There are some things parents need to know about schools.
What are the secrets?
What happens behind the scenes?
There are over thousands of international schools across the countries in Asia now so parents are truly spoilt for choice when it comes to selecting the right one for their children.
Or are they?
As a parent, you may not even know what exactly to look for in a school or how one is truly different from another.
Mr Greg Parry, is CEO of Global Services in Education and they operate school across Asia and the Middle East.
He is an educator who operates schools.
I love restaurants and beautiful food but that doesn’t mean I am qualified to run a restaurant. We moved into this field because we were proven educators concerned about business people messing up schools. If you are not an educator you have no business independently operating a school.
As an experienced education leader he is well positioned to share some “behind the scenes”insights into school management so that parents can ask the right questions and truly understand what they are being offered. He knows the traps and understands what truly makes a difference.
Here are his suggestions on what you should consider and questions to ask when looking for an international school. As you would expect these questions are a little different.
1. Price
One of the biggest factors for parents when choosing an international school is ‘value for money’, which is a fair question to ask. However, parents should remember that international schools are expensive because they employ expensive educators who are experienced and well-trained, from native English speaking backgrounds.
As a parent, one of the things you should be looking at is where a school’s teachers come from, what qualifications do they have, and how often do employed teachers receive training. You should verify if the foreign teachers are in fact fully qualified and if that matches up with the tuition fees being charged. Just because a school is labelled as an ‘International School’ with ‘Foreign Teachers’, that doesn’t guarantee value for money or even quality.
Questions to ask :
- Where are the teachers from?
- What are the teacher’s qualifications?
- Do teachers receive continuous training?
- How do you select the teachers? Please explain your process.
2. Teacher & Principal Turnover
High staff turnover is a big issue for any business in any industry, including education. According to research, the average tenure of an international school teacher is 3.2 years in one location. So that’s your baseline. If the school you’re looking at has a much lower average, then that is a strong sign that the school itself is below average. There can be many reasons for high turnovers, though, some of which include management, and how supported and empowered the staff feels. After all, teachers care passionately about what they do and money alone doesn’t satisfy them. The same goes for principal turnover, the average of which is four to five years.
Questions to ask :
- What is the average tenure of teachers and principals at the school?
- Why did the last Principal leave?
- Do you have exit surveys from previous teachers that I can review?
3. Educational Leadership
It’s natural to assume that a school’s excellence can be measured by the number of students who achieve great grades. Successful students are hard to miss; they are rewarded for excellence and are constantly applauded. However, you have to also pay attention to the average students, as the progress of these students is the real indicator of the school’s success. Are the C students in time getting C+, are the B- students getting Bs? In the education industry we often call this “distance travelled.” No child should be anonymous and every student should have their needs met. Every child should progress and improve.
Teachers have to be accessible and their methods transparent. Each students’ progress should be monitored, and not just via scheduled testing. Also, parents should be regularly updated on their child’s progress by teachers with clear plans on how to respond to negative results.Questions to ask :
- How is progress monitored?
- How can I access teachers and information about my child’s progress?
- What is the ‘distance travelled’ by the average student?
- If my child is not progressing what do you do? How do you adjust the way you teach?
4. Decision-Makers
Private international schools are likely led by two types of leaders: an educator whose passion is to lead a school where students become successful, both academically and socially; and a business person whose main focus is ultimately to run a good and profitable business for themselves and their shareholders. It may seem that these goals contradict each other but that is not necessarily so. Schools are profitable and successful when parents and students are satisfied by the quality of education being delivered. So it’s imperative that both parties are clear about achieving these goals which can be done when visions are aligned and quality education is made a priority. To generalise, a business person and educator might think very differently. GSE as a company takes pride in being “a bridge” given their in depth experience as educators as well as their experience operating many international schools on behalf of investors.
Questions to ask :
- Who makes the decisions in the school?
- If the Principal wants to spend 1000USD explain what the decision making process looks like.
- Who solves key challenges in the school? The owners or the Principal?
- How much leeway do educators get when crafting the programs?
5. School Vision & Mission
Often, the school vision and mission is considered ‘window dressing’, a mere marketing hype. In truth, a schools vision is and should drive all decisions made with regards to the school, whether that’s a focus on sciences, arts, humanitarian ideals, or language development. It should be clear to any observer what the school wants to accomplish. If the vision aligns with your expectations and needs as a parent, don’t be afraid to ask the school how they plan on following through with that vision and achieving what they’ve set out in their mission statement. Schools should have “signature experiences.” There should be events, activities, behaviours and experiences that scream the vision out loud!
Questions to ask :
- What is the schools vision and mission?
- What are the practices and experiences that truly demonstrate that the school is aligned with their vision and mission?
