Council of International Schools
The Council of International Schools is the premier organization in International Education for the accreditation of schools and Best Practice development. CIS is a not-for-profit organization of a truly worldwide international educational community comprising over 500 member schools and 400 colleges/universities. It has experience of K-12 education in more than 100 countries and many of the Council's Officers and Consultants are former heads of international schools.
The central purpose of CIS is to enable member organizations to achieve and deliver the highest standards in International Education and continually improve the outcome of student learning.
Council of International schools provides various services to the member schools:
- Schools' Services
- Accreditation Service
- Teacher Recruitment Service
- Leadership/Governance Services
- Higher Education Services
Schools are eligible to apply for membership, provided that they meet the three Membership Criteria and the twenty Membership Standards. The Council encourages applicant schools to look at these Criteria and Standards carefully before applying, in the knowledge that they will be monitored by the membership Visitor when evaluating the school.
Kazakhstan International School has received its full membership as a CIS school. As of January, 2009 the school has started the year-long Self study process that will lead to the accreditation of KIS sometime in 2010. The self-study process involves the entire school community including parents, teachers, administrators, and the Advisory Board of Directors.
The Self-Study Process
The Self-Study is the most important part of the whole evaluation and accreditation process, both in terms of time and effort, and in the value to be derived. Self-Study takes between one and two years to complete. The Self-Study requires a considerable time commitment from all members of the school staff, as well as from a number of parents, Governing Body members and students. It is the intention of CIS that the resulting Self-Study Report should present an honest, broad-based view of the school, and that it should not represent the views of any one particular group within the school.
Every academic staff member should have one, preferably two, meaningful assignment(s) in the self-study process with one assignment typically being related to their own area of responsibility and the other involving an overview of the school's operations.
KIS will have its CIS Final team visit in the beginning of January 2010. This occurs at the completion of the KIS Self-Study Process. The CIS will send a visiting team of suitably qualified school leaders and teachers drawn from other schools to evaluate our school.
The primary function of the Visiting Team is to assist the school by providing an objective assessment of the conclusions of the Self-Study. The team visits the school for a week to see it in action. Team members visit classrooms and talk to students, parents, staff and members of the school's Governing Body. The team examines all aspects of the school in the light of the Self-Study Report, the school's own philosophy and objectives, and the Standards for Accreditation.
The visitors evaluate the school on every standard to certify the school as the quality institution in imparting holistic curriculum for the development of the whole child. They will evaluate KIS on the Standards and Practices prescribed by the CIS Organization. The central purpose of CIS is to enable member organizations to achieve and deliver the highest standards in International Education and continually improve the outcome of student learning.
The school has appointed Mrs. Wendy as CIS Coordinator, to work with the KIS community (teachers, students and parents) and get accreditation for the school. Please help us in making Kazakhstan International School as the very best school in Central Asia. Parents willing to help us with CIS accreditations please contact our CIS Coordinator Mrs. Wendy.
KIS is registered on CIS website, click on the link here and check it yourself.
