Talking Head’s Blog

A Student's Perspective

Thu, 17 Nov 2011 08:20:00 GMT

Given the floods impact on the ISB community, I wanted to use this as a blog topic. Then this morning I received a letter from an ex-ISB student, Sierra Chandler. She is now a student at Pace University in the United States. Frankly, her words communicate the message I wished to send far better than I ever could. She viewed a video about the ISB flood relief efforts and then she wrote the following:

“The video made me so unbelievably proud of my young classmates and I just had to share that joy with anyone who would listen/watch.

ISB was a pretty great place to go to school. My classmates were intelligent, well-rounded and pretty darned compassionate. At ISB, we were high achievers. We all subscribed to the “Asian Grading System” (wherein an A is acceptable and B is shameful) and you were crazy if you weren’t involved in some school organization, both community service and for leisure.

When I went to live in Cincinnati for my senior year I met some cool people but they didn’t come close. I didn’t really realize how ISB had shaped me as a person until I had a taste of something else. For a year I attended SCPA, a charter school that everyone wanted to attend. But as nice as the students were they didn’t care about school or their community. They were a completely different kind of teenager having a completely different High School experience: Not paying attention in class, skipping school, having no ambition beyond that weekend plan… It was a difficult culture shock to deal with.

I am aware that the participation and academic excellence was ingrained in us from an early age at ISB with the goal of being the most appealing college candidate possible. By total accident, somewhere along the way we ISB students genuinely began to care about all that. We wanted to get straight As in school. We wanted to make positive changes to our community. We wanted to spend our Friday’s doing community service and staying late at school every day to be in a play, practice for a band concert or be on a team. It was an understanding that anyone who didn’t care about these things, who would go straight home after school, wasn’t a person worth knowing. At least, I certainly didn’t know anyone who did that.

ISB kids are ambitious. They are future doctors and lawyers and world leaders. Even the ones who had no idea what they wanted to do with their lives knew that, whatever it was, they would be the best at it.What I mean to say in all of this is that I am grateful for ISB. It is responsible for cultivating so many of the things my friends and I love about each other and ourselves”

Sierra Chandler

New School Year Hopes

Mon, 01 Aug 2011 04:50:00 GMT

Same Same But Different - a classic Thai expression - it is especially relevant at this time of year for ISB. The school looks about the same but there have been a number of changes. All 35 elementary school classrooms have new German cupboards. Combined with the German furniture installed earlier, the classrooms are aesthetically pleasing and way more functional. The school's newly purchased land has been chewed up by pile drivers as we prepare for building a new gymnasium, 50 meter pool and tennis courts. The list goes on.

Our enrollment has climbed to an unexpected degree. We have the largest number of new students in at least 25 years. We have hired additional teachers so that our class sizes remain small. However, it will be a different scale of challenge to make sure these new students and parents feel welcomed to ISB and quickly feel part of our learning community.

At 6:50 AM on Monday, August 15, I will walk to ISB's front gate to welcome our students to a new school year. I will greet hundreds of children arriving on foot, on bikes, or in vehicles. My grin will be the biggest of the year for I love this day. The school has been empty and sad since I returned from my summer hiking trails in Colorado. Now the buildings will fill with excited and sometimes anxious students, eager to commence their new learning. I know what awaits them - their teachers, their friends, their learning opportunities - and I am proud to be part of this school.

I will be thinking about the excellent teachers who are returning to ISB. I have visited their classrooms, talked with their students, and know of their wonderful teaching. I will also be anticipating visits to the classrooms of our 37 new teachers. Each year more than 3, 000 teachers apply to work at ISB. We picked these 37 very carefully. I am a bit like a kid at Christmas wondering what delights are in the packages under the tree as I think about visiting their classrooms.

Finally, I have an additional, personal challenge this year, my eleventh and last at ISB. I have certain dreams for the school that I MUST see into reality before I leave. More about these in my next blog.

Dr. G

Who Wants Our Graduates?

Wed, 27 Apr 2011 02:23:00 GMT

ISB's Mission statement has 3 big learning outcomes for our students:

· Achieving academic potential

· Being passionate, reflective learners

· Becoming caring, global citizens

Most students arrive at ISB, learn a few years, and leave. So underneath the 3 outcomes is another equally important one --- transportable gifts. If we are successful, our students will leave ISB with a transportable gift of excellent learning that prepares them well for their next school. So one important measure of ISB's quality involves our students' acceptances at universities best suited to their interests and ambitions.

I am proud of the diversity and caliber of universities around the world that want our graduates. We still have many college acceptances to come for the 2011 class but I wanted to share some preliminary results for this year as well final results for last year.

More than 250 universities around the world have accepted the talented graduates from our 2010 and 2011 classes. Each graduate on average received 4 acceptances.

Each year U.S. News and World Report magazine lists the top 25 national universities in the United States. The table below displays some of the USN&WR top 25 universities that accepted ISB graduates in 2010 and 2011 as well as the number of ISB graduates accepted. Three top ranked Canadian universities are also included. About 60 percent of ISB graduates attend North American universities. As we receive 2011 acceptance results from universities on other continents, I will share them in a future blog.

Brown University - 3	Rice University - 3
Berkeley - 8	Stanford University - 3
UCLA - 9	Tufts University - 3
Carnegie Mellon University - 6	University of British Columbia - 24
Columbia University -2	University of Illinois - 26
Cornell University - 2	University of Michigan - 14
Harvard University - 1	University of Pennsylvania - 3
McGill University - 8	University of Southern California - 16
Northwestern University - 4	Washington University - 3
Queens University – 9	Yale University – 3

Although the USN&WR ranking is the most widely used list in the U.S., other university ranking approaches are emerging. In September 13, 2010, The Wall Street Journal reported on a completely different approach. U.S. corporate recruiters were surveyed. The table below displays the universities whose graduates were top rated by these recruiters. The numbers indicate how many acceptances were received by 2010 and 2011 ISB graduates.

Pennsylvania State - 15	Brigham Young University - 6
Texas A&M - 3	Ohio State University - 0
University of Illinois- 26	Virginia Polytechnic University - 4
Purdue University - 32	Cornell University - 2
Arizona State -2	Berkeley - 8
University of Michigan - 14	University of Wisconsin - 5
Georgia Tech - 5	UCLA - 9
University of Maryland - 3	Texas Tech - 4
University of Florida -2	North Carolina State - 1
Carnegie Mellon – 6	University of Virginia – 5

You can find the whole article at: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB10001424052748704554104575435563989873060.html

Transportable Gift

Mon, 28 Feb 2011 09:49:00 GMT

Each December, we e-mail survey all families who have left ISB since the previous January. We ask these parents to tell us how about their children's new school experiences and to reflect on their experiences at ISB. This gives us some idea of how effective ISB has been in delivering its most important result -- the transportable gift of successful learning in our students' next schools. I thought you might like see the most recent results. 112 families participated and reported on 192 children. The sample includes well over half of all the families who left last year.

The numerical results are down below but I thought you might be interested in some of the comments made by parents. Note how many are about teachers. I especially value this feedback because the quality of our teachers means everything in how good learning can be at ISB.

"Any child that gets to attend ISB is a lucky child, and the experience is life-changing in a very positive way. At ISB, my daughter realized the value of learning in a way she had not done before.

The total learning environment. The teachers were genuinely concerned about our children's well being.

After leaving the school we really were able to see what an amazing school ISB is. You all take so much pride in the school and the grounds and teachers. All the programs that are offered are wonderful. We miss the school

The beautiful campus, top notch teachers and broad opportunities to learn about the world through class trips and fellow students

They loved the great learning and interacting atmosphere in ISB. Mingling with children from around the world is a great experience for them.

They all agreed that their favorite part of ISB was the fantastic teachers. They felt challenged, heard, and valued.

It is a great school that has an International environment and a great faculty and also a very good academic program and a very good facility...great place for parents to get involved in a lot of activities.

ISB offers a welcoming environment for new students. Systems are excellent for new students including the guidance meetings. The admissions office allows new students to meet teachers/classmates ahead so they get a feel for the school.

They especially miss the personal attention they received from teachers, counselors, and administration--difficult to achieve in their new school.

