CTC was the first technical center in Michigan to be accredited by North Central Association in 1990. It has successfully completed two five-year cycles. For its first cycle, NCA Outcomes Accreditation was awarded in 1999; for its second cycle, NCA Outcomes Accreditation was received in 2004. The Outcomes Accreditation process promotes continuous school improvement by providing a model to follow. This model identifies improvement goals that focus exclusively on student learning and outcomes, develops a comprehensive plan, and then measures the results throughout a five-year cycle.

During its first five-year cycle, the following student outcome goals were targeted:
•  The student, through the reading process, will be able to locate, understand, and
   apply sources of technical information on the job while using appropriate
   technology.
•  The student demonstrates an increased sense of self-worth and positive self-
   esteem.
•  The student will be able to perform computations needed for practical problems by
   proven problem-solving methods.
•  The student demonstrates a sense of responsibility for his/her own actions and
   appropriate behavior in a workplace setting.

As part of its second five-year cycle, the following goals were targeted:
•  All students will demonstrate improvement in their writing skills across the
   curriculum.
•  All students will demonstrate improvement in technical math applications, using
   proven problem-solving methods.
•  All students will exhibit improved sense of responsibility by developing work ethic
   characteristics in the classroom/workplace.

As part of its third cycle, the Center is currently in the first year of a new accreditation model – Performance Accreditation which also focuses on student learning and outcomes, develops a comprehensive school improvement plan, and then measures the results of this plan throughout the five-year cycle. The Career-Tech Center staff is in the process of creating a School and Community Profile which will include data and information gleaned from surveys administered to staff, students, parents, and business/community partners that will help to identify areas of student need. These identified needs will, then, become the targeted goal areas for this third cycle. Additionally, during this first year, the current Career-Tech Center Mission Statement will be reviewed and, if needed, revised.

School accreditation in the United States was established almost 130 years ago and helped colleges collaborate with secondary schools in order to identify quality education. Beginning as an informal understanding between schools and colleges within a state, it quickly shifted to a regional approach, recognizing that students in one state often attended colleges in another. The North Central Association (NCA) of Colleges and Schools was established in Chicago in 1895 and involved many Big Ten universities and several secondary schools. Since then, it has grown and now operates in 19 states and has a membership of over 9,000 institutions. It is one of six regional associations that accredit schools and colleges internationally. In Michigan, almost 1,600 schools are NCA accredited and follow an evaluation model that focuses on student performance – the Performance Accreditation model.