Research Brief

A New System for K–12 in

RAND RESEARCH AREAS he leadership of the Arabian Gulf nation of THE ARTS Key fi ndings: CHILD POLICY Qatar, like that of many other countries, CIVIL JUSTICE views education as the key to future eco- • Qatar’s K–12 education system lacked a EDUCATION nomic, political, and social progress. Many ENERGY AND ENVIRONMENT T vision for high-quality education and have concluded that a country’s ability to com- HEALTH AND HEALTH CARE structures to support it. INTERNATIONAL AFFAIRS pete in the global economy and enable its citizens NATIONAL SECURITY to take full advantage of technological advances • System reform focused on curriculum POPULATION AND AGING PUBLIC SAFETY relies on upgrading the quality of the school- standards, new organizational structures, SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY ing provided and ensuring that what is taught is and a clear implementation plan. SUBSTANCE ABUSE aligned with national priorities and international TERRORISM AND • Critical to the reform was the creation of HOMELAND SECURITY developments. TRANSPORTATION AND new, Independent schools based on the INFRASTRUCTURE In summer 2001, the State of Qatar’s leader- principles of autonomy, accountability, WORKFORCE AND WORKPLACE ship asked the RAND Corporation to examine variety, and choice. the K–12 ( through grade 12) school system in Qatar. Th e leadership was motivated • Since 2002, standards have been developed, by several concerns, the chief one being that the almost all students have been tested, and a nation’s school system was not producing high- growing number of Qatar’s children have quality outcomes for Qatari students in terms of enrolled in learner-centered schools with academic achievement, college attendance, and improved facilities where better-prepared success in the labor market. RAND’s analysis and better-trained teachers guide them identifi ed the strengths and weaknesses of the in accordance with internationally bench- existing system and pointed to two main pursuits marked standards. for reform: improving the education system’s basic elements through standards-based reform and devising a system-changing plan to deal with the system’s overall inadequacies. education and the structures needed to sup- port it. Th e curriculum in the government This product is part of the Examining the Existing System (and many private) schools was outmoded and RAND Corporation research brief series. RAND research At the time of the study, the Qatari K–12 edu- emphasized rote memorization, leaving many briefs present policy-oriented summaries of published, cation system served about 100,000 students, students bored and providing little opportu- peer-reviewed documents. two-thirds of whom attended schools that were nity for student-teacher interaction. Th e system fi nanced and operated by the government. Th e lacked performance indicators, and there was no Corporate Headquarters 1776 Main Street highly centralized Ministry of Education oversaw attempt to link student performance with school P.O. Box 2138 all aspects of public education and many aspects performance. Moreover, the scant performance Santa Monica, California 90407-2138 of private education. information provided to teachers and admin- TEL 310.393.0411 Th ere were several strengths in the existing istrators meant little to them because they had FAX 310.393.4818 system. Many teachers were enthusiastic and no authority to make changes in the schools. © RAND 2007 wanted to deliver a solid education; some of them Finally, although Qatar has a high per capita exhibited a real desire for change and greater income, the national investment in education autonomy. Additionally, parents appeared open was small. Teachers received low pay and little to the idea of new schooling options. professional development, many school build- But the weaknesses in the existing system ings were in poor condition, and classrooms were www.rand.org were extensive. Th ere was no vision of quality overcrowded. – 2 –

