part I

preparation for accreditation

general overview

The accreditation process enables a school to verify, document, and hold itself accountable for continuous improvement. However, it is not a static process nor simply an accountability system. Accreditation affirms that a school provides a quality educational experience and demonstrates that the services, activities, and educational programs provided meet the expectations of the educational community worldwide.

CMI uses standards that are internationally recognized as well as directed specifically toward a Charlotte Mason education. Schools obtaining accreditation through the Institute must continue to develop and grow an understanding of Charlotte Mason’s theories and pedagogy and use current research and practices in all aspects of school life.

When CMI's Commission on Accreditation of Elementary and Secondary Schools (CESS) accredits a school, it agrees that the school meets the highest standards of quality.

understanding accreditation

Accredited organizations are held to high standards of excellence by an outside agency. The Charlotte Mason Institute accreditation program is a voluntary process. It is how a school not only demonstrates its adherence to Charlotte Mason’s principles of education as designed by CMI, it also demonstrates its commitment to continuous school improvement. The process involves an extensive Self-Study followed by an Evaluation Team (ET) visit. The Self-Study allows the school to discover its strengths and weaknesses related to implementing Mason’s paradigm of education. This self-analysis is accomplished by viewing the school through the lens of the twelve CMI Standards (Appendix 1), The Charlotte Mason Shared Principles (Appendix 2), and the CMI Code of Ethics (Appendix 3).

The Self-Study provides a basis for subsequent yearly goals and objectives and strategic planning.

After a year of Self-Study by the school, the written Self-Study report is submitted to the ET for review. An onsite school visit ensures the school is performing at a level consistent with the description provided in the Self-Study. This gives all stakeholders a sense that they can trust the school to accomplish its mission and vision through its values. During this visit, the school is measured against these three documents:

• CMI Standards
  
• Charlotte Mason Shared Principles (CMSPs)
  
• Charlotte Mason Institute Code of Ethics (CE)
  

Accredited schools must report yearly on the accomplishment of its goals and objectives and demonstrate how it continues to grow using the School Annual Report (Appendix 4). This procedure helps the school maintain an awareness of its responsibility to all stakeholders in its commitment to maintaining a high sense of integrity.

the value of Accreditation

Accreditation helps others to recognize educational excellence...a place of learning and flourishing for children, teachers, and other professionals in the learning community. It also indicates that a school that is continuously growing through professional development. Accredited CMI schools have met the highest standards in implementing the Charlotte Mason educational paradigm.

Accredited schools are recognized throughout the educational community as meeting standards of excellence on many levels:

• Governance, Finance, & School Operations

• Educational Standards

• Leadership Training & Professional Development

• Community Involvement

• Service & Missional Impact
  

For the student

• Provides a safe environment physically, emotionally, morally, and intellectually
  

• Mason curriculum and method that suits the child
  

• Trained teachers who care for students
  

• Prepares children to be active, self-governed persons, who are prepared to live, work, and play in the 21st century
  

• Prepares children to care for creation and others in their communities
  

For the families

• Provides assurance that the school seeks to understand their child as a person
  

• Allows for shared values with the school
  

• Provides the understanding that the school seeks to value their child spiritually, physically, emotionally, morally, and intellectually.
  

• Demonstrates that the school values the child relationally and seeks community with children.
  

• Demonstrates a curriculum and instructional methodology designed for “persons” rather than one which expects the learner to adapt to the curriculum.
  

for the school

Self-Study

• Provides a method of self-analysis

• Provides an understanding of how the school’s programs match with the school’s philosophy, mission, vision, and values
  

• Provides a deeper understanding of Mason’s theories and practices through evaluation
  

Through the Self-Study, the school understands what is needed for continuous growth and better implementation of Mason's design for education.

Accreditation

• Affirms to the larger Mason educational community that the school meets CMI Standards
  

• Affirms to the local community and beyond that the school meets professional standards and guidelines for ongoing school improvement through professional development
  

• Affirms to the local community that the school is well governed, a safe place for faculty, staff, and children, and a place that provides for the children’s well-being
  

Additional Benefits of Accreditation

Accreditation also affords the school a chance to assess itself in two other ways: understanding its achievements and meeting its goals and objectives. This may be demonstrated by the examples below.

