A Tale Told of WASC: Part One

WASC is the Western Association of Schools and Colleges. This is the organization that awards accreditation to schools in the western United States, and it allows for that school’s grades and records to be recognized by the education establishment, for purposes like college admissions.

Every few years, the length of which dependent upon the last WASC visiting committee’s report on the school, a school must submit a report on how it is doing its job of educating its clientele. Following on the heels of this report is the visitation by the "Committee" of four to six high school teachers and administrators who spend three days on the campus, meeting with staff, students and parents, reviewing aspects of the report, and observing the operation of the school. At the end of the third day of the visit, the Committee reports to the staff at large, giving its impressions of the campus. This lecture--for it is not a question and answer session--can give the staff a good idea as to what their new accreditation will be. A school is then left with a number of recommendations which it must address before the next WASC committee visits. A school can be accredited for six years, three years, one year, or it may lose its accreditation.

WASC, as a term, can also refer to the report itself. Or the event. Even a time of year, like a season. It is a word met with fear and loathing.

WASC is a four-letter word.