Ohio Catholic School Accrediting Association

Friday, October 11, 2024

OCSAA Resources

Listed below are publically available resources for Catholic schools as well as parents and teachers. Within the Accreditation Dashboard, member schools will find more resources, tips, and recommendations to help in the accreditation cycle.

How to Write a Goal

This video will help you write strong goals for your OCSAA School Improvement Plan

View "How to Write a Goal" on YouTube

EVT Chairperson Training Refresher Video

This video will help External Validation Team chairpersons prepare for their assignments.

View "EVT Chairperson Training Refresher" on YouTube

Download/View Resource Documents & Assets

For the Resource Documents: click a header name to sort by title, category or description. Click again to invert sort order.

Many of these resources are links to 3rd party Websites, which we cannot continuously monitor. PLEASE REPORT DEAD LINKS HERE.

Resource Documents

Title	Category	Description
OCSAA Standards		The official OCSAA Standards document. (PDF)
OCSAA Writer's Guide		The "manual" for accreditation for Catholic Schools in Ohio (PDF)
Battelle for Kids	21st Century Learning	Champions of the 4Cs – Critical thinking, Communication, Collaboration, and Creativity.
Catholic PBIS (Programs	Affective and Moral Behavior	Example of a Positive Behavior Intervention Support matrix in a Catholic school.
12 Must-Read Articles about Assessment	Assessment	TeachThought.com
Education is Changing. It's Time Assessment Caught Up	Assessment	Stanford Social Innovation Review
Educational Leadership: Informative Assessment	Assessment	ASCD Article
Curriculum Assooicates	Blended Learning	Blended learning with i-Ready
Catholic Family Faith	Catholic Teachings	Contains many interactive resources on Catholic Social Teachings, Catholic rituals, the church year and the sacraments.
Gospel Values Across the Curriculum - St. Mary's Press	Catholilc Identity	This article focuses on Catholic identity and asks how schools are fully living it out and celebrating it! Fr. Kevin Richter encourages a broader perspective in which Catholic identity is infused into every aspect of the school.
Critical Thinking Rubrics	Critical Thinking	Student Leader Learning Outcomes (SLLO) Project from Texas A&M University
Critical Thinking Testing and Assessment (Online Test)	Critical Thinking	Critical Thinking Foundation
Critical Thinking Testing and Assessment Guide	Critical Thinking	A Guide for Educators to Critical Thinking Competency Standards from criticalthinking.org (PDF)
Critical Thinking: Barriers and Opportunities	Critical Thinking	Critical Thinking article from The Alberta Teachers' Association
Foundation for Critical Thinking	Critical Thinking	The purpose of this website is to integrate the Center’s research and theoretical developments, and to create events, courses, and resources designed to help educators improve their instruction.
Project Zero	Critical Thinking	The mission of Project Zero is to understand and enhance learning, thinking and creativity for individuals and groups in the arts and other disciplines.
College and Work Readiness Assessment	CWRA	Geared for Students
Matricies	Depth of Knowledge	These matrices align DOK principles (which are embedded in ODE’s standards) and give examples of what teacher and student activities look like at each level. Good source for changes in instructional/assessment practices.
Differentiated Instruction in the Classroom at Mesquite Elementary School	Differentiated Instruction	You Tube Video
Differentiation and The Brain: A Discussion with Carol-Ann Tomlinson	Differentiated Instruction	You Tube Video
Tips and Strategies for Effective Differentiation and Instruction	Differentiated Instruction	You Tube Video
Common Sense Education - Digital Citizenship Info	Digital Citizenship	Updated version of a teaching curriculum on digital citizenship, organized by grade level. Topics cover digital footprint and how to respect the dignity of themselves and others online. There are resources for teachers, students and parents.
Common Sense Education - Digital Citizenship Webinar	Digital Citizenship	August 2019 Webinar regarding a teaching curriculum on digital citizenship, organized by grade level. Topics cover digital footprint and how to respect the dignity of themselves and others online.
Ohio’s Evidence-Based Clearinghouse	Evidence-Based Decision Making	Provides information and resources on how to use data and evidence within an improvement cycle. Use this to research programs in a wide variety of educational concerns.
The What Works Clearinghouse	Evidence-Based Decision Making	Reviews the existing research on different programs, products, practices, and policies in education. Provides educators with the information they need to make evidence-based decisions with focus on the results from high-quality-research.
Gravissimum Educationis: Declaration On Christian Education	Foundational Church Documents	For Educators in a Catholic School
Lay Catholics in Schools: Witnesses To Faith	Foundational Church Documents	Vatican Website article
The Catholic School	Foundational Church Documents	Vatican Website article
The Catholic School on the Threshold of the Third Millennium	Foundational Church Documents	Vatican Website article
The Religious Dimension of Education in a Catholic School	Foundational Church Documents	Vatican Website article
The Growth Mindset: A Teacher's Month-by Month Handbook for Empowering Students to Achieve	Growth Mindset	This book outlines for teachers how to teach Growth Mindset month-by-month throughout the school year.
"How to Teach Thinking Skills"	Higher Order Thinking Skills	Book by James A. Bellanca, Ribin J. Fogarty and Brian M. Pete address how to ensure your students develop higher-order thinking skills needed to thrive in a 21st century world. It details a 3-phase teaching process.
Ken O'Connor	Leading Educator Website	Website
Ken Willers	Leading Educator Website	21st Century Principal Website
Marazano Research	Leading Educator Website	High Reliability Schools
Rick Wormeli	Leading Educator Website	Website
Sir Ken Robinson	Leading Educator Website	Website
Tony Wagner	Leading Educator Website	Website
Assessing and Analyzing Information	Project Based Learning	Online resource for PBL
High Quality Project Based Learning	Project Based Learning	More and more educators around the world, both in and out of the classroom, believe that PBL is an important instructional approach. However there is a lack of agreement about what makes for "high quality" PBL.
PBL Works	Project Based Learning	This is a great site for teachers and school leaders of any grade-level to spark ideas on how to incorporate more PBL into their classes and to evaluate existing or plan new projects that will motivate students.
Catholic Social Teaching Documents	Social Teaching	social-spirituality.net
Major Documents Catholic Social Teaching	Social Teaching	For over 145 years, Catholic Charities has served the poorest and most vulnerable members of our community. We continue to adapt and respond to the needs of the community and focus our attention where it is most needed.
Seven Themes of Catholic Social Teaching - USCCB	Social Teaching	The Gospel of Christ and the teachings of his Church guide the work of the USCCB. The work of the Conference is rooted in three general mission goals and organized into three key areas of responsibility.
Social Justice Resource Center - Church Documents	Social Teaching	The mission of the Social Justice Resource Center is to link faith to action by providing information & resources on the social issues of our time.
DefinedSTEM	STEM	Case studies and research centered around STEM topics and projects
How to Integrate STREAM Curriculum into Religious Education	STREAM	Allie Johnson explains what STREAM is and provides resources for further exploration on how to integrate it into a school.
How Education and Technology are Evolving Together	Technology in Education	Forbes magazine article
How Technology is Changing in the Education Sector	Technology in Education	CNBC Article
How Technology is Shaping the Future of Education	Technology in Education	Business Insider Magazine article
ISTE - Int'l Society for Tech in Education	Technology in Education	Welcome to the International Society for Technology in Education (ISTE), home to a passionate community of global educators who believe in the power of technology to transform teaching and learning, accelerate innovation and solve tough problems in educat
Technology Topics - Education Week Magazine	Technology in Education	Various articles - updated often
Use of technology in Teaching and Learning	Technology in Education	USDOE - Technology ushers in fundamental structural changes that can be integral to achieving significant improvements in productivity. Used to support both teaching and learning, technology infuses classrooms with digital learning tools, such as computer
Education in Virtue	Virtue Education	The Disciple of Christ, Education in Virtue® is a Christian curriculum structured on the teachings of St. Thomas Aquinas regarding the virtues and gifts of the Holy Spirit. It aims to provide a consistent structure and systematic instruction for youth to
Intellectual Virtues	Virtue Education	Educating for intellectual virtues is an approach to classroom teaching and other educational activities that is aimed at helping students grow in intellectual virtues, which are the deep personal qualities or character strengths of a good thinker or lear
The Virtues Project - Education	Virtue Education	The Virtues Project™ is a grassroots, global movement that exists on the voluntary efforts and support of individuals and organizations and is primarily spread by word of mouth. This reality makes it essentially a local/regional initiative in spite of its
Virtue Education - Catholic Education Resource Center	Virtue Education	Since its inception, CERC has been compiling an Internet resource library and publishing a weekly E-Letter made up of the most compelling and convincing articles we can find on the big issues in the faith and culture category. CERC is educating a broad ra

