Accreditation
The Bibb County School District received notification that the District has earned the distinction of accreditation from Cognia, with an Above Average rating for overall performance. Cognia is a widely recognized non-profit, non-governmental organization that accredits primary and secondary schools throughout the United States and internationally.
The District was most recently accredited in 2018 by AdvancED. AdvancED and Measured Progress merged in 2018 and rebranded as Cognia in 2019. This was the District’s first application for accreditation renewal under Cognia.
What is Accreditation?
Accreditation is pivotal to leveraging education quality and continuous improvement. Using a set of rigorous research-based standards, the accreditation process examines the whole institution – the program, the cultural context, and feedback from community of stakeholders – to determine how well a district meets the needs of learners. Highly skilled and trained evaluators gather first-hand evidence and information pertinent to evaluating an institution’s performance against research-based performance standards. Using these standards, evaluators assess the quality of the learning environment to gain valuable insights and target improvements in teaching and learning as well as the operation of the institution. This comprehensive evaluation provides valuable guidance as part of a district’s improvement journey.
Highlights for Bibb
The Accreditation Engagement Review final report from Cognia is organized in five sections: Assurances, Rating of Analyses, Cognia Performance Standards, Insights from the Review, and a Summary of Findings that includes Noteworthy Practices and Areas for Improvement. Highlights from the Summary of Findings are noted below.
- The District’s Index of Education Quality was a 303, which is higher than Cognia’s overall network average of 296.
- Respect and equity were identified as “guiding principles” as the District has worked to create a collaborative culture of learning. Specifically, the report highlighted how conversations from advisory councils resulted in events like Mental Health Awareness Week and “Meet Me at the Mall.”
- The report also highlighted the District’s concerted efforts to hire, retain and develop leaders. This includes partnerships with local colleges and universities, alternative certification programs and aspiring leaders cohorts.
- The District received credit for “an extensive array of learning environments where students can learn and thrive,” to include magnet programs for fine arts and academics, as well as CTAE pathways.
- The #B4B strategic plan and its focus on the 4ME outcomes was tied to continued graduation rate improvement and gains in other academic measures.
As next steps, Bibb County School District will use the findings from the report to guide and strengthen school improvement efforts.