COGNIA Team Gives Coweta Schools High Marks, Awards School System Re-accreditation “with Merit”

2025 Cognia Accreditation Report for Coweta Schools

Following nearly a year of preparation, the Cognia accreditation organization has awarded Coweta Schools six-year re-accreditation with “Merit” for the Coweta County School System, and awarded the school system one of its highest possible rankings of school and school system effectiveness following the accreditation process.

Overall, Coweta Schools received an “Index of Education Quality” score of 341 (out of a possible 400), which well exceeds Cognia’s average score of approximately 297 awarded to school systems in its network in recent years.

The findings of the agency provide all Coweta Schools with accreditation through Cognia from 2025 through 2031.

Accreditation for educational institutions serves as an assurance of academic and organizational excellence, and ensures a standard of quality among credits, courses and grade level placements between schools and universities around the world.  Crucially, it also validates the equivalency of its students’ diplomas and certificates to other accredited schools and universities.

Coweta’s high ranking indicates the school system is meeting and exceeding all standards, reaching high levels in its overall operations, is engaged in practices that are sustained over time and that are becoming ingrained in a culture of system excellence, according to Cognia.  The full report can be viewed here. 

Cognia – formerly known as AdvancED – provided Coweta Schools with an accreditation review last in 2021.  The accreditation agency issued its final report to the system in October.  Coweta’s Assessment and Accountability Director, Dr. Jillian Andrew, Superintendent Evan Horton, and the school system’s curriculum department led the local process of the review and presented evidence to Cognia.

“Accreditation is a big deal for every school system and every educational institution,” said Superintendent Horton.  “It is a validation of our graduate’s diplomas and, more than that, a validation by independent reviewers of the excellence of our schools and system.  I am tremendously proud of our district, our administration, teachers and employees, and proud of our supportive community which makes possible what we do.”

“I couldn’t be more pleased, at this outcome,” said Assessment and Accountability Director  Jillian Andrew. “Cognia and our review team were very complementary of our district, and one of our reviewers told us that Coweta’s review was one of the highest-scored reports that he has written under their new review system.”

“They recognized our strengths as a system, recognized that we are strategic in carrying out our mission, vision and beliefs, and agreed with our own focus on what we want to improve in the coming years,” said Andrew. “Most of all, I am very pleased with what this says about our teachers and schools – that we are doing great and amazing things, and that this is the kind of school system you want to send your kids to.”

Cognia’s review was based on hundreds of pieces of reviewed evidence covering all 32 of Coweta’s schools and programs and the system’s district departments overall, reflecting five years of school and system performance, student achievement data, current educational practices, and hundreds of system and community interviews.  The review team awarded the school system high marks in standards covering student learning, system leadership, and resource management.

Each of Cognia’s 31 standards used to evaluate those areas is ranked on a four-point scale.  A three is the goal for each standard, and receiving a four shows exceptional system effectiveness in each category.  Coweta was awarded a level 3 or 4 on all COGNIA standards.

The report makes several observations outlining the data gathered by the team and their conclusions.  Some of those said the system shows strong evidence that:

• Collaboration, respect, and shared purpose drive student success and community engagement district-wide.

• Strategic leadership and data-driven planning drive continuous improvement in student and staff outcome

• School System leaders prioritize instructional excellence through observation, professional learning, and student engagement.

• Leaders use data-driven processes to guide improvement, instruction, and student readiness efforts.

• Leaders and staff build strong connections among students, families, and educators by consistently applying practices that reflect the school system’s mission and values. Through shared decision-making, community engagement, and diverse opportunities, stakeholders are empowered to participate meaningfully and support a culture of respect and fairness.

• Leaders and staff use structured data processes such as school improvement workshops, impact checks, and professional learning focused on data interpretation to improve outcomes for all students. The board and district leadership collaborate to align decisions and policies with the strategic plan, which is reflected in leadership meeting agendas, board presentations, school visits, and efforts to support workforce development.

“Any time you do a self-analysis, you find opportunities for growth,” said Andrew, and Cognia has identified areas of improvement for the school system:

• Develop, implement, and monitor a formalized mentoring and coaching structure to strengthen professional practice (professional staff members receive personalized support to strengthen professional practices).

• Disaggregate, analyze, and utilize student performance data to improve outcomes and instructional effectiveness (collaboratively analyze formative and summative assessment data use data for instructional planning, decision-making, and curriculum adjustments increase in responsiveness and targeted instruction).

• Implement, monitor, and refine professional learning to design relevant, real-world experiences and communicate success criteria to boost engagement (apply principles of Visible Learning, implement professional learning, monitor effectiveness, refine learning and practices).

“Each one of these points our own Coweta team identified as a need, and Cognia agreed,” said Andrew.  “We felt confident about each of these, and began taking steps in August to implement them.”

“Any time you go through a process as demanding and thorough as system accreditation is, and conducted by professionals from outside of your community, it gives you meaningful insight into how well you are operating, and how effective our schools are at educating students,” said Horton.  “This tells us that we are operating at an extremely high level of effectiveness in our schools, shows us how we can build our strengths, and also charts the course ahead for us through 2031.”

“I am very proud of Dr. Andrew and our curriculum team, and of the principals and teachers who participated in the accreditation process,” said Superintendent Horton.  “It was months of diligent work getting here, and I appreciate their commitment to the excellence of our school system.”