The International Schools Review Forum

You can get accreditation from the Council of International Schools:

"CIS School Evaluation and Accreditation is an evaluation process that drives a school’s continuous improvement, through:

- rigorous evaluation against internationally-agreed standards;
- a blend of support and challenge, focused on a school’s development; and
- a peer-based model that brings together international educators from across the world of CIS-accredited schools.

CIS is a non-national, non-regionally affiliated organisation and the status of CIS Accreditation confers an international recognition to stakeholders all over the world ...

... The CIS protocol has been reviewed by the National Association of Independent Schools Commission on Accreditation (US) and deemed in compliance with the criteria for effective accreditation practices. This facilitates acceptance of student transcripts with colleges and universities in the United States.

http://www.cois.org/page.cfm?p=1906

@hallier

You can also get a degree from a printer in Bangkok, and a teaching certificate from the back of a van in the Philippines. Just because CIS says their process is accreditation doesnt make it accreditation. This topic has been discussed previously, and nothing has changed. CIS is a club, an association that ISs pay a fee to have their schools guidance documentation evaluated/compared to what they are actually doing, then they get to be a member of the club. Thats all CIS does is verify that a school is doing what they say they are doing:

www.cois.org/page.cfm?p=1909

"The Standards do not pre-suppose any specific model of excellence nor do they seek to impose the methods of one school upon another. The underlying principle of this process is that a school will be evaluated in terms of its own Guiding Statements. (i.e. Does the school deliver what it claims to deliver to its students?)."

Thats comparable to an Algebra student declaring "Instead of meeting the same standards of performance as my fellow students, Im going to write one reaction paper a week detailing and describing my observations of algebra use in everyday activities" and then the student doing that. It sounds nice (even reflective in the IB), but it doesnt mean the student can factor a binomial or demonstrate competency in algebra.

Thats not accreditation against a standard, as in a WASC standard, or an Ofsted standard for BSOs or Authorization requirements for an IB school, a Lycee, Gymnasium, or Euro School. Thats what accreditation does it provides assurance by external parties that the institution is providing instruction and services against a recognized and uniform criterion standard, not whether an institutions actions are congruent with its ideas.

What does lack of CIS "accreditation" mean? Nothing, an IS isnt barred or prohibited from doing anything due to lack of CIS "accreditation". CIS doesnt authorize the issuable of any exit level qualification, not does it validate or invalidate any exit qualification.

CIS has no regulatory authority. They dont have a qualification or credential If you lose CIS accreditation you have to take the little logo off your web page. It doesnt stop an IS from doing anything. ISs are still required to meet national or international curriculum standards of their respective programs (IGCSE, AP, IB, NCs). If your going to issue a recognized host nation diploma your school must be approved/accredited by that regions ministry of education. IB Baccalaureates diplomas are not issues on the bases of CIS accreditation but on the basis of IBO authorization.

CIS does not offer an exit level or any level qualification or credential of their own, they arent accrediting an IS to do anything, since they offer and supply nothing.

Conventionally, CIS accreditation is what an IS pursues when they have a local self produced program and curriculum that doesnt meet the actual requirements of other programs. Thats not accreditation thats verification, or validation.