The document provides information about the external review (ER) process for evaluating schools. An ER team consisting of 7 volunteers including teachers, administrators, and education professionals will spend 3 days at the school. They will observe classrooms, interview stakeholders, and review artifacts and the school's self-assessment. The team will evaluate how well the school meets 5 AdvancEd standards for quality schools based on observations, interviews, and artifacts. At the end of the visit, they will provide an oral exit report and formal written report to help the school with continuous improvement.

1. E.R. Visit
No, not “emergency room” – it
stands for
EXTERNAL REVIEW
(formerly QAR, or Quality Assurance Review)

2. E.R. Team
• Lead Evaluator
▫ Generally has served on multiple teams, and has
experience in leadership roles in education
• E.R. Team
▫ Several volunteers
▫ Often a mix of
 Teachers
 Administrators
 Individuals with other experience in education
▫ We were a team of 7 (7 standards)
 May be smaller since there are now 5 standards

3. General Schedule
• Day 1: (late afternoon) • Day 3
▫ Team Orientation ▫ Additional Classroom Visits
 Roles/responsibilities ▫ Additional Interviews
 Artifact distribution (if they ▫ Team meeting to discuss need
don’t already have them) for further information
▫ School tour ▫ Oral Exit Report finalization
• Day 2: (morning – evening) ▫ Principal’s Report
▫ Interviews  By 2:35
▫ Classroom Visits ▫ Oral Exit Report to staff
▫ Work session/Artifact  By 3:00
review/Deliberations
 Already formulating the
report

4. “Our report will reflect our deliberations regarding the school’s
SIP as it applies to the AdvancEd Standards.
WE ARE HERE TO SEE THAT THEY ARE DOING
WHAT THEY SAY THEY DO.”

5. So what exactly will we be judged on?

6. AdvancED Standards for Quality
Schools
• Standard 1: Purpose and Direction
▫ The school maintains and communicates a
purpose and direction that commit to high
expectations for learning as well as shared values
and beliefs about teaching and learning.
• Standard 2: Governance and Leadership
▫ The school operates under governance and
leadership that promote and support student
performance and school effectiveness.

7. AdvancED Standards for Quality
Schools
• Standard 3: Teaching and Assessing for
Learning
▫ The school’s curriculum, instructional design, and
assessment practices guide and ensure teacher
effectiveness and student learning.
• Standard 4: Resources and Support Systems
▫ The school has resources and provides services
that support its purpose and direction to ensure
success for all students.

8. AdvancED Standards for Quality
Schools
• Standard 5: Using Results for Continuous
Improvement
▫ The school implements a comprehensive
assessment system that generates a range of data
about student learning and school effectiveness
and uses the results to guide continuous
improvement.

9. How will they judge us?
• Classroom Visits
• Interviews
• Artifact Review

10. Classroom Visits – Where?
• Any learning space with students
• Also may include:
▫ Empty classrooms, with teachers on planning
▫ Hallways
▫ Bathrooms
▫ Cafeteria
▫ Etc.

11. Classroom Visits
• Wander into random
classrooms
• Observe from the back of the
room
▫ Observing processes and
practices of school, not evaluating
individual teachers
• 5-10 minutes
• View teaching and learning in
action
• Corroborate information from
interviews and artifacts

12. What they are looking for
• How welcoming is the overall environment?
• Does the environment appear to support student
learning?
• Do the teachers and students seem actively
engaged in learning?
• Is student work honored and celebrated
throughout the building?
• Do you see a variety of instructional methods
being used?

13. What they are looking for, cont.
• Do you see evidence of a variety of assessment
methods in use?
• What evidence do you see of the school’s
improvement priorities being implemented in
classrooms and throughout the school?
• What role do you see support personnel playing
in the teaching and learning process?
▫ How are counselors, food service, media center,
custodial, administrative, and other support
personnel engaged in the school’s improvement
priorities?

14. Interviews with Stakeholders
• School Leadership Team
▫ Administrators
▫ Superintendant/District personnel
▫ School Improvement team
▫ School Board Members
• Teachers
• Parents
• Community Members
• Students
• Support Personnel
▫ Counselors
▫ Custodians
▫ Secretaries
▫ Media Center
▫ Cafeteria Workers

15. Interview process
• Meet the E.R. team
• Interviewees introduce
themselves
• Q & A session
▫ Some sample questions
▫ Some questions driven by SIP
and by observations/artifacts
• Listening for patterns, themes,
trends that are consistent among
stakeholders

16. Sample questions for teachers
• How does the school’s vision guide instruction?
• What does the data say about student
performance and school effectiveness?
• How does the school leadership ensure equity of
learning opportunities and support for
innovation?
• What instructional methods do teachers
regularly use?

17. Sample questions for teachers, cont.
• How do teachers actively engage students in their
learning, provide students opportunities for
students to apply their knowledge and skills to real
world situations, and give students feedback on their
performance?
• Are multiple assessments used to gauge student
performance?
• What strategies are in place to listen to and
communicate with parents and stakeholders?
• What professional development is provided to
support teachers in implementing interventions?

18. Artifact Review
• Executive Summary (ES)
• Self Assessment
• Artifacts (Evidence) for
each indicator
▫ Standard 1 – 3 indicators
▫ Standard 2 – 6 indicators
▫ Standard 3 – 12 indicators
▫ Standard 4 – 7 indicators
▫ Standard 5 – 5 indicators

19. Executive Summary
• School describes in narrative • Introduction
form the strengths and ▫ Mission statement
challenges
▫ Community
• Reflects on how the school ▫ Demographics
provides teaching and learning
on a day-to-day basis • Student Performance
▫ Summarize performance
• Picture of how the school
views itself and the process of ▫ Goals
continuous improvement ▫ Variety of Assessments
• Includes: ▫ Formative/summative
assessment
▫ Introduction
▫ Support/intervention
▫ Student Performance
▫ Parent/community
▫ Challenges & Opportunities involvement
▫ Conclusion
• Challenges/Opportunities
• Conclusion
▫ What are you most proud of?
▫ Any other relevant info

20. Self-Assessment
• School’s response to each of the 33
indicators
▫ Narrative response
▫ Evidence provided (Artifacts)
 i.e. School perception survey,
ACT/MME results, lesson plan,
handbook, school website, etc.
▫ Rating
 Not evident
 Emerging
 Operational
 Highly functional

21. General Schedule (review)
• Day 1: (late afternoon) • Day 3
▫ Team Orientation ▫ Additional Classroom Visits
 Roles/responsibilities ▫ Additional Interviews
 Artifact distribution (if they ▫ Team meeting to discuss need
don’t already have them) for further information
▫ School tour ▫ Oral Exit Report finalization
• Day 2: (morning – evening) ▫ Principal’s Report
▫ Interviews  By 2:35
▫ Classroom Visits ▫ Oral Exit Report to staff
▫ Work session/Artifact  By 3:00
review/Deliberations • Formal report sent to the state
 Already formulating the ▫ They make the decision about
report accreditation, not the ER
team

22. Who needs to be involved???
• Self-Assessment
• Artifact gathering
• Stakeholder Surveys
• Awareness of the SIP
• Planning for our next
cycle
▫ After the visit