MN School of Excellence Program

Final Application Submissions

Submit Part 1 (Self-Study) and Part 2 (Build and Plan) with $100 application fee payable to MESPA. 

FAQs - Part II and Beyond

As I go through each standard and sub-standard, if they are not 1 or 2, or a 4 or a 5, should I skip those parts, or develop a plan for every standard?

Each subsection needs a narrative.  You can describe what things you have in place that are showing success (high rating) and how you plan to address or already are doing for those areas showing a need.  Some cross over, like need for more technology use, might include principal networking, staff development and community support.

Celebrate what is going well and then plan what you will focus on with this information.

As we look at the data, if one respondent ranked a particular standard as a 1 or 2, do we need to identify this area as a weakness, or can we determine that person to be an outlier?

You are looking for trends and not making plans for the outliers. While you don’t need a detailed plan, each standard should have a response to what you have done and will keep doing for the strengths and how you will address those areas showing need.  Assume we don’t know all the efforts you have done to achieve the strength areas and highlight those, too.

What if a standard is a solid 3?

A “3” isn’t an area of improvement, but it’s not quite a strength either. It’s important to mention what you’re doing or what is in place to achieve a score of 3.

When we identify a category that was a strength across the board (no 1s or 2s), what should we do for Part II?

This is a great example of why the process is so valuable to see the areas focused on showing up strong in the survey. In cases like this, detail the evidence behind why it is a strength. That is, has your school done to make people have such a positive reaction? Write short narrative of what you have done or still might do to keep it at this level.

What is one main reason that applications need revisions after the submission?

Concrete examples are important. Sometimes, applications write that they are doing the standard, but they don’t provide examples. Instead of generalizing or rewording the benchmark 

Any other advice?

Assume that the reviewers know nothing about your school, including work you have done in the past couple of years to attain the ratings you have and what your plans are moving forward.