Would Be One Of Only 11

School Districts In Tenn.

To Be So Approved

By NELSON MORAIS

Staff Writer

The Greeneville City School System on Wednesday was recommended for accreditation for the first time as a school system by a regional accreditation body.

If the recommendation is approved, as is usually the case, the city school system would become one of only 11 school systems in Tennessee to have achieved district/system accreditation by the recently-combined Southern Association of Colleges and Schools and the Council on Accreditation and School Improvement.

SACS CASI is a voluntary, nongovernmental agency that accredits, through demonstration of educational quality, public and non-public institutions throughout the world.

The accreditation is valid for the next five years. Previously, all seven Greeneville schools had been accredited separately.

The SACS CASI team of professional educators that evaluated the Greeneville school district said city schools here have well-rounded curriculums and effective collaboration with students' parents and others in the community.

Those points were among nine "strengths" and five "commendations" that were provided to Greeneville City Schools Wednesday by the SACS CASI team.

The team also issued five "challenges" in the school system it said needed improvement.

Two Recommendations

The review team issued only two recommendations based on their study of the seven schools in the Greeneville school system.

One was to implement a greater emphasis on raising science and social studies scores for students in grades 6-8.

The second recommendation was to "align and prioritize research-based professional development with school improvement goals at both the school and district levels."

The team of five educators evaluated all seven schools in the city school system this week for renewal of association accreditation.

Accreditation

The team recommended the Greeneville school system for accreditation district-wide for the next five years in the unofficial report delivered by Dr. David Gullatt, the team's chairman.

Gullatt addressed about 30 people, including principals and other educators, who gathered Wednesday at Greeneville High School's lecture hall.

An official written report, which could include some modifications of the Quality Assurance Review Team's preliminary findings, will be issued by SACS CASI within 30 days, Gullatt said.

Dr. Lyle Ailshie, director of the city schools, told a reporter after the review team's PowerPoint presentation, "We were just tickled. It was a great report."

Said Dr. Vicki Kirk, assistant director for instruction, "What a process this has been .... There's very much to be proud of."

She compared the accreditation review "to an art student presenting his portfolio ... to experts in his particular field of expertise," and not a superficial, self-satisfying "dog-and-pony show."

System's Strengths

The review team identified the following "strengths" of the city school system:

* A systems approach is used to address concerns;

* Accommodations for special needs students;

* Stakeholders (those directly involved with, or affected by, the school system) indicated a sense of open communication with school and district leaders;

* Well-funded and well-utilized, award-winning technology program;

* Well-rounded curriculum;

* Quality intervention programs;

* Quality collaborative planning time;

* Beliefs, mission, and purpose driven decision-making;

* Purposeful analysis of trend data.

Commendations

The review team also issued the following "commendations" to the Greeneville City Schools District:

* Utilizing parental and community collaboration;

* Providing direction, assistance, and resources to aid student performance;

* Hiring and retaining experienced and highly qualified teachers and support staff;

* Communicating effectively with stakeholders.

Challenges

The team also identified the following "challenges":

* Develop a management system to track and attend to stakeholder concerns;

* Develop a plan to replace outdated hardware and software with newer products;

* Increase the number of active participants in advisory groups and school improvement committees;

* Develop a system to better collect needed curricular and demographic information about the district, students, and community;

* Implement assessment practices for higher level thinking skills."

A press release from the school system said, "The team's recommendations address areas (that) are currently being targeted through school and system improvement efforts. Subgroup achievement is the focus of one of the system's improvement goals for 2007-08 and 2008-09."

It continued, "Dr. Vicki Kirk has led the work of the Diversity Team, which consists of system and community representatives. Recommendations from this team will be presented to the Board of Education in June."

Ailshie said at the public presentation by the review team at GHS, "We want to know how we stand up against" other school systems across the nation.

He added, "We're looking at how we can be better. We will take your recommendations very seriously."