2009 Self-Study Report

Wells International School On Nut Campus Self-Study Report Prepared for the Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) Visiting Team – Spring 2009 PREFACE The WASC self-study process at Wells International School officially began after the interim visit in May 2007. The recommendations proposed from the initial visit were carefully addressed by the leadership team with the help of the faculty and staff over a period of time. Ever since, evidences were gathered, systems and procedures were set in place, and school planning was made in the direction of addressing the Focus on Learning (FOL) indicators. Subsequently, a more rigorous and comprehensive involvement of the whole school in the self-study process took place from August 2008 to December 2008. During the course of these five months, students, parents, administrators, department heads, teaching and non- teaching staff were all involved in examining and addressing the school and its programs in the context of the Focus on Learning (FOL) indicators. Important Dates Date Category A Category B Category C Category D Category E Aug. 13 Review process & criteria 27 A1, A2, A3 B1 C1 D1 E1 Sept. 10 A4, A5 B2 D2 E2 24 A6, A7 B3 C2 E3 Oct. 8 *Draft summary creation & submission 29 Prioritize & brainstorm for action items Nov. 12 Leadership team determines the feasibility of proposed action items to create short & long-term action plans. 26 *Focus Group Chair is responsible for this item. As indicated in the table above, the FOL self-study process kick-started with a review of the overall self-study process, division of focus groups, and assignment of specific tasks to different members of the focus groups. This took place on August 13, 2008. The following information was presented to the faculty and staff to prepare them for the weeks and months ahead of the FOL self-study process (prepared and presented by the WASC coordinators): Definition of Terms Home Group = constituencies of the school; also called the stakeholders, which literally includes EVERYONE who directly or indirectly belong to the school and its operations. To know more about the home groups, refer to the list of home groups along with the names of its members. You will realize that home groups are simply the already existing and functioning departments of the school. Sometimes, it is possible for a home group to be represented by just one individual, e.g. school clinic, library, etc. Home groups provide the focus group members with pertinent information about the school and its operation. Focus Group = groups set up to carry out the self-study process; there are five focus groups for each of the category being evaluated and reported in the self-study process. You belong to one such category or group. The focus group is responsible to gather data and evidences from appropriate home group(s), synthesize the same, and collaborative make decisions as to where we stand on a host of indicators on a particular category using a scale (Highly Effective --- Effective --- Somewhat Effective --- Ineffective). The purpose of collecting data and evidences from the home group(s) is to base our judgment about our effectiveness on a given indicator on hard-empirical-facts (and not on gut feeling). This is very crucial because the visiting team will verify our evaluation by double checking whether what we say exist or does not exist is true or otherwise. WASC Wednesdays = are WASC meeting days for the members of the focus groups to go through the indicators in a given category and/or subcategory and evaluate our effectiveness on the indicators. Before the members of the focus group meet on a WASC Wednesday, they would have gathered enough data and evidences by using a variety of data collection tools (will be explained in a bit) from the home group(s). The time span in-between Wednesday meeting is about two weeks, which allows the focus group members to do their data gathering work. This is done OBJECTIVELY. It is only when the focus group members come together on a WASC Wednesday does the Chair of the Self-Study Category (A, B, C, D, and E) lead the whole group in a process of self-evaluation (using a criterion-evaluation sheet), based on the data and evidences collected by all the members. Ideally, the Chair of the focus group compiles such data and evidences from the members of the focus group and makes them available during the WASC Wednesday meeting. Self-Study Report = after each WASC Wednesday meeting, the Chair of the focus group will synthesize all the evaluations made on a given set of indicators and write a description for each of the indicator discussed during the meeting. These descriptions are written in reference to the data and evidences collected by the members of the focus group. The description is not an exhaustive