School Quality Assurance: Standards That All Schools Must Attain

All leading schools must aspire for excellence across all schooling practices and operations. It is the mark of a well-rounded institution that strives for quality beyond education and curriculum. The pursuit of excellence should be weaved into the school ethos and pedagogy. As the schooling market becomes more competitive at an exponential rate, a qualitatively appealing value proposition is perhaps the strongest differentiator all premier schools would possess. The schools commitment towards quality in education and operations has a direct correlation to their student results and admission volumes.

The critical question therefore becomes – how do schools ensure quality standards par excellence? It is interesting to note, that all schools claim to offer excellence in quality education, however very few actually deliver on these claims. Objective measures of quality are essential to understand the true picture of a school’s quality standards. It is a common practice for schools to comparatively evaluate their standards of quality against those of competitors in the same region and offering similar infrastructure, however, such evaluations are seldom based on analysis and methodical calculations. These are in fact just a comparison of student intake and annual results.

Quality assessment necessitates an investigation of all aspects of schooling in order to understand what emerging improvement areas should be addressed on priority. There needs to be an independent evaluation in order to safeguard against a compromise due to a personal bias. An industry accepted mark of quality is AuditED. A hallmark of excellence in quality of education, school audits and improvement or AuditED is a method of quality assurance developed over the years through process and function audits of K12 schools globally, and is designed primarily to distinguish schools adhering to a set of high educational standards. The AuditED process is well known for its ability to effectively drive student performance and ensure continuous improvement in education

A significant recognition of a school’s quality of education, AuditED is also an enriching process for the K12 schools to get an opportunity to improve on the existing standards of delivery. AuditED enables K12 schools to compare their performance against research based quality standards thus producing a wealth of rich insight and enabling them to raise their performance and effectiveness standards. The process requires schools to critically evaluate its vision, strategies, priorities, leadership, programs and resources. This method of earning and maintaining the accreditation provides schools and educational systems with clear and compelling direction for implementing changes required and move towards excellence.

AuditED approaches the idea of quality improvement as an investigation of critical aspects such as school administration, employee management, teaching and learning, student management etc. Understanding the policies and procedures across these aspects and pitting them against internationally recognized best practices and standards, AuditED prepares the schools for an enhanced learning experience and recommends optimal frameworks for providing high quality education. Schools that attain the accreditation benefit from a global network of distinct and quality committed schools as well as receive external and objective validation of the areas in which they are doing well and areas that can be improved upon. Needless to say that AuditED prescriptions have been tested and proven across the industry and come recommended by experts that have pioneered the best available ideas and education practices.

Schools must also commit to a review of policies and procedures every few years in order to maintain their excellence in quality. Revision and modernization of teaching methodologies is necessary to keep pace with the dynamic market and diverse student and parent needs. AuditED pre mandates the cooperation of the school and leadership in respect of document provision and candid interaction with stakeholders. Tweaking policies to combat modern realities such as outbreaks is essential to develop a formidable response to current and future pandemics. Students, teachers and staff must be ensured of their safety and protection at all times. Additionally, with revenue depreciation in the past few months, schools, also need to re-evaluate their expense structures in order to withstand the onslaught of the pandemic. AuditED can help schools optimize their costs by highlighting wasteful expenditures that would not have come to light under normal circumstances.

As schools prepare to gradually open, it will not be long before they will need to consider all possibilities of maintaining learning continuity for their students as modern learning and teaching techniques will define education in the very near future. Recognized quality standards will give schools the edge and the benefit of being ahead of their competition since accredited standards instill confidence and signal preparedness on behalf of the schools in the minds of students and parents.Find out all about AuditED and it's benefits here.