DARE MISSION STATEMENT

The mission of the Office of Accountability, Research & Evaluation is to support and enhance the quality of data driven decisions by providing Program Research & Evaluation, Student Assessments, Accreditation, Accountability, and Records & Data Management services and information to all stakeholders through an effectively managed system aligned to the CNMI PSS Strategic Priorities and to ensure continuous improvement for all schools and programs.

WE DARE!

The Office of Accountability, Research & Evaluation (DARE) consists of five (5) programs: Accountability; Research & Evaluation; Accreditation; Asssessments; and Records & Data Management. Dare currently resides in #1258 Pohnpei Way Rte 312 Capitol Hill.

The Office of Accountability, Research and Evaluation, also known as ARE, serves as the clearinghouse for the Public School System’s data and records under the Records and Data Management, oversees school, program and district-wide accountability under the Accountability office, research and evaluation under the Research and Evaluation Office, comprehensive student academic achievement under the Assessment Office, and school and district-wide accreditation under the Accreditation Office.

The Accountability Office 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 office 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 Commonwealth of the Northern Marianas Public School System 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.

The Assessment Program is supported through the consolidated grant received from the Federal government. The Assessment Program 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 Schools, Programs and Early Learning 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:

  1. Did these students score at the “Ready” or “Exceeding” in English, Math, Science, or Writing?
  2. Did these students have the same Kinder-3rd grade teachers?
  3. 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 core function of this office is to create and manage a Data Center to house and store electronic information in a safe and orderly technological environment. The information stored will later be used to mine, collect, and 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.

The Records Management and Data Center is responsible for managing data within a data warehouse. These data are archived for historical, educational, and informational purposes. In order to achieve the process of managing data in the most efficient manner, it would require an infrastructure capable of accommodating the vast amounts of information that would eventually be stored and secured in a centralized network environment.