Dear Parents,
Every six years, ISB engages in a process of self study and self reflection focused on helping us to continue to grow and provide the very best educational experience for our students as part of our WASC Accreditation process. The accreditation process is about continuous improvement and the upcoming accreditation visit is a small part of that. ISB has been accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) for several decades and we highly value our partnership with WASC.
The process of our Focus on Learning self study began in the spring of 2018, included many stakeholders, and was supposed to be finished last April. However, with COVID-19, our final step of the onsite visit was postponed. We are happy to announce that we have scheduled a blended visit of onsite and virtual accreditation team members for November 20, and 23-25 and want to give our community a brief overview of the process and our findings.
The self-study process is guided by standards of practice against which we measure our progress and provide evidence in support of our findings.
WASC has identified four categories of Schoolwide Criteria for International Schools. Through the self study, teams, working in focus groups, concentrated on the different aspects of each Category. For example, in Category A, there are seven criteria that were analyzed and examined. Seven focus groups carefully unpacked the indicators for each criterion, evaluated our practices and supporting evidence, then identified areas of strength and areas for growth.
The categories (and criterion) are:
- Organization for Student Learning (Criterion: School Purpose, Governance, School Leadership, Staff, School Improvement Process, Resources, and Resource Planning)
- Curriculum, Instruction, and Assessment (Criterion: What Students Learn, How Students Learn, How Assessment is Used–Reporting and Accountability Processes, and How Assessment is Used–Classroom Assessment Strategies)
- Support for Student Personal and Academic Growth (Criterion: Student Connectedness–Personal and Academic)
- School Culture and Environment Criterion (School Environment and Child Protection and Parent Community Involvement)
The areas of strength and for growth identified by the teams are summarized and available on Parent Portal. If you have any problem accessing the document, please contact Chad Bates (chadb@isb.ac.th).
WASC Visiting Team
In a normal process for being re-accredited, once the self-study is completed, a visiting team of six to ten educators from around the world would come to ISB. This team would usually spend 4-5 days on campus meeting with different stakeholders, looking at what we do, visiting classrooms, and comparing the findings in our self-study with evidence. The visiting team then provides the school with a report sharing their commendations and recommendations.
This year, because of the challenges being faced around the world, our visit will be a blended one with only two team members onsite and the remainder conducting their interviews and meetings virtually. Our “visit” runs from Friday, November 20 through Wednesday, November 25. During these days, parents, students, faculty, and staff members will be invited to participate in meetings with visiting team members. At the end of the visit, we will have a webinar on November 25 when the team will share their initial comments. A final report will be prepared and given to the school a few weeks after the end of the visit.
We are excited to take this next step in our accreditation process of self reflection and focusing upon learning. If you have any questions, please contact me at debic@isb.ac.th.
All the best,