Annual Accreditation Schedule with Ohio Department of Education

ANNUAL VERIFICATION OF STANDARDS (AVS)

Each OCSAA member school shall electronically update the Annual Verification of Operating Standards (AVS) report on the Web Portal by October 31st and February 28th.

October 31st and February 28th - Deadline for schools to update data for Annual Verification of Standards Reports 1 and 2 on the OCSAA web portal.

November 1st and March 1st - Schools not in compliance with Operating Standards will be issued a penalty or fine of $1.75/student. Schools will receive a letter indicating issues of non-compliance, for both AVS 1 and AVS 2, and an invoice from OCSAA. Non-compliance payment is due by January 31st for the October 31st review and April 30th for the February 28th review. Schools have until January 31st to correct any non-compliance issues noted from the October 31st review and April 30th to correct any non-compliance issues noted from the February 28th review.

January 31st and April 30th - Any school with out-of-compliance issues will have a temporary revocation of Accreditation until the process of re-instatement is complete. Schools will be informed of that process (see Writer's Guide). Any school that did not pay the out-of-comliance penalty payment will not be considered an accredited member of the OCSAA until the penalty is paid in full.

In order to be considered an accredited member in good standing of OCSAA, all schools are required to regularly enter, on an on-going basis, accurate data to the web portal.

NOTE: Schools are responsible to be 100% in compliance with all Operating Standards at all times. It is the school Principal's responsibility to monitor and and to address any expiration and/or non-compliance issues.

Please Note: In accordance with Ohio Administrative Code, failure to implement state-approved Operating Standards may result in the Ohio Department of Education initiating efforts to revoke the school’s charter.

Accreditation Due Dates for Schools

October 31 - Annual Verification of Standards (AVS) and Standard School Survey (SSS) Due (All schools, every year)
February 28 - Annual Verification of Standards (AVS)
April 15 - Reports due for Action on Accreditation (Schools in Self Study or Verification phases)
- Preliminary School Improvement Plan
- EVT Suggested Actions
- Response to Suggested Actions
- Final School Improvement Plan
May 1 - Progress Report I or II from schools with reports due

External Validation Team Visit - Staff Orientation Video

Schools may use the video below to explain to staff how the EVT process works.

View "EVT Staff Orientation Video" on YouTube