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Navigating the Midterm Review in WASC Accreditation

The Challenge of Midterm Accreditation Reports

School accreditation is a challenging, important process that requires ongoing documentation and reflection. One crucial component of this journey is the midterm review, which takes place three years after a school's Action Plan has been put into place. During this phase, schools assess their progress toward goals that were agreed upon at the start of the accreditation cycle.


Unlike the initial accreditation, which involves input from a broad array of stakeholders and an in-depth, often 100-page Self-Study, the midterm review is a streamlined progress update. 

Yet, it brings its own unique challenges:
  • Scope and Content: Schools often struggle with knowing how much to report. The midterm report isn’t about re-evaluating goals but documenting progress and lessons learned. How detailed should this report be, and how should evidence from the past three years be gathered?
  • Resource Use and Time: Schools must decide who to involve in the midterm report and how to balance engagement with efficiency. While stakeholder approval isn’t needed here, it’s still essential to keep stakeholders informed and involved to a practical extent.
  • Efficient Evidence Gathering: Reflecting three years worth of progress in a concise report can be daunting. Many schools struggle with deciding what’s relevant, how to best present achievements, and how to make this process manageable.

Introducing Dawn Rock’s Huddle Up Project

To ease the complexity of this midterm process, Dawn Rock has launched a unique project with Huddle Up to create a collaborative space where schools can learn from each other. Instead of each school navigating midterm challenges independently, Dawn is linking schools together, enabling them to exchange best practices, share evidence-gathering tips, and approach midterm reporting more effectively.

How Dawn’s Project Solves Midterm Challenges

Through this project, schools gain the benefit of Huddle Up's asynchronous collaboration, allowing them to contribute insights and receive feedback without needing to schedule meetings. Dawn provides a framework that guides schools on what areas to focus on, helping them identify what’s essential to include in the report.

Scope and Focus: With Dawn’s guidance, schools can focus on documenting critical updates rather than repeating the entire Self-Study. This project provides clear parameters for what’s relevant at the midterm stage, saving time and reducing uncertainty.

Efficient Collaboration: By connecting schools, Huddle Up creates a space for shared learning. Schools can view each other’s approaches, learning how others gather evidence and manage their time efficiently. As shared by the NEA, collaboration allows us re-examine our own views through the lens of diverse perspectives, which can improve both engagement, achievement and student outcomes

Time Management and Resource Allocation: Dawn’s framework encourages schools to limit the scope to what’s most impactful, streamlining the process. Schools gain efficiency by applying shared strategies, avoiding the need for repetitive meetings, and focusing only on what matters most for the midterm report.

Conclusion: Asynchronous collaboration reduces meetings and gives a voice to everyone

Dawn’s project embodies the power of a new model in asynchronous collaboration through Huddle Up, transforming the midterm review process from a solitary task into a shared learning experience. By eliminating the need for frequent meetings and providing a space to exchange ideas, Huddle Up enables schools to approach accreditation midterms with confidence and efficiency.









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