Standards Committees Duties

NEASC Re-accreditation of NHS-S

Seven Standards Committees plus the “School and Community Profile Committee” are created at the school being reaccredited. Each of these committees will spend about 25 hours developing the Standard Essay for which it is responsible. Committees will be composed of faculty, administration, support staff, parents, students, and community members.

Self-study Guides are written for each committee and will be provided each member for all the standards. These guides provide a framework to help in generating discussion, gather evidence and draw conclusions for preparing the Standards essays. Prompts are designed to guide discussion and help committees form conclusions about the school’s adherence to the Standards.

The completed essays are typically 8-12 pages each. They explain the school’s conclusions and supportive evidence demonstrating the extent to which we are adhering to each Standard. We are required to gather evidence and documentation to support the conclusions.

In addition to the 8-12 page essay, each committee writes a conclusion grading the school’s level of adherence to the Standard based on the rubric in the Self-Study guide. This Executive Summary provides a one-page rationale with the specific evidence which led the school to this conclusion, and lists the strengths and needs related to the adherence to the Standard.

The School and Community Profile committee will provide information to the visiting team to help them understand Nashua. Topics covered will include demographics, economics, school enrollment figures, post-secondary data and other facts that reflect various aspects of our community. This information will be part of a one-hour presentation given to the visiting committee on the first day of its site visit.

The Mission and Expectations Committee will create rubrics to identify levels of successful achievement of the school-wide academic, civic and social learning expectations to be created by the school as a whole. In addition, this committee will evaluate the success of the Mission Statement into the procedures, policies, and culture of the school and finally, determine a method of periodic review of our Mission Statement.

The Curriculum Committee will study our connection of curriculum to the Mission statement and expectations for student learning. The primary purpose of this committee is to study the links between staff commitment to and involvement in a continuing, comprehensive review and improvement of the curriculum. It will look at curriculum integration, depth of understanding over breadth, co-curricular opportunities, instructional material including library/media center resources, professional development opportunities, and curriculum revision support.

The Instruction Committee studies the instructional practices of the teaching staff and the connection between those practices to the Mission Statement and Expectations for student learning. This committee will review instructional strategies across all departments, determine methods used to improve instruction, look at the professional development opportunities and how we engage students as active, self-directed learners emphasizing rigor and relevance.

The Assessment of Student Learning Committee, determining how assessment is used to inform students of their learning progress and teachers of the ways to adjust curriculum and instruction, must gather student work across all grades and curriculum from every teacher. Additionally, this committee will report on how teachers work collaboratively, use a variety of assessment strategies, and incorporate the school-wide academic expectations into each assessment.

The Leadership and Organization Committee studies the way our school is organized for learning and the professional culture of the school. The report from this committee will include evaluation of levels of support from the district through the school administration. It will look at student loads, mentoring, professional collaboration, school climate, scheduling, organization, and student grouping patterns.

The School Resources for Learning Committee is the most extensive of the seven Standards committees. This committee will study and report on adherence to the standards of student support services (including health records), guidance services, health services, library information services, and special education. In each of these areas, the committee has several aspects that need to be studied and evaluated in essay.

The Community Resources for Learning Committee looks at the role of parents, businesses, high education, and other community involvement in the school. This self-study essay also includes aspects of equipment, physical plant, building and site maintenance, funding, and budgetary input.

Each teacher, administrator, staff and support personnel at Nashua High School – South will be given the opportunity to prioritize their first, second, and third choice for committee assignment. Everyone is required to serve on a NEASC committee.