ASA earns a 7 year re-accreditation from Middle States Association

April 29, 2020

The American School of Antananarivo (ASA) was re-accredited by the Middle States Association Commissions on Elementary and Secondary Schools (MSA-CESS) on April 17, 2020 for a term of 7 years (May 1, 2020-May 1, 2027). As the first English-speaking international school in Madagascar, ASA was granted accreditation by MSA in 1992 (PreK-8), which was expanded to Grade 12 in 2001. Since then, ASA has been the only school in Madagascar authorized to deliver a U.S. High School diploma. 

With 2700 members in more than 100 countries, MSA aspires to improve the quality of education in the United States and around the world by assisting schools to achieve excellence through the process of accreditation, by affirming to the public a member school’s trustworthiness and commitment to continuous improvement.

Accreditation is a self-evaluation process that schools voluntarily use to demonstrate they are meeting a defined set of performance standards. It is an improvement process and an accountability system. ASA’s re-accreditation process began with a self-study back in 2017 which gathered input from all the members of the community: school leaders, teachers, parents and students. The self-study was followed by the visit of a team of volunteer educators who observed school operations and interviewed various stakeholders in September 2019. The visiting team then made its recommendation to Middle States, where it underwent a multi-level review by some of the best educators in the field before being approved.

When MSA assesses whether a school should be accredited, it looks at how the school performs in 12 key areas (Standards for Accreditation): Mission, Governance and Leadership, School Improvement Planning, Finances, Facilities, School Organization and Staff, Health and Safety, Educational Program, Assessment and Evidence of Student Learning, Student Services, Student Life and Activities, Information Resources.