Curriculum and Instruction - SAS-WASC

During professional development days and in two Wednesday after-school meetingsper month, teacher release time was provided for this process. Discussions occurredacross the school on a variety of topics ranging from assessment (“what kind andhow often is appropriate?”, “what exactly do we mean by common assessment?”,“how do we best use formative and summative assessments?”, “what is authenticassessment?”) to curriculum delivery (“are we addressing various learningstyles?”, “what has worked well – or not so well in delivering this lesson?”). Theconversations varied in depth according to where teams and departments are in theirdevelopment as teams, in their own learning on assessment and delivery and whetheror not their subject area is under review. It should be noted that not all questions wereraised in all teams.Standing next to the work of teachers in all subject areas, sits the more detailedwork of four subject area curriculum task forces. Currently, 6-12 mathematics, 6-12science and 6-12 language arts are in the review stages. PK-5 language arts is in therenewal stage, as is 6-12 Chinese. Reports on the progress and accomplishmentsin these subject areas comprise the third section of the curriculum and instructionchapter of this report.Overview of Curriculum and Instruction at Shanghai American SchoolCurriculum reviewIn response to recommendations from the midterm report, SAS has established aconcrete curriculum review cycle through the efforts of a school-wide curriculumcommittee and the administration. The process was adopted by the Student ProgramsCommittee in May, 2006. Steps in curriculum review are as follows:1. Convene a subject area program review task force2. Year 1 – Review: The task force looks at what is currently in place – toreview standards and benchmarks and map what is taught in the subjectarea and to gather data from students, teachers, parents, as well as frombenchmark schools. In this stage, the task force also conducts a literaturereview and makes recommendations about the program content, delivery,and assessment practices.3. Year 2 – Renewal: the task force, in consultation with administration, act onthe recommendations brought forward by the review. They broadly analyzedelivery, identify resources, and professional development necessary toimprove delivery and use recommended resources.4. Year 3 – Implementation: the task force conducts pilots, analyzes findingsand identifies resources and methodologies for implementation. They workwith the professional development committee, the educational programsoffice and building administration to oversee the implementation, ensuringthat professional development of teachers is linked directly to curriculumimplementation.5. Monitoring of the implementation through continued analysis of studentlearning data is conducted at the building level with oversight by principalsand subject area coordinators and the educational programs office.Looking at student learning, while not fully in place in all subject areas ordivisions, is on the increase. It is empowered through the work of teachers,administrators, and CFG community leaders trained in critical friendsapproaches to the analysis of data and student learning.As part of establishing a full curriculum review cycle, the deputy superintendent ledthe administration and a school-wide curriculum committee through a process todelineate the principles that guide curriculum work at SAS. The Principal’s TrainingCenter (PTC) work was a major resource in this work; the process is set out in theCurriculum and Professional Development Handbook (p 13, ‘The BIG Picture’) andthe principles summarized here:We believe that . . .74Shanghai American School Self Study Report