Royal Oak Schools Receives District-Wide Accreditation

• Assessment of standards and indicators. Both self-assessment and assessment by the AdvancED External Review Team
• Student performance results
• Perceptions by students, teachers and parents

The External Review Team is composed of professional peers. The team assesses and evaluates district effectiveness in meeting the requirements of accreditation and provides feedback and improvement direction. The team visiting the Royal Oak district was comprised of educators from Michigan, Indiana, Washington and Idaho. During the on-site external review, the team visited six schools. They made 33 classroom visits and interviewed 182 stakeholders - board members, administrators, teachers, support staff, parents and students.   The team commended the district on:

• Parents and students who praised the dedicated and caring staff
• The Superintendent’s “State of the Schools” address which was deemed an effective tool to share the district’s profile and highlight the students’ outstanding achievement level
• A strong commitment to shared leadership between teachers and administrators
• The collegial and collaborative culture in the district
• The meaningful involvement of parents and families
• Highly active and involved Parent Teacher Associations

The report also suggested areas of emphasis for the district moving forward. These included a suggestion that the district integrate the plans and roadmaps that exist in various departments into a more formal district strategic plan. The report encouraged the district to continue its work on updating district-wide technology, and to focus on student use of technology as its ultimate goal. Finally, while praising the positive energy in the district, the visitation team cautioned the district to monitor the number of instructional initiatives so that new initiatives do not overwhelm the district’s capacity to successfully implement them.    

Shawn Lewis-Lakin, Superintendent of Schools, noted that the district is still waiting to receive the more detailed accreditation report. “What we have now is the external visitation team’s exit report. The information in it is helpful and confirms much of our own sense of strengths and focus areas. We are eager to receive the complete written report which we should have by July 1. The accreditation process is incredibly important to us as we work to meet the standard of excellence we have set for ourselves.”

Source: Royal Oak Schools