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CISNA Accreditation

CISNA Standards are designed to improve the quality of education in Islamic schools in the U.S. and globally.

CISNA is the largest member organization of accredited Islamic schools in the world.

CISNA Accreditation provides a means to review and evaluate all aspects of a school’s program with an Islamic lens. The accreditation process is based on rigorous standards and measures a school’s progress towards continuous improvement. CISNA began providing accreditation services in 2012.

CISNA has partnered with Cognia and Middle States Association (MSA), international agencies accrediting schools in more than 110 countries! CISNA schools can now apply for accreditation with CISNA and receive dual accreditation with COGNIA or MSA. CISNA is also recognized by the New York State Department of Education (the largest in the US) as an accrediting agency.

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Accreditation Application

Accreditation Policies and Procedures

Why Accreditation?

Why Accreditation?

  • Verifies adherence to mission and vision
  • Focuses on best practices for governance and leadership
  • Guides a thorough self-assessment and development of a school improvement plan
  • Assures high academic standards integrated with Islamic teachings
  • Confirms standards are met
  • Informs the public of a school’s credibility and commitment to excellence

Accreditation Protocol

The CISNA accreditation protocol includes:

1

Hosting an in-person or virtual Readiness Visit

  • The school should be prepared to demonstrate how it meets the requirements on the Readiness Visit Checklist.
  • This visit may be in-person or online, depending on the age and size of the school and at the discretion of the Executive Director
2

Completing the Assurances

3

Completing the Self-Study based on the CISNA Standards

  • The Self-Study provides essential information for school improvement, strategic planning, restructuring, and staff development.
  • Each standard should be addressed by explaining how the school meets it, rather than just indicating compliance.
  • The school should demonstrate compliance with each standard by providing supporting documentation such as governing board minutes, policy manuals, handbooks, and staff meeting minutes.
  • Provide authentic, thoughtful responses that clearly demonstrate how the school is meeting the Accreditation Standards.
  • While AI can be a helpful tool for brainstorming, it is not appropriate for crafting self-study submissions.
  • The self-study is an essential part of the accreditation process and must reflect the unique practices, challenges, and successes of each school. Responses generated by AI often focus on generic reasoning for why standards should be met, rather than providing specific examples of how your school is actively meeting them. To ensure the integrity and value of the accreditation process, schools are expected to create original content that genuinely represents their efforts.
  • Relevant documentation should be hyperlinked in the appropriate sections of the Self-Study.
  • While we recommend involving multiple stakeholders in developing the Self Study, the final document must be proofread and submitted as a single Word file by one designated person.
4

Administering Stakeholder Surveys

  • 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 then analyzed by the school to interpret the impact the school is making in each standard.
  • An analysis and summary of the results is to be provided to the CISNA team.
5

Developing a School Improvement Plan

  • The findings from the self-study become the basis for a school's Improvement Plan.
  • The School Improvement Plan determines which areas of the curriculum and organizational capacity are the priorities for growth and improvement, sets measurable goals to address these priorities, and then establishes a plan to achieve its objectives.
6

Hosting a Review Visit

  • 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 a minimum of two and 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 school’s culture.
  • The team assesses the quality of learning environments to gain valuable insights and a broad understanding of institution quality to target improvements. The visit also verifies the school's self-study to determine if it accurately reflects the school's programs, provides objective expertise to assess the school’s complete operation, and culminates in a written report highlighting the school’s strengths and areas for growth.

What are the benefits of accreditation?

What are the benefits of accreditation?

Assurance for parents and the community that the school is of high quality

Provides a systematic framework for improvement of programming and services

Self-evaluation based on your school’s unique purpose and on CISNA’s standards

Public recognition for completing the accreditation process successfully

Increased accountability to your community and constituents

Demonstration of quality as assessed by objective educational professionals

Eligibility for grants and other sources of funding