Adventures in PAASCU Accreditation

I was recently invited by Madame Sheila Dayrit, school director of St. Mary's Angels College Valenzuela (SMACV) to a meeting and a round table discussion on school library development. The context being that the school will soon be undergoing its first formal survey by the Philippine Association of Accredited Schools Colleges and Universities (PAASCU). As a candidate school, they are preparing for this accreditation visit with nervous excitement.

Memories of past PAASCU experiences come to mind. When I was a school librarian in Xavier School, I had three PAASCU experiences -- two visits as part of the library staff, and the last as the library coordinator so, that made me a member of the PAASCU Executive Committee.

Accreditation is a lot of work. A two day visit is 4-3 years of preparation. After a PAASCU visit by accreditors, one could only heave a sigh of relief. What makes the experience truly meaningful is the involvement of each member of the community. Personally, I appreciate being a PAASCU accreditor. I have so much to thank for.  Being involved in the process of accreditation is a learning experience. Both parties learn -- the accreditors and the school community being accredited. Even the PAASCU learns along the way. The organization is in constant reflection of its processes, systems and procedures. I have had the pleasure of sitting in several assemblies and round table discussions to revise and improve the self survey instrument for Library and AV/Media centers.

In 2009, PAASCU recognized my volunteer work as one of their accreditors for Library and AV/Media Center by giving me the Fr. James Meany SJ Award. I was no longer in Xavier School then, but the award affirmed my vocational calling and answered a question I have kept in my prayers for so long. 

There are people who see PAASCU accreditation as an exercise of compliance, a dog and pony show, and its result will lead the school to raise its tuition fees. I don't blame them. We all are human beings after all. But the fact that it is founded by a Jesuit priest (some will raise an eyebrow), traces of Ignatian charism permeates its system, process and ethos. It will take a while for the rest to figure this out.

For the meantime, I will speak my truth and I hold it lightly in my hands.

Open for Learning: On PAASCU Visits and Accreditation

The PAASCU Team who was invited at Manresa School

 Last February 6-7, 2017, I was part of the PAASCU accrediting team that was invited by Manresa School to evaluate their self-survey and analysis in the aims of improving their school's academic pursuits and students services. I was there to look into the school's report on their Instructional Media Center, find out the extent of implementation of the previous PAASCU team's recommendations, and discover new things about school librarianship in general as well as specific best features of the school library being accredited.

The Manresa School Library in the grade school unit has an impressive space and physical design of its reading areas and storytelling rooms. The library staff are very welcoming and their commitment to providing the best school library services to students and faculty is evident in their reading campaigns and promotions. The school, in general, has a vibrant student body and a teaching force that is young and eager to learn.

While many see the visit as an ascension of gods and goddesses, we, the accrediting team emphasize in every interview the role we play in the whole exercise. We are colleagues excited to be engaged in the validation of best practices, We are partners in conversations with educators, just like us, who strive to be better at this craft we call teaching. After every PAASCU visit, I always have "take-aways". Here is a link where I write about Insights from a PAASCU Visit in De La Salle Zobel.

This time, I left Manresa School with these questions in my mind: How can school librarians support the reading development of students transitioning from K-3 to middle grades? How can school librarians firm up his and her role in the teaching and learning processes of a school community?

These two questions are not unique from my PAASCU experience in Manresa School. Somewhere, sometime, an answer to these questions can be found. For now, I am keeping tab of these thoughts.

Is your school library "open for learning"?

I have written about my experiences in previous PAASCU accreditations. Working in a big school previously, PAASCU visits are big events, indeed! How everyone in the community prepares for it!  Death by PAASCU is a humorous take on the PAASCU preparations. PAASCU work is not a one year deal. The recommendations to work on are starting points for conversations, reflections and the identification of courses of actions that should not be seen as a way to please PAASCU. But a plan to inform one's self and the school community that it is fulfilling its mission and goals.

I now think of the relevance of PAASCU visits. For one, it is service. We get very little but the joy of learning from one another. Back in 2009, I have received the Fr. James Meany Award for my involvement as accreditor since 2003. I have been called to participate in the evaluation of PAASCU forms and systems. In 2008, the PAASCU office called for a Consultation and Revision of the GS Resurvey Form. We have been using the revised form since then.

In the field of education, a system of assessment and evaluation among peers is a healthy exercise towards a learning community's path to growth and development.

We never stop learning. It is a lifelong process. PAASCU always teaches me that and reminds me that I need to hold my truth lightly in my hands because, wisdom and knowledge do not spring from one source alone.

PPT: School Library Assessment & Evaluation

Scholastic librarians training on assessment and evaluation from Zarah Gagatiga