School Improvement Plan: The UAE

School Improvement Plan The UAESchool proposening, organization and management is right off related to human and physical resources. The foundation behind it is that take days should be capable of utilizing the entire resources in a way that serve them in acting their obligations successfully. solo tutor days need their railchilds to succeed and prosper. But schools can simply create a lifelong change when they have emphasis on specific endeavors and strategies for change. School expediency supply (sip) is a physical process by dint of which schools congeal goals for implementfulness, and make decisions about how and when these goals will be enter up unmatchedd. The definitive purpose of the process is to promote student proceeding by improving the way course of instruction is provided, by building an advantageous environment for education, and by increasing the p arental involvement in their childrens learning at school and in the home.In this assignment, the investigator will develop SIP centeringing on the common problem affecting the cloiste cherry-red and public schools in the United Arab Emirates. An action plan will be developed to champion in improving schools and consequently increasing student proceeding.What is a school improvement plan?A SIP is a road map that undertakes the changes required by a school to increase student achievement, and indicates how and when these changes will be constructed.SIPsare selective they help stars, teachers, and school councils answer the questions What will we focus on immediately? and What will we leave until later? They boost round and parents to follow on student achievement and other issues, much(prenominal) as the school environment,that are known to impact student success. schools will able to respond to the needs of students, teachers, and parents when updated and trustworthy entropy are provided on student performance.Moreover, a SIP is a mechanism by which the residential di strict can hold schools responsible for student success and through which it can evaluateprogress. One of the first steps-a critical i-in establishing an improvement plan complicates teachers, school councils, parents, and other fraternity members role campaigning in concert to collect and examine study concerning the school and its students, therefore they can decide what needs to be enhanced in their school. As the strategy is implemented, schools keep ongathering this type of information. By comparing the novelinformation to the primarydata on which the plan was grounded, they- and the public-can assess the accomplishment of their improvement plans.Authentic change takes time. It is essentialto keep all partners come to in theSIPinformed. Gradual improvements are significant, and they should be distinguished, but they do not comp ski liftpermanent change. Therefore,SIPs are best designed over three years Year 1 the planning process Year 2 the implementation Year 3 -con tinue the implementation.During initial discussions, or as time goes on, schools may need to expand their plan for additional years to make sure that they maintain their focus and attain their targets. Anyway,SIPs should beconsidered working documents that can beutilized tocheck their development over time andto make revisions when necessary to ensure that the plans stay on course.In developing SIP, the principal, staff, school council, parents, and other community members actthrough a diversity of activitiesconcentrated uponthreedomains of anteriority class delivery, school environment, and maternal(p) involvement. For all these areas, schools set up the following A goal statement Performance targets Areas of focus Implementation strategies Indicators of success Time lines Responsibility for implementing strategies Checkpoints for status updates Opportunities for revisions.Appendix B contains a sample school improvement plan.All school partners must be involved in the SIP to gua rantee its success. Schools represent the whole school community. The principal, who has the responsibility of school administration and delivering instructional leadinghip, is ultimately accountable for SIP. However,all school community should be actively engaged in all stages of the process planning, implementing, monitoring, and evaluating progress.PurposeTo identify effective strategies for developing school improvement plans that lead to enhanced student achievement and increased maternal(p) involvement in educationBackgroundAccording to KHDA (2009), there are 220 schools in Dubai 189 schools were inspected between 2008 and 2009. The remaining 31 schools which use the Indian, Pakistani and Iranian curricula will be evaluated later. These 189 schools are composed of 109 snobby schools and 80 public schools. Among the private schools 49 schools follow the UK National Curriculum, 30 go a US programme, 16 schools using the Ministry of Education (MoE) curriculum, 6 schools f ollow the Inter field Baccalaureate (IB), 4 schools follow the French curriculum and a tho 4schools provide unique curricula (German, Russian, Japanese and Philippine).All public schools in Dubai were checked, including Madares Al Ghad (MAG) schools and Model schools. The purpose of schools evacuation was to improve the delivery of education to students in Dubai and to help parents know that their children are organism learned and are in safe, skillful, and caring hands.The overall findings of schools performance in Dubai were shocking as there are or so 20,000 students in Dubai receives unequal quality of education, more than half the schools are presently delivering an education that is not yet of the costly quality anticipated of all schools in Dubai.Additionally,9 out of 10 schools provide acceptable quality of education. None of the public schools got heavy(p) but 50% of them achieved good.As for the private section, 4 schools broadening the UK curriculum reach outstandi ng, 50% of private schools achieved 50% while 75% were unsatisfactory.As for the students performance, the results were generally disappointed. scholars progress in the key subjects, are not yet making enough progress in speaking and writing Arabic