Photos| Cheris Hodges
BENNETTSVILLE—The Marlboro County School District started the new school year with great news.
At Monday’s board meeting, the district announced that it received accreditation from Cognia Accreditation for Pre K-12 and postsecondary institutions.
According to the Cognia website, “Accreditation is the launchpad for school improvement. Based on rigorous research-based standards and evidence-based criteria, the process probes the whole institution—from policies to learning conditions and cultural context—to determine how well the parts work together to meet the needs of every learner. Accreditation isn’t about passing a one-time inspection—it helps education providers meet improvement goals and sustain commitments to better learner outcomes. All institutions engage in three main phases of accreditation that guide continuous improvement: Self-Assessment, Engagement, and Progress. When your Accreditation Engagement Review is complete, the Cognia Global Commission reviews your team’s report. When it confirms that the findings demonstrate your institution’s commitment and quality, it confers your accreditation.”
Teresa Battle, MCSD’s Chief Academic Officer, presented the accreditation report to the board. “Congnia defines continuous improvement as an embedded behavior rooted in an institution’s culture that constantly focuses on conditions, processes and practices to improve teaching and learning.”
The district scored 245. “As a result of where we scored, they have three areas that they have identified for us to focus on,” Battle said. “Those areas are: to monitor the effective use of data to guide all improvement initiatives. The second one was to design, deliver, and evaluate professional learning opportunities based on data about students’ needs and interests. The third area is implement and monitor effective instructional practices to support lifelong learning skills,” she said.
Battle said the district has three years to show how they have improved on these areas and report back to Cognia.
The report noted that “students’ well-being is at the heart of the district’s vision and mission.”
During the 2022-2023 school year, Cognia conducted approximately 1,100 accreditation engagement reviews.
Candidates for Cognia Accreditation and reaccreditation participate in a rigorous evaluation process that includes a period of self-assessment; an evaluation conducted by trained external, third-party evaluators; and an improvement phase focused on the results of the evaluation. The Cognia Performance Standards for K-12 accreditation are based on the latest research and understanding of learning, teaching, and leading. Once an institution is accredited, it engages in a similar engagement review process at least every six years to maintain Cognia Accreditation.