Dickinson parents’ input appreciated

Talk about it

School accreditation is a voluntary method of quality assurance developed more than 100 years ago and is primarily designed to distinguish schools adhering to a set of educational standards.

The accreditation process is also known in terms of its ability to effectively drive student performance and continuous improvement in education.

While accreditation is a set of rigorous protocols and research-based processes for evaluating an institution’s organizational effectiveness, it is far more than that. Today, accreditation examines the whole institution — the programs, the cultural context, the community of stakeholders — to determine how well the parts work together to meet the needs of students. The Dickinson Public School District is a member of the AdvancED Accrediting Association.

The last accreditation visitation in Dickinson Public Schools occurred in 2008 and our next visitation is scheduled for 2013. The district is preparing for this accreditation visitation and an integral part of the process is perception data from the district stakeholders. The stakeholder groups are students, faculty and parents in the district.

In approximately six weeks, the district will be seeking input from these stakeholder groups to gather this perception data. The necessary information will be gathered through a perception survey. The window for the surveys is scheduled for Oct. 29 through Nov. 16.

The parent perception survey will be available online or in a paper format. It is the intention of the school

district to provide an online link to the survey on the district and building websites. Parents will then be able to simply click the online link and complete the survey. It is estimated that completing the survey will take about 10 minutes. Additionally, for parents who do not have access to a computer, the survey will be available in paper form at parent/teacher conferences or parents who attend the conferences will be available to complete the survey using a district computer.

Parent perception survey data is an essential component of the accreditation review process. This information will assist the visitation team in its review of the district climate, culture and programs.

Additionally, the information will assist the district in identifying areas of strength and areas requiring improvement.

I encourage all parents to make note of the dates above and complete the survey. Your participation will be greatly appreciated and will help the district improve the learning opportunities for the students in the Dickinson Public Schools.

If you have any questions about this topic or any other issue in the Dickinson Public Schools, please do not hesitate to contact me.

Sullivan is Dickinson Public Schools superintendent. Contact him at 701-456-0002 or at douglas.sullivan@dickinson.k12.nd.us.

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