About our programs...
The Accountability program aims to measure the growth in the quality of the schools in the CNMI Public School System by producing timely and reliable accountability determinations as required by state and federal law. The program seeks to support schools and other stakeholders by helping to ensure that our students graduate college and career ready; that we engage in meaningful work with our community partners; that we use data to inform educational improvements at the classroom, school, and board level; and that we support schools in closing the achievement gaps between and among all student subgroups.
The Assessment program oversees the Comprehensive Student Accountability Plan. This was approved by the State Board of Education in 1999 which requires multiple assessments in accordance with the State Board Policy. The Comprehensive Student Accountability Plan was developed for the purpose of determining what students know and what students are able to do based on multiple modes of assessments. It is supported through the consolidated grant received from the Federal government. The Assessment program manager provides technical assistance and support to the schools in the areas of professional development on classroom assessments, technical support on academic data collection and analysis, technical support on student academic achievement data and instructional implications, annual reports on student academic achievement as measured by ACT Aspire and Standards Based Assessment.
Cognia, formerly known as AdvancED, is the accrediting body for the Public School System. “AdvancED was formed through a 2006 merger of Pre-K-12 divisions of the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI) and has expanded through the addition of the Northwest Accreditation Commission (NWAC) in 2012.” The Public School System’s initial accreditation was granted a five-year term in 2014. In October 2018, an External Review of the District’s performance process to renew accreditation standing for another five years is scheduled. The Accreditation program collaborates with all CNMI PSS schools, programs and early learning programs to ensure the district’s Strategic Priorities are met and aligned with Accreditation Standards to increase student learning, sound leadership and efficient resources as outlined in the School Wide Improvement Plans (SWP).
The PSS has developed a research agenda based on our district’s vision, mission and strategic priorities, which is focused on improving educational opportunities and academic achievement for our students. In collaboration with the REL Pacific, the Research & Evaluation program researched the positive short- and long-term outcomes of individuals that attended the Head Start Program in the US. The work began with profiling last year’s 3rd grade students that achieved a “Ready” or “Exceeding” rating on the summative ACT Aspire Reading scores. The research questions posed for this ongoing study are:
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Did these students score at the “Ready” or “Exceeding” in English, Math, Science, or Writing?
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Did these students have the same Kinder-3rd grade teachers?
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Did these student attend Kindergarten, Head Start or other private pre-school?
The Research & Evaluation program worked closely with Project Leads to provide regular updates and reporting on the twelve programs under the Federal Consolidated Grant.
The Records & Data Management program manages the district's student information system. This system houses electronic information in a safe and orderly technological environment. Some of these stored records are then used to generate data for accountability reporting and compliance purposes as it relates to the provisions set-forth by both local and federal mandates. RDM establishes a secured database to support and maintain information shared within various divisions or departments to streamline the entire process of how data is recorded, stored, extracted, disseminated, and reported.