit their recommendation to the Director of School Support & Evaluation, who makes the ultimate decision of behalf of CIS.
CIS will communicate this decision to your school and provide detailed information on how to access the evaluation team’s response to the school’s Self-study report and outcome, as well as any instructions needed for subsequent actions. Any adverse decisions may be subject to an appeal.
Your school’s report is treated as confidential information. No one outside of CIS can access it except evaluators visiting your school for subsequent evaluations in the accreditation process. Nonetheless, we encourage schools to share the contents of the evaluation team’s response in its entirety with your school community.
Planning for the future
Once a decision has been communicated, your school will need to formally address all major recommendations, develop plans for improvement, and initiate concrete steps towards their realization. Ideally, these actions will be integrated with the school’s own development or strategic planning. We also hope that your school will act on your own findings from the Self-Study process.
It may prove advantageous to reactivate some or all of the initial Self-study committees for follow-up work. In certain instances, these committees may evolve into long-term working groups, carrying out improvements in the areas they themselves helped to identify.
What to include and when to submit your annual reports
Annual accreditation reporting is designed to help CIS maintain a dialogue with your school and monitor your school’s progress between evaluations, particularly in the context of any significant changes that take place within the accreditation cycle.
A school will submit its first annual accreditation report approximatively one year after a successful Team Evaluation and subsequently, its second annual accreditation report one year later.
The CIS Annual Report will be submitted through an online form. Instructions on how to complete the CIS Annual Report will be sent to your school approximately three months prior to your annual report due date.
The annual accreditation report asks for input in the context of four areas:
Purpose and Direction
The Governance, Leadership and Ownership
The Curriculum
Premises and Physical Accommodation
For each of these areas, you will be asked if a major or significant change has occurred within the school. If there have been major and significant changes over the previous year, the school will be asked to comment briefly on the change.
At that time, you will also be asked to confirm that the information on your school profile is accurate and current on the CIS Community Portal. This is also a good time to confirm your school’s academic year figures are up to date on the portal.
Upon completion of the CIS Annual Report form, CIS will review and respond to your report. The response may also include instructions for any subsequent actions should they be appropriate. Please note that depending on the nature of the changes, CIS may ask for a more detailed supplementary report and potentially require a supplementary evaluation visit.