New independent schools widen reform’s reach
Eighteen new independent schools opened their doors to students this fall, bringing the total number to 73. Each school is led by a school operator contracted by the Supreme Education Council (SEC) to devise and implement a specific, approved plan to achieve excellent educational outcomes and meet internationally benchmarked curriculum standards.
New professional standards for teachers and administrators
The Education Institute launched Qatar’s first set of professional standards for K–12 teachers and administrators. These standards, implemented in a seven-stage process, are integral to the continuous improvement of Qatar’s schools. Designed to accompany curriculum standards, the rigorous professional standards benchmark the skills and knowledge necessary for teachers to excel in independent school classrooms, ensuring they have deep understanding of the subjects they teach. Administrators use the standards to help drive
goal setting and employee assessment.
Demand grows for independent schools
Independent schools received a record number of applications from parents wanting to enroll their children. Many schools kept waiting lists as parents queued to exercise the chance to choose the school best able to educate their child. Classrooms
in the independent schools are student-centered spaces filled with lively discussions, hands-on learning,
and projects that nurture leadership, team-building, and research skills.
Information technology department strides advance SEC goals
The Supreme Education Council,s information technology (IT) staff kept busy this year helping to connect students and teachers to technology that enriches the learning experience. A system was developed that charts independent school students’ grades and results. The staff conducted training for independent school leaders on the grading system, as well as on an admissions system. The SEC worked with the Supreme Council for Information and Communications Technology to implement technology-driven programs such as Knowledge Net and e-Schoolbag. And the IT staff prepared to set up 40 foreign language teaching laboratories and ensured that all independent schools are wireless.
Annual symposium focuses on technology in education
The SEC held its annual symposium in March under the title “Illuminating Learning with Technology,” highlighting the powerful role technology can play in improving and enhancing the education process. The symposium featured lively discussions by experts from Canada, Hong Kong, Kuwait, and Qatar. Specific issues addressed included ways to use appropriate digital-age tools to motivate and challenge students; and strategies that support teachers as they strive to incorporate new technologies into curriculum and lessons.
A nationwide online discussion of education issues
The Supreme Education Council’s blog saw an increase in online visitors and a deeper discussion of ideas. In its second year, the blog provides Qataris a forum for sharing news and opinions about education reform. Blog participants this year included parents, teachers, students, and community leaders. Topics debated online included the value of student assessments, ways to keep children engaged in learning over holidays, the role
of technology in education, and avenues to recruit Qatari women and men to the teaching profession. The blog can be accessed through the SEC website
at www.english.education.gov.qa.
Technology to track and analyze education information
Quality information is vital to measuring reform’s progress and to supporting the decision making
of stakeholders in education. To this end, the SEC and the Evaluation Institute introduced new technology for effective reporting of a wide variety of data about Qatar’s education reform.
The Qatar National Education Data System
(QNEDS) provides vital information about Qatar’s education system - its students, teachers, and schools. Available through its portal, the reports cover topics such as parent and student satisfaction and teacher perceptions. Findings will help drive
policy-making and programmatic decisions as education reform progresses.
Qatar’s first PISA results released
As the only Gulf-region country to participate, Qatar took part for the first time in the Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA). The test results, released in December, underscored the need for education reform. Qatar’s relatively low rankings show that students are not yet fully equipped with the skills and knowledge to compete in the global market. Administered every three years, this global assessment study measures the science, reading, and math proficiency of 15-year-olds in 56 countries. The test differs from other international assessments in its focus on students’ ability to apply learning in a real-world context. The SEC will use the PISA findings to develop policies and programs to improve student achievement. All Ministry of Education, independent, private Arabic, community, and international schools in Qatar participate in the PISA, which is conducted by the Organization for Economic Coopeartion and Development (OECD).
Fourth-grade student performance is reason for optimism
Fourth-grade students in Qatar participated in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS), an important global assessment of students’ reading literacy. The 2007 results showed that Qatar’s fourth-grade students performed better than
their peers in Kuwait, Morocco, and South Africa, and slightly lower than those in Iran and Indonesia. Demonstrating that education reform is working, average reading scores were higher for independent school students than for boys and girls in Ministry
of Education and private Arabic schools. Girls outperformed boys in all schools. Forty countries and five territories participated in the study. PIRLS results serve as a benchmark to assess the progress of reading literacy improvement, a skill necessary to perform well in all subjects and later excel in the workplace.
A national measure of student achievement
This year’s Qatar Comprehensive Educational
Assessment (QCEA) results show that students who have attended independent schools the longest perform better than their peers in Arabic, English, mathematics, and science. Measuring student performance in these four subjects in grades 4 through 11, the QCEA found that a majority of Qatari students did not meet the rigorous standards established by the SEC. The QCEA tests have grown increasingly challenging since they are now benchmarked to global curriculum standards. The results showed that girls outperform boys in all subjects, and, overall, students performed better in Arabic and English than in mathematics and science.
