Thinking Schools Accreditation Portfolio
Developing an accreditation portfolio provides schools with an opportunity to create a portrait of themselves as a Thinking School at a particular moment in time. Using the 5 Key Areas for Reflection and the 15 Criteria as a guide along with the reflective questions, schools can choose how best to represent their progress on the journey to becoming a Thinking School. The portfolio includes a descriptive narrative that can be supported by a variety of artifacts including, but not limited to, video, photos, documents, and audio samples representative of the school’s efforts.
The Portfolio Design (see downloadable pdf below) provides a format for including all the information necessary to present the school for review by the Accrediting Partner. The submission of the Accreditation Portfolio will be the initial phase of the formal review process by the Accrediting Partner. The review will also include interviews (face-to-face or through video conferencing) and school visits (virtual or actual).
When referring to artifacts in the text of your portfolio (for example, <See Video V-1, Students working independently>), please use the following format both in the portfolio text and when including the artifact in the portfolio appendix:
- for video clips: V-1, V-2, V-3, etc.
- for still photos: P-1, P-2, P-3, etc.
- for audio: A-1, A-2, A-3, etc.
- for documents: D-1, D-2, D-3, etc.
Please be sure to include all necessary permissions so that your portfolio can be shared with other schools in the Thinking Schools network and made available on the website.
