The Lincoln County School System served as the guinea pig for a new program that will combine schoollevel accreditation by SACS/CASI (Southern Association of Colleges and Schools' Council on Accreditation and School Improvement) with an evaluation of each school's progress in implementing the Georgia Assessment of Performance on School Standards (GAPSS) initiative. Basically, the GAPSS standards, which are referred to as "School Keys," address what schools need to know, understand, and be able to do, while implementing a continuous school improvement process. The Keys enhance and support what is required by SACS/CASI for accreditation. Last month, 18 education experts from the Georgia Department of Education (GADOE), including teachers and school administrators from across the state, representing SACS/ CASI or GAPSS, visited LCES, LCMS, and LCHS. This marked the first time in the State of Georgia that GAPSS Keys were used for SACS/ CASI accreditation.

The department of education describes the School Keys as the foundation for Georgia's comprehensive, data-driven system of school improvement and support. The Keys or standards are comprised of eight different strands: Curriculum; Assessment; Instruction; Planning and Organization; Student, Family, and Community; Professional Learning; Leadership; and School Culture.

Each strand then contains a set of standards that a school system works toward implementing in each school. For each strand, the level of implementation is assessed as "Fully Operational," "Operational," "Emergent," and "Not Addressed."

During their two-day stay in Lincolnton, members of the SACS/CASI and GAPSS Team gathered and reviewed data from four sources: teacher observations, faculty and student interviews, a faculty survey, and school data such as sample curriculum maps, unit plans (which are comprised of lesson plans and culminating assessments), student handbooks, professional learning plans, etc.

The three schools had been busy preparing for the visit since the fall of 2007, working hard to implement the School Keys. Initially, the faculty members met in groups to assess whether their school was Fully Operational, Operational, etc. in regard to each standard. They then began to identify the changes needed to comply with the requirements for each standard and implement those changes.

In addition, a System Instruction Team (SIT) was also established to help the schools prepare for the SACS/CASI and GAPSS visit.

According to Brian Campbell, assistant superintendent for instruction, "It was important to bring teachers together from all three schools to determine which standards we could address at the system level rather than the school level. The SIT met throughout last year and also during the summer to begin implementing standards from the School Keys. "The group decided to focus most of its energy on the School Keys that directly impacted teaching: Curriculum, Assessment, and Instruction," Campbell continued. "After developing guidelines for curriculum maps, unit plans, a new teacher evaluation system, and so forth, the SIT presented the new systemwide initiatives to each school where they were gradually implemented. "The group will continue to meet as we address the recommendations made by the SACS/CASI and GAPSS Team."

The members of the SIT team are Bridgette Cliatt and Mary Mason, LCES; Benton Cunningham and Susan Pilgrim, LCMS; and Sheila Wilkes, Britt McKinney, and Heather Yarbrough, LCHS.

At the conclusion of the classroom visits and interviews, the SACS/CASI and GAPSS Team met to score the schools on the basis of how well they were implementing the School Keys.

"The overall School Keys report will be extremely useful because it will help schools develop improvement plans to address the standards based on priority," said Assistant Superintendent Campbell. "Although our goal is to be Fully Operational on all standards, the first priority is to address the standards that were Not Addressed and then focus on Emergent Standards."

Based on the scoring on the School Keys, the SACS/CASI and GAPSS Team provided the school system with a list of commendations and recommendations for LCES, LCMS, and LCHS.

The list of commendations for all three schools included:

..The schools were praised for using curriculum maps and aligning those maps with the Georgia Performance Standards. In essence, the Georgia Performance Standards address what is to be taught; whereas, the School Keys focus on how it is to be taught.

According to Assistant Superintendent Campbell, "The team indicated that the schools achieved the highest percentages they had seen regarding the use of curriculum maps and their alignment with the Georgia Performance Standards. This was a huge accomplishment. We have worked on curriculum this past year, and I commend each of the schools for this recognition."

.. All three schools were recognized for the use of technology in the classroom to enhance student learning.

.. The state educators pointed out that the administrative team at each school maintains high visibility.

Among the recommendations were:

.. The schools need to start conducting diagnostic assessments to determine which students are performing below standard and offer remediation for those students.

.. The schools need to provide more in-depth professional learning for teachers, perhaps even commit to a two or three year program of instruction.

.. The state team indicated that each school needs to be more aggressive in providing differentiated instruction. This type of instruction adapts teaching styles to student learning styles.

The SACS/CASI and GAPSS Team will make a return visit in five years.

"Over the next five years, our schools will focus on implementing the recommendations made by the team," stated the assistant superintendent. "Our goal is to be Highly Functional in all strands of the School Keys."

He went on to say, "Our community should be proud of the report we received from the SACS/CASI and GAPSS Team. We excelled in meeting many of the standards set forth in the School Keys.

"Moreover, I am looking forward to the next five years, as we plan and implement new initiatives in an effort to become Highly Functional in all of the School Keys. As this occurs, all of our students will benefit from the improvements."

For a detailed report of the team's findings, visit the system website at www.lincolncountyschools.org.