Schools will use the findings to introduce and adapt teaching methods to improve outcomes.
School reports allow for comparisons over time
The Evaluation Institute issued school report cards for all independent, Ministry of Education, and private Arabic schools for the second consecutive year. The reports cover a wide range of important aspects about the schools that help parents and the community at large better understand each school’s performance in key areas. This information is aimed at helping parents select the best schools for their children and holding the schools accountable for their performance.
Enhancing teaching and learning through research
The Education Institute established a new initiative to foster scientific research skills in independent schools. With the goal of promoting research, the initiative encourages students to conduct systematic investigations, make predictions, identify patterns from data and observations, and determine whether evidence supports a hypothesis. Through strengthening these key competencies, students will develop skills in critical thinking and problem solving. Teachers will benefit from guiding student research and conducting their own professional research. A steering committee of experts in education, culture, health, finance, and industry will oversee the initiative.
More choices of universities to attend on scholarship
High school graduates seeking to pursue post- secondary education and professional leadership are now eligible for full or partial national scholarships at an additional 100 institutions. The Higher Education Institute has approved a total of 350 excellent colleges and universities throughout the world that students can attend as part of Qatar’s generous national scholarship program. Among additions are University College London, Pennsylvania State University and La Trobe University. These institutions join a roster that includes the Australian National University, Harvard University, and the University of Tokyo.
New graduation certificates for high school students
Students graduating from Qatar’s independent secondary schools now receive a comprehensive overview of their academic achievements. The Qatar Senior School Certificate (QSSC) provides a review of each student’s academic performance; scale scores in Arabic, English, mathematics, and science; specialized areas studied; and a list of non-academic accomplishments such as athletics, competitions, arts, and special recognitions. The QSSC will prove valuable to students as they pursue post-secondary school avenues, including university studies, training, or employment.
Leading company to operate technical school
The SEC signed a contract with Qatar Petroleum
to operate Qatar Technical School, the country’s first and only technical high school. Qatar Technical School will adopt the internationally acclaimed Technical and Further Education system, a global benchmark for technical studies. From grade 11, students specialize in technical aspects such as mechanical, electrical, industrial processing, business administration, and information technology.
SEC’s website named finalist for international award
The SEC website was nominated as a finalist for
the World Summit Award as the best e-content example in the Culture category. The honor
is awarded as part of the United Nations World Summit on the Information Society. Launched
in March 2004 at the same time as Education for
a New Era, the SEC site is maintained by the
Office of Communications. Thousands of parents,
students, teachers, and community leaders access the dynamic, information-rich website available
in both Arabic and English. Content includes “School News” about independent schools and “What’s New?” about milestones in education reform. Visitors can also access videos, audio files, and photos.
Record number of students attend Higher Ed Open House
For the second year, the Higher Education Institute’s
Advising and Career Development Center held
an open house for students in Qatar to learn about scholarship opportunities for universities and
colleges in Qatar, the United Kingdom, and the
United States. More students attended this year than in the previous year. The success of the event led to the development of a 2008 college fair with representation of more than 60 universities from around the world. The event received coverage by The New York Times.
Schools encourage parent involvement
Independent schools across Qatar recognize that parents can be major partners in helping education reform succeed. To that end, the schools are
employing a variety of methods to help keep parents informed and engaged in their child’s education. Most schools have regular parent-teacher conferences and regular open houses for parents to visit the school. Some have developed special newsletters aimed specifically at parents and others are employing SMS technology to reach the parents directly. Schools are also encouraging parents to volunteer for school activities and many parents are members of the schools’ boards of trustees, which work with the operator to ensure quality education in the schools.
New curriculum frameworks developed for independent schools
The Education Institute has developed three new curriculum frameworks to assist the independent schools in preparing lessons in three subjects:
physical education, family culture, and values.
The Education Institute is also developing more curriculum frameworks in the social sciences,
such as social studies. The new frameworks will begin to be implemented in Qatar’s classrooms in the 2008–09 school year.
-
Physical education. Around the world, fitness is being recognized as an essential component of quality learning. In Qatar, the physical education initiative includes not only in-school curriculum, but also a wide range of recommended extracurricular activities such as after-school football, basketball, volleyball, and coaching programs. Children will learn healthy ways of living and engage in age-appropriate games, gymnastics, and athletic activities.
-
Family culture. Teaching children how best to relate and interact with their families and maintain other healthy relationships is a major objective for the Supreme Education Council. The framework
aims to equip learners to be personally and socially confident, while encouraging positive attitudes
and behaviors. The family culture framework was developed to be integrated across other curriculum areas such as Islamic studies and social studies.
-
Values. Parents play an important role in instilling core values in their children and the Education Institute recognizes that these values need to be reinforced in the independent schools. The values framework will also be taught across other curriculum areas, stressing the importance of respect for oneself, respect for others, social and civic responsibility, and respect for Qatar’s cultural heritage.
