WASC Visiting Committee Final Presentation

1
WASC Visiting Committee Final Presentation

• Hong Kong International School
• April, 2007

2
Organization for Student Learning
3
Organization for Student Learning

• Mission, Student Learning Results, Leadership
• HKIS has developed strong SLRs with input from
  all stakeholders
• Further assessment and integration of the SLRs is
  needed
• Senior Leadership are enabling school improvement
  through the development of the Office for
  Learning.
• Further clarification on roles and responsibility
  is needed.

4
Organization for Student Learning

• Faculty
• HKIS values all faculty and their commitment to
  the learning of all students.
• HKIS needs ongoing dialogue about performance
  appraisal systems.
• HKIS supports professional development for
  faculty and recognizes achievement.
• HKIS needs to establish a school-wide
  professional development plan integrated with
  SLRs.

5
Organization for Student Learning

• Strategic Plan
• HKIS has developed a comprehensive plan for
  school improvement.
• HKIS needs to prioritize the initiatives underway
  to ensure focus on student learning.
• The school leadership team demonstrates
  commitment to the management of a very complex
  organization through the development of
  distributed leadership.
• HKIS needs to provides sufficient time for
  faculty and administrative collaboration.

6
Curriculum and Instruction
7
Curriculum and Instruction

• Areas of Strength
• HKIS and Administration have in place
• Clearly defined SLRs
• Written standards and benchmarks R1-12
• Uniform curriculum model and design (UbD)
• Extensive in-house curriculum system
  (myDragonNet)
• Faculty instruction that evidences many research
  based teaching practices
• Wide range of formal and informal assessments

8
Curriculum and Instruction

• Areas of Strength
• HKIS and Administration have commitment to
• SLRs
• Collaborative curriculum development and
  refinement
• Shared ownership for all students

9
Curriculum and Instruction

• Areas for Follow-up
• In order to support the continuing curriculum
  work, HKIS administration and faculty needs
  ongoing, focused, and structured professional
  collaboration that
• Aligns and articulates
• SLRs with assessments
• Standards and benchmarks with a method of
  tracking and reporting them
• Refines
• Standards and benchmarks
• Written curriculum units
• In-house web based curriculum system
• Through annual curriculum review
• Reflects
• Professional conversations that are focused and
  structured
• Initiatives that are prioritized and sustained

10
Support for Student Personal and Academic Growth
11
Support for Student Personal and Academic Growth

• Areas of Strength
• Co-curricular and service opportunities for all
• Learning support for students
• Opportunities for Parents
• Consistent communication home

12
Support for Student Personal and Academic Growth

• Areas for Follow-up
• Articulate connection between SLRs and student
  learning
• Gather data about student involvement in
  co-curricular activities
• Provide instruction and measure growth in
  Spirituality, Character Development, and
  Contributing to Society SLRs.

13
Resource Management and Development
14
Resource Management and Development

• Areas of Strength
• HKIS is financially healthy.
• HKIS has a well articulated and aggressive master
  facility plan (MFP).
• HKIS has planned a comprehensive strategic
  initiative with regards to faculty retention and
  recruitment.
• HKIS has a committed and highly professional
  administration, faculty, and support staff.
• HKIS is committed to developing and maintaining
  high quality facilities
• HKIS has robust technological resources that are
  capably deployed.

15
Resource Management and Development

• Areas for Follow-up
• HKIS should review and align policies and
  priorities for all resources, recognizing the
  impact on individual, divisional, and school-wide
  goals.
• HKIS should consider the importance of clear
  communication and strategic planning for the
  critical initiatives of performance appraisals,
  career structure development, and
  compensation/benefits as each of these
  initiatives are developed and implemented.
• HKIS should continue development of a technology
  plan that links decision making with a clearly
  defined positive impact on student learning.

16
Schoolwide Areas of StrengthSchoolwide Areas for
Follow-up
17
Schoolwide Areas of Strength

• The HKIS community is to be congratulated for the
  outstanding quality and accuracy of its
  self-study report and its ongoing commitment to
  student learning.
• Areas of strength include

18
Schoolwide Areas of Strength

• The new Office for Learning, together with
  existing instructional leaders, provides a
  school-wide focus on the needs of students and
  the conditions that will enable their optimal
  learning, as evidenced in the initial
  improvements made.
• The Board of Managers is devoting itself to the
  reorganization and continued development of its
  work based on agreed upon best practices in
  school governance.
• The Board of Managers has selected and supported
  a highly capable Head of School who has helped
  stabilize and guide the school in its on-going
  improvement process for the past two years.

19
Schoolwide Areas of Strength

• A highly-committed and talented faculty and staff
  collectively provide a healthy, appropriate, and
  diverse learning environment for students.
• The schools improvement initiatives are designed
  to enhance holistic learning opportunities for
  HKIS students.
• The strong emphasis on Student Learning Results
  is articulated in the clearly-defined mission and
  in the strategic plan.

20
Schoolwide Areas of Strength

• While recognizing that more healing must take
  place, HKIS is effectively addressing the
  concerns articulated in the mid-term WASC report.
• The Understanding by Design framework and
  myDragonNet are helping to facilitate continued
  commitment to curriculum development and the
  requisite community-wide communication about
  student learning.
• Commitment to supplying outstanding resources and
  facilities supports the HKIS learning environment
  and mission both now and in the future.

21
Schoolwide Areas for Follow-up

• Building upon the HKIS self study and its
  subsequent work, and in order to continue its
  focus on student learning

22
Schoolwide Areas for Follow-up

• HKIS should intentionally strive to align
  curriculum, programs, school-wide initiatives,
  processes, resources, performance appraisal, and
  personnel with the pursuit of the schools
  mission, student learning results, and strategic
  plan.
• In considering how best to effectively manage
  change and the many planned initiatives, the
  Board of Managers and school leadership need to
  design a process to clarify and coordinate
  strategic institutional priorities over the next
  several years, perhaps with the services of an
  outside facilitator.

23
Schoolwide Areas for Follow-up

• The Board of Managers, school leadership,
  faculty, staff, and the Lutheran ChurchMissouri
  Synod should continue to build trust, effective
  communication, and clarity of purpose.
• The HKIS community should crystallize a shared
  vision (a picture of the organizations desired
  state, tied to the Mission and SLRs, at specific
  intervals in the future), in order to focus the
  schools efforts, make the best use of resources,
  and guide its priorities, allocation of
  resources, and decision-making.

24
Schoolwide Areas for Follow-up

• HKIS should refine and further establish
  organizational design in order to clarify and
  institutionalize the desired organizational
  behaviors of a professional learning community,
  as articulated in the strategic plan.
• Particularly with the advent of the Office for
  Learning, HKIS should clarify and distribute
  leadership roles, responsibilities, and desired
  outcomes for all parties concerned.
• HKIS should continue to pursue the goal of a
  unified and aligned school with two campuses and
  four divisions.