Our daughter was very much happy at ISB and is always taking about her life in ISB even now after leaving ISB.

Their teachers caring attitude, the facilities, and the Thai staff.

My children loved best the teaching methods of ISB, that is focusing on research, participation and much reading. Also they loved the many after-school activities.

The size of the school - it has the critical mass to provide the diversity and a big variety of school activities, but at the same time the teachers can be really attentive to each student and the students get to know each other"

Would you recommend ISB to another family?
Choice
Yes	98%
No	2%

Was your child happy at ISB?
Yes	98%
No	2%

Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements about ISB.
	Strongly Agree + Agree	Neutral	Disagree + Strongly Disagree
a) My children achieved their academic potential at ISB.	74%	18%	8%
b) My children became passionate, reflective learners.	72%	22%	7%
c) My children developed in caring, global citizens?	85%	12%	3%

How well did each ISB program listed below prepare your children for success in their new school?

Topic	Excellent	Poor

a) Literature/Reading	86%	2%
b) Writing	72%	3%
c) Math	70%	3%
d) Science	77%	2%
e) Social Studies	78%	1%
f) Foreign Language	75%	2%
g) Physical Education	85%	1%
h) Fine Arts	83%	0%

Big Building, Big Award

Mon, 13 Dec 2010 03:01:00 GMT

Me, I love awards. I especially love them if they required effort over time with large obstacles along the path. ISB received a big one recently. Starting four years ago, the U.S. Green Building Council began awarding certificates for new structures that met rigorous standards for “greenness.” They are called LEED Awards. They have become the international benchmarks for environmental sustainability in new construction.

In planning our new Cultural Center, The Board of Trustees believed that we should spend the extra time and money required to try for the award. The main argument was that we should be modeling responsible behavior for our students. We all know that young people pay way more attention to what adults do than what they say.

We learned a bit ago that the Council has awarded ISB the Gold Award. We are the first school in Southeast Asia to receive it. The Cultural Center is also the first Gold Award building of any kind in Thailand.

The Award process is strictly monitored including on-site inspection by a team from the U.S. The criteria include:

· Water Efficiency

· Energy and Atmosphere

· Materials and Resources,

· Innovation in the Design Process

· Indoor Environmental Quality.

· Sustainable Sites

Dr. Ugo Costessi, Deputy Head of School for Finance and Operations, guided the planning and building process. He even called in an LEED consulting group from Australia to make sure we did the right things in the right way. He would tell you he walked a challenging path to achieve the necessary 45 points, innovating many features previously unseen in this part of the world. For example, the building has a solar reflective roof. Lights turn off if no one is in room. Rain water is harvested. The building has a state of the art system to monitor energy consumption.

As part of the Clinton Climate initiative, 2 years ago we replaced all the lighting and aircos in the old buildings, reducing our carbon footprint by 30 percent. I wonder what we will do next so that our children can see the school’s commitment to a greener world?

University Road Trip

Fri, 29 Oct 2010 07:16:00 GMT

During October, I took an 8 state road trip, visiting the campuses and meeting with Deans of Admission at:

Claremont-Mckenna College

Colby College

Columbia University

Cornell University

Pomona College

University of Pennsylvania

Wesleyan University

Yale University.

A year ago, I made similar visits to Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, MIT, and Princeton.

Three questions guided the visits to these highly selective schools. How well does ISB prepare students for acceptance and success at these schools? Are there ways we could improve our programs to make our students even more attractive? How is the IB diploma program perceived? In essence, I wanted to be sure that ISB is doing everything possible to support our hard working students in achieving their dreams, both with our overall learning programs and with college counseling.

I chose not to meet with the admissions officers themselves because our high school counselors already have close professional and in many cases "friend" relationships with these individuals. I wanted to go to the "top." Each conversation lasted from 1 to 2 hours. Here is some of what I learned.

1. All the Deans were well acquainted with ISB. They indicated that it has an excellent reputation and that our students are looked on favorably. Our college counselors were well known and respected for their professionalism and probity. ISB was seen as a school with a high level of academic rigor coupled with excellent community service and co-curricular programs.

2. All rated IB as the best preparation for their schools. Four of them called it “The Gold Standard” among college preparation programs. They were quite familiar with the specifics of the IB, for example, mentioning their minimum predicted scores. Interestingly, they value the IB predicted scores more highly than SAT results.

3. When I asked about the profile of the highly attractive applicant, the answers were somewhat diverse but with some commonalities, see point 4 below. They emphasized that students should learn about the academic/student life characteristics of universities and pick the ones that best meet their needs and expectations.

4. The selection process of going from 20,000+ applicants down to 6,000 is based on grades and test scores mainly, going from 6,000 to the final 300 to 1,500 depends mainly on student essays, teacher recommendations and, to some degree, alumni interviews. Students driven by intellectual or activity passions are way more likely to be selected than those who just "check the boxes" they think necessary for acceptance. The term intellectual curiosity kept appearing in the discussions. They also want students with high levels of social and collaboration skills.

5. All eight thought our change to HAL grading would not hinder and in many cases would advantage applicants from ISB. Three of them volunteered to critique the HAL grading scheme.

6. Only one of the schools was needs blind for non-US applicants. The other seven indicated that knowing parents of non-US students were willing and able to pay all college costs would be helpful.

7. All eight thought that an Invention Center would be a valuable addition to our co-curricular programs. They said that very few schools seemed to have such programs in place.

8. All use alumni interviews. The deans advised preparing students for these interviews.

Bill

PS – Too few of our students apply to liberal arts colleges. In my next blog, I will discuss how and why our students are missing out on some brilliant learning opportunities by not considering these schools.

Same Same But Different

Tue, 12 Oct 2010 08:16:00 GMT

I have to two divergent but related stories to tell. I leave it to you to make the connection after reading them.

The first involves the third major idea in ISB’s Mission -- caring, global citizenship. We have many structures and processes to achieve this goal but still have much to accomplish. Many, many of our students are involved in service projects as part of learning to be global citizens. Two weeks ago, a 12^th grader stopped by my office. He explained to me that every day last summer from June 10^th until mid July, he practiced piano up to seven hours a day. He wanted to be as good as he could be because for 7 consecutive days in July, he played piano in the lobby of the Samitivej Hospital. Why, I asked him. He said because I wanted to collect donations for Project Smile. So here is a young man, who on his own gave up more than half his summer to help others. Nobody asked him to do this. He just thought it was the right thing to do. By the way, he raised 233,000 baht for Project Smile.

The second story involves the 95% rule. After the capabilities and motivation of students, it is teachers’ hearts, minds and commitment that determine how much learning takes place. It is teacher quality, not class size, IT, facilities, or instructional materials that determines how good a school is. Each year we hire 20 to 25 new teachers at ISB. Since the admin team believes in the 95% rule, we work hard to select the best of the best to bring to ISB.

Somewhat over 2,000 teachers apply each year to work at ISB. We think so many apply because ISB has a pretty good reputation among the international school community and because Thailand is such a wonderful country to live in. Andy Davies, Deputy Head for Learning, guides the recruiting process but all the principals spend countless hours in reading applications, winnowing down to the few who merit further contact. If candidates pass the paper screening, we next telephone at least two references, usually supervisors who are currently working with the candidates. If this feedback is positive, we then interview the candidates either on Skype, at ISB or at one of the 6 job fairs we attend around the world. Before we make hiring decision, we have to have unanimous agreement among at least two and often three administrators.

The process consumes a great deal of time and effort but I think the results speak for themselves. Now, can you see the connection between the two stories?

My Best Day of the Year

Thu, 29 Jul 2010 01:30:00 GMT

At 6:50 AM on Monday, August 9, I will walk to ISB's front gate to welcome our students to a new school year. I will greet hundreds of children arriving on foot, on bikes, or in vehicles. My grin will be the biggest of the year for I love this day. The school has been empty and sad since I returned from Colorado two weeks ago. Now the buildings will fill with excited and sometimes anxious students, eager to commence their new learning. I know what awaits them - their teachers, their friends, their learning opportunities - and I am proud to be part of this school.

