In 2018, leading education nonprofits AdvancED® and Measured Progress® came together. With more than a century of experience in accreditation and school improvement and decades of leadership in student assessment solutions, the new organization—Cognia™—brings institutions around the world a new, holistic way to view school performance and student achievement. To assure that Performance Standards remain relevant and forward-thinking, Cognia reviewed and developed standards on a recurring 5-year cycle. New Cognia standards were published early in 2021.  The 20220accreditation review for the Santa Rosa County School District (SRCSD) was based on the former standards (AdvancED Performance Standards).

Continuous improvement that results in success for all learners should be the goal of every institution. The Improvement Journey for each institution may look different but should always include measures of quality of learning and instruction. The AdvancED Performance Standards served this purpose by providing a set of evaluative criteria that laid the foundation for improvement planning and implementation. Based on rigorous research and best practices, the Standards will serve to be a powerful tool for driving institutional change.

AdvancED Performance Standards

The standards used for the 2022 review were organized under three Domains:

1.Leadership Capacity

2.Learning Capacity

3.Resource Capacity

The Domains were made up of statements defining the capacity of the organization or institution to provide quality and meet the rigorous demands of continuous improvement. Each Domain was further defined by Standards. The AdvancED Performance Standards were made up research-based statements that described conditions necessary for institutions to support organizational effectiveness and improve student performance. Collectively, the elements of the AdvancED Performance Standards served as a road map for the continuous improvement process for institutions and as the foundation of the accreditation process used by AdvancED Review Teams to provide relevant and quality feedback on how institutions serve the learner.