Accreditation is essential for any private institution that seeks to remain competitive and maintain a legitimate reputation. School accreditation provides a protocol for schools committed to systemic, systematic, and sustainable continuous improvement. The process requires schools to collaborate in reviewing the quality of its program and supports, enhances, and stimulates growth and improvement throughout the school. Standards of accreditation recognize the distinctive mission of a school and respect its institutional diversity while maintaining high standards in every area of program and practice.
Accreditation requires that a school focus on continual improvement of programs, services, and teacher quality through regular evaluation, data analysis, professional development, and strategic planning. The accreditation process examines the whole institution—the program, the cultural context, and the community of stakeholders—to determine how well the parts work together to meet the needs of learners. While the accreditation standards of a state or regional agency address general areas of institutional quality, the Council of Islamic Schools in North America (CISNA) standards address all areas through an Islamic lens and the process focuses on the spiritual life of the school.
The CISNA standards were first established in 2012, regularly reviewed, and last revised in 2022 after consultation with experts in the field of education. These standards are categorized under four domains: Governance, School Leadership, Teaching & Learning, and School Culture & Environment. These domains provide a systematic framework for self-evaluation and the improvement of programming and services.
The CISNA accreditation process includes a readiness visit (virtual or in-person), a thorough self-study conducted by the school based on the CISNA Standards, an Islamic Identity Survey administered by the school, the development of a school improvement plan, and a review visit by the CISNA team. The CISNA review team consists of a combination of the executive director, CISNA board members and/or qualified Islamic school educators trained in the CISNA accreditation process. The number of team members is determined by the size of the school. The review visit serves to ascertain how the components of the school’s mission statement are integrated into the entire academic program and the culture of the school. The review visit also verifies the school’s self-study to determine if it accurately reflects the school’s programs, brings objective expertise to assess the school’s complete operation, and culminates in a written report of the school’s strengths and areas of growth.
To successfully renew CISNA accreditation all schools must do the following:
Each standard should be addressed in terms of “how” the school meets the standard. The goal is not to simply indicate that the school complies, but to describe how and to what extent the school complies with each standard. A school should be able to demonstrate how it meets each standard by supplying supporting documentation such as governing board minutes, policy and procedure manuals, handbooks, minutes from staff meetings, etc. Supporting documentation or evidence should be hyperlinked in the relevant self-study sections.
The results of the self-study become the basis for a school’s improvement plan and provide the context for the review team’s accreditation visit.
An important part of self-evaluation is to collect valuable feedback about the school’s purpose and impact from stakeholders. Surveys are administered to parents, students, staff, and alumni. The data is analyzed by the school to interpret the impact the school is making in each standard. A summary of the results is to be provided to the CISNA team.
The CISNA review team consists of a combination of the executive director, CISNA board members and/or qualified Islamic school educators trained in the CISNA accreditation process. The number of team members and the length of the visit are determined by the size of the school. The team assesses the quality of learning environments to gain valuable insights and a broad understanding of institution quality to target improvements. The review team gathers valuable evidence and information by:
School Overview
The principal or head of school provides a school overview, usually accompanied by a slide deck on the first day of the visit. The overview may include the following:
There is a fee of $800 charged to the school during the year of the visit.
Schools must cover the cost of travel, meals, and lodging for the CISNA review team. Travel may include roundtrip economy fare from team member’s origin to school location. International travel may be booked in premium economy. The school will cover individual hotel rooms for each team member and arrange or reimburse transportation to and from the team member’s home to the airport and school. If a team member uses his or her own car, mileage will be reimbursed at the rate determined by the official government rate.
At the end of the visit, the team will present their preliminary findings to school leadership. A written report will be submitted to the CISNA Board within 4 weeks for approval of accreditation. Follow up virtual meetings may be conducted with CISNA Board members if needed.
The CISNA Board reviews the report for clarification and overall compliance with standards. The Board will make the final determination whether the school’s accreditation status will be renewed for another accreditation cycle.
For those schools applying for dual accreditation with Cognia or MSA, CISNA will send the school’s accreditation status to the those agencies which will then grant accreditation.
The CISNA Accreditation Report should serve as a guide to long-term and ongoing school improvement. The school should develop or modify an Improvement Plan based on the findings of the self-study and the team report. The school will be asked to submit an annual report in which they will document changes and actions taken to meet the team’s recommendations.
Schools must submit an Annual Report, School Improvement Plan and Accredited Member fees by January 15 of each year.
The Annual Report describes any changes in the school that have occurred since the previous report. This may include:
Failure to submit a report and fees in a timely manner may result in late fees or revocation of accreditation status. Substantive changes may require an onsite visit at the discretion of the CISNA Accreditation Council. Once a school is accredited, it must maintain membership in CISNA throughout the entire period of the accreditation which is five years. If membership is dropped during this time, the accreditation becomes null and void.
Please contact Ms. Sufia Azmat, CISNA Executive Director at cisnaoffice@gmail.com with any questions.
CISNA thanks the Islamic Food and Nutrition Council of America (IFANCA) for their support in developing the CISNA website. We are grateful for their ongoing generosity in helping to enhance high standards at Islamic schools.
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