I will be thinking about the teachers who are returning to ISB. I have visited their classrooms, talked with their students, and know of their excellent teaching. I will also be anticipating visits to the classrooms of our 21 new teachers. Each year more than 2, 000 teachers apply to work at ISB. We picked these 21 very carefully. I am a bit like a kid at Christmas wondering what delights are in the packages under the tree as I think about visiting their classrooms.

But this year will be a bit different. Our returning students are in for some pleasant surprises. A new six story building and athletic fields awaits them. The Cultural Center adds 25 percent more space to the school. They will be captivated as they roam its 31 learning spaces, including a theater, huge music and dance rooms, and high school classrooms. ISB students love their school and want to take great pride in it. Many are also passionate about saving the environment. Their pride will expand when they learn that the Cultural Center is the first building in Thailand to be given the U.S. Green Building Councils Leadership in Energy and Environment Gold Award.

They may think that somehow the school grounds have grown more expansive. They have not. But when they see our new elementary school playground, running track, Field A, and Field D, somehow it all seems bigger. Field D will even has artificial turf. In a sense I suppose they are bigger. Not in square meters, but because all are now "rain proof", they will be usable for many more days during the year. They may also be proud when they learn that ours will be the only Class1 Track in Thailand certified by the International Athletic Federation. It is literally the best space in Thailand to learn track and field skills.

The day will not be perfect though. I will miss the students and adults who left last year. But even that sadness can be tempered. This week, a 2010 graduate stopped by my office on his way to college in Massachusetts. He came to ask me to help get his seven year old cousin into ISB. He told me how wonderful his learning experiences had been at ISB and how thankful he was. He cares deeply about his cousin and wanted him to have the same opportunities. Moments like these make me really proud to be a part of ISB.

Bill

My Worst Week

Fri, 04 Jun 2010 00:32:00 GMT

Every year I dread this week for it is my saddest of the year. I stopped being a professor at Berkeley because I missed the teamwork and relationships of schools. It was a good choice because I love the daily life of ISB. But this week I have to say good-bye to students, parents, and colleagues who are going off to new adventures. Many of them I have come to know and value highly. I just do not like partings. However, there is one bright spot in the week.

In November each year, we survey families who have left ISB over the previous 10 months. At the end of each school year, in order to maintain contact, I send an e-mail to departing families. I ask them to inform me of any e-mail address changes so that they will receive the survey in November.

Although my e-mail asks only for address information, many parents offer comments about ISB. Below, you can read five sample comments from this June. They cheer me up considerably.

1. "Through these past three years, they've learned so much thanks to the wonderful teachers who, with enthusiasm, love and determination, were able to teach them not only the standard curriculum, but about the world, life, their responsibilities as citizens, and as human beings. Sadly, the end of the school year is upon us and very soon we'll be departing Thailand to start a new chapter in our lives with a fresh start in the States. I feel confident that my sons are well prepared for the new challenges they will face, thanks to the dedication of your outstanding teaching staff. I trust many future students will have the same opportunity to attend this wonderful school and receive the same level of dedication and commitment your faculty has provided to my children. I feel that I owe you, the faculty, and the staff of ISB all my gratitude, and my family and I wish you all the best. Thank you for three wonderful school years and hope to see all of you in the future."

2. "The education afforded to _____ and ____ at ISB has been spectacular. They have a great foundation on which to build on. They have been academically challenged and I want to thank you and your entire ISB Staff for this. "

3. "Our kids have been very happy at ISB and we believe they have received great academic instruction and support during our years at the school. We especially appreciate the personal attention each child/family receives, from support staff all the way up to administration. We also appreciate the many extracurricular activities that have been available to them. We will miss ISB immensely! The school will always hold a special place in our hearts."

4. "It is with sadness that we are leaving ISB. My sons have been at ISB since Kindergarten and are extremely sad to be leaving; they have many friends there. In my opinion, the high educational level of teaching, the dedication and friendliness of the staff and the pleasant environment makes it a joy for students to come to school."

5. "We have found this school experience to be fun, exciting and full of activities both academic and athletic. ISB Rocks!!!!"

Bill

What Counts

Sun, 09 May 2010 06:42:00 GMT

ISB parent Jennifer Misuta asked me to write about how ISB has improved this year. Since she always gives me good advice, I made a list. It turned out to be a long list. I started with student achievement results. We have been using the MAP tests for two years now and have new INFORM software to make more sense of these scores. I can report that at least in math and reading on average our students learn 30 to 50 percent each year than at "normal" schools .

So far, the class of 2010 has received a total of more than 500 university acceptances with an average of four per student. We are proud of all of our graduates . Their brain power, diligence and devotion to service means they can continue learning at a diverse range of universities. I thought you might be interested in knowing if highly selective universities want our students. Here is list of 2010 acceptances from the US News and World Report Top 25 U.S. National Universities. You will see a total of 43 acceptances. Not bad, when you consider that about 100 of graduates applied. *

University	Acceptances
Brown University	2
Berkeley	6
UCLA	7
Carnegie Mellon University	4
Columbia University	2
Cornell University	3
Dartmouth College	1
Duke University	1
Johns Hopkins University	1
Northwestern University	2
University of Pennsylvania	4
Rice University	1
Stanford University	3
University of Virginia	2
Washington University	2
Yale University	2

Here is list of 2010 acceptances from the US News and World Report Top 25 U.S. Liberal Arts Universities

University	Acceptances
Carleton University	1
Claremont McKenna College/Scripps	2
Grinnell College	1
Harvey Mudd College	1
Pomona College	1
Washington and Lee University	1
Wellesley College	1
Wesleyan University	3
Total Acceptances	12

Here is list of 2010 acceptances from the Economist/QSI Top 50 World universities.

University	Acceptances
University of British Columbia	1
University of California at Berkeley	6
University of California at Davis	9
University of California at Irvine	6
University of California at Los Angeles	7
University of California at San Diego	6
University of California at Santa Barbara	1
University of Colorado	1
Columbia University	2
Cornell University	3
Duke University	1
University of Illinois	18
Johns Hopkins University	1
University College London	3
University of Manchester	1
University of Michigan	10
University of Minnesota	2
New York University	4
Northwestern University	2
Pennsylvania State University	7
University of Pennsylvania	4
University of Pittsburgh	1
University of Southern California	4
Stanford University	3
University of Texas	4
University of Toronto	2
Washington University	2
University of Washington	8
University of Wisconsin	2
Yale University	2
Total Acceptances	123

If you look at the Economist/QSI top 50 world universities, you see at least 123 acceptances for this class. Of course some students received two or more acceptances. Nevertheless, we can be proud of the achievements of each of our 2010 graduates. Virtually all have been accepted to one or more universities, famous or not, where they will continue their learning.

Now I had a problem. I was only down to #1 on my list and time was running out. So I stopped. Instead I want to tell you what matters to me the most about my year at ISB.

Each year, I make several hundred visits to classrooms. This year, whenever possible during a visit, I talked with students using a protocol of questions. We all know that learning is a complex business. Each student is different. ISB's definition calls for a high level of achievement. We do not say a students have a learned something unless they can use it in novel situations, communicate it in multiple ways, connect it to other learning and reflect on their progress.

Not in every class and not for every student, but over and over I talked with hard working , articulate students. They explained to me in detail what they were learning and how they were learning it. They told me if it was difficult or easy learning. Many could tell me why they were learning it and how they could use it in the future. Now in my notes and memory , I have these stories that our wonderful students told me about their learning. I also have the memories of our teachers who care so much about our children and work their hardest so that each achieves his or her potential. So that is what counts the most for me.

* Notes:
1) these numbers will rise as students receive additional acceptances;
2) Some students were accepted at more than one of these universities

5,000 Square Meters

Thu, 01 Apr 2010 04:02:00 GMT

Last week, we purchased 5,000 square meters of land adjacent to the road and our track field. Why would we do this when we have no plans to increase enrollment capacity? It is a bit of story.

Some people are highly coordinated, competitive athletes. They love soccer, tennis, basketball and so on. Others, like me prefer 1,000 mile bicycle rides and backpacking in the wilderness. But when I was in middle and high school, I belonged in the first group. Although clumsy, I loved competitive sports. Now, after school and on weekends I witness the intensity and perseverance our students display in our many sports activities. I want more students to participate and I want the associated learning to be as good as it can be.

