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At the beginning of the
2009-2010 school year, DAS introduced its new dual language
International Program. This program aims to ensure that DAS
graduates can learn, work, and think effectively in both
English and Arabic. An additional benefit of the program is
that students are able to make use of up-to-date resources,
methodologies, and technology in both languages throughout
their school career.
The curriculum is the
same for all students from pre-kindergarten levels through 8th
grade (second intermediate), providing science and math and
other courses in English and Arabic in alternative years.
When entering 9th grade (third intermediate), the students
must choose between two programs: 1) continuing in the
International Program to earn an American Diploma through a
focus on more English; and 2) switching to the advanced
Saudi Muqararat curriculum which offers more subjects
in Arabic. Both programs are accepted for gaining admission
to universities in Saudi Arabia and abroad, since the
Muqararat Program is authorized by the Saudi Ministry of
Education and the International Program is accredited by the
North Central Association Commission for Accreditation and
Improvement (NCA CASI).
In the 11th
grade (second secondary), the Muqararat students are
required to choose between two streams: science or
humanities. Whereas our boys’ school only offers the science
stream, the girls’ school offers both the science and
humanities streams in the years when it has enough students
ready for both programs..
A. CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTION
With the introduction of
its new International Program, DAS has had the opportunity
to gradually revise all of its curricula.
The first step was to
agree on a revision of our standards. The DAS standards for
English and Arabic are based on those in Delaware in the
USA. Science and math are also based on Delaware standards,
as well as on the recommendations of the National Council of
Teachers of Mathematics, National Science Teachers
Associations, and the American Association for the
Advancement of Science. The curricula for geography, history
and social studies are being developed on the basis of the
AERO standards designed for international schools. Religion
standards are being developed in the school on the basis of
the school’s Targeted Characteristics for its students (see
DAS Mission, Vision and Targeted Characteristics).
As standards, scope, and
sequence are becoming clarified, teachers are revising their
curriculum maps and the design of their units. Now in our
third year of training on backward design, through the use
of “Understanding by Design” by McTighe and Wiggins,
teachers are collaborating to revise all our units in this
format. Many of these have been uploaded onto Rubicon Atlas
and shared with other schools in both English and Arabic.
Although we still have a long way to go to complete and fine
tune all our units, the impact on the School’s program of
using backward design has already been significant.
Instruction has become more focused on big ideas, deep
understanding, the application of higher level thinking
skills, the relationships between academic disciplines
and between the
units of study and real life, and
the gradual development of learning skills. Further, this approach to
planning requires that the design of assessment is based on
student application of skills and knowledge needed for the
twenty-first century.
Inquiry and
research have played a growing part in our approach to
student learning. All students at all age levels are
involved in learning independently and collaboratively
through use of the library, internet, and their own
projects. Teachers are trained and encouraged to use many
learner-centered strategies such as cooperative learning,
literature circles, service learning, and others in order to
ensure a focus on thinking and learning skills as well as
collaborative skills and a link with real life. Technology
is integrated into the normal instructional process as well
as being a separate topic of study.
B. SOCIAL STUDIES
DAS has been making use
of new materials and methods of instruction in social
studies. For example, 10th grade social studies
in Arabic is now organized around preparation for a full day
simulation of Arab League (Model Arab League). Secondary
students also take a course in English called Global Issues
which results in involvement of 11th grade
students in a Model United Nations simulation in our school,
as well as readiness to participate in multiple
international events. Social studies in English in the
intermediate grades are now taught with a new,
internet-based program. This program challenges students to
use the tools of geography to view, analyze, and understand
the world around them. As an additional benefit, the
program has been carefully designed to build students’
content area reading skills in English. Students do
assignments at home and at school using the internet to
research issues as they appear in different countries.
B. SCIENCE AND MATH
DAS has always been
focused on the teaching of math and science. Starting with
pre-school and continuing all the way through elementary and
beyond, teachers are well trained to help students digest
math concepts by using especially prepared “hands-on”
materials for “minds-on” activities. This is the reason why
DAS students have always been known for doing exceptionally
well in math examinations and in the current international
competitions. (See Student Achievements).
Similarly, science is
taught through participation in experiments and inquiry
activities. The elementary stage focuses on learning the
scientific method and applying thinking and research skills
to figuring out the answers to real questions.
At the intermediate and
secondary level, students are asked to apply their knowledge
in projects to explain or research answers to questions.
Some physics classes incorporate the use of robotics, as
was explained in an action research report presented by DAS
teachers at a conference at Effat College this year in Jedda.