and English.In public schools, where English is taught as a second language, students English language skills are deficient and expectations, chiefly in connection with writing and speaking, are not satisfactorily high. The students capability of using mathematics to solve problems is poor.In private schools, students skills in Arabic need improvement. Nearly 20% of students make unacceptable progress. In Islamic Studies, students progress in the public schools is better than the private schools.The majority of the students have good attitudes to learning. They are motivated, attentive and hard worker. Economic and environmental understanding is developing in close to schools. Students are frequently unattended except in class. diam etric forms of determent are noticed.The teaching and learning methods were not useful for the students as the majority of the teachers dominate the lesson discussion in the public schools and poorly performing private schools. Assessment in more 25% of all schools is unsatisfactory. Consequently, many students are not aware of their strengths and weaknesses. In schools delivering the MOE curriculum, and US curriculum, students are not nimble well(p) for higher education or employment. Leadership and management are unsatisfactory in nearby 20% of private schools and in a similar residual of boys public schools. Almost all schools do not have self-appraisal system to assess their own work.Finally, many schools have comprehensive connections with parents but they are unsatisfactory to some parents.What Areas Should Be Considered for Improvement?The main goal of SIP is to increase the level of student achievement. To achievegenuine change, nevertheless, the process needs to focus o n specific priorities.Student performance becomes better when teachers use curriculum-delivery strategies that purposely address the studentsneeds, when the school environment is tolerateive, and when parents are effectively involved in the education of their children. To improve the process of planning, therefore, schools should represent one priority in each of these three components-curriculum delivery, school environment, and parental involvement. Basically, the planning process involves answering the crucial questions What will we focus on now? and What will we leave until later?Curriculum delivery in the United Arab EmiratesCurriculum is considered the foundation of the educational system. It incorporates the principles, underlying educational philosophy, goals, content and actual military operation of the instructional program in the class, besides the written and other materials required to reinforce the educational system (Farah.S. Ridge.N. 2009).There are two new approa ches presently being executed on a trial foundation in the United Arab Emirates (UAE)-a new standards-based curriculum in Abu Dhabi schools and a new English-medium curriculum in special(prenominal) governmental schools, the Madares Al Ghad, over the UAE. Curriculum as a concept can be divided into three main components intended curriculum, implemented curriculum and attained curriculum. The intended curriculum typically embraces the directorial documents shaped by the UAE-Ministry of Education (MOE) or other education authorities which command how much, how frequent and what should be taught in schools. The implemented curriculum is what really occurs in the class, how successfully teachers offer the material, how long they pass on a topic and what resources they need to deliver the content. Lastly, the attained curriculum is what students practically learn in the class, what skillsand values they grasp, and what content they assimilate and retain (Table 1).The focus of the MOE cu rriculum upon the buildup of factual knowledge rather than critical thinking limits students learning. Facts are learned in isolation and students are incapable of applying their knowledge in real life situations. This is proved evidently in the findings of the 2007 TIMSS survey, which examined students performance in the covering of mathematics and science in many countries. The MOE curricula in mathematics and science give slight tutelage to practical investigation and the use of mathematical and scientific knowledge to solving problems (KHDA 2009). Consequently, students are not well equipped for the courses and careers they will study. Public school students have to choose either a scientific or literary arts for their last two years of school-based study. Both of these options have narrow scope, heavy content and do not prepare students for university.Curriculum insurance policy briefThe MOE (2008) has issued curriculum policy documents that set out standards, activities, s trategies, expected outcomes and tools for teaching and assessment for student learning in all grades and subject areas. The policy documents as well as encompass achievement charts that assist teachers in assessingstudents achievement in respect to the expectations. Assessment strategies must focus on how the students integrate theory into practice to boost independent thinking and enhance problem solving abilities.To set a goal for improving the delivery of the curriculum, principals, teachers, school councils, parents, and other community members participating in the SIP must understand the expectations emerged by the MOE and how well the those expectations are going to be achieved by the students.Main FindingsDubai Schools Inspection Bureau Annual Report(DSIB) will be used as groundwork for this investigation. According to DSIB(2009), the majority of the schools achieved an acceptable level in bump intoing the students educational needs in relation to their curriculum. Yet, i n schools delivering curriculum of the MOE, and in many schools providing a USA curriculum, students are not equipped well to vie globally. Moreover,in these schools, wherethe mainstream of students are native Arabicspeakers, have limited selection of subjects and their physical, yeasty and analytical skills are developing. These curricula are not operated effectively to satisfy the prerequisites of students, including those with learning difficulties as well as the potentially