In order to achieve that aim, we have two efforts underway. The first, guided by the Board's Strategic Improvement and Learning Committee's chair Pat Toomey, is a searching examination of our current, athletic co-curricular programs. A group of parents and staff members have been thinking about all our efforts from varsity teams to parent-led community programs. As a result we are developing a new vision for what sports at ISB can and should be. We also have a number of program improvement ideas that I expect to see implemented in the near future.

The second effort involves facilities and here is why we need the additional land. Starting this week, Field A in the middle of the track will be resurfaced and drainage improved. The track itself will be resurfaced. Also in the summer, the grassy areas between the track and ES building will be redone to make a better play area for our younger students. Field D is located between MS/HS cafeteria and the tennis courts. This summer it will be resurfaced with artificial turf and the drainage improved.

In the more distant future, we expect to move the tennis courts to the land we purchased last week. In place of the tennis courts, we will likely be building a new swimming pool, a new gym and an outdoor education area. The exact specifications of this new construction will require substantial planning but we expect the new facilities to improve learning at ISB. What do you think?

College Admissions

Fri, 05 Feb 2010 03:31:00 GMT

ISB's new mission statement has 3 big learning outcomes for our students:

•· Achieving Academic Potential

•· Being passionate, reflective learners

•· Becoming caring, global citizens.

However, as I blogged recently, most ISB students come, learn a few years, and leave. So underneath the Mission's ideas lies another equally important one --- transportable gifts. If we are successful in our work with our students, they will leave ISB with a transportable gift of excellent learning. that prepares them well for their next school. So the best measure of ISB's quality involves our students' success at their next school and getting into university.

Although we are still very early in the college acceptance season, (April is the big time) so far our 12^th graders have received 109 acceptances. Below you will examples of universities that want our students. I selected universities listed in the US News and World Reports top 50 list.

College or University	Number of Acceptances
Columbia University	1
George Washington University	1
King's College London	1
New York University	2
Pennsylvania State University	2
Stanford University	3
Trinity College	1
University College London	1
University of Edinburgh	1
University of Illinois	3
University of London	3
University of Melbourne	1
University of Michigan	3
Yale University	1

Gone But Not Forgotten

Wed, 27 Jan 2010 09:24:00 GMT

ISB's New Mission has 3 big learning ideas:

•· Achieving Academic Potential

•· Being passionate, reflective learners

•· Becoming caring, global citizens.

However, most ISB students come, learn a few years, and leave. So underneath the Mission's ideas lies another equally important one --- transportable gifts. If we are successful in our work with our students, they will leave ISB with a transportable gift of excellent learning. that prepares them well for their next school. So the best measure of ISB's quality involves our students' success at their next school.

Each December, we e-mail survey all families who have left ISB since the previous January. We ask these parents to tell us how successful their children are in their new schools. I thought you might like see the most recent results. I06 parents participated and reported on 186 children. The sample includes more than half of all the families who left last year.

Bill

Would you recommend ISB to another family?
Choice
Yes	95%
No	5%

Was your child happy at ISB?

Yes

95%

Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements about ISB.
	Strongly Agree + Agree	Neutral	Disagree + Strongly Disagree
a) My children achieved their academic potential at ISB.	74%	18%	8%
b) My children became passionate, reflective learners.	72%	22%	7%
c) My children developed in caring, global citizens?	85%	12%	3%

How well did each ISB program listed below prepare your children for success in their new school?
Topic	Excellent - Good	Average	Fair - Poor

a) Literature/Reading	83%	10%	6%
b) Writing	75%	17%	8%
c) Math	63%	25%	12%
d) Science	70%	23%	7%
e) Social Studies	74%	19%	7%
f) Foreign Language	65%	24%	11%

What's That Big Thing?

Wed, 11 Nov 2009 08:27:00 GMT

As our new building grows behind the high school, I thought parents might want to know about its purposes, contents, "greenness" and progress. In recent years, our learning programs in the performing arts (music, drama, dance) have expanded beyond the current building's capacity. One visit to a middle school band class with 60 students crammed so they can barely wriggle shows the problem. Dance, drama and other music programs have similar crowding. This space problem has been created by our performing arts teachers! Their wonderful work with students has built enrollments and increased learning quality. Another purpose for the building, our high school has too few classrooms, forcing teacher to share and leading to decreased learning for our students.

The Cultural Center will add 25% to our total learning space in the school. The elements of building include:

• 300 seat theater

• Chorus, band, string rooms, drama and dance rooms, for middle and high school - 10 spaces in all

• 28 music practice rooms, a music lab and ensemble room

• 23 classrooms.

The Center is the result of a multi-year planning effort lead by our Deputy Head of School Ugo Costessi and performing arts teachers lead by Marianne Derouw .

With strong support from the Board of Trustees, the Center is being built to the US Green Building Council's (USGBC) Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) standards, aiming for a Gold Award. USGBC is the main green building accrediting agency in the US and the Center will be the first Gold building if Thailand if we are successful. What makes the building green? ---- sustainable sites, water efficiency, energy efficiency, environmentally friendly materials and so on.

The Center will cost 380 million Baht and is scheduled for completion in May next year, with full occupancy at the beginning of next school year. So far, the project is on budget, on time, and with 560,000 worker hours, accident free.

As performing arts classes move into the Center, they will vacate space in the existing structure, thus opening up new opportunities to expand and improve other school programs. As head of school for example, I am strongly advocating that we open an Invention Center. This will be a place where students interested in engineering and science would be able, at least after school and on weekends, to pursue projects and experiments. See my blog at http://www.isb.ac.th/Head_of_School_s_Blogs/Nerds_at_ISB/default.aspx , if you would like to know more about this new learning opportunity.

While we are more than busy with managing the Center's construction and planning for the best use of the vacated space, we have another big project underway as well. How will we improve our athletic facilities -- swimming pool, gyms, track and so on?

By the way, seven ISB families have made contributions for the building ---- giving them "naming rights" to classrooms. If you would be interested in having a room named after your family, please contact me (billg@isb.ac.th or +66 081 845 7397). Later this year, you will also have the opportunity to have a theater seat named for your family.

Harvard, Princeton, Stanford …

Mon, 28 Sep 2009 01:11:00 GMT

Each year ISB graduates about 150 12^th graders. About 60 percent will attend US universities. Of these 90, a small number will apply to the most selective universities, ones with admission rates of about 10 percent. These include Brown, Dartmouth, Harvard, Princeton, Stanford and MIT. The students seeking admission to these schools have without exception worked very, very hard in class, in extracurricular activities, and in service efforts. I want to be sure that ISB is doing everything possible to support these students in achieving their dreams, both with our overall learning programs and with college counseling.

Recently I took a seven state road trip and met with the Deans or Assistant Deans of Admission at the six schools listed above. Two ISB Board members, Dr. Prathip and Khun Somsook, happened to be in New England at the same time and accompanied me on five of the visits. Two purposes shaped these discussions. I wanted the Deans to know about ISB and our students. I wanted to learn if there were ways we could improve our programs and counseling to make our students even more attractive.

1. All but one were familiar with international schools in general and ISB in particular, a school they hold in high regard. Several said to say hello to ISB counseling staff by name.

2. All rated IB as the best preparation, especially compared to AP. They were quite familiar with the specifics of the IB, for example, mentioning their minimum, desired, predicted scores and preferences for 6 and 7s.

3. The selection process of going from 20,000+ applicants down to 6,000 is based on grades and test scores mainly, going from 6,000 to the final 1,500 depends mainly on student essays, teacher recommendations and, to some degree, alumni interviews. Students driven by intellectual or activity passion(s) are more likely to be selected than those who just "check the boxes" they think necessary for acceptance. The term intellectual curiosity kept appearing in the discussions.

4. Calls from counselors and heads in the weeks before the 6,000 to 1,500 decisions are made can make a significant difference when the purposes are genuine and callers are trusted.

5. All six thought that an Invention Center would give students with a science/math passion an opportunity to pursue it. They said that very few schools seemed to have such programs in place.

