0

    1

    Accreditation and Evaluation

    Lua Shanks

    Dr. Trube

    EDDD8084

    03-27-2022

    Accreditation and Evaluation

    Accreditation and evaluation are two concepts that hold different meanings although used interchangeably. Accreditation refers to a process by which a school gains the status that shows that the school has met all the requirements as per the accreditation agencies. In contrast, evaluation is a system in which institutions are assessed either by an agency or by themselves in accordance with the standard of the practices that have been established with respect to their goal as a school. It entails assessing utilization of resources, promotion of integrity, and the extent to which the institutions are achieving it. Schools are accredited depending on the level, and what they specialize in. A school offering different programs may utilize a distinct accreditation system compared to another. Accreditation means a lot to parents and stakeholders who run the school (Matveeva, 2019). Parents will choose the best school with proper accreditation by the relevant agencies compared to the schools that do not meet the standards. Unaccredited schools may cost a lot of harm to a student in his future studies, he might not fit in with other students from accredited schools.

    Evaluation can be done internally without involving evaluation agencies. The institutions themselves can do an evaluation regarding the goals, student performance, and the objectives of the school. The main aim of the evaluation is to determine if the school is able to meet its standards. This process is important for an institution that seeks to rate themselves according to specified academic standards. Therefore, accreditation and evaluation differ in terms of roles and the institutions involved. Accreditation is the act of giving credentials, and a checklist of what should be present in a school or institution in order to meet the standards (Yoo et al., 2020). On the other hand, evaluation is an assessment of the school is intended to achieve its goal toward the standard the accreditation agencies had already set. Accreditation is the act of accrediting, while evaluation is the process of completing analysis or a mathematical operation to determine the performance of the institution over a period of time let’s say a year. Accreditation is granting the institution approval to conduct some practices, while evaluation is determining the value of some variables.

    There are various ways in which accreditation and evaluation may overlap. For instance, they all utilize regulatory bodies that help in maintaining the recommended standards of education and determining the goals of the institutions. Accreditation follows a guideline to ensure that the institutions comply with some of the rules the agency has put in place (Stura et al., 2019). Similarly, the evaluation process also does the same in ensuring that the educational institutions work on specific goals and objectives to which they must follow to attain the recommended standards of education. Both accreditation and evaluation are to ensure the standards are followed in a certain manner that all the institutions comply with. This means both systems act as governing bodies in institutions that make sure the standard in which the students are taught allows the students to be equal to their peers in other institutions.

    In the last few years, agencies that would perform accreditation used to visit every institution and analyze the subjects being taught and the method of learning to which they use. Basically, all the schools were required to use the same curriculum all over the country. However, over time, several institutions emerged and they came up with different teaching skills that could be better. The accreditation agencies began to look for new ways to accredit the institutions. Certain standards were set and these allowed the private institutions to use their own ways of teaching yet maintain the standards of education. The future of accrediting institutions will now base on specific institutions, whereby the institution may set their own standards, and making sure the students are competent enough to face their future careers.

    References

    Matveeva, O. A. (2019). Development of the Voluntary Accreditation for Study Programmes in Russia. Vysshee obrazovanie v Rossii= Higher Education in Russia, 28(7), 19-28.

    Stura, I., Gentile, T., Migliaretti, G., & Vesce, E. (2019). Accreditation in higher education: Does disciplinary matter?. Studies in educational evaluation, 63, 41-47.

    Yoo, H. H., Kim, M. K., Yoon, Y. S., Lee, K. M., Lee, J. H., Hong, S. J., … & Park, W. K. (2020). Changes in the accreditation standards of medical schools by the Korean Institute of Medical Education and Evaluation from 2000 to 2019. Journal of educational evaluation for health professions, 17.

                                                                                                                                      Order Now