highest achiever. Furthermore, curricular weaknesses in public schools embarrass the progress of many students and limit their achievement.The ill prepared English curriculum and the reduced demands of the text books fail to sufficiently meet the requirements of students for English proficiency.The students are learning English as a second language where opportunities for using it in conversation are limited. Additionally, the curriculumprepares the students to use only a few vocabularies. The range of stud ents variant and writing is alsoimperfect. Extended writing is rarely a feature in most public and poorly performing private schools. Students are customarilyneeded to give only short written answers to questions present in textbooks and English teaching is miserable. As a result, non-native speakers are often unable to communicate their thoughts and ideas confidently even in Grade 12. These limitationsalter thestudentspreparation for university.The curricula in mathematics and science dedicateminimal attention to implementing mathematical and scientific knowledge in investigating and solving problems of daily life. In private schools, a high number of the older students fail or do not established courses, particularly in mathematics and science subjects a situation not helped by the lack of independent information, advice and counselling for students prior to their admission to courses. The ICT curriculum focuses barely on performing skills. In addition,it is taught in English and many students do not get it adequately.All schools physical education, art and music have low status in MOE curriculum anda plenty of the ill performing private schools. The time allocated to these subjects to beneficially effect students physical and cultural growth is not sufficient. Music and art is taught to only a few students after Grade6 and 9 respectively. These restrictions attachment thestudents opportunities to develop their capabilities for independent learning through such activities as team working.All schools provision for students with exceptional educational needs is poor overall.The governmental schools offer some support, mainly in separate classes, in Grades 1 to 3School environmentEnvironmental factors are the most influential on studentsachievement and success.Creating a well-fit school environment calls the involvement of, principals, teachers, school councils, parents, and other community members to make effective and relaxing placesfor learning.WHO defi nes a health-promoting school as one that constantly strengthens its depicted object as a healthy setting for living, learning and working.The American Academy of Pediatrics (1993) defines a healthful school environment as one that protects students and staff against immediate injury or disease and promotes prevention activities and attitudes against known risk factors that might lead to future disease or disability.A schools environment is the roam that linkstremendous activities on a campus. In many situations this thread is nearly invisible however each person experiences its effect. Positive social relations and attitudes about school are as significant to the environment as are safe and well-maintained buildings and grounds. The quality of the school-good or bad is reflected by the environment of the school. A safe, clean, and well-Kept school with a positive psychosocial setting and culture can nurture school connectedness, which in turn improves student and staff well-bein g as well as students educational achievement.A schools physical environment includes the school building and the surrounding grounds, such as noise, temperature, and lighting as well as physical, biological, or chemical agents. The disturbing increase in the number of asthmatic students is a unique problem that can, in part, be influenced by negative physical conditions in schools. The psychosocial school environment incorporates the attitudes, feelings, and values of students and staff. Physical and psychological safety, positive interpersonal relationships, recognition of the needs and success of the individual, and provision for learning are all part of the psychosocial environment. different factors encompass the economy social, cultural, and religious influences geography socioeconomic status of students families tax bases and legal, political, and social institutions.Main FindingsThe quality of health care is good or outstanding in a majority both public and private schools . School nurses, doctors and social workers presentobviously in the schools to support the students and their families.Medical records are arranged properly and routine follow-up are difficult. The role of the social worker is to have positive relations with families and monitor students attendance carefully. In the majority of the public schools, however, social workers work in isolation and do not communicate properly with other staff in the school to provide a rounded view of students performance. comparatively little healthy food is sold in school canteens in most public schools students in these schools often eat crisps and sweets throughout the day.Safety issues including tape transport measures, fire safety procedures, supervision and security, affect some public and private schools. Students are frequently unsupervised except when in class. School transport is once in a while organized with few considerations for the safety of students in pedestrian areas and on board bus es, where working seat belts are not always provided. In a minority of schools there are events of unsuitableusage of physical punishment in response to negative behavior.Different forms of bullying range from kicking, spitting, malicious teasing, taunting, making threats to spreading rumors, engaging in social exclusion, extortion and intimidation. Generalizations cannot be made to understand why bullying occurs but it should be recognized in all its forms and not tolerated.A survey conducted by ADEC in 2009 involving 1728 students (grades 3 to 6). The findings revealed that young children have various concerns about bullying in the schools more than 47% considered that students at the school are often endangered