6. All but MIT have been increasing their international student enrollment over the past few years. Internationalism and community service are big improvement themes at these schools. ISB's depth in this area, gives our students many opportunities to demonstrate passion.

7. All emphasized how fierce the competition is and that they are looking for extraordinary young people -- students you never forget, the best student in 5 years, ones with high level social skills, intellectual curiosity, and discipline. All the evidence behind a student (transcripts, test scores, essays, recommendations, and interview) has to build this picture in detail.

8. All but Stanford use alumni interviews. The deans at those schools strongly advised preparing students for these interviews.

By the way, if this topic interests you, I strongly suggest you visit

http://thechoice.blogs.nytimes.com/2009/09/10/harvarddean-part1.

There you will find 5 blogs written for the New York Times by Harvard's Dean of Admissions, Dr. Bill Fitzsimmons. By happenstance, Dean Fitzsimmons was just finishing the last blog when we met with him. (The meeting was interrupted by a call from the Times). When I returned to ISB, I downloaded the blogs and found them both fascinating and reinforcing of what I had learning during the visits.

Bill

Wildflowers

Wed, 02 Sep 2009 08:26:00 GMT

Last spring ISB revised its definition of learning. You can read it at the end of this blog. Even though learning is the core business of schools, very few schools bother to define it. But at ISB, we think that since learning is so important, we ought to be clear about it. I decided to try out the definition and see if it worked. This summer I spent many hours hiking the trails of Rocky Mountain National Park. Since our definition asks students to develop understanding, to progress from novice to expert, I wanted to pick an area in which I was a complete ignoramus. I selected wildflowers.

So I applied the learning approaches that are concomitant with our definition. My learning goal was to be able to identify quickly at least 25 varieties of wildflower and understand their patterns of life. I also wanted to know if and how native Americans had used them for food and medicine

I found a book that provided pictures and information about the 200 wildflowers in the park. It also provided a schema for identifying flowers. It was actually the schema I learned rather than the flowers. They came easily after the schema was in place. By the way, the schema has you looking at the whole plant, not just flowers. I now have a whole new vocabulary - basal, carpal, sepals, whorls and so on.

I transferred learning from another area where I am a bit of an expert, bird watching. It turns out that flowers are easier than birds to identify since they stay put, rather than flying out of sight! Identifying a bird is much easier when you know the main classifications. So I learned the main categories of wildflowers and sure enough my success rate picked up.

Whenever I was on the trail and having trouble with a flower, I would ask others on the trail if they could identify it. This turned out to be the most powerful learning strategy since these people usually lived in the area and were experts. I could hear how they thought and try to copy their thinking.

My poor wife - as with all good learning, the more you know, the faster you learn and the more enthusiastic you become. Understanding really is an ever expanding circle of wonder. By the time I had my first 20 flowers, Marcia had to listen to me explain why for example - this is a shooting star and not a chiming bell. Then she had to listen while I explained why. After awhile, she became a partner in identifying the flowers and my learning rate accelerated again, just as it would have if we were studying history at ISB.

Marcia and I went on a short trip to New Mexico. I could not wait to apply my new learning the flowers in the Kit Carson National Forest. I picked up a little book on the wildflowers of New Mexico and was quickly identifying old friends and new flowers that do not live farther north.

Along this learning path, I stopped from time to time to reflect on my learning. What was working? What was not working? Besides talking with experts, this was the second most powerful strategy. For example my first reflection revealed that looking at the flower was inefficient. To identify wild flowers you look at the leaves. They tell almost the whole story. Another reflection involved the frustration of not being able to find a flower in the book. A little research showed that only about 50% of all Rocky Mountain National Park wildflowers were even in the book.

Summer is over but I can hardly wait for next summer to learn more flowers. That is the life long learner part. Once you get hooked on understanding an area and move along the novice-to-expert track, you are forever curious and motivated to learn more.

Oh by the way, at summer's end I could fluently identify 49 flowers and could bore anyone with how the Indians used them. My conclusion is that our definition of learning works and works far better than traditional learning - memorizing isolated facts and skills and being a passive learner.

ISB Definition of Learning

Learning is the primary focus of our school and we recognize learning as a life-long adventure. We value meaningful learning where students construct enduring understanding by developing and applying knowledge, skills, and attitudes. Increased understanding is evidenced by students who:

•• Explain its relevance

•• Describe how it connects to or conflicts with prior learning

•• Communicate it effectively to others

•• Generalize and apply it effectively to new situations

•• Reflect critically on their own and other's learning

•• Ask questions to extend learning

•• Create meaningful solutions

Thoughts on Leaving ISB

Mon, 29 Jun 2009 21:57:00 GMT

"In November each year, we survey families who have left ISB over the previous 10 months. In May, in order to maintain contact, I send an e-mail to each departing family asking them to inform me of any e-mail address changes. "

"Although my e-mail asks only for address information, many parents offer comments about
ISB. Below, you can read some of those comments from this June. "

“It has been a pleasure having the kids at ISB. Your school is top-notch. Finding another equal to it will not be easy.”

“Thanks for all of your efforts to make ISB a safe, academically challenging and culturally enriched environment. Our experience here has been a positive one in so many respects.”

“WE WILL ALL MISS AND REMEMBER THE YEARS WE HAD IN ISB FOR YEARS TO COME - GREAT SCHOOL WITH GREAT ATMOSPHERE AND GREAT EDUCATORS".

“Thanks for caring so much for the kids.”

“The 4 four years at ISB have been full of enrichment. We are infinitely grateful to you and your extraordinary teachers and wonderful team for that.”

“First of all let me thank you and your team for the opportunity for our children to learn, grow and develop themselves over the past 4 years. We think that ISB is an excellent school with committed and competent staff that provides a very good environment to children and students.”

“Our children have had a great experience at the ISB and will surely miss the challenges and diversity that the ISB provided them over the past three years. “

“We have enjoyed ISB so much. Now that we are in Vietnam, we understand how great ISB has been and I truly appreciate the time my daughter were in ISB. I feel like she learns new thing everyday when she goes to ISB.”

“My 3 children have had a wonderful 2 years at ISB - a pity it has been so short as they have been so happy at your school. We thank all of your staff who have helped nurture, care and educate our children in so many different ways. Their stay at ISB will not be forgotten-they have many great memories to take away with them. If we ever return to Bangkok, ISB would most certainly be our choice of school for sure!”

“We would let our daughter finish her study at ISB if we need not to move. ISB is such a good school with excellent faculty and learning environment. We are so lucky to have our two girls study at ISB.”

“We are sad to be leaving and one of our biggest regrets is taking our children away from this school. We have only been here a year but in that short time we recognize that this school and the community that supports it are truly unique. Your interest in our children’s welfare is a reflection of the values and care that makes ISB so wonderful.”

“ISB gave a our son a great grounding and we think very highly of the school.”

30 Percent Greener

Thu, 09 Apr 2009 22:00:00 GMT

Many students, staff and parents have been working to make ISB a more environmentally friendly, greener school. Much of this work has been done by Green Panthers. Recently, three additional efforts have achieved success.

#1 --- This week we signed a contract to renew the air conditioning and lighting systems in the school. The result will be a reduction in CO2 emissions of 850,000 Kg per year or about 30% of the total amount of CO2 produced at School. In a significant side benefit, the new air conditioners will be very quiet, a big deal for students and staff bothered by our noisy old ones.

The contract represents a four way partnership between ISB, Clinton Climate Initiative, Johnson Control and the Thai Ministry of Energy. The combination of low interest loans from the Ministry and energy savings will give us a pay back period of about 7.5 years. All work will be completely by the end of July.

#2 ---Construction of our new Cultural Center proceeds in accordance to plan and we are on course with our target of achieving the LEED Gold Certificate (from the US Green Building Council). Energy models of our building in comparison with standard US buildings confirm that our building is a minimum of 29% more energy efficient. Needless to say that if our new building was to be compared with standard buildings in Bangkok the saving percentage would be much higher

#3 --- Last year we added about 144 bike parking places as an extension to the main entrance parking. In an attempt to encourage more students, teachers and parents who live in the vicinity of the school to use their bike as means of transportation and in order to resolve the congestion in the Elementary bike parking area, we’ll extend during the summer the bike parking capacity with a construction similar to the one done last summer on the other side. So our total bike parking capacity will go from 427 places 2 years ago and 571 this year to 715 by the beginning of August 2009.