- How was the vision first determined? Why?
6. Technology
Technology is an important aspect in any modern school, but often schools implement fancy technology just for the sake of it to make the school look advanced and superior. Instead, schools should embrace the use of technology in learning and incorporate it seamlessly to provide a learning experience and approach that can maximize learning through technology. The goal here should be to increase student achievement. However, there also has to be a system in place to guide the usage of technology and provide protection from access to inappropriate materials.
Questions to ask :
- What training are teachers and students getting on using the technology available in school?
- How often are the systems updated and evaluated?
- How is technology integrated in the learning process, both inside and outside the classroom?
7. Teaching Quality
As a parent, you may not be sure about how best to judge the quality of teaching. Parents need to know what quality looks like. The instinctive thing to do is look at personality, charisma, and likability. While these traits are certainly helpful for an educator to have, they are also quite superficial. What you’ll want to look for is a teacher who not only plans thoroughly, but is also able to adapt and tailor instructions for children based on their individual needs since every child is different and learns in different ways and at different speeds. Teachers who plan with an end goal in mind are focused on learning outcomes and achieving benchmarks.
Questions to ask :
- How do teachers approach planning for each unit of work?
- If my child is advanced, or behind, how will the teacher adapt their teaching methods to meet their needs?
8. Quality Assessment
In Asia, the phenomenon of ‘over-testing’ is rife. In general, parents value testing very highly as they see it as an indication of a school’s quality. While testing is essential, it’s rarely indicative of a quality learning environment. It can also be argued that completing a test only takes time away from learning. Instead, focus should be placed on directing students on a path of continuous learning, reflection, and review of lessons in order for learning to be maximized. When a teacher is aware of a student’s progress or lack thereof, they are then able to adjust the way they teach to address the concepts and skills that a student has yet to master.
Questions to ask :
- How is a student’s progress monitored and evaluated apart from testing?
- Can you show me examples of methods the school uses to assess student progress?
- What do your report cards look like?
- How is teaching and learning adjusted in response to assessment?
9. Extra-curricular Activities
Extra Curricular activities are a perfect place for schools to inflate hype about the “cool and unique” things they have to offer. In truth almost any activity is possible, at the right price, with many hundreds of vendors all lobbying for a place to offer a program. Many schools also offer their own in-house programs without additional cost and these choices are obviously driven by the skills set available within the teacher team. In a school all activities should be purposeful and reflect the mission of the school. This includes fun but also should reflect balanced and considered decisions.
Questions to ask :
- How do you screen extra curricular activities?
- Does the school receive commission from ECAs? What is the purpose of ECAs?
10. Accreditation
Finally, make sure to take a look at a school’s accreditation. Parents need to know. It’s a great way of gauging the quality of education it delivers, whether the school meets or exceeds the minimum standards of quality. Accreditation in most cases simply documents and validates good practice. In many cases it validates that the school is aiming at high standards and is working towards perfection. Sometimes schools partner with universities or organisations but it is not clear what this really means. How do you know if the fancy badge on the website or strong endorsement is actually valid? Ask other people, do your research and be sure that if the accreditation does not appear on many other school sites, the school is either very unique or that badge may not be universally accepted within the education industry.
Questions to ask :
- How did you achieve accreditation? What steps did you take to get the approval?
- What is the nature of your relationship with partner organisations. Do you receive commission for any part of the university pathway?
- Ask to see the report and any plans to address areas for development?
Now you know what to look for and questions to ask when looking for an international school!
Do you want your school to be exceptional?
Want to learn more?
CEO and Education Expert Greg Parry
Internationally renowned for his expertise in education leadership, Greg Parry’s vast experience includes leadership of projects for edu-cation institutions throughout Australia, the Middle East, the United States, India, Indonesia, Malaysia and China. Recognised for his numerous contributions in the education arena, Greg has received the Ministers Award for Excellence in School Leadership based on improvements in school performance and a range of successful principal training and leadership development programs, as well as the School of Excellence Award for Industry/School Partnerships and the School of Excellence Award for Technology Innovation. His company GSE (Global Services in Education) has been recognised as having the Best Global Brand in International Education in 2015 and 2016.
Considered one of the premier experts in his profession, Greg has trained teachers and principals throughout the world in areas such as critical thinking, language development and leadership. His expertise in school start up projects, leadership and curriculum development, has made him a sought after authority in these disciplines.
Global Services in Education set up and operate schools in all parts of the world. Governed by a philosophy of global citizenship, every member of the GSE team shares a passion to help shape international education and student achievement through inspiration and collaboration.
Our goal is to meet the highest objectives of every school, teacher, student and parent, with an unwavering dedication to quality education, shared ideals and intercultural perspectives.
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