or bullied and more than 63% favor remaining at home because it is more safer than the school.The procedures for student safety are feeble in most private schools excluding those categorized as the best performing. According to KHDA (2009) most private schools have effect ual policies to handle bullying and other kinds of upsetting behavior, and students report such events as uncommon. Moreover, whilst the best performing private schools have well-defined procedures for bullying, in many others do not.Students in the schools that were identified to be lacking bullying policy have no person to tell to if there is mistreatment inside or outside the school putting them at risk.Sana, A. A., MOE psychology advisor in Dubai, states that the ministry admits bullying in schools and is trying to overcome it. Some students dont have sufficient information and competency to recognize and contend with the behavior of aggressors (Khaleej, T 2010).According to the head of KHDA, an attention should be given to new forms of bullying, such as cyber-bullying. Cyber-bullying has clearly increased in recent years and it can be more harmful and notional than other forms of bullying, (Samineh I. Undated). She cautioned of increasing incidence bullycide where children acc ustomed to escape to their homes to protect themselves from being intimidated at school, yet, through cyber-bullying there is no escape which give rise to many cases of bullycide ( bully associated suicides), Shaheem express (Gulf,N 2010).When the bully feels they cant express out their hostility on the school grounds, they will yell at either on the way home, on the bus or through text messages, chat rooms or Facebook.Speaking of one of the cases that came to Dubai Psychologist Dr. Singh, D., said that the plight of a short girl came to light only after her friend found her petrified at the sight of an older student and reported the incident. Her friend said that she was literally oscillation at the sight of the older student, which led to an investigation that brought to light how the child was being bullied using social networking sites.Parental involvementResearch found that parental involvement is one of the essential factorsleading to students success in school. Keeping the parents informed and involved in their childrens education will increase student achievement. Students attend school more frequently, finished more homework in a reliable manner, and exhibit more positive attitudes towards school. They also are more likely to complete high school.Parental involvement helps a child succeed in school and later in life. To ensure parents are informed about and involved in their childrens education, schools must foster partnerships with parents. Because parental involvement is one of the most significant factors in a childs success, it is crucial that all schools set a goal in their SIP for increasing it.Links with parentsMany schools have comprehensive connections with parents but they are not continuously as effective as they wish to be and some parents are unsatisfied withthe information givenabout their childs progress by the school. However,links with parents are usually good or outstanding in the best performing private schools. A small number of public schools have very good links with the local community and local businesses, which lead to enhanced outcomes for students. This is particularly true of schools in low economic status areas.The ADEC (2009) survey 1429 teachers in public schools and asked them about the number of times they met the parent personally and the degree of parents support to teachers .The result showed 6.9% have never met parents, 28.9% have met them once or twice a semester, 36.7% have met them once or twice a month, while 27.4% meet parents once a week. Regarding parents supporting the teachers teaching efforts, 55.5%feels some while 13.5% feel never. More than 56.1% of teachers believe that only some parents make considerable effort to help their children learn while only 5.6% do not at all. As for trust and confidence in parents as being partners in the teachers mission of educating the children, 19.3 % said no.Who Are the Partners in School Improvement Planning?Everybody involved in or intereste d in the operation of schools has a role to play in the SIP. District school boards and superintendents of education play vital roles in setting guidelines and in supporting and monitoring SIP. The most significantoperation, nevertheless, occurs within the school community itself. An effective SIParises when principals, teachers, school councils, parents, and other community participants work as a team to identify priorities, set goals for enhancement, apply strategies to reach those aims, and evaluate progress.Generally, principals responsibilities in SIP fall into three main categoriesCommunication, Leadership, Professional development.How Do We Begin?The first step of the SIP process isCreating a SIP team collecting and assessing data about student achievement, the school environment, and parental participation and setting priorities for improvement through a sequence of activities. heads play a fundamental role in these early platforms. They ease the creation of a planning team, which will be accountable for establishing priorities, and they ensure that the information needed for effective planning-such as report display panel marks, the results of assessments.Forming a school improvement planning teamPrincipals should enlighten teachers, school council members, parents, and other community partners about the progressof SIP in a manner that appreciates their participation.In elementary schools, all the participants in the SIPconstitute a part ofthe planning process. Secondary schools, which usually comprise large teaching personnel, should guarantee that at least one interpretive program from each section is part of the planning team, with the school council, parents, and other community affiliates who wish to share. In addition to expressing their preciousviewpoints and skills, teachers will alsofacilitate understanding ofinformation on students achievement as well as the expected value of and challenges