This project reflects the enthusiasm, especially in the
boys’ school, for participation in our weekend robotics
program. More than seventy boys of different ages are
coming regularly with their teachers on Thursdays and, as a
result, our teams have represented Saudi Arabia at
international competitions in many countries, including
Japan, Turkey, Holland, Norway, Jordan, and the US. At the
meet in Japan, they won the award for “Most Creative
Project” over teams from the Far East and in Turkey, they
won over teams coming from Germany, England as well as many
other countries for best scientific research project in
connection with robotics. Their teachers are especially
proud that our teams have also been recognized repeatedly
for the excellence of their teamwork. (For more
information, please see the list of Recent Student
Achievements.)
DAS teachers design other
science courses in both Arabic and English that result in
group or individual projects that are worthy of competition
in international science fairs. As a result, DAS girls and
boys have consistently done well in the Kingdom’s various
science competitions. They have been chosen each year to
represent Saudi Arabia in the INTEL International Science
and Engineering Fairs in the US as well as in other fairs in
several locations, inside and outside Saudi Arabia. Several
age groups also participate and place highly or win each
year in science fairs at the American University of Beirut.
(Please see the list of Recent Student Achievements for more
information.)
Based on their showing in
these events, DAS is among the strongest representatives in
the Kingdom for participation in the summer activities
inside KSA and outside, organized by King Abdulla’s Program
for the Gifted and Talented (Mowhiba), Almost thirty have
already been chosen for the summer of 2012 for Mowhiba and
KAUST. Several graduates have also been selected for special
scholarships to universities from the King Abdulla
University for Science and Technology (KAUST).
B. LANGUAGES
While DAS has
historically been an Arabic school and most subjects have
been taught in Arabic, it has always had a strong English
program that has been well supported for all age levels and
expanded with extra reading, research and presentations. The
school is now moving toward becoming a dual language school
in which all students reach the level where they can learn,
work and think in both languages.
Since research points to
the importance of children studying math and science in
their own language first, these subjects will continue to be
taught in Arabic in the primary years but students will
gradually have opportunities to study math and science in
both languages in alternating years from the 3rd
grade. The target will be to give all students enough of
both languages that they are able to choose either of the
two secondary programs, one focusing more on English and one
focusing more on Arabic.
According
to the new plan started in the 2009-2010 academic year,
students in the primary level have from 80 to 120 minutes
per day in English and the rest of the program is in Arabic.
The amount of English increases gradually in the upper
elementary and in the intermediate level. The full
intermediate and secondary programs will not be reached,
however, until the 2012-2013 school year. In the meantime,
an increasing number of electives will be offered in English
beyond the basic program and some secondary Muqararat
students will be able to fulfill some science and/or math
requirements in English.
In the
2007-2008 academic year, DAS started making it possible for
some students to fulfill some English requirements through
distance learning courses offered by Stanford University’s
Educational Program for Gifted Youth (EPGY). Unfortunately,
Stanford has now closed access to this program for
international students.
In order to
increase effectiveness of instruction in the two languages,
DAS has invited international consultants to guide us as we
undertake a major review of our language programs. Among
other steps we have taken in relation to English, we have
reorganized our instructional groupings and reduced their
size thus almost doubling the number of English teachers in
both the girls’ and boys’ schools. We aim at assigning at
least one native speaker to each cluster in order to provide
native accents. With new teachers and new books, DAS has
also increased effectiveness of its assessment of student
learning through use of internationally recognized
standardized tests in English.
DAS
considers the teaching of Arabic fully as important as
English but is faced with more challenges because of the
lack of good instructional materials and books to guide
Arabic teachers. Therefore, it sent three leaders for a two
year program of training as literacy coaches, They have
been able to use what they learned for both languages As a
result of the efforts led by these coaches, the Arabic
program has been greatly enhanced through a number of steps
including but not limited to the following: the ongoing
training and support of teachers in the use of modern,
research-based methods of teaching reading and writing; the
presence of full libraries in each primary classroom in
addition to the main school library; the classification of
books according to reading levels; the improvement of
materials and practices in the Student Support Unit to help
the children who continue to struggle; and the analysis of
results of a standardized test at the end of each semester
in order to guide decisions for individual students and for
the program as a whole. DAS is now sending six more
teacher-leaders to attend a two-year program of training in
literacy coaching, this time specifically for Arabic. They
will be able to lead the continued development of our Arabic
program at all age levels.
C. STANDARDIZED TESTS
In the 2011-2012 school
year, DAS will build on its experimentation with some
standardized tests, and embark on a new plan for
standardized testing at all levels and in both languages.
The results of these tests will be used by teachers, parents
and students to guide decisions about instruction,
curriculum, individualized work and remediation.
English teachers will be
assisted through the use of the DRA2 in the primary years
and then will use the MAP tests for reading and math. In the
high school years they will use the PSSS and PSAT to help
students prepare for SAT I and II and TOEFL in their last
two years.