Parents Who Left ISB

Mon, 09 Feb 2009 04:15:00 GMT

When you boil down ISB’s Vision for Learning it has 3 big learning ideas:

Achieving Academic Potential + Metacognition + International Mindedness.

Please note that the word Academic includes the whole range of our students’ learning – PE, art, music, science, math and so on.

ISB promises to achieve these through: great teaching in a nurturing environment.

The Vision also includes the idea of a transportable gift. If we are all successful in our work with our students, they will leave ISB with a transportable gift of wonderful learning that prepares them very well for their next school.

Our annual leaver survey offers some of the best data on how good we are in providing these transportable gifts. Each December, we survey all families who have left ISB since the previous January and who have had a student in 11^th grade or lower. I thought you might like see the most recent “hot of the presses” results. III families participated, a 76 percent response rate.

Bill

Would you recommend ISB to another family?
Choice
Yes	95%
No	5%

Was your child happy at ISB?

Yes

98%

Please indicate your level of agreement with the following statements about ISB.
	Strongly Agree + Agree	Neutral	Disagree + Strongly Disagree
a) My children achieved their academic, recognizable potential at ISB.	80%	12%	8%
b) My children learned understanding and enthusiasm for world citizenship and service to other.	89%	10%	1%
c) My children developed understanding about their own learning strengths and weaknesses?	78%	17%	5%
Average	83%	13%	5%

How well did each ISB program listed below prepare your children for success in their new school?
Topic	Excellent	Average	Poor

a) Literature/Reading	88%	11%	1%
b) Writing	81%	17%	2%
c) Math	69%	26%	5%
d) Science	76%	22%	2%
e) Social Studies	78%	20%	2%
f) Foreign Language	76%	18%	6%
Average	78%	19%	3%

Nerds at ISB

Mon, 02 Feb 2009 03:15:00 GMT

Athletics, music, dance, drama, community service and more --- ISB offers these as afternoon and weekend activities. Our students have wonderful opportunities to develop their talents as dancers, actors, singers, and rugby players. But what does ISB offer nerds?

I am a nerd and have been since about age 9. I love science, math and computers. When I was a kid, I had a basement workshop where I built and operated receivers, transmitters, and other electronic contraptions. I loved science fairs. For the 7th grade fair, I tried to build an apparatus that would measure the charge on a single electron. I failed badly and later learned that the experiment had earned a Nobel Prize 30 years before. However, I learned a lot in the process! I still love to read science books and magazines. My nerdiness caused me to get degrees in chemistry and math and opened all kinds of career opportunities.

Many ISB students are also nerds. They would love to have a place where they could go after school and on weekends that had the equipment and programs that would allow them to build stuff, to do experiments, to program computers, and to invent things. A place where an adult nerd with the heart of a teacher could guide them.

We already have the beginnings at ISB. For example, Mr. Eales, physics teacher in the high school, has been leading an Inventor Society . Last year, they built a 2 seat hovercraft. This year they are building a green golf cart. In Mr. Hochberg’s classes students have an idea, make a detailed drawing and plan, and turn it into reality. Sometimes I think his classes turn regular students into nerds. This of course in my view is a very good thing.

What we need is an INVENTION CENTER with the right equipment and the right adult guidance and direction. A place where nerds can flourish, developing their passion and skills. With Cultural Center construction starting, we will soon have space at ISB for the Invention Center. I have been hunting for the past two years to find schools that have such programs already in place. No luck so far. If you know of such a program or have related ideas please let me know.

Here We Go

Thu, 22 Jan 2009 02:00:00 GMT

This was a big week for our Cultural Center project. Tuesday evening, our Board of Trustees gave the final go ahead. Construction will start in a few weeks and is scheduled for completion in April 2010. Adding about 20 percent to the total learning space at ISB, the 6 story structure will have:

1 theater with seating for 300

24 high school classrooms

4 rooms for middle and high school band and strings

2 rooms for middle and high school chorus

2 rooms for middle and high school drama

4 ensemble rooms

19 individual practice rooms

2 dance rooms

From the beginning, the Board has wanted the building to be environmentally friendly. The architects have been directed to follow the guidelines of Leadership in Environment and Energy Design (LEED). This is the preeminent green building certification organization in the US and a leader in the world. We expect the building to receive the LEED Gold Award. This would be a first in Thailand.

Now the real fun begins. When we move the middle and high school music programs into the new building, we will have that rarest of things in an international school – a little FREE SPACE. Now we get to figure out how to make the best use of this opportunity to improve learning. I have an idea – see my next blog on nerds.

What Parents Tell Us About ISB

Wed, 17 Sep 2008 03:30:00 GMT

Each year we ask ISB parents to tell us about their children’s learning and experiences at ISB. The latest survey was completed by 620 families and reported on 971 children at the end of the last school year. Below you will see a summary of the quantitative results. It is organized around the five themes in the ISB Vision and Guiding Principles. Parents were asked to respond to each statement with --- strongly agree, agree, neutral, disagree, or strongly disagree. You can interpret the table as follows. 78% of parents strongly agreed or agreed with statement #1 “My child is being academically challenged.” Seven percent strongly disagreed or disagreed.

Many parents also make written comments. These are analyzed carefully and reported to the Board and administration along with the quantitative results. Thanks to those of you who completed the survey. The results are a vital component in our school improvement work.

2008 Questions	Strongly Agree and Agree	Strongly Disagree and Disagree
Reach their academic, recognizable potential
1. My child is being academically challenged	78	7
4. This child is making progress aft ISB to the fullest of his/her abilities.	64	13
15. I am confident that this child will be well prepared for his/her next school.	77	6
24. For this child, ISB provides enough variety of activities outside the classroom (e.g. sports, clubs, ...).	87	4
11. This child's teachers expect him/her to work hard and to achieve his/her best.	83	3
39. ISB provides a challenging curriculum.	71	8
Acquire an international education that inspires understanding and enthusiasm for world citizenship and service to others
23. ISB helps this child develop social skills.	77	5
7. This child is acquiring understanding and enthusiasm for world citizenship and service to others.	78	5
41. I feel that I am treated fairly and with respect at ISB.	76	5
Become experts in understanding their own learning strengths and weaknesses
3. This child is learning about his/her own best ways to learn.	73	8
20. ISB helps this child become mature and responsible.	77	4
9. This child is learning to be a self-directed learner.	73	7
8. This child's teachers understand how he/she learns best.	67	10
10. This child's teachers adjust their instruction to meet his/her learning needs	61	13
21. I am satisfied with the frequency and thoroughness of reporting on my child’s school progress.	78	8
25. When I have a concern about this child’s learning or experiences at school, I feel comfortable approaching a teacher or principal.	82	5
19. I am satisfied with the communication I have with this child’s teachers.	72	7
Experience outstanding teaching, based on best practice and research, supported by meaningful data
18. I am satisfied with the quality of this child's teachers.	77	7
16.I respect this child's teachers.	86	2
14. For this child, I have found the parent-teacher conferences to be useful.	74	8
Learn in a nurturing and supportive environment
2. This child enjoys being at ISB.	90	2
6. This child is physically safe at ISB.	90	2
12. This child experiences a nurturing and supportive environment at ISB.	78	4
42. I feel welcome at ISB and I have opportunities to be involved.	79	3
38. I receive timely appropriate information from ISB (e.g. newsletters, activities, calendar).	92	2
43. The school includes me in important decisions about my child.	72	4
22. Concerns that I have are dealt with in a timely manner.	76	4

Performance Indicators

Thu, 01 May 2008 03:05:00 GMT

ISB aims to be a learning focused school, one where every decision focuses on ensuring that each student has the best possible opportunities to achieve. But how do we get beyond the rhetoric and the blah blah? What evidence would allow any reasonable person to look at ISB and say, "Ah yes, this really is a learning focused school" or the opposite? One type of evidence involves comprehensive reporting and analysis of learning results. Like most other schools, we have such reports for everything but learning. For example, we have excellent reports on the finance and operations. Dr. Costessi with the Board Business Committee prepares lengthy documents that analyze the financial results from multiple perspectives. The Board relies on these documents in its stewardship of the school's financial health.

