The Ogden School District becomes the second in the state to receive system-wide accreditation

OGDEN – The Ogden School District has joined the Davis School District as one of two school districts in the state for system-wide accreditation.

In most school districts, every secondary school goes through an individual accreditation process. However, to achieve system-wide accreditation, the external review goes beyond secondary schools to assess elementary schools and all other programs within a district.

“We are a school system. When we started down this path, we found, hey, we see pockets of success, some schools are doing well, secondary schools are accredited, but how are we overall? ? “Superintendent Rich Nye said at a school board meeting on Thursday.

Both Davis and Ogden school districts go through Cognia, a global not-for-profit accreditation network. According to the organization’s website, 36,000 schools and systems in 85 countries are accredited.

Seven educators inside and outside Utah began the process in November, and the Ogden School District was notified of its accreditation in March. However, the district not only passed the exam, it also received much better grades than most school systems.

Cognia rated the district’s performance in 31 categories. In 25 of these categories it received the highest rating “impact” or “embedding”. The organization rated six as “Improving” and the district received none of the lowest marks – “Initiating”.

“When we talk about embedding, these are really programs, initiatives that are deeply rooted in the culture of a system,” said Assistant Superintendent Chad Carpenter at the board meeting on Thursday. “Some might say it’s leader safe – some great things happen, but when this leader leaves things start to fall apart. We strive to be embedded in our system where it will continue to thrive, grow and improve. “

Each school or system receives an overall Cognia Educational Quality Index rating of 100 to 400. The high end of the network average over the past five years is 283. The Ogden School District scored 352.

In the accreditation the Davis School District received last year, it was also well above average at around 339. This evaluation rated the district in 17 categories as “effective”, in 13 as “improving” and in 13 as “initiating” – to what extent “The learning culture promotes creativity, innovation and collaborative problem solving. “

Although Ogden and Davis are the only accredited counties in the state, Cognia lists approximately 500 schools in Utah as accredited on its website. These include schools in the nearby Box Elder, Morgan, and Weber school districts, as well as local charter and private schools.

Every school in Utah is accredited every five years, so the Ogden School District will be assessed next in the 2025-26 school year. The process is intense and involves a deep dive into district records to analyze student performance and the effectiveness of district policies. The team of educators charged with evaluating the school conducts hundreds of interviews with district officials, principals, parents and students.

A middle school student interviewed during the recent accreditation process said, “I feel safe, strong and welcome. I know what is happening and what to do. I love school and school is magical. “

System-wide accreditation is due to the steady increase in school district graduation rates, of which 75% of students are economically disadvantaged and 18 of 19 schools have been classified by the Department of Education as Title I with a high poverty rate. In 2018, 77.3% of students graduated. According to the Utah State Board of Education, that number rose to 79% in 2019 and 81.6% in 2020.

“That doesn’t mean we got there,” Nye said of the accreditation. “This means we are on track to make an impact for students and create the conditions to realize our vision and mission, empower education, and enable excellent education in a safe, empowering learning environment . “