COVID-19: Catalyst for resilience and growth
By Sufia Azmat
March/April 2022
The Council of Islamic Schools in North America (CISNA; cisnausa.org), the world’s largest and only member-based Islamic accreditation agency, provides a means to review and evaluate all aspects of a school’s program by stressing quality and integrity based on best practices and high standards. Along with emphasizing continuous data-based improvement in the areas of teaching and learning, these standards enable effective leadership and governance. A global leader in supporting Islamic schools, CISNA saw a growing demand during 2021 not just for school accreditation, but also to expand its services in advocacy, outreach and professional development offerings.
CISNA’s work at the state and national level seeks to safeguard equitable access for our students, gives Islamic schools a stronger voice in legislation, disseminates information about Islamic education to policymakers and helps make resources available to Islamic schools.
The U.S. Department of Health & Human Services’ Centers for Disease Control & Prevention (CDC) invited CISNA to its exclusive listening session, held on Dec. 15, 2021. The CDC School Support Section, in cooperation with the Covid-19 Emergency Response Unit, organized this event to help form a collaborative relationship with us and to learn more about the mitigation and safety strategies implemented in our schools. Also present were representatives and health scientists from the School Investigations Team, the Vaccine Confidence and Demand Team, the School Guidance Team, the Screening and Testing Team and representatives from various community schools. This opportunity for others to hear Muslim voices on the unique experiences of private faith-based schools resulted in an increased offering of support for our schools. The CDC will be adding to the number of languages in which resources are offered, and we look forward to future programming and collaboration.
An analyst at the U.S. Government Accountability Office (GAO), a federal legislative branch agency that conducts research for Congress, also contacted CISNA. The GAO has recently begun work on equitable services in the context of meeting private school students’ requirements in the Elementary and Secondary Education Act (ESEA), as amended most recently in 2015 by the Every Student Succeeds Act (ESSA). As part of this work, they reached out to learn our perspectives on issues related to how local educational agencies/school districts work with private schools to determine the population eligible to receive equitable services, the amount of funds school districts reserve to provide them, the types and methods of providing them, Covid’s effects on them, as well as the most common/significant complaints private schools have about their provision. CISNA is surveying Islamic schools to gather and share data with the GAO to improve and increase services for our students, which was sent out this January.
On Dec. 8, 2021, the U.S. Supreme Court heard arguments in the Carson v. Makin case. CISNA is a signatory on an amicus brief filed by the Notre Dame Law School’s Religious Liberty Clinic. Many experts agree that the court seems ready to rule that the Maine school choice program discriminates against religious schools. This may have wide-ranging implications for Blaine amendments in state constitutions and could open up more states to private school choice programs. Muslim students in states with robust school choice options benefit greatly from these opportunities, and CISNA encourages all parents to learn more about their states’ school choice programs and encourage their legislators to support them.
CISNA teamed up with DLP Academy (https://www.dlpacademy.com/) to introduce the Educational Leadership Toolkit, which delivers professional development to help educators excel. The first of its kind, this monthly subscription of comprehensive and accessible resources from experts across the nation allows educators and school leaders to learn remotely and join discussions with fellow educators.
During February 2022, CISNA held its second Annual Arabic Spelling Bee. The first one, held in April 2021, produced winners from Al-Hikmah School, Safa and Marwa Islamic School, Bright Horizons Academy, Islamic School of Louisville, Greater Lansing Islamic School and ILM Academy.
Considering the need for a platform to confront, discuss, and find solutions for the issues facing our Islamic schools, CISNA is in talks with Associations of Islamic schools in Australia, South Africa, the U.K. and other countries to form a global association of Islamic schools. One of this organization’s aims would be to promote interaction and foster a culture of collaboration and inclusivity at a global level. Those interested in supporting or learning more about this initiative, may contact Sufia Azmat at [email protected].
CISNA board comprises Reem Abdelrazek (principal, Annoor Academy of Knoxville, Tenn., Ziad Abdulla (principal,The Huda Academy, Ark., Fawzia Belal (principal, Qalam Collegiate Academy, Tex., Azra Naqvi (principal, Hadi School of Excellence, Ill., Farah Naz (principal, Everest Academy, Tex., Leila Shatara (head of school, Noor-Ul-Iman School, N.J., Salman Syed (school board chair, Al Salam Day School, Mo., William White (principal, Islamic School of Louisville, Ky., and Ibrahim Yousef (principal, Nashville International Academy, Tenn.)
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Sufia Azmat is CISNA’s executive director.