The Board needs and the whole school community deserves a similar report on learning results. The Board needs robust information allowing it to persistently ask and answer such questions as, “How effective are the learning programs at ISB? Are students making as much progress as possible? How does learning at ISB compare with international standards?” In addition, the information should support our school improvement work by helping us monitor the effectiveness of our learning processes. It would serve other purposes as well. This year the Board’s Strategic Development Committee set out to develop such so called, “performance indicators.”

The Committee has made substantial progress but we have a long way to go. Here is what we have so far. The indicators align with the five points of ISB’s Vision as well as the school’s Mission. They emphasize results rather than processes and resources. They incorporate hard data such as achievement scores and program participation rates as well as soft data such as parent survey results. When completed, the performance indicator document will likely be about 20 pages in length. The latest draft runs to 9 pages. The Strategic Planning Committee will continue to develop indicators. Next steps include asking faculty members to critically friend the indicators and asking Board members to identify those that are most useful from their perspective. I expect the indicators to make a quantum leap in quality over the next month and I will report on progress.

Worrying About Boys

Wed, 13 Feb 2008 22:38:00 GMT

Half of my students at ISB are boys. I am the scoutmaster of Boy Scout Troop 701. I have three sons. I am an ex-boy. I know something about boys. I am worried.

The press is full of articles about worsening boy underachievement I recently attended a presentation by Dr. Michael Thompson on this issue. Dr. Thompson has written several books about raising boys and will be presenting at ISB next school year. http://www.michaelthompson-phd.com/

Dr. Thompson has written, "Forty years ago, 58% of college graduates were male ...... That statistic has basically flip flopped in forty years." Many selective colleges now have quotas for girls to prevent even greater disparities. In the US, the National Assessment of Education Progress, the "Mercedes Benz" of achievement testing, reports that girls outperform boys in 4th, 8th, and 1th grades in language ability. The problem is not limited to the US. Reporting from Paris, the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development found low academic performance problems for boys in 19 of 27 countries. In 21 of 27 nations, more women than men are graduating from university.

How are boys doing at ISB? I looked at International School Assessment results for 3rd, 5th, 7th and 10th graders in math, reading and two types of writing. Across the grades boys consistently out performed girls in math. The reverse was true in reading and writing. Of last year's graduates with the highest grade point averages, 6 of 20 were boys. Essentially all of our graduates go on to university. Perhaps the problem is not so signicant at ISB.

Half of this story is positive. The academic gains and increased opportunities for girls that have developed over the past thirty years can only be described as wonderful. However, too many boys are undermotivated and underachieving in school. Why is this? Dr. Thompson proposes ten reasons without claiming they are the right ones:

1) Girls’ brains are better adapted to the modern school.

2) Girls have been given a more consistent, encouraging message.

3) Boys suffer from the tyranny of low expectations.

4) Schools are hostile environments for boys.

5) Teachers don’t teach boys things that appeal to their interests.

6) Boys have a different strategy/culture for doing school.

7) Boys don’t have the male role models and support they need.

8) There are more distractions in the lives of boys (screens!)

9) The lives of men and women have changed; boys are in despair.

10) The patriarchial attitudes of boys persist and handicap them.

Unfortunately, while I write this blog to raise the issue in our community, I am but without good solutions at hand. I expect that as more educators and parents around the globe worry about boys, solutions will emerge. I certainly look forward to Dr. Thompson's visit next school when faculty and parents can learn more.

Are you worried about our boys?

Two Things

Mon, 21 Jan 2008 02:22:00 GMT

1/2 Cultural Center – At its most recent meeting, our Board of Trustees decided to move forward with our new Cultural Center as long as the total cost stays below 380 million baht. As we think this figure is achievable, with a little luck we will have a new building opening during the 2009-2010 school year with:

· 26 new classrooms

· 250 seat theater

· music rooms

· choral rooms

· dance rooms

· music practice rooms

By the way, the Board strongly supported the additional cost associated with making the Cultural Center the most environmentally sustainable building in Thailand. Our goal is to be awarded the Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design --- Gold Award, the first in Thailand.

2/2 We have been blessed over the past seven years with a stable, high performance Board of Trustees. In order to continue this pattern, the Board is asking the community to amend the Association By-Laws.

1) Elected Board member terms would go from 2 years to 3 years.

2) Instead of 12 elected and up to 3 appointed members, we would have 9 elected and 4 appointed.

These changes are in line with what research has identified as good practice in non-profit Boards.

There will be a special Annual General Meeting on Friday, February 15^th from 6:00 to 6:45 to vote on the by-law changes. As we need at least 400 parents to vote, keep your fingers crossed that sufficient individuals participate.

Transportable Gifts

Thu, 10 Jan 2008 03:25:00 GMT

I start my blogging year going to the core of ISB – transportable gifts. In our vision, we promise these gifts to all our students, gifts of academic achievement, metacognition, and international mindedness -- gifts that will prepare them for success at their next school. Because so many ISB students stay for only a few years, our ultimate test is how successful our students are at their next schools.

While students learn at ISB, we gauge their acquisition of these gifts in many ways. However, the real results cannot be measured until students have spent several months in their NEXT schools. So the survey we do six months after a family has left USB offers the single, most important indicator of ISB’s success in achieving its vision.

This morning I analyzed the results of our most recent so-called “Leaver Survey.” 113 families participated. This represents slightly overhalf of all the families who left ISB January through June of 2007.

I will use the style of the Harper’s Magazine Index to share some of the results:

Percentage of families who said they would recommend ISB to friends: 97

Percentage of families who said their children were happy at ISB: 97

Percentage of families who said their children achieved their academic potential at ISB: 83

Percentage of families who said their children became skilled at metacognition: 84

Percentage of families who said their children learned enthusiasm for world citizenship: 95

Proportion of families who thought their children’s preparation in reading was excellent to superb: 2 in 3

Proportion of families who thought their children’s preparation in math was excellent to superb: 2 in 3

Proportion of families who thought their children’s preparation in writing was excellent to superb: 2 in 3

The survey also asked families to write specific comments and observations. If you would like to see these as well as a full report on the numerical results, drop me an e-mail and I will send them right along (billg@isb.ac.th).

What Works

Sun, 28 Oct 2007 23:16:00 GMT

The October 18^th Economist reported on a recently published study by McKinsey & Co. This well known management consulting organization analyzed results from the Program for International Student Assessment. Every three years, PISA reports on academic achievement of 15 year olds in 40 nations. Finland, Canada, Japan, South Korea and Singapore consistently have the best results. McKinsey endeavored to identify the school factors that set these nations apart. They found three:

1) have the best teachers

2) allow teachers to learn from each other

3) step in when pupils start to lag behind.

At the end of this blog, I have attached exerpts from the Economist article so that you can read the specifics. It is a fascinating article. I chose to blog about the article because for ISB, it offers mostly good news. The three factors are ones we have been emphasizing in our efforts to improve learning at ISB.

In my blog titled "Teacher Power", I discussed why ISB tries so hard to attract and retain great teachers.

Making it easier for teachers to collaborate about learning and to share good practices has been a theme at ISB for several years. Most teachers have common planning time with their colleagues. We encourage teachers to visit each other’s classrooms and to jointly plan units and lessons.

We have some processes in place to identify students who are not making adequate progress and then to help them. We have seven special education teachers. Teacher teams often spend time worrying about students who are not progressing well. We also know our current processes can be improved so this is a major theme in our ISB 2010 improvement plan.

Oct 18th 2007
From The Economist print edition

What works in education: the lessons according to McKinsey

THE British government, says Sir Michael Barber, once an adviser to the former prime minister, Tony Blair, has changed pretty much every aspect of education policy in England and Wales, often more than once. “The funding of schools, the governance of schools, curriculum standards, assessment and testing, the role of local government, the role of national government, the range and nature of national agencies, schools admissions”—you name it, it's been changed and sometimes changed back. The only thing that hasn't changed has been the outcome. According to the National Foundation for Education Research, there had been (until recently) no measurable improvement in the standards of literacy and numeracy in primary schools for 50 years.