Since there are almost no
standardized tests available in Arabic, DAS has developed
its own Arabic literacy and math tests, making use also of
Arabic translations of the PIRLS and PISA practice tests. At
the secondary level, students take the Saudi college
entrance tests – the Quderat and Tahseeli. In the Quderat,
our boys have been the first in Saudi Arabia for six years
and our girls have been the second. They have also been
among the leaders in the Tahseeli. (Please see the section
on Recent Student Achievements.)
D. EXAMINATION AND MARKING
SYSTEMS
Having undergone
significant changes over recent years, the marking system is
different for each age level. At the pre-school, primary and
upper elementary levels, most grades are given through a
system of continuous assessment which includes teacher
observation, performance assessment tasks, projects, and
multiple methods for analyzing students’ progress on a
continuum of development in Arabic, English and math
literacy.
In the plan that is
required for the Ministry of Education for advanced Saudi
secondary program (Muqararat), methods of continuous
assessment are also used to give grades for Arabic
(1,2,3,4), Holy Quran, life skills, administrative skills,
family education, and career education.
For other subjects, 50% of the semester grade is based on
periodic tests, homework, classroom participation and class
projects. The other 50% comes from final exams at the end of
the semester. In this system, all courses are held 5 periods
per week. The grades are not weighted. All tests and
examinations are teacher prepared.
Starting in the 2010-2011
school year, the intermediate grades and the American
diploma program began to use a standards-based system. In
this system, the teachers of each subject area agree on
certain summative tasks for each unit which are weighted
according to importance within the entire course. Some
courses continue to have final examinations but these can
never be given a weight of more than 20% of the grade. All
grades are weighted and given in percentage points. In the
case that any required summative task or examination has not
been completed at the end of the grading period, the student
will take an ‘Incomplete’ until the work is made up under
the supervision of a teacher. In this way, the marks given
will be a clear indication of the quality of work done by
the student under teacher supervision with no possibility of
work being graded that has been done by others. A detailed
behavioral report will be submitted to parents along with
the final grades with a maximum of 10% of any grade going
for attendance, participation and homework.
E. THE STUDENT SUPPORT UNIT (PREVIOUSLY CALLED THE
EARLY INTERVENTION PROGRAM)
The Student
Support Unit (SSU) aims at early identification of students
who learn differently from others. It offers a variety of
services that both encourage them and assist in removing
barriers or giving the extra or
specialized tuition needed for the special needs student to
move forward in Arabic, English and mathematics. This
program is undertaken by specially-trained staff at the
elementary level and, in a few cases, at the intermediate
level. It utilizes both pull-out and push-in, both
individual and small group patterns of assistance.
F. CO-CURRICULAR PROGRAMS
DAS
considers its co-curricular program to be equally as
important as the regular academic subjects because of its
direct influence on students’ characters and personalities.
This program is carried out through many means, including
clubs (see below). It also includes homeroom groups through
which the students discuss a variety of matters and
undertake group research on topics of current concern in the
world that they then present in school assemblies. They also
elect representatives to their own Student Council which
meets weekly with members of the school’s administration.
Students also have the opportunity to show their talents
through student publications, student exhibits, sports,
contests and other events.
G. COMMUNITY SERVICE, CLUBS AND ATHLETICS
All
students from third elementary and above are involved in
club activities and community service projects during normal
school hours. These activities
are aimed at helping youth discover their talents and
interests, develop skills of leadership and group work, and
learn more about the world through involvement in projects
of service to their school, their community, and other
places in the world. Further, they aim at implanting both a
habit and enjoyment of being of service to others. We want
our students to see themselves as effective contributors to
efforts to make the world a better place.
Younger
students are encouraged to choose different projects or
activities each semester in order to have a variety of
experiences. As they get older, they are more likely to stay
with a project for a year or more. Most students are
involved in at least one semester-long or year-long service
project each year. The current list of service projects and
club activities varies slightly from year to year but can be
found each semester on the website.
Among the new club
activities popular among the students are the Model United
Nations and the Lego Robotics Activities. DAS teams have
come home from national and international competitions with
prizes and awards of various sorts (please see Recent
Student Accomplishments). Also popular are the clubs that
focus on science projects that will compete in national and
international science fairs. DAS teams have won nationally
each year and have, therefore, represented the Kingdom of
Saudi Arabia in the International Science and Engineering
Fair held in the US organized by Intel (ISEF).
Athletic
activities are always popular, of course, especially with
the boys. There are activities during school time, during
recesses, and sometimes there are after-school practices and
events. DAS boys participate in on-going tournaments for
several sports, such as soccer, basketball, volleyball,
tennis and others. Selected teams of boys also travel to
other schools and cities for friendly competitions
and championships.
Other boys
are involved in the Dammam Private Schools Athletic League
which was organized by DAS and includes private schools of
many nationalities. This league has seasons for different
kinds of games and holds championship tournaments through
which they focus on teaching life skills as well as sports.
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