Message from Mark Boyer, Assistant Superintendent for Learning

Yogi Berra once said, “If you don’t know where you are going, you might wind up someplace else.” Knowing where we are going as a school is critically important in an age where dramatic changes are impacting future opportunities. Malcolm Gladwell’s Outliers and Daniel Pink’s A Whole New Mind suggest that education needs to be about development of strong basic skills and about transformational processes that provide students with the opportunities to be self-initiating, flexible, creative, persevering, resilient, innovative and curious lifelong learners. These are a whole new set of dispositions and skills that are different from traditional education expectations. As SAS continues to develop and implement its Strategic Plan, it is important that we prepare students for current and future success.

This planning for the future is incorporated into the SAS Vision: “The Singapore American School inspires a passion for learning, encourages emotional and intellectual vitality, and empowers students with the confidence and courage to contribute to the global community and to achieve their dreams.” As Yeats would say, “Education is not the filling of a pail, but the lighting of a fire.” In classrooms and as a school, it is finding that balance to provide strong academic preparation and also to provide opportunities for students to develop their voices and passions.

The school’s Strategic Plan contains many of the structures that are building greater precision in how SAS staff understand and support student learning. It includes significant areas of academic growth and performance by students as measured through a variety of standardized tests. It also highlights areas where more attention would be beneficial.

The greatest asset that makes the school’s Strategic Plan viable and that is the most significant contributor to student growth and performance is the overall quality of staff at SAS. This is a staff that continues to learn independently and from one another and increasingly understands that our success as a school is based on our interdependence and informed collaborative agreements on what is most important for students to know, understand and be able to do.

Below are the strategic directions that are being pursued for 2009-2010:

1. Curriculum – Establish high standards of classroom unit development across grade levels and courses that are aligned to a quality school curriculum.
   1. Craft guidelines and protocols for classroom unit development and use.
   2. Develop science, physical education and health classroom units aligned to school curriculum (on Curriculum Cycle).
   3. Refine/revise RLA/English school curriculum and begin development of aligned classroom units (on Curriculum Cycle).
   4. Refine/revise visual & performing arts and technology education & careers curriculum and begin development of aligned classroom units (on Curriculum Cycle).
   5. Review school-wide service learning.
   6. Review the school-wide Chinese language program.
   7. Continue to pursue development of partnerships when there is benefit for student learning within the curricular and co-curricular programs.
2. Assessment and Data – Enhance classroom, division and school use of effective and articulated assessment practices to support a focus on student learning.
   1. Develop school-wide understanding, agreement and support for best practices in assessment.
   2. Develop a data base for correlation of demographic data, student learning data, perceptual data and program data for informed decision making at classroom, division and school levels. Focus on development of a correlated data base for K-12 RLA/English and K-12 Math.
   3. Use the findings of data analysis to inform decisions about curriculum and programs.
   4. Integrate effective assessment practices within classroom unit development (on the Curriculum Cycle).
   5. Establish a plan on how to attain greater core consistency of learning expectations connected to curriculum and classroom units. F. Identify baseline data to assess progress of the technology strategic plan as it relates to student learning.
3. Instruction – Enhance instructional methodologies to support a school-wide focus on learning and results.
   1. Administrative Leadership Team to continue to deepen understanding and application for the SAS Strategic Focus (i.e., Vision, Vital Few, Desired Student Learning Outcomes, Core Values and Mission) within the school and community.
   2. Develop a multi-year technology plan for student learning.
   3. C. Administrators to continue to develop effective and efficient classroom observation feedback processes.
   4. Revise the Teacher Performance Review to further support reflection and growth for faculty, as well as attention to the quality characteristics of valued areas of teacher performance (i.e., Focus on Learning, Instruction, Collaborative Work, Professional Communication and Interaction and Contribution to School Culture).
   5. Expand use of data analysis protocols focused on classroom assessments to inform instructional decisions in classrooms.
   6. Develop a more goal-focused approach to professional development on school, division and individual levels.
   7. Fully implement consistent use of the elementary math agreements and enhance parent communications about student learning.
   8. Continue to develop and effectively use teachers as leaders within the school – distributed leadership.
   9. Continue to promote collaboration through Professional Learning Communities that enhances student learning.

The school’s Strategic Plan emerged through extensive review by 500+ members of the school community (students, parents, teachers, support staff, administrators and Board members) as participants in the school’s accreditation Self Study in 2007-2008. The recommendations from the Self Study were confirmed by a 10-member external team of educators who devoted 5.5 long days to a thorough review of classrooms, curriculum documents and school operations to verify that the recommendations put forward in the 2008-2013 Strategic Plan were areas deserving of attention. As areas emerge as unique needs or opportunities through the implementation of the plan, these are reviewed by administration for potential inclusion or increased emphasis within the Strategic Plan. The Board of Governors oversees the school’s Strategic Plan, and updates on progress are provided in Board meetings and on the Curriculum Committee.

As significant components of this year’s plan develop, they will also be announced to the community through divisions and/or the school.

WASC Executive Summary

WASC School Improvement Self Study

WASC Report Commendations and Recommendations

Updated: October 5, 2009