2010-01-24
As reported in Khaleej Times
The MoE will make available a comprehensive handbook to all schools in the N. Emirates to prepare them for the academic accreditation process, to enhance education standards.
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Evaluators will be spending about 60minutes in classrooms observing student attentiveness and the teaching methodology. Picture used for illustrative purpose only.—KT photo
This comes after the conclusion of the pilot phase undertaken in 71 schools in the Northern Emirates.
The Academic Accreditation manual was developed after a pilot study was undertaken in 69 public and two private schools in October and November 2009 by the Accreditation and Licensure department of the ministry in collaboration with the Centre for British Teachers Education Trust (CfBT).
Another 403 schools in the emirates of Sharjah, Ajman, Ras Al Khaimah, Fujairah and Umm Al Quwain, that were not part of the pilot phase will need to apply and adhere to the criteria laid down by the ministerial body to get the accreditation.
The schools that were a part of the pilot accreditation process have been sent assessment reports that include a diagnosis of their strengths and weaknesses in six focus areas — school leadership, links with the community, classroom environment, approach to student learning, their motivation and involvement in the education process, and student results.
In an interview with Khaleej Times during the evaluation process, Shaikha Al Shamsi, Director of the Accreditation and Licensure department at the ministry said all criteria laid down by the ministry must be met to achieve the Academic Accreditation.
“Either you meet the criteria or you don’t but the schools will then come up with an action plan and the ministry will support them in achieving the improvement goals,” she said.
Schools will need to work on the recommendations provided in the report and send across an action plan to the ministry charting out corrective measures that will enable them to achieve the accreditation.
However, schools that meet all criteria except one will be given three months to take corrective action. If it manages to achieve the goal in the follow-up visit, it will be granted an accreditation. Schools that lack in more than one criteria will be able to gain an accreditation only in the next cycle.
At the time, Al Shamsi said the next phase will being only in 2011, while this year, the ministry will hold workshops with school staff and prepare them for the evaluations and expect schools to conduct a self-evaluation.
The ministry is training teams to understand the nature of the diverse curricula taught at schools. A team of three evaluators — two external and one affiliated to the MoE — will visit each school for two days. The schools will be notified in advance and will have to prepare all documents as per the manual. Evaluators will spend 60 per cent of their time in classroom and will also conduct interviews with teaching staff, students and their parents to reach a verdict.
Al Shamsi also mentioned that, schools that receive an accreditation will not be subjected to the evaluation annually and suggested at least a three-year gap to implement a successful pedagogy. “We need to give schools time to work on their improvement,” she said.
According to her, the ministry has undertaken an evaluation process different from the inspection framework applied by the Knowledge and Human Development Authority’s Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau for the emirates’ schools. In Dubai, inspections that began in 2008 work on an annual cycle and schools have been put under categories such as outstanding, good, acceptable, unsatisfactory.
“Schools need to achieve the minimum standard that translates into ‘effective’ and then there will be schools that will be deemed highly effective,” Al Shamsi said.
Though schools that do not receive an accreditation will be given a chance to improve their standards, Al Shamsi said those that delay applying for an accreditation will not have their license renewed.
EVALUATION PROCESS
The Ministry’s evaluation team will conduct a preliminary visit to the school to gain an understanding about the school curricula and gather information for the final evaluation. The school will have to compile documents including strategic plans, organisation structure of employees and weekly timetable. The school will be asked to conduct a self-evaluation gauging its strengths and weaknesses based on the criteria laid down in the handbook.
During the full evaluation that will have a team visiting the school for two days, the principal will be asked to give a 20-minute presentation on the strengths, vision and priorities of the school. Schools will have to provide students work material from the past and the present semester to the team.
The evaluators will spend 60 per cent of their time in classes observing teaching methodologies and students’ attentiveness.
Voluntary parents and students will be interviewed.
The school will receive a verbal report on the last day of the evaluation.
A comprehensive written report will then be developed by the Ministry and sent to the schools
THE CRITERIA THAT ALL SCHOOLS MUST FULFIL
Within the six broad criteria there are sub-criteria that schools must fulfil:
School leadership:
** Protection and security of students
** Planning and development of the school
** Department staff and resources
** School vision mission and overall focus
Links with the community
** Relationships within the school—students, faculty, general atmosphere, student participation
** Familiarise students with the culture of the UAE, pride and identity
** Participation of parents and the community in school
Life approach to student learning
** Meeting the needs of students, both as individual and groups
** Provide a balanced educational experience— academic and extra curricular activities
Classroom environment
** Teaching methodologies adopted and teachers’ interaction with students
** Quality of the learning environment
Classroom management
** Expectation and motivation of students
** Assessment methods and integration between teaching and learning
** Students motivation and involvement
** Students attitude towards academic achievement
** Behaviour of students
Student results
** Performance of students in tests and examinations
** Students’ progress over time, skill development and preparedness for higher education.