The North Central Association has developed a partnership with the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI) and the National Study of School Evaluation (NSSE). Representing 23,000 schools in 30 states and serving 15 million students, the partnership aims to enhance the three pillars of accreditation - high standards, quality assurance review, and continuous improvement – while providing a more unified and national voice for the profession on issues of educational quality.

Recently, the partner organizations worked together to develop shared, research-based accreditation standards aimed at helping schools and districts improve quality and enhance performance. Currently, the partnership is combining the best practices of NCA CASI and SACS CASI and the research base of NSSE to create a powerful Quality Assurance Review team chair training and certification program aimed at enhancing the quality of peer review.

The partnership, through NSSE, is producing school and district resources and tools that are aimed at maximizing system performance and student success, including a best practices database that will facilitate the sharing of research-based practices across the 23,000 accredited schools in the network.

The intent is to launch the shared standards and Quality Assurance Review teams in the 2007-08 school year. We will continue to keep you apprised of the work of the partnership and the enhanced benefits it will bring to you.