History of CIWA

About Us

Impetus for MSA to address needs of K-12 schools began in overseas schools shortly after the establishment of the Assembly of Elementary Schools in 1978. As other accrediting agencies were providing that service, it was considered essential that Middle States do the same. First two pilot evaluations using a newly-developed self-study and evaluation tool were conducted in 1980 - one in Egypt and one in rural PA.

The message was again delivered, this time at a colloquium conducted by the MSA Board of Trustees in Europe, that this was an area to be pursued, especially because of the needs of overseas schools. A comment from that meeting asserted that "Without K-12 accreditation, MSA's role overseas will be greatly diminished."

The Board of Trustees resolved, in 1982, to develop a combined organization, the Commission on Schools, consisting of Commission on Secondary Schools (CSS) and the Assembly of Elementary Schools. This effort did not succeed due to the complexities involved in a change of this type. However, an alternative solution emerged - collaboration of the Assembly and CSS. Policies and procedures grew out of a set of articles of cooperation in 1985. The following year a manual titled K-12 Accreditation and the Bonding of American Schools was published.

Although accreditation action was, and still is, taken by the Commissions separately to determine a school's status, this was initially based on the level of school. Elementary schools were accredited only by the Assembly of Elementary Schools and secondary schools only by the Commission on Secondary Schools. Schools with fully-articulated elementary and secondary components were recommended to the Assembly and to CSS for accreditation by an "Institution-Wide Committee" through an informal process. A certificate was developed for such schools that were awarded accreditation. Membership on this Committee varied from meeting to meeting, and the group's leadership was not clearly established.

As the number of schools in this "institution-wide" category increased, there was a growing need for more clearly-defined policies and procedures, as well as an administrative structure to deal with them. Therefore, at a meeting help in 1989, it was decided that members of the institution-wide committee would serve for a fixed period of time, with leadership alternating between the chairs of the Commission on Secondary Schools and the newly-named Commission on Elementary Schools.

The new "Committee on Institution-Wide Accreditation," or CIWA, was charged with formulating policies and procedures that would complement the two Commissions. Since 1996, CIWA has had the role of making accreditation recommendations to the two Commissions, which then take official actions regarding the schools.

Because of the continual confusion and lack of clarity with regard to the responsibilities of the respective Commissions for the various parts of the accreditation process, and because there was no individual designated as the contact for schools or for the process, the Commissions agreed in 1998 to appoint a Director of CIWA, who reported to the two Executive Directors, to oversee the institution-wide operations and administration.

Since that time, the number of schools and Educational Service Agencies with membership in CIWA has grown to more than 700. Continued growth is seen in all geographic regions served by MSA and among all categories of institutions.

The Committee on Institution-Wide Accreditation consists of representation from the Elementary and Secondary Commissions, with three Commissioners from each Commission forming the CIWA Committee, while the Chairs of the two Commissions serve as ex officio members of CIWA. Meetings, held twice each year prior to the Fall and Spring CES and CSS Meetings, are also attended by the Associate Director and the Assistant Director of CIWA and the Executive Directors of the two Commissions. During those sessions, discussions and issues pertinent to CIWA institutions are addressed and accreditation recommendations are made which are taken to the two accrediting Commissions.