As a global organization, we serve all types of institutions—every type of institution you can imagine from all over the world. Each institution has its own set of beliefs, their own vision, and directed purpose. As do we. As improvement experts, in our accreditation work, we craft standards designed to improve education quality.

The standards are written so that they adapt to the unique context of every institution and every institution’s vision, purpose, and core values. They are written to help institutions pursue their vision for a better future. Our role is to guide and support institutions on their improvement journeys. We are an extra set of independent, objective eyes on how well states, districts, schools, and learners are progressing toward their desired future. As we prepare to implement a new set of Cognia standards and protocols for accreditation this upcoming school year, we are focused on helping institutions and their educators improve the learner success.

The last few years have been isolating and have challenged us to connect in new ways within our personal and professional networks. We have all had to find ways to maintain and build the connections that sustain us and our school communities. As we look to summer it is time for us to reflect, relax, and prepare to re-engage our communities to continue the journey of improvement.

In this edition of The Source, we feature:

Schools are ecosystems that thrive in community. We leverage the power of community to support learners, teachers, and leaders.

Private: Mark A. Elgart, Ed.D.
Dr. Mark A. Elgart has served as president and CEO of Cognia since 2002. Under his leadership Cognia was established, following the merger of AdvancED and Measured Progress, to bridge the gap between school evaluation and student assessment.  Cognia serves as the trusted partner with over 36,000 institutions in 85 countries to advance learning for 25 million students.  Elgart has a long, distinguished career of 40 years as an educational leader including time as a math and physics teacher, school principal, and chief executive leading a global, education non-profit.  He is annually recognized, both locally and internationally, as an influential leader in education due to his impact on education policy and the work of schools.  He is an internationally recognized speaker on education and frequent author on educational issues including recent whitepapers on federal policy and school improvement.  In education, Elgart is widely viewed as the foremost authority on school improvement and education quality.  Elgart earned a bachelor’s  in Mathematics from Springfield College, a master’s in Educational Administration from Westfield State College, and Doctorate in Education in Leadership in Schooling from the University of Massachusetts.

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