The Division of Elementary and Secondary Education (DESE) Rules Governing the Standards for Accreditation of Arkansas Public Schools and School Districts (2020) set the requirements for every public school in the state. The DESE has the responsibility of monitoring to ensure that all public schools comply with the Standards for Accreditation.
Standards for Accreditation Process and Procedures - posted
The 2021-2022 Standards for Accreditation Monitoring Process and Procedures is posted on the Standards & Systems Support webpage. Districts should utilize this guide to archive documents for monitoring.
Standards for Accreditation (SFA) Tool - opens August 11, 2021
The DESE Standards and Systems Support Unit, in collaboration with the Office of Information Technology, will open the Standards for Accreditation (SFA) application, https://adedata.arkansas.gov/sfa, on August 11, 2021. This tool provides school/district personnel a daily view of the preliminary accreditation status of each building.
New for 2021-2022
- The signed Statement of Assurance 2021-2022 (SOA) should be uploaded to the SFA system (under Document Management tab) by October 1, 2021.
- Standards Specialists are completing the 2021-2022 Website Checklist (XLSX) as they check that the items are located on the district website. All state required items on the checklist should be located on the district website under State Required Information.
Monthly Reports
The SFA will automatically send emails (August - May) on the 21st of the month to the superintendent, assistant superintendent(s) and principals to review the preliminary accreditation reports.
Tickets
Schools and districts are encouraged to speak with their Standards and Systems Support Specialist before requesting overrides or submitting tickets. Tickets will not be available until after October 1, 2021.
Support
For SFA general support please contact your Standards and Systems Support Specialists. Specialists assigned to each co-op can be found at https://dese.ade.arkansas.gov/Offices/public-school-accountability/standards--systems-support/contact-information-for-standards-specialists.
Public Reports
The SFA enables the public to view school district accreditation reports approved by the Arkansas Department of Education and enables school districts to view data which forms the annual accreditation report. ADE approved accreditation reports are publicly accessible while preliminary accreditation reports are restricted to authorized school district personnel.
SFA Log-On Requirements
Enter your APSCN User Id (e.g. 8080jdoe). The email address associated with your APSCN account must be registered as a Superintendent (Coordinator Code='U'), Assistant Superintendent (Coordinator Code='X'), SIS eSchoolPlus Coordinator (Coordinator Code='S'), SIS eFinancePlus Coordinator (Coordinator Code='F'), or Technology Coordinator (Coordinator Code='T') in the SIS LEA Profile for your district.
The email address associated with your APSCN account must be registered as a Principal (Coordinator Code='P') in the SIS LEA Profile for your district.
Note: Superintendents, Assistant Superintendents and Principals can add up to 10 additional users for their LEA. To add additional users, make sure they are included in the Staff Catalog in eSchool. Then, in the SFA system, go to Tools and User Management. Check the box next to a name to allow access to the system. If a person is not on the list, they need to be added to the district active directory account.
SFA Modules
The SFA application has the following modules, as listed below. District users are encouraged to log-on to SFA and download the SFA User Guide published on the Support tab, post log-on to SFA: Top Menu Bar.
- New SFA Landing Page on ADE Data Center
- SFA Home / Dashboard
- SFA Trend
- SFA Ticketing Module
- SFA Document Management: Statement of Assurance
- SFA Waivers
- SFA Master Schedule
- SFA Build
- Reporting Module
- FAQ Module
- SFA Support