Madison City Schools

Madison City Schools undergoes extensive district accreditation

SSeveral weeks ago, Madison City Schools went through the process of district accreditation.

The review – done generally on school systems every five years – is through Cognia, an international accrediting agency formerly known as AdvancED. Months of work went into the preparation by district and school level personnel. The accreditation findings are expected to be reported to us around the first of May.

The Cognia team consisted of current and retired educators from across Alabama, with the lead reviewer being from out-of-state.

I would like to thank our principals, administrators, teachers, community leaders and students who served on a team and/or were part of a panel that was interviewed.

The positive conclusions from the accreditation review team is a direct reflection of the dedication of every

stakeholder within our district, in addition to the quality programs and best practices that are put in place in our ... classrooms each and every day. Preparation leading up to the accreditation was extensive, so I especially want to acknowledge their hard work in researching data, creating documents, holding collaborative team meetings, and creating executive reports. Over 200 MCS employees had a hand in preparing for the Dr. Heather accreditation.

Donaldson So what goes into an accreditation review? Madison City Schools The Cognia standards cover all areas of the school sysChief Academic Officer tem within three primary domains: • Leadership Capacity (covering governance and leadership). • Learning Capacity (covering all academic programs, curriculum, data utilization, and assessments). • Resource Capacity (covering personnel, operations, and finance). The accreditation team studies the reports of each team and interviews stakeholders to rate across 31 standards. They want to see whether a school system is meeting