• Provides a systematic means to justify its existence, clarify its vision for the future, and clarify its objectives to accomplish the vision
  

• Reveals information needed for continuous improvement
  

• Requires the school to review itself holistically
  

• Helps the school set out new goals and manage those goals through assessment, planning, implementation, and reassessment
  

• Assists schools in reviewing their mission, vision, and goals through comprehensive and research-based assessments, rather than the latest educational fads
  

• Requires the school to have in its improvement plan a clear alignment of vision, mission, and values
  

• Supports the school in validating its integrity
  

• Aids the school in assuring that it accomplishes its goals through its educational programs
  

• Justifies the faith and resources that the community, parents, caregivers, and faculty invest in the school
  

• Increases stakeholder investments in the school
  

about cmi

The Charlotte Mason Institute (CMI) is the foremost advocate for the excellent implementation of Charlotte Mason’s theories and practices. CMI sets the standard for the rigorous study of Mason practices, for engaging with current science and research, for setting high professional standards., and for centering education 'for the children’s sake,'

CMI was founded in 2005 with a handful of educators at a small conference on the theories and practices of Charlotte Mason held at Gardner-Webb University, The Institute has seen steady growth over the years and remains an active and growing organization impacting the educational community worldwide.

As a nonprofit, the Institute is designed to meet the needs of schools, parents, communities, and most of all, children. It is the mobilizing force for a Charlotte Mason education.

Accreditation of CMI schools is built on Mason's founding principle, the child is born a person. This guides the professional standards and practices that inform a Charlotte Mason education practiced through schools and homes associated with the Institute.

With the growing number of individuals and schools seeking accreditation, CMI meets the need as a central focal point for research, study, curriculum development, professional development, and publications - in essence, a place for the forward growth of Mason’s educational paradigm into the 21st century. As a voice of the Mason educational movement not only within the United States but also in Canada and around the world, the Institute serves the community by setting professional standards of excellence for Mason schools.

The theories and methods of Charlotte Mason must be defined and reviewed by current research and theoretical study. Mason’s methods will thrive through a relentless pursuit of the following areas.

• Research in current theoretical and pedagogical studies
  

• Practice which nurtures and strengthens with continued professional development

• A shared understanding between schools and families of he educational principles underpinning Mason’s methods

• Accountability for applied Mason methodology through school accreditation
  

CMI’s Mission, Vision, and Values

We’re a nonprofit that seeks to research and amplify the educational theories and practices of Charlotte Mason. We help educators practice relational education through curriculum, conferences, publications, training, and social media.

• Fostering a relational education by equipping and inspiring communities through the current application of Charlotte Mason’s principles
  

• Using current research and investigating of the writings, programs, and archival documents from the Charlotte Mason Archive (Armitt Library and Museum, Ambleside, England)
  

• Faithfully handing on the truths of Charlotte Mason’s educational vision by providing students, families, teachers, administrators, and the public with the leadership required to establish and maintain a Mason relational educational paradigm within their schools always keeping in mind our values in working with our public without regard to the backgrounds of our constituency
  

procedures, timelines, and the Accreditation process

BEGINNING the process

A Charlotte Mason school must generally be in operation for at least three years before seeking accreditation (each school is unique and Fast Track options may be possible)

The school remains at the Initiate School Level throughout the process until its application for accreditation candidacy is approved.

what is next?

• Complete the online Candidate Request Form

• Meet with your assigned mentor for an overview of the Accreditation Application process

• Work on all assigned tasks and follow the Application Timeline Schedule document to track your progress until you are ready to complete the CMI Accreditation Application

• Upload all required documents into your school portal in the LMS

• Complete the Application and submit the application fee

• With application approval, the process moves into the Self-Study phase

• The school remains at the Candidate School Level throughout the process.
  

Completing the

Accreditation Application

After application Submission

Once reviewed by the CESS, the application will either be accepted or rejected. The school will be officially notified by a letter acknowledging the decision. Accepted schools are invited to move forward. An accepted application is valid for two years.

A Mentor meeting helps establish what the school needs to know and do to begin the Self-Study. A timeline is set for the self-study process which may take up to one year to complete. Preferred dates for the Evaluation Team visit are also planned (scheduled about one year in advance).

When the ET visit is over, the school has met all criteria, and there are no non-compliant issues, the school is then presented to the CESS, who makes the final decision. Again, the school will be officially notified by a letter acknowledging the decision. If Accreditation is achieved, a certificate of CMI Accreditation is included to be posted in the school indicating that the Institute has accredited it. The Accreditation Certificate may then be posted on the school's website and stationery (with a logo provided by CMI) communicating that the school is accredited and named an official Affiliate School by the Charlotte Mason Institute Commission on Accreditation of Elementary and Secondary Schools.

finances Associated with Accreditation

What are the costs of accreditation?