Impact of Significant Shifts

Throughout the process of an evolving educational §system, student achievement has been impacted by §the demands of accreditation. Accreditation §standards often have been driven by accountability §and reform movements, which are dictated and guided §by educational law and policy. The criteria by which §educational systems have been evaluated has been §modified in response to the formulation of new §policies and laws. This research consists of §comparing the Southern Association of Colleges and §Schools accreditation processes with those of the §Association of Christian Schools International. §Criterion-based accreditation models are compared to §open-ended systems. Student performance trends and §issues include assessment and accountability, §dropout and graduation rates, academic readiness for §higher education, standardized testing, grade §inflation, dual enrollment, advanced placement, and §historical averages of the SAT and ACT. The Impact §of Significant Shifts is a book that traces the §historical events, educational trends, and §legislative policies that have impacted §accreditation processes and influenced student §performance.