Curriculum and Instruction - SAS-WASC

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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
• Curriculum is best designed by teachers who work together to develop andreview scope and sequence and establish uniform curriculum for all subjects.• It provides the framework for what is taught, why it is taught, and how it istaught.• It must translate into student success• The design, review and revision of curriculum is an open-ended process.• Curriculum review contributes to the self renewal of the school and is itselfcyclical and recursive. It promotes professional growth and stimulateslearning.• Enables the school to be accountable for teaching what students should learn.The process of curriculum review at SAS is interactive by design and the goal isshared understanding of the content and method of what is taught. Though cyclicalin form, the aim is developmental in process. That development takes, in most cases,three years, though in reality, some subjects are taking longer and some not as long –again depending on the nature of the subject, the extent of the progress made towardalignment and collaboration across campuses, and the professional learning requiredto fully engage teachers in the data-gathering and analysis process of the review.Challenges for even progress in curriculum review include the number of newfaculty members that need to be brought on board in these years of growth, differentstages of development of the two campuses and the two distinct campus cultures thatprovide the context for the work.Four subject areas were in the stages of review or renewal in school year 2007-2008: PK-12 language arts, 6-12 Chinese, 6-12 mathematics, and 6-12 science.The challenge of addressing this number of areas to review was not taken lightlyand an explicit decision was made to proceed based on the urgency expressed bothby teachers and the community (e.g., 6-12 Mathematics, Chinese and Science).Further, the data indicated that PK-5 language arts, literacy in particular, neededurgent attention. Elementary campuses would not be able to sustain curriculumreview in more than language arts and since the urgencies expressed for attention tomathematics, science and Chinese concerned middle and high school, the task forceswere limited in scope to these levels. Further work to articulate curriculum betweenPK-5 and 6-12 in language arts, mathematics, science and Chinese is an importantarea of attention.Two areas entered the implementation stage in 2007-2008: English as a SecondLanguage and Academic Support. Also in 2007-2008, library/media and technologystandards and benchmarks were reviewed and a curriculum framework for K-12technology was refined and reviewed. Reports on the program review progress ofthese areas are found in Support for Student Personal and Academic Growth chapterof this report.As an example of the process, in 2005-2006, ESOL and academic support researchedbest practices and gathered data on their programs; in 2006-2007, they pilotedplacement tools, continuing to gather and analyze data, and made recommendationsfor implementation. Recommendations were addressed by administration so thatin 2007-2008, implementation could begin. In 2007-2008, a full professionaldevelopment plan for training faculty across the campus in best-practicedelivery strategies for English language learners was designed and is poised forimplementation in 2008-2009.Documenting the CurriculumIn 2005-2006, standards and benchmarks were set into place for all subject areas andscope and sequence of benchmarks was established in the fall of 2006. The stage wasset for the school to begin documenting its full curriculum on Atlas Rubicon.Shanghai American School Self Study Report 75
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Curriculum and Instruction - SAS-WASC

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