New England Association of Schools and Colleges
Commission on Public Secondary Schools (CPSS)

Process Explanation

Accreditation is an on-going process of school improvement that occurs in ten-year cycles, with schools working throughout the ten-year cycle to address the Standards for Accreditation. 

A requirement of the process ensures that each school not only prepares a self-study and hosts a visiting team every ten years but also responds to valid recommendations from the Commission and from the evaluation report.  As well schools are expected to address the Standards through their school improvements efforts and, of course, to be knowledgeable of the Standards (please see the Explanation of the Standards page.)

Each school is assigned a professional staff liaison who can assist school officials at any point during the process (please see Contact Us page).  As well, the Commission sponsors a number of programs for schools at various points during the accreditation cycle (please see Events page). 

In addition, the Commission has recently begun to work with other professional organizations in order to provide on-going professional development for its member schools (please see Tools for School Improvement:  Programs for Schools).

 

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News & Events

Please visit the new page to view the 2011 Standards for Accreditation  


The "Getting Started" tab includes continuous updates with new documents and information that will be helpful for administrators and teachers to understand the 2011 Standards, including an explanation of the Standards and a Guidebook to assist schools in developing core values, beliefs about learning, and 21st century learning expectations.  Schools are urged to check this section often for new information.

Accreditation Conference - May 3-4, 2010 - Doubletree Bedford Glen, Bedford, MA

The NEASC/CPSS accreditation standards place a premium on high quality teaching and learning. Schools who will host accreditation teams in 2013 have had ten years to implement the practices included in the Standards for Accreditation, and should be poised to deepen those practices to the proficient and exemplary level. For that reason, NEASC, in collaboration with TEACHING & LEARNING SOLUTIONS, is offering an intensive 2-day workshop for leadership teams from schools that will be hosting accreditation visits in 2013. Training for self-study steering committees will be provided at a later date by Commission staff.