Online High

Best Online High Schools was given the opportunity to interview Dr. Joseph Gallegos, CEO/Founder of Orion High School, upon learning that they had become regionally accredited this week. The following is an excerpt:

BOHS: Why did you decide to seek accreditation?

JG: We decided to seek accreditation for a couple of reasons: 1. We wanted to be sure that our customers saw us and their school as committed to continuous improvement; and 2. We wanted the recognition that accreditation brings – recognition for our online school as a quality educational institution; recognition for our learners as they graduate from an accredited/recognized school; and for our mentor teachers, who deserve to work in an environment that is committed to high quality.

BOHS: Please describe the process.

JG: The process began over two years ago when we opened our doors. We sought out many options for recognized accreditation, and we settled with (at the time) CITA. We felt that being a school without boundaries, we would need to have a recognized accreditation that would be recognized world-wide. The process began with our intent; we were a dues-paying school for about 8 months. We received an onsite visit in 2008, and were approved as a “Candidate” school. The Candidacy Period allocates time for the school to conduct an intense self-study around the seven standards for accreditation. We began that study immediately. During the candidacy period, we recognized that the standards were a very traditional set of standards – that is, they were set up for a brick-and-mortar setting. We went on with the self-study, and we had some very serious internal talk about how we could apply all of the standards to our virtual school setting. We were finally notified in November of 2009 that we would received an onsite Quality Assurance Review visit. In the meantime, during our Candidacy, CITA was absorbed into the new organization called Advanc-ED. We learned that Advanc-ED would be the parent organization for SACS/CASI, but that the state office would not handle a visit to a distance learning institution. The visit was organized by the National Office. Three visitors came to our headquarters in Midland, Texas, where they spent three days with us going over our self-study and proof of adherence to the standards.

The visitors learned that there is a significant difference between traditional “distance education” and virtual schooling. They learned that they could indeed “visit” classrooms, and were able to see high quality mentoring and learning going on right before their eyes, in a virtual environment. They commented that the uniqueness of Orion is in our 1-to-1 mentoring – that our mentors are true mentors. They learned that high quality support for teacher-mentors can happen in an online environment just like in a face-to-face environment. Most importantly they heard from our learners that they (our learners) felt supported, and that they learned more about learning than any time before. One learner commented, “I have taken Advanced Placement courses at my regular high school – my regular English course at Orion is by far more rigorous that my AP course was.”

BOHS: What value do you think this gives your current and potential students?

JG: I think that the value is that Orion cares about quality; about being unique; and about furthering the process of providing a high quality, viable alternative to schooling.

BOHS: Anything else you would like to share?

JG: We will be sharing our experiences with other distance learning providers, at the AdvancED conference. We would be glad to share our insights with anybody seeking regional accreditation.

We would recommend the process for any online school.

Orion High School of Midland, Texas was notified today that it has received accreditation from the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement.

From the announcement: Dr. Mark Elgart, President/CEO of AdvancED, the parent organization of SACS CASI, stated, “SACS CASI Accreditation is a rigorous process that focuses the entire school on the primary goal of creating lifelong learners. Orion High School is to be commended for engaging in this process and demonstrating a commitment to continuous improvement.”

For the rest of the announcement, go here and scroll down.

Fairly regularly, I get questions about the importance of accreditation with online high schools. While my answer has changed over time, I like to believe that is due to changes in the system. That being said, I consider a school accredited and/or recognized if:

1. It is accredited by one of the six regional accrediting bodies (and you can find them here). In some cases, the accreditor is sort of a sub-organization, but amounts to the same thing; or

2. It is accredited by one of the national accrediting organizations. The Distance Education & Training Council is the largest. The others are listed here.

3. It is accredited by CITA, which is a collaboration between accreditors to account for international and trans-regional programs.

4. It is recognized by a state department of education, county office of education, or a local school district.

For the most part, that is it. While there are other accreditors out there, my preference and, importantly, the marked preference of Best Online High Schools is that some is watching the watchers.

This can be the single-most important question that you ask about your online high school. It must be that season because this week I have received more questions about accreditation than I have in the past several months.

Here is how I make it easy for you. This site tells you if a school is accredited. Often, but not always, there will be a string of letters (NCA, DETC, NAAS, etc.). You don’t need to worry about what those letters mean. Trust me; the important thing is that they are recognized accreditors.

Do we have unaccredited schools on this site? We do have two schools that are candidates for accreditation and we state that in the school description. One of those schools also is approved by its state department of education. We have some public schools listed that, while the word accredited may not be used, it amounts to the same thing and should be treated as the same thing by colleges and employers.

We offer no unaccredited schools that are not on a path to recognized accreditation.

Primavera Online High School celebrates its largest graduating class in a ceremony to take place on December 19, 2007.

Primavera is accredited by both the North Central Association (NCA) and by the Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation (CITA). This rarity in the world of online high schools attests to the quality of its programs.

Upstream I wrote about unacceptable accreditors. If you are having trouble getting a handle on what that might look like, check out National Accreditation Agency.

Why do I have a problem with them. First, the name is misleading. They are most decidedly not a national accreditor (but they might play one on TV!). National and regional accreditors are recognized by someone else.

Second, they have designed their logo to look similar to some of the recognized accreditors. This is worrisome.

Third, notice that there are no names and no contact information beyond a phone number and email address.

Fourth, compare their website with a real accreditor.

Finally, their site offers so little information that it makes me wonder about credibility.

Having said all that, does it mean that they are unethical? I don’t know. And, importantly, it does not matter. Since this is not recognized accreditation by anyone that matters, ethics plays no role. It’s not acceptable.

I came across another online high school today with worthless accreditation. Please, please make sure that the school you choose has accreditation from one of the regional accreditors, Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation, or the Distance Education and Training Council.

Everything else is bogus. Unaccredited programs, and that’s what these schools are, waste your time and money. One way to tell if it is legitimate is the amount of time necessary to complete the program. At the very least, it should be talking about the number of months (as in 18 or more, but I would be willing to give a little leeway to that timeframe for gifted and/or hardworking students) and not days.

If you are an accreditor and believe you offer legitimate accreditation, feel free to send me an email (info @ bestonlinehighschools.com) and I am happy to take a look at what you offer.

In Complete Guide to Online High Schools, American Academy for Liberal Education is listed as a valid accreditor. In action by the Department of Education, AALE is no longer allowed to accredit new schools. What this means for the book is that the second edition, due in 2008, will delete reference to them.

And, of course, given the weirdness of politics, should this change, I will let you all know. I can say that I am surprised. While a very small accreditor, I have always had the impression that they were doing a good job.