With just one Hawaii high school reaching the high proficiency benchmarks set under the federal No Child Left Behind law this year, administrators are turning to the accreditation process to provide parents a better understanding of whether their schools are making the grade.

An accreditation rating, they say, is based on more than just year-over-year assessment scores, but the quality of a school’s programs, surveys of parents and a weeklong evaluation by a team of experts.

"It is the most important review a school can go through," said Darrel Galera, principal of Moanalua High School, the only public high school to reach adequate yearly progress benchmarks under NCLB this year.

He said the school’s six-year accreditation rating, the highest available, tells a much richer, complex story about the achievements and challenges at Moanalua High than its test scores alone. "If you want to know how schools are doing," he said, "this is what we should be talking about."

The state Department of Education is supporting that idea, and included improving accreditation ratings — or increasing the number of schools with six-year accreditation — in its newest strategic plan, released in June.

But secondary schools are shooting for that target in the same year that about $238,000 for accreditation support has been cut. Nearly half of that funding went to cover the costs of bringing in accreditation teams, some members of whom are from the mainland, a requirement of the process that costs about $2,500 to $5,000 per school. Those costs will now be covered by schools at a time when their budgets are also shrinking.

Gerry Madrazo, administrator of the department’s school renewal and redesign section, said at its most basic, accreditation verifies a high school is offering a rigorous diploma and standardized courses. But accreditation is also used to review whether a high school is dealing with problems and making improvements, even whether its leadership team is strong.

This year, more than half of Hawaii’s high schools have six-year accreditation, a rating that signifies a school is setting tough but achievable goals and making progress toward resolving key concerns. Of the state’s 37 middle schools, 20 have six-year accreditation, state figures show.

Board of Education policy, dating to 1975, requires that all secondary public schools have accreditation. In recent years, a handful of elementary schools in Hawaii have also sought accreditation voluntarily.

The push locally to put more emphasis on accreditation comes amid a growing national debate about what accreditation should entail and how it can be used to bolster education reform. Accreditation differs from state to state, and not all places require schools to meet the same benchmarks.

Hawaii public schools are accredited by the Western Association of Schools and Colleges, which gives schools accreditation for six years, three years or one to two years. WASC can also deny accreditation.

David Brown, executive director of the K-12 division at WASC, said accrediting agencies are looking to align their efforts with nationwide education reforms, increase awareness about the accreditation status of schools and institute stricter reviews of schools that are falling behind.

As early as next year, WASC plans to get rid of its one- and two-year accreditation ratings, and instead place those schools on a "probationary" status. The change is meant to make it clearer to struggling schools — and their communities — that reforms are urgently needed. "It’s holding their feet to the fire a little more tightly than we have in the past," Brown said.

No public schools in Hawaii have one- or two-year ratings.

Mark Elgart, president and chief executive officer of Advanc-ED, an accrediting commission that works in 30 states, said accreditation is being used as a tool to help schools determine what their biggest problems are — and whether they are taking the rights steps to address them.

Elgart also advocates for greater accountability in the accreditation process, which he said can be achieved with sanctions for schools that are not making progress and higher ratings for those seeing big gains.

"You might have a school that’s accredited, but they’re on the state’s needs-improvement list," he said. "That type of disconnect needs to stop."

Changes in the accreditation process come as schools locally and nationally struggle to meet the demands of NCLB, which requires that all students be proficient in math and reading by 2014. If a school misses the benchmarks it faces increasing sanctions, including state intervention.

The U.S. Department of Education recently announced it will grant waivers to states on the NCLB requirements, if they institute other reforms.

High schools have a particularly tough time meeting the proficiency guidelines, which this year required 72 percent of students test proficient in reading and 64 percent in math. High school principals point out that even though the test scores determine whether a school is making progress, the only high school grade level tested is 10th grade.

Third- through eighth-graders also take the annual assessment.

Keith Hayashi, principal of Waipahu High, said test scores should be considered. But for high schools especially, he said, they are just a small snapshot of what’s happening. "AYP is just one indication," he said.

The school went through its re-accreditation process last year, and received a six-year rating with a midterm progress report. Hayashi said the process was labor-intensive, and required a lot of thought from staff and parents about where the school was and where it was headed.

For re-accreditation, schools are required to conduct a thorough self-study. A visiting evaluation team does its own report to determine what a school is doing right and what improvements are needed.

