何为一所优秀的美国中小学:对四大区域认证标准的比较分析

What Constitutes an Excellent Basic Education School in the United States:A Comparative Analysis of Four Regional Accreditation Standard Texts

教育认证是美国基础教育质量保障的重要路径之一,根据地理区划,目前形成了四大区域性认证机构,服务范围覆盖全美。认证运行过程说明,认证本质上是一种第三方参与的外部同行评价,具有学生中心、专业支撑、公共问责等特点。通过对四个机构采用的标准文本进行词频统计、内容分析、比较分析,发现机构之间共享的理念包括五个维度:学校组织、教学工作、学生发展、社会网络、质量特征,描述了一所优秀的中小学校应该具备的关键要素,也反映着美国的基础教育质量观。

Educational accreditation is one of the fundamental ways to guarantee the quality of basic education in the United States. According to geographical mapping, four regional accreditation agencies have been formed, covering the whole United States. Through the analysis of the operation process of accreditation,it is found that certification is in essence an external peer evaluation with the participation of a third party,which embodied the characteristics of student-centered, school improvement-driven, professional support and public accountability. Based on the word frequency statistics and content analysis of the accreditation standard texts, and the further regional comparison, it is found that the shared concepts amongst agencies comprise five dimensions: school organization, teaching and curriculum, student development, social network and quality characteristics. These five aspects depict what core elements that an excellent primary/secondary school should have, also, shed light on the United States quality perceptions of basic education.