As we reflect on the past year, it's with a sense of pride that we share the milestones and innovations that have marked our journey.
International Accreditation
How does your school demonstrate commitment to high quality international education to parents, students and staff members? How do you ensure your school is continually improving and keeping up with leading international education standards?
As a leader in the field of school evaluation and accreditation worldwide, we provide a unique international accreditation with a focus on student learning and global citizenship. The quality and rigour of CIS International Accreditation is recognized by ministries, departments of education, and universities around the world as demonstration of a school’s commitment to high quality international education.
More than 675 CIS member schools are engaged with CIS International Accreditation, following a directed process that includes:
- rigorous evaluation against internationally-agreed standards,
- a blend of support and challenge focused on a school’s development, and
- a peer-based model that brings together international educators from across the world of CIS member schools.
CIS International Accreditation has been further validated and is accepted by other countries and associations internationally as a mark of quality assurance. This includes the International Commission Advancing Independent School Accreditation (ICAISA) and the International Alliance for Accreditation in the United States of America, ONESQA in Thailand, the Victoria and Queensland State Departments of Education in Australia, the Council of British International Schools (COBIS) in the UK, the British Schools of the Middle East (BSME) and the Federation of British International Schools in Southeast Asia (FOBISIA). CIS International Accreditation is recognised throughout the United States, facilitating the acceptance of students’ transcripts with colleges and universities. Read more about our global recognition and collaborations with other agencies.
Characteristics of a CIS-Accredited School
The final award of CIS accreditation shows that the school has achieved high standards of professional performance in international education and has a commitment to continuous improvement. In particular, the award of accreditation shows that the school:
- is devoted to its mission and vision for students
- has thought deeply about the services it offers to students, family and community
- invests the time and resources for validation from a globally-recognized accreditation authority
- focuses on the quality of teaching, student learning, as well as student safeguarding and well-being
- is committed to the development of the students’ global citizenship
- has a suitable philosophy of education suitable for its students
- promises only what it can deliver
- is open to regular evaluation by its own school community and peer evaluators
- constantly seeks improvement in all areas of the school plans strategically for the future
CIS member schools are invited to apply for Accreditation.
The CIS Accreditation process has enabled our whole school community to focus on a set of standards to improve our school. The feedback received has been converted into targets for improvement, and benchmarks that we can report to the community. CIS also challenges our school to truly commit to internationalism, and to participate in wider educational debate.
Related content
Read posts related to international accreditation and school improvement on our blog.
'I’ve learned there’s an art to asking a good question that elicits authentic responses in the spirit of openness and collaboration.' Scott Huyler reflects on visiting a school as part of his school support and evaluation work.
Tala Qudah highlights her experience of CIS International Accreditation and being a CIS Evaluator and the impact on her school, their community, and for her personally.
As a new year dawns, here's a round-up of our most popular blogs in 2022, in case you missed them.
As a membership organization offering school accreditation internationally, we have a significant role to play as we guide and support schools to foster inclusion across diverse communities.
Young children’s voices matter. By extension, the voice of those who work closely with young learners matters too. Their pedagogical insights are rich in considerations for what constitutes the foundation for lifelong learning. Hear these voices from the field.
We previously asked 'What is well-being in education?' and looked at the associated challenges for schools as they align with CIS International Accreditation standards. Now, we reflect on what is driving change and consider how to react.
What does well-being in education really mean? How can we give it a mandate and support it in our school communities? The purpose of this post, the first in a series, is to move the well-being conversation forward and share some practical resources and stimuli. Let’s start at cloud level by looking at concepts and theory.
The cyclical nature of school accreditation and curriculum evaluations can be challenging for schools to coordinate when working with multiple organizations. That’s where our partnerships with the IB and other accreditation agencies help schools to manage that their evaluation cycles more efficiently and effectively. Here’s how it works.
From guiding statements to student learning, what’s your school’s ‘golden thread’? Is it linear or complex and messy? How does it guide your school? Simon Camby presents key questions for you to reflect on as you think about your school.
Peer evaluation is at the core of the CIS International Accreditation experience—educators lead, strengthen and shape international education together. Our new Director of School Evaluation & Development Services, Simon Camby, explored how peer evaluation training works from the inside.
Six months ago, educators from different parts of the world signed and made their voices heard through a petition. They strongly recommended all accreditation agencies and organizations that accredit and evaluate international school quality worldwide to ensure the explicit inclusion of anti-racism and anti-discrimination principles against all forms discrimination in their accreditation standards.
CIS International Accreditation standards are continually reviewed to ensure their relevance to our school community’s needs. In recent years, we worked to embed new protocol requirements on inclusion, diversity, and equity and have now strengthened them further around anti-racism. Learn more from Chris Durbin, Direction of International Accreditation at CIS.
There’s a lot to reflect upon from the past extraordinary year. Carole Denny takes a moment to acknowledge the accomplishments of our community, some lessons we've learned from virtual school visits, and inspiring moments that have motivated us through it all.
Leo Thompson starts his post with the bold claim: High-quality learning and teaching (HQLT) is both context and culture dependent and cannot be defined and measured in absolute, universal terms. He unpacks his claim in this post and offers guidance to help school leaders and educators to approach the challenge it presents.