Keynote Lecture by: Dr. Mark A. Elgart
 
Building Quality Schools through Accreditation
Dr. Mark A. Elgart | President and Chief Executive Officer | AdvancED

What can you start doing today to improve what your school does tomorrow? Schools that embrace and commit to improvement through the accreditation process are more likely to establish the conditions and behavior necessary to be successful in improving the quality of education that results in improved student performance. In this rapidly changing and expanding global society successful schools must ensure that every student is prepared for a future that we can only imagine. What are the processes, conditions, and behaviors that schools must support and recognize so that the institution is successful in helping every student be prepared? The session will focus on what we must start doing today in order to be successful tomorrow.

Biography
Mark A. Elgart currently serves as the founding President and Chief Executive Officer for Advance Education (AdvancED), the parent organization for the North Central Association Commission on Accreditation and School Improvement (NCA CASI), the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Council on Accreditation and School Improvement (SACS CASI), National Study of School Evaluation (NSSE) and the Commission on International and Trans-Regional Accreditation (CITA). His visionary leadership and collaborative skills were critical to the successful unification of the 11 SACS CASI states, the 19 North Central states, and the research arm, the National Study of School Evaluation, under the umbrella of AdvancED. Under his leadership, AdvancED is recognized as a leader on issues of educational quality.

He is responsible for leading the development and implementation of the “next generation accreditation” model as well as the nationally acclaimed District Accreditation protocol. Through his leadership accreditation has transformed into a quality driven, systems process focused on helping schools and school systems build their capacity to improve student learning. Elgart is also a national and international trainer and presenter on the topics of accreditation, school improvement, leadership, and accountability. Elgart currently serves on the Board of Directors for the National Council for Accreditation of Teacher Education (NCATE), the Board of Directors of the Knowledge Alliance, the Advisory Board of Measured Progress, and is a National Advisor for the National Staff Development Council.

Prior to joining SACS CASI in 1995, Elgart served nine years as a math and science teacher as well as school administrator at the middle and high school levels including six years as a middle school principal. Elgart is married with two children and resides in Alpharetta, Georgia.