Most of the system’s weaknesses were already well known Principles of the Independent School Reform Model in the country; and although previous modernization attempts had introduced specifi c innovations, they had lacked the strong Autonomy. Independent schools operate autonomously, vision and clear implementation strategy necessary to improve subject to the conditions specifi ed in a time-limited the whole system. contract. Accountability. Independent schools are held account- Designing the New System able to the government through regular audits and report- Th e extensive concerns about the system and the past failures ing mechanisms, as well as student assessments, parental to introduce sustainable reform argued for system-changing feedback, and other measures. solutions rather than incremental approaches, plus a well- Variety. Interested parties may apply to operate schools, articulated implementation plan. and diverse schooling options are to be off ered, since each Independent school is free to specify its educational Curriculum Standards philosophy and operational plan. RAND recommended that no matter what else was to occur, Choice. Parents are allowed to select the school that best the basic educational elements of a standards-based system fi ts their child’s needs. had to be put in place. Th e most fundamental need was for clear curriculum standards oriented toward the desired outcomes of schooling. Th e new system’s curriculum, assess- Implementation Plan ments, and professional development would all need to be RAND developed a detailed plan for implementing the aligned with these clear standards, which would cover both chosen reform model. Th is implementation plan specifi ed content (what students should be taught in each grade) and that there would be four new government institutions, three performance (what students should know by the end of each permanent and one temporary, to aid in changing the power grade). However, the standards would not dictate or even and authority within the system: propose the curriculum itself, nor prescribe how informa- • Supreme Education Council. A permanent institution tion and skills were to be conveyed. To promote continuous representing the “end users” of the education system improvement, the initiative called for education data to be (such as employers and higher education) and responsible collected, analyzed, and disseminated to the public. for setting national . • Education Institute. A permanent institution respon- New Governance Structure sible for overseeing the new, Independent schools and RAND presented three governance options to the Qatari allocating resources to them; developing national cur- leadership for discussion: (1) a Modifi ed Centralized Model, riculum standards in Arabic, mathematics, science, and which upgraded the existing, centrally controlled system English; and developing teacher training programs to by allowing for some school-level fl exibility with or with- ensure a supply of qualifi ed teachers for the new schools. out parental choice of schools; (2) a Charter School Model, • Evaluation Institute. A permanent institution respon- which encouraged variety through a set of schools indepen- sible for monitoring student and school performance in dent of the Ministry and which allowed parents to choose both Ministry and Independent schools; designing and whether to send their children to these schools; and (3) a administering national tests and surveys of students, Voucher Model, which off ered parents school vouchers so teachers, parents, and principals; producing annual that they could send their children to private schools and “school report cards”; and operating the national educa- which sought to expand high-quality private schooling in tion data system. Qatar. • Implementation Team. A temporary institution respon- Th e Qatari leadership decided to proceed with the sible for helping to establish the other institutions and second option, which was then refi ned and given a new performing oversight, coordination, and advisory func- name—the Independent School Model. Th is model would tions during the transition to the new system. focus on well-aligned standards, curriculum, assessments, and professional development, and would emphasize the four As illustrated in the fi gure (next page), the new system principles shown in the box (next column). Th e adoption of was designed to run in parallel with the existing Ministry of these principles was notable in a region where such principles Education. Th e Ministry staff and Ministry-operated schools are rarely seen in government education systems. would be unaff ected for the most part during the early years – 3 –

Organization of Qatar’s Education System schools that opened in Fall 2004—from a pool of 160 initial applicants; all 12 opened under three-year renew- Supreme able contracts. In 2005, 21 additional Independent Education Existing Council System schools opened, and in 2006, 13 more opened.