implicated in a range of improvement suggestionst o other teammembers.It is imperative that the team be representative of the schools community. Principals should make hard effort to convince parents who correspond to a range of the school communitys demographic profile to play a part in the planning work out. Other communitymembers may offer worthinsights and perspectives, and their input should also be encouraged and vigorously sought out. Principals in the French-language systems will want to include leaders from the local francophone community.Finally, secondary school students should also contribute in the planning team. Principals should give confidenceto their involvement in the process, and possiblylook for those who are student leaders, motivating them to play a role. Principals in elementary schools may desire to engage interested Grade 7 and 8 with the teams work.All participants should have a positive attitude towards the process and realize that they have toact as a team.Scheduling meeting times for the planning team t hat are suitable to both staff and parents may be challenging. This issue can be solved by arranging parallel processes, whereby staff meets during school time whereas parents meet in the evening. The benefit of this organization is that it allows maximumparents participation. To contain consistency regarding decision makingbetween both groups, selected teachers could volunteer or be delegated to join both meetings.The SIPteam holds the role of analyzing data on student achievement in the school, the might of the school environment, and parental involvement in their childrens education. Established on the results, team limbs make decisions about subjects that must be improved in priority.As look 1 indicates, the planning work should take place between September and January of year 1.Understanding the contextBefore beginning a SIP, the planning team, together with parents, must be aware of and be familiar with particular types of information that school boards pass to staff and th e public such as boards vision statement, national tests, and boards strategic plan, which includes short- and long-term goals for the district.In addition, members of the planning team should understand the nature and characteristics of the school and its community. Many schools create a school profile that sets out these characteristics in a simple way. Reviewing the school profile and debating each topic facilitate understanding of the school, and it places a context for the improvement strategy.A school profile could include information about the followingStudent demographicsEnrolment trendsLanguages spoken in the homeThe schools mission statementThe schools program prioritiesPrograms and services offered by the school (for example, guidance and library services)School facilitiesClass sizesRate of student turnover or transferOther pertinent information.Schools in all systems should have other relevant information that will guide the readers of the profile obtain a realistic and full picture of their school.After acquiring an understanding of the boards targets and the schools characteristics, the planning team is prepared to start setting priorities for a SIP.Setting prioritiesSIPs are structured around three components curriculum delivery, school environment, and parental involvement. The planning team must set up one priority in each of these three domains. The following activities will facilitate planning teams create these prioritiesPriority for Enhancing Curriculum Delivery stack away informationThe principal need to make sure that the planning team has the required data to identify which curriculum component (for instance, mathematics, science, reading, or writing) has the highest priority for improvement. Principal must also verify that the gathered information is reliable-that is, that it was collected according to the expectations and achievement outlined by the MOE. All teachers have to understand the MOEs policy obligations.The principal should therefore collect the following information for the planning teamResults of the annual assessments of students.Report card marks.Class profiles.Results of board-administered, national, and international tests.Discussing the informationAn open discussion, utilizing all the data collected about student achievement, allows all associates on the planning team to evaluate the strengths and weaknesses in providing the curriculum, and identifies a priority for improvement in this regard.Deciding on a priorityThe facilitator distributes red dot stickers to the team members. Each associate obtains a number of dots equal to one third the number of weaknesses. All team members vote, using the stickers, for the subject of curriculum weakness that they think should be called first. Members must use all their dots, but they may not use more than one dot per weakness.The weakness with the most dots becomes the priority for enhancing curriculum delivery.Priority for Improving the School Environmen tCollecting informationThe principal need to collect information that will help the planning team define a priority subject for improving the school environment, such as school layout, students behavior and health condition.Discussing the informationBefore the meeting starts, the facilitator should collect the responses to the parent survey, transcribe the strengths and weaknesses of the school as sensed by parentsDeciding on a priorityThe facilitator allots red dot stickers to team members. Each person receives a number of dots equal to one third the number of weaknesses.All members vote, using the stickers, for the ranges of weakness that they suppose should be handled first. Participants must get through all their dots, but they may not use more than one dot per weakness.The weakness rank high dots becomes the priority for enhancing the school environment.Priority for Increasing Parental InvolvementCollecting informationTo help the planning team arrive at an endorsed priority for improving parental involvement, the principal should supply them with duplicates of the school profile, a summary of the information collected in the parent survey.Discussi