Since the founding of ASV in 1980, the Middle States Association (MSA) has been the American accreditation association of the school. In November 2019, ASV hosted an MSA Visiting Team and in May 2020, ASV earned its MSA re-accreditation for another seven years until May 2027. The work of maintaining our MSA accreditation is an ongoing process of growth and development, and ASV would like to share this periodic update with our school community.
As an integral requirement of MSA’s Plan for Growth and Development, ASV has an MSA Implementation Team that meets once a month. With 16 team members, each area of the school is represented by a variety of ASV faculty, support and staff members. The MSA Implementation Team is tasked with overseeing the implementation of the school’s four current MSA Performance Objectives established as a result of the 2019 MSA Self-Study and Technical Review, which highlighted areas for improved performance over ASV’s seven year accreditation cycle. The objectives are organized into two objective categories: Student Performance Objectives, which focus specifically on the performance of students throughout the school in Math and Literacy; and Organizational Performance Objectives, which focus on improvements within the organizational structures. Assessment and Character Education are our organizational focus until the school’s next accreditation in the Fall 2027.
Since September 2021, the team has identified specific actions plans for this academic year to integrate wider school participation in the implementation of the schools chosen MSA Objectives, which we would like to share below:
- During the October 2021 Professional Development Day, all faculty members met in interdisciplinary groups to define cornerstone tasks, a key component of the Understanding by Design (UbD) framework. These grade-level assessment tasks are part of the Assessment, Literacy and Math action plans for their respective objectives. Additionally, the Academic Leadership Team and Middle School-High School Team Leaders participated in a professional development workshop on Standards-Based Learning and Assessment with Dr. Lee Ann Jung, an internationally recognized educator in this area.
- As part of the Character Education Objective, a badging program related to the school’s CARE Values is being developed and will be piloted in Grade 6. The goal is to offer a school-wide badging and recognition program which will acknowledge individual stakeholders’ positive contributions to the school community.
- During this academic year and in addition to its MSA accreditation, ASV is also preparing for MSA’s Program of Distinction in Athletics, a new pilot program developed by MSA to recognize and externally validate a school’s accomplishments and expertise in athletics. ASV is one of only five international schools invited to design and participate in this new protocol. The self-study and supporting documentation will be submitted to MSA in November 2021, with a hybrid MSA visit scheduled for January 2022.
On behalf of the MSA Implementation Team, we are delighted to share these updates with our school community about the ongoing work, research and implementation of these MSA objectives. Please stay tuned for future updates and as always, thank you for your continued support.
MSA Implementation Team
