AKRON – The Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation has been awarded continuing accreditation by the AdvancED Accreditation Commission and the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement. This means that the system and all of its schools are accredited, and that TVSC is recognized across the nation as a quality school system. As an accredited institution, Tippecanoe Valley is part of the AdvancED network of more than 32,000 schools and systems in more than 71 countries that are committed to continuous quality improvement through accreditation. The accreditation process involves three ongoing components: meeting high quality standards; implementing a continuous process of improvement; and engaging in quality assurance through internal and external review. The system’s accreditation is for a five-year term with regular monitoring of progress and reporting occurring during the term. “School System Accreditation as conferred by the AdvancED Accreditation Commission provides the Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation a nationally recognized mark of quality for our system and all the schools within our system,” said Superintendent Brett R. Boggs. “It demonstrates to our community our commitment to excellence, our openness to external review and feedback, and our desire to be the best we can be on behalf of the students we serve.” Dr. Mark Elgart, president and CEO of AdvancED, stated, “AdvancED School System Accreditation is a rigorous process that focuses the entire school system on the primary goal of creating lifelong learners. The Tippecanoe Valley School Corporation is to be commended for engaging in this process and demonstrating a commitment to continuous improvement.” Tippecanoe Valley initiated the accreditation process in fall 2012 by completing an internal review, including a self-assessment diagnostic based on the AdvancED Standards of Quality that serve as the foundation of the accreditation and school improvement process. The self-assessment collaboratively engaged staff members and stakeholders in “purposeful, honest dialogue and reflection” to assess the school corporation’s and individual school’s adherence to the standards, according to a press release from TVSC. The results of the self-ratings were later reviewed by the visiting external review team as a component of the external review. In early February, a team of five “highly qualified” educators conducted a three-day external review to examine Tippecanoe Valley’s adherence and commitment to the accreditation criteria, according to the release. The external review was a “rigorous process that included the examination of evidence and relative data, interviews with stakeholders, and observations of instruction, learning and operations. The AdvancED External Review Team used the AdvancED Accreditation Standards and Indicators and related criteria to guide its evaluation, looking not only for adherence to standards, but also for how the school corporation functioned as a whole and embodied the practices and characteristics of quality.” Parents and community members can learn more about the system accreditation process at www.advanc-ed.org Additional information about the findings from the external review is available by contacting Superintendent Brett R. Boggs at 574-353-7741, Ext. 1006.
