by Dr. Andrew Davies
andrewd@isb.ac.th
Dear ISB Parent Community,
Every six years, ISB undergoes an accreditation process conducted by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC).
For the first time this process will be conducted in collaboration with the Thai government mandatory accreditation by the Office for National Education Standards and Quality Assessment (ONESQA).
We have recently completed our joint WASC/ONESQA Self-Study report and it is now available for parents to read through the ISB Parent Portal.
A joint WASC/ONESQA accreditation committee will be on campus from 3-7 November this year to verify our report and highlight ISB’s areas of strength and areas for growth. The ONESQA focus is to assess the quality of our Thai programs for both native and non-native learners.
WASC has served as our accrediting body for decades and we have benefited significantly from this partnership in our efforts to constantly improve our school, particularly with respect to student learning.
Based in California, the WASC organization is recognized as one of six regional associations that accredit public and private schools, colleges, and universities in the United States. WASC also accredits a significant number of international schools.
The joint WASC/ONESQA accreditation process works as follows:
First, the school completes an in-depth self-study in an honest effort to assess where the school is relative to criteria set by WASC and ONESQA. The school publishes its findings in a report that is submitted to the two agencies and made available to the school community. The self-study process is guided by the requirements of the accrediting organization’s Focus on Learning protocols: Organization for Student Learning, Curriculum, Instruction and Assessment, Support for Student Personal & Academic Growth, Resource Management and Development and Thai Context (ONESQA). This process involves many people from the school community, either providing information or analyzing the information for the report.
Next, a WASC/ONESQA accreditation committee visit occurs with the tasks of verifying the self-study report and making key recommendations for school improvement. The WASC visiting committee for a school of ISB’s size would typically consist of two Chairs, one from California and one an international school leader, and five to six other members drawn from international schools in the region. They will be joined by two ONESQA representatives from schools in Bangkok. The full joint committee report with an English summary of the ONESQA representatives’ findings is sent to the WASC Commission for review and final determination of the term of accreditation. The report sent to the ONESQA office for review and approval includes the Thai context section findings and summary in English, incorporating the findings of the WASC committee.
Depending on the findings of the visiting team, the WASC accreditation can be awarded for six years with a mid-term progress report involving a two day visit; a one year probationary accreditation with progress report or, in extreme cases, accreditation may be withheld.
In response to the key recommendations the school produces an action plan based on the “critical areas for growth” that is then submitted to WASC for approval, followed by annual submissions with respect to progress made.
Finally, a smaller visiting team (usually the chairs of the initial accreditation) visit the school after three years to make a Mid-Term Progress Report.
As a school, we look forward to the joint WASC/ONESQA process as it enables us to reflect critically on our strengths and weaknesses and learn from the accrediting team where we can improve as a school. We will keep the ISB community updated on the process and will share the WASC/ONESQA Visiting Committee findings in November 2013.
In the meantime, please feel free to contact me with questions or comments about the WASC/ONESQA process and self-study report.
Sincerely,
Dr. Andrew Davies
Head of School