one. Rather, it is a summary and synthesis of the discussions that transpired during the previous WASC Wednesday meeting. Indicators = Also called Criteria/Criterion; Since the self-study is a highly purposeful process, all the evaluation and self-reflection is done on the basis of specific standards prescribed by the WASC accreditation body. The Chair’s written reports must reflect responses toward the specific indicators in a given category and/or sub-category (refer to the FOL handout). Other Responsibilities of the Focus Group Chair 1. Delegate tasks and set time limits for focus group members 2. Decide on who’s going to be responsible for what 3. Encourage members from time to time; boost their morale 4. Support and guide the members to the right source of information 5. When members are not able to gather data and/or evidences, you are responsible for it! 6. Get help from other Focus Group Chair or members when necessary 7. Work closely with the WASC co-coordinators How to Collect Data and Gather Evidences 1. Ask the right people by interviewing them (casual interviews would suffice) 2. Review school documents (this MUST be done with prior permission from the person in-charge of the said document) – e.g. handbook, minutes of meetings, plans and proposals, etc. 3. Where necessary, you could also rely on data collected through observations – e.g. to gauge how well students relate to each other during recess, you can observe students’ interaction patterns and record what you see – this could be used as a basis for decision-making about students’ emotional and social health in the school. (Warning: you cannot watch them casually and say things about their emotional and social health – recording what you see is necessary in this case!) 4. Results of responses on Questionnaires (Survey) Reminder: When you interview someone, you should summarize what you heard and gathered from that person and share only the gist of the interview (written form) with the Chair of the focus group – not the whole script. This will help the Chair to manage the different tasks he/she is responsible for. The same applies when you use other data collection tools, namely, review of school documents, observation records, and questionnaire results. Members of the focus group will write their individual findings based on data and evidences collected from the home group(s), before sharing them with the Chair of the focus group. Other Requirements 1. Honesty (state facts only) 2. Evidence-based empirical reporting 3. Co-operation (between members of the home and focus groups) 4. Going to the right people for the right information 5. Allow and encourage free and smooth flow of information Summary of Self-Study Procedures Approximately two weeks 4 WASC Focus Group Chair assigns indicator- Wednesday 1 specific data collection and evidence Meeting 5 gathering task(s) to Focus Group members: Led by the – Draft Chair Group Writing Focus by Focus Group Chair, the members Focus Group provide the members Interview 3 Chair with collaboratively Observation summary of answer the Review of School Documents findings, with question: Questionnaires reference to “Where do we (use one or more) the data and stand on XYZ evidences indicator?” gathered Criterion 2 Evaluation Sheet will be Data collection and Provided to evidence gathering from Guide this Home Group(s) process WASC Coordinators Mr. Ray D. de la Peña, Headmaster Dr. Edward Roy Krishnan, Director Curriculum, Instruction, Quality Assurance & Control Campus Administrative Leadership Team Mr. Ray D. de la Peña, Headmaster Ms. Naruemol Charoendet, Thai Director Ms. Gona Narula, Chief Office Administrator Mr. Ravin Maharjan, General Affairs Manager Dr. Edward Roy Krishnan, Director Curriculum, Instruction, Quality Assurance & Control Dr. Jessen Felix, Director Research & Development Campus Academic Leadership Team Mr. Jon Bluestein, Primary Academic Director Mr. Philip Murray, Student Support Services Dept. Head Mr. William Jones, LA/SS Dept. Head Mr. Bryan Salter-Townshend, MA/Sci Dept. Head Ms. Prerna Paryani, ESL Dept. Head Ms. Pae, Non-Core Dept. Head Mr. Dan Betts, Campus Liaison to the Board FOL Focus Groups Category A – Organization for Student Learning 1. Ms. Gona (Chair) 2. Mr. Brian 3. Mr. Dan 4. Ms. Tookta 5. Ms. Ann 6. Ms. Sue 7. Ms. Lisa 8. Ms. Ing 9. Ms. Anna 10. Ms. Lizel Category B – Curriculum and Instruction 1. Mr. Jon (Chair) 2. Mr. Bob 3. Ms. Zoe 4. Mr. Graham 5. Mr. Ashok 6. Ms. Prerna Category C – Support for Student Academic and Personal Growth 1. Mr. Philip (Chair) 2. Ms. Camarin 3. Ms. Mylene 4. Mr. Dee 5. Mr. Jared 6. Mr. Chi 7. Ms. Pae 8. Mr. Gary 9. Ms. Margaret Category D – Resource Management and Planning 1. Mr. Ravin (Co-chair) 2. Mr. Young 3. Mr. Jess 4. Mr. Joseph 5. Mr. Randy 6.

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