April 19, 2022 | Jeffrey Good
When a team of educational experts recently assessed the work Acceleration Academies does to provide young learners with a flexible, personalized path to their high school diplomas, they didn’t just give the growing family of student re-engagement programs a passing grade.
They gave the technology-powered network a rave review —and a rating 25 percent higher than average for the more than 36,000 schools endorsed by Cognia, the world’s largest accreditation body.
In renewing the organization’s accreditation, the Cognia reviewers found that the Acceleration Academies network excels in providing a flexible education that is not only rooted in rigorous academic standards but also shows a deep commitment to the physical, social and emotional well-being of its students — who are called “graduation candidates” to remind them of their goals.
Undergirding that vital work is a foundation of “Model Fidelity” standards that provide a daily measure of student and educator performance built on an innovative, personalized model; nurture professional growth through clear benchmarks and thoughtful coaching; attract a talented and increasingly diverse team of educators along with professionals to provide technological and marketing support; and promote an atmosphere of collaboration and professional growth.
The 3-member Cognia review team led by veteran educator Eric Carlton quoted — and enthusiastically endorsed — a statement made by an organizational leader:
“Everything we do at Acceleration Academies is begun from a lens of continuous improvement and coaching. No matter what goals we reach, we are always setting new ones to improve our practices and serve our stakeholders in more powerful ways.”
Those stakeholders begin, of course, with the graduation candidates, young people who had not found success in traditional high schools, who have work and family obligations that don’t fit inside a normal school schedule, or who want to accelerate their studies and move on to higher education and careers. They include the public school districts with which Acceleration Academies partner in a growing number of states across the country. And importantly, they include educators for whom opening doors for young people is not a job but a passion.
“We were thrilled to receive Cognia’s accreditation report,” said Dr. Margie Sharp, Executive Vice President and Chief Education Officer of Acceleration Academies and one of the educational pioneers leading the network. “It is a wonderful affirmation of the work each and every member of our growing team does to open doors of opportunity for young people who might otherwise have dropped out.”
The Cognia team examined all aspects of the organization, assessing whether each part met one of four standards: Insufficient (needing significant improvement), Initiating (adequate but with room for growth), Improving (well on the way to excellence) and Impacting — defined as demonstrating “noteworthy practices producing clear results that positively impact the institution.”
In every category — leadership, learning capacity, the wise use of resources including technology and data analysis, and sound business practices — the review team rated Acceleration Academies as consistently reaching the highest standard or showing clear evidence of improvement.
The only area found in need of continuous improvement was “inquiry-based activities and innovative projects for students.” Sharp said that area suffered when the Covid pandemic closed school buildings and forced much learning online — a public health emergency that took its toll of schools of all kinds across the nation.
Emerging from the pandemic, she said, the learning network is making a strong push for programs that make a meaningful connection between book learning and students’ current lives and future ambitions. One area in which that effort is evident comes in the new Career and Technical Education initiative, which is beginning to help GCs acquire marketable digital skills in new partnerships with the Nevada Help Desk and Boeing aerospace. The CTE initiative drew praise from the Cognia team.
The report also praised the way Acceleration Academies uses data compiled and analyzed on its proprietary Incites platform to provide real-time feedback on student engagement and progress, to regularly adjust strategies on both the network and school level, and to root improvement in demonstrable results.
A team of Model Fidelity coaches work with network leaders, district directors and front-line educators to translate those data points into success for students hoping to lay the groundwork for brighter futures. Acceleration Academies currently serves more than 2,800 graduation candidates — a number that grows by the month.
Learn more about accreditation and read the full Cognia report here.
Acceleration Academies is a nationally accredited, research-based community and school district partner helping young adults overcome real-life challenges to earn their public high school diploma — at no cost to the student or school district. By offering flexible scheduling, online courses, academic and social/emotional support services with an embedded restorative practices framework, Acceleration Academies is helping young adults get back on the path toward their high school diploma in order to reach their full potential.