Iowa Administrative Code › Agency 281 - Education Department › Title II - Accredited Schools and School Districts › Chapter 12 - General Accreditation Standards › Rule 281-12.10 - Independent Accrediting Agencies

Current through Register Vol. 47, No. 3, July 24, 2024
Notwithstanding Iowa Code section
				  256.11(1) 
				  through 256.11(12)  and
				  this chapter, a nonpublic school may be accredited by an independent
				  accrediting agency that appears on a list maintained by the state board of
				  education instead of being accredited by the state board.
(1)
Compliance required by a
				nonpublic school.
Iowa Code section
				256.11(16)  is
				incorporated by this reference. New accrediting agencies must apply by November
				1. New schools shall notify the department by April 1 if they wish to be
				included in the independently accredited list for the following school year.
				Each year the department will contact the approved accrediting agencies
				requesting an updated list of the schools that are accredited or in the
				accrediting process for the upcoming school year. This list is due to the
				department by April 1. A nonpublic school that participates in the
				accreditation process offered by an independent accrediting agency on the
				approved list published pursuant to this rule is deemed to meet the education
				standards of Iowa Code section
				256.11 and this chapter.
				However, such a school shall comply with statutory health and safety
				requirements for school facilities. A nonpublic school accredited under this
				chapter shall abide by all state and federal laws and regulations.
				Notwithstanding Iowa Code section
				256.11, the department is not
				precluded from enforcing compliance with all state and federal laws and
				regulations.
(2)
List
				maintained by state board.
The state board will maintain a list of
				approved independent accrediting agencies comprised of at least six regional or
				national nonprofit, nongovernmental agencies recognized as reliable authorities
				concerning the quality of education offered by a school and shall publish the
				list of independent accrediting agencies on the department's Internet site. The
				list will include accrediting agencies that, as of January 1, 2013, accredited
				a nonpublic school in this state that was concurrently accredited under this
				rule and include any agency that has a formalized partnership agreement with
				another agency on the list and has member schools in this state as of January
				1, 2013. Agencies that met this standard as of November 20, 2013, are the
				Independent Schools Association of the Central States (ISACS), Christian
				Schools International (CSI), Cognia, the National Lutheran Schools Association
				(NLSA), and the Association of Christian Schools International
				(ASCI).
(3)
Criteria for
				recognizing an agency as a "reliable authority concerning the quality of
				education offered by a school."
In any decision to add an agency to
				the list maintained pursuant to subrule 12.10(1) or to remove an agency from
				the list pursuant to subrule 12.10(2), the following criteria may be applied:
a. Whether the agency's accreditation
				standards require a school to set high academic and nonacademic standards for
				all students, including preparation of students for postsecondary
				success.
b. Whether the agency's
				accreditation standards require a school to monitor and assess all students'
				progress toward high academic and nonacademic standards.
c. Whether the agency's accreditation
				standards require a school to recruit and retain properly licensed quality
				professional staff, and provide those staff members with ongoing professional
				development.
d. Whether the
				agency's accreditation standards set requirements for fiscal, data, and
				contract management.
e. Whether the
				agency monitors compliance with its standards and takes appropriate corrective
				action when standards are not met.
f. Whether the agency itself has appropriate
				fiscal, data, and contract management policies and procedures.
g. Any uncorrected citation of noncompliance
				by any governmental or nongovernmental agency or organization with jurisdiction
				or oversight of an accrediting agency listed pursuant to subrule
				12.10(1).
h. Any uncorrected
				negative audit finding of an accrediting agency listed pursuant to subrule
				12.10(1).
i. Any judgments, orders,
				decrees, consent decrees, settlement agreements, or verdicts concerning the
				agency listed pursuant to subrule 12.10(1) entered by any state or federal
				court of competent jurisdiction.
j.
				Whether the agency listed pursuant to subrule 12.10(1) continues to retain its
				nonprofit status.
k. Whether the
				agency listed pursuant to subrule 12.10(1) has received any form of recognition
				for innovation or excellence concerning its work.
l. Any other criterion used by the agency to
				determine accreditation.
m. Any
				other reports or findings sent to the nonpublic school regarding accreditation,
				including findings related to Iowa Code section
				256.11.