At Moanalua, staff members are ramping up for the re-accreditation process, forming teams to study critical issues, holding parent meetings and looking at what progress has been made since the last accreditation.

Six years ago, WASC’s accrediting team gave Moanalua several suggestions for improvements, including urging the school to regularly use student performance data and do more to help struggling students.

Galera said the suggestions of the accreditation team were used as guides to help the school figure out what it needed to do to boost student achievement. "We embraced" the suggestions, Galera said. "We have been working in a very focused manner … on everything."

HAWAII PUBLIC SCHOOLS ACCREDITATION STATUS

The state requires all public secondary schools to have accreditation, the length of which is determined by an accrediting team. Schools can be accredited for six years, three years or one to two years, which is considered a probationary status. No public schools currently have one- or two-year accreditation.

In its newest strategic plan, the Department of Education set a goal to increase the number of secondary schools with six-year accreditation. Several elementary schools have also sought accreditation voluntarily.

Here’s a look at the accreditation status of public schools:

Six-year accreditation

1. Aiea Intermediate School
2. Aliamanu Middle School
3. Barbers Point Elementary School
4. Campbell High School
5. Castle High School
6. Chiefess Kamakaheli Middle School
7. Dole Middle School
8. Farrington Community School for Adults
9. Farrington High School
10. Hale Kula Elementary School
11. Highlands Intermediate School
12. Hilo Community School for Adults
13. Hilo High School
14. Jarrett Middle School
15. Kahuku High & Intermediate School
16. Kailua Intermediate School
17. Kaimuki Middle School
18. Kalakaua Middle School
19. Kalaheo High School
20. Kalama Middle School
21. Kapa’a High School
22. Kapolei High School
23. Kapolei Middle School
24. Kauai Community School for Adults
25. Kauai High School
26. Kawananakoa Middle School
27. Kealekehe High School
28. Kealekehe Middle School
29. King Kekaulike High School
30. King Intermediate School
31. Kohala Elementary School
32. Kohala High School
33. Konawaena High School
34. Konawaena Middle School
35. Lahaina Intermediate School
36. Leilehua High School
37. Maui Community School for Adults
38. McKinley Community School for Adults
39. Mililani Mauka Elementary School
40. Mililani Middle School
41. Moanalua High School
42. Moanalua/Aiea Community School for Adults
43. Paauilo Elementary & Intermediate School
44. Pahoa High & Intermediate School
45. Pearl City High School
46. Pearl Harbor Elementary School
47. Pearl Harbor Kai Elementary School
48. Radford High School
49. Stevenson Middle School
50. Shafter Elementary School
51. Wahiawa Community School for Adults
52. Waiakea High School
53. Waialua High & Intermediate School
54. Waianae Intermediate School
55. Waipahu Community School for Adults
56. Waipahu High School
57. Wheeler Middle School

Three-year accreditation

1. Aiea High School
2. Central Middle School
3. Hana School
4. Kaiser High School
5. Baldwin High School
6. Hilo Intermediate School
7. Honoka’a High and Intermediate High School
8. Iao Intermediate School
9. Ilima Intermediate School
10. Kaimuki High School
11. Kaimuki/Kaiser Community School for Adults
12. Kalanianaole Elementary & Intermediate School
13. Kapa’a Middle School
14. Ka’u High and Pahala Elementary School
15. Kea’au High School
16. Kea’au Middle School
17. Kalakaua Middle School
18. Kohala Middle School
19. Kona Community School for Adults
20. Lahainaluna High School
21. Lanai High & Elementary School
22. Lanikai Elementary School
23. Lapahoehoe High & Elementary School
24. Lokelani Intermediate School
25. Maui High School
26. Maui Waena Intermediate School
27. Mililani High School
28. Moanalua Middle School (pending)
29. Molokai High School
30. Molokai Middle School
31. Nanakuli High and Intermediate School
32. Niu Valley Middle School
33. Washington Middle School
34. Roosevelt High School
35. McKinley High School
36. Wahiawa Middle School
37. Waiakea Intermediate School
38. Waianae High School
39. Waimanalo Elementary & Intermediate School
40. Waimea Canyon Middle School
41. Waimea High School
42. Waipahu Intermediate School
43. Windward Community School for Adults

Source: Department of Education