Ministry of Challenges Education Evaluation Education Institute Institute As is usual in a reform this ambitious and rapid, there were challenges. Since Qatar has a small population, staff and con- tractors had to be recruited from around the world to fi ll spe- cialized positions. Foreign experts brought needed experience Ministry School Private but sometimes found it diffi cult to collaborate across culture, Independent Independent Arabic School School School Ministry distance, and time to implement the reform’s many programs. School Th e wide scope of the reform created additional chal- Independent Private School Ministry Arabic lenges. One ongoing, key challenge has been that of main- School School taining everyone’s focus on the interrelated changes to the whole system, especially as the number of staff and contrac- tors expanded. Th e reform’s ambitiousness and scope also made it challenging to communicate the vision of the reform of the reform. In this way, parents could exercise real choice to the many stakeholders in the education system. as to whether to send their children to the new schools or keep them in the Ministry or private schools. Recommendations As members of the team that supported these eff orts over Implementing the New System four years, RAND researchers developed insight into what Th e Qataris began implementing the reform in 2002, once worked, what did not work, and why. Based on their experi- the Supreme Education Council and the Institutes were ences in Qatar, as well as a more general knowledge of reform established by Qatari law. eff orts elsewhere, the RAND team off ered four recommen- dations for strengthening the reform as it moves forward: Achievements • Build more local capacity to manage the reform. What was achieved in just a few years was remarkable: Increased expertise is needed in Qatar’s teaching work- • Standards. Qatar now possesses curriculum standards force and among the Institutes’ staff . Non-Qatari in Arabic, mathematics, science, and English for all specialists are likely to be required in the future, but it 12 grades—and these standards are comparable to the is important that they fi nd the means to transfer knowl- highest in the world. Of particular note are the new edge to Qataris to build local human resources. standards for the study of Arabic, which stress practical • Continue to promote the principles of the reform. language skills using texts from a wide variety of sources. Th e four principles of the reform—autonomy, account- • Tests and surveys. In 2004, the Evaluation Institute ability, variety, and choice—are new to education tested every student in the Ministry schools and students systems in this region and thus need to be widely pro- in many private schools to document achievement levels moted and developed within the Supreme Education before the reform’s Independent schools began to open. Council, the Education and Evaluation Institutes, and It also surveyed all principals, teachers, and parents and the schools. It is particularly important to reinforce the most students in these schools. Th ese tests and surveys principles of decentralized autonomy and accountability were then upgraded and repeated in 2005 and 2006 as for results. part of the ongoing accountability system. Th e tests are • Expand the supply of high-quality schools. Th e the fi rst standardized measures of student learning avail- success of the reform’s system-changing design rests able in the Arabic language. partly on the establishment of high-quality Independent • Independent schools. Potential school operators schools. Qatar should seek to attract the best school responded enthusiastically to the call to open the new operators without regard to nationality and should pro- schools. Th e Education Institute selected operators for vide ongoing support to school operators as they develop the fi rst generation of schools—the 12 Independent their visions of quality education. – 4 –

• Integrate education policy with broader social fi nancing for private providers of education that is similar policies. Th e education reform resides within a broader to that of Qatar. Also, the Secretary General of the Gulf social, political, and economic system, which includes Cooperation Council praised Qatar’s initiative, especially its social welfare policies and a civil service system that curriculum standards. Since these standards are the founda- ensure employment for most Qataris. Th ese broader poli- tion for teaching, learning, and accountability, the Secretary cies must be aligned with the leadership’s modernization General’s praise, motivated by concern throughout the region objectives if the country is to achieve its vision. about preparing students for later life, represents a major endorsement of the approach taken in Qatar. As a result of the K–12 reform, some of Qatar’s children Th e leadership of Qatar has embarked on a bold course are now in learner-centered classrooms within improved to improve its education system. Qatar’s example should facilities where better-prepared and better-trained teachers serve to point the way for other countries to examine their guide them in accordance with internationally benchmarked own education systems, begin an improvement process, and standards. As the reform progresses, these benefi ts should incorporate some or all of this reform’s principles into their extend to more children. plans for reform. Th e Qatar education reform and the strong Some of the principles of this new reform are already interest it has elicited hold the promise that students in the spreading in the region. Th e emirate of Abu Dhabi in the region will be better prepared to think critically and to par- United Arab Emirates recently adopted a strategy of public ticipate actively in their workforces and societies. ■

This research brief describes work done within RAND Education under the auspices of the RAND-Qatar Policy Institute documented in Education for a New Era: Design and Implementation of K–12 Education Reform in Qatar, by Dominic J. Brewer, Catherine H. Augustine, Gail L. Zellman, Gery Ryan, Charles A. Goldman, Cathleen Stasz, and Louay Constant, MG-548-QATAR, 2007, 216 pp., $30.00 (available at http://www.rand.org/pubs/monographs/MG548/), ISBN: 978-0-8330-4007-7. The RAND Corporation is a nonprofi t research organization providing objective analysis and effective solutions that address the challenges facing the public and private sectors around the world. RAND’s publications do not necessarily refl ect the opinions of its research clients and sponsors. R® is a registered trademark.

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