England and Wales are not alone. Australia has almost tripled education spending per student since 1970. No improvement. American spending has almost doubled since 1980 and class sizes are the lowest ever. Again, nothing. No matter what you do, it seems, standards refuse to budge (see chart). To misquote Woody Allen, those who can't do, teach; those who can't teach, run the schools.

Why bother, you might wonder. Nothing seems to matter. Yet something must. There are big variations in educational standards between countries. These have been measured and re-measured by the OECD's Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) which has established, first, that the best performing countries do much better than the worst and, second, that the same countries head such league tables again and again: Canada, Finland, Japan, Singapore, South Korea.

Those findings raise what ought to be a fruitful question: what do the successful lot have in common? Yet the answer to that has proved surprisingly elusive. Not more money. Singapore spends less per student than most. Nor more study time. Finnish students begin school later, and study fewer hours, than in other rich countries.

Now, an organisation from outside the teaching fold—McKinsey, a consultancy that advises companies and governments—has boldly gone where educationalists have mostly never gone: into policy recommendations based on the PISA findings. Schools, it says*, need to do three things: get the best teachers; get the best out of teachers; and step in when pupils start to lag behind. That may not sound exactly “first-of-its-kind” (which is how Andreas Schleicher, the OECD's head of education research, describes McKinsey's approach): schools surely do all this already? Actually, they don't. If these ideas were really taken seriously, they would change education radically.

Begin with hiring the best. There is no question that, as one South Korean official put it, “the quality of an education system cannot exceed the quality of its teachers.” Studies in Tennessee and Dallas have shown that, if you take pupils of average ability and give them to teachers deemed in the top fifth of the profession, they end up in the top 10% of student performers; if you give them to teachers from the bottom fifth, they end up at the bottom. The quality of teachers affects student performance more than anything else.

Yet most school systems do not go all out to get the best. The New Commission on the Skills of the American Workforce, a non-profit organisation, says America typically recruits teachers from the bottom third of college graduates. Washington, DC recently hired as chancellor for its public schools an alumna of an organisation called Teach for America, which seeks out top graduates and hires them to teach for two years. Both her appointment and the organisation caused a storm.

A bias against the brightest happens partly because of lack of money (governments fear they cannot afford them), and partly because other aims get in the way. Almost every rich country has sought to reduce class size lately. Yet all other things being equal, smaller classes mean more teachers for the same pot of money, producing lower salaries and lower professional status. That may explain the paradox that, after primary school, there seems little or no relationship between class size and educational achievement.

AP Asian values or good policy?

McKinsey argues that the best performing education systems nevertheless manage to attract the best. In Finland all new teachers must have a master's degree. South Korea recruits primary-school teachers from the top 5% of graduates, Singapore and Hong Kong from the top 30%.

They do this in a surprising way. You might think that schools should offer as much money as possible, seek to attract a large pool of applicants into teacher training and then pick the best. Not so, says McKinsey. If money were so important, then countries with the highest teacher salaries—Germany, Spain and Switzerland—would presumably be among the best. They aren't. In practice, the top performers pay no more than average salaries.

Nor do they try to encourage a big pool of trainees and select the most successful. Almost the opposite. Singapore screens candidates with a fine mesh before teacher training and accepts only the number for which there are places. Once in, candidates are employed by the education ministry and more or less guaranteed a job. Finland also limits the supply of teacher-training places to demand. In both countries, teaching is a high-status profession (because it is fiercely competitive) and there are generous funds for each trainee teacher (because there are few of them).

South Korea shows how the two systems produce different results. Its primary-school teachers have to pass a four-year undergraduate degree from one of only a dozen universities. Getting in requires top grades; places are rationed to match vacancies. In contrast, secondary-school teachers can get a diploma from any one of 350 colleges, with laxer selection criteria. This has produced an enormous glut of newly qualified secondary-school teachers—11 for each job at last count. As a result, secondary-school teaching is the lower status job in South Korea; everyone wants to be a primary-school teacher. The lesson seems to be that teacher training needs to be hard to get into, not easy.

Teaching the teachers

Having got good people, there is a temptation to shove them into classrooms and let them get on with it. For understandable reasons, teachers rarely get much training in their own classrooms (in contrast, doctors do a lot of training in hospital wards). But successful countries can still do much to overcome the difficulty.

Singapore provides teachers with 100 hours of training a year and appoints senior teachers to oversee professional development in each school. In Japan and Finland, groups of teachers visit each others' classrooms and plan lessons together. In Finland, they get an afternoon off a week for this. In Boston, which has one of America's most improved public-school systems, schedules are arranged so that those who teach the same subject have free classes together for common planning. This helps spread good ideas around. As one educator remarked, “when a brilliant American teacher retires, almost all of the lesson plans and practices that she has developed also retire. When a Japanese teacher retires, she leaves a legacy.”

Lastly, the most successful countries are distinctive not just in whom they employ so things go right but in what they do when things go wrong, as they always do. For the past few years, almost all countries have begun to focus more attention on testing, the commonest way to check if standards are falling. McKinsey's research is neutral on the usefulness of this, pointing out that while Boston tests every student every year, Finland has largely dispensed with national examinations. Similarly, schools in New Zealand and England and Wales are tested every three or four years and the results published, whereas top-of-the-class Finland has no formal review and keeps the results of informal audits confidential.

But there is a pattern in what countries do once pupils and schools start to fail. The top performers intervene early and often. Finland has more special-education teachers devoted to laggards than anyone else—as many as one teacher in seven in some schools. In any given year, a third of pupils get one-on-one remedial lessons. Singapore provides extra classes for the bottom 20% of students and teachers are expected to stay behind—often for hours—after school to help students.

None of this is rocket science. Yet it goes against some of the unspoken assumptions of education policy. Scratch a teacher or an administrator (or a parent), and you often hear that it is impossible to get the best teachers without paying big salaries; that teachers in, say, Singapore have high status because of Confucian values; or that Asian pupils are well behaved and attentive for cultural reasons. McKinsey's conclusions seem more optimistic: getting good teachers depends on how you select and train them; teaching can become a career choice for top graduates without paying a fortune; and that, with the right policies, schools and pupils are not doomed to lag behind.

*How the world's best performing schools systems come out on top. McKinsey & Co.

Not at ISB

Thu, 11 Oct 2007 01:00:00 GMT

Over my lifetime, I have been held up twice at gunpoint (Detroit and Caracas), had my home burglarized, and had my cars broken into and stolen. I know what it feels like to be the victim of theft. It is ugly.

Over the past several years, our students have been victims of theft at ISB. Cell phones, iPods, electronic dictionaries, money, bicycles, cameras and shoes have been stolen. A number of approaches have been implemented to stop the thefts but with little evidence of success.

Over the summer, as I thought about what I wanted to work on this year to improve ISB, the theft problem kept coming up in my mind. Perhaps because I have been a victim myself, the more I thought about it, the more infuriated I became. I don’t want our students to worry about theft. When it happens, the resulting feelings are awful. Worrying about it, distracts students from their learning. It is completely out of sync with the values we teach in our character education programs.

I decided on two targets: 1) We will reduce theft to zero; and, 2) Make ISB – a school where students need never worry about theft.

As soon as school started, we began working to better understand the reasons and circumstances of these thefts and to implement measures that would eliminate it. As with other problems at ISB that have been solved, I knew it would take time and persistence for success. We would need a good monitoring system. We would need to try out many actions to find the ones that worked and those that did not.

We have formed a Theft Think Tank consisting of 6 students, 2 parents, and 3 staff members to shape our efforts. This group has met twice so far seeking to identify effective measures, both preventative and reactive. The following lists some of the actions that have been taken or will be taken shortly. If you have suggestions or ideas that would help us solve this problem, please contact me by responding to this blog or by phone +66-81-845-7397 or by contacting our Headmistress Usa Somboon at +66-81-937-0069.

Talking to and with students and staff about why theft is so destructive and detailing consequences. (Consequences are severe. For example, a staff member who was caught stealing about 3 weeks ago was immediately arrested by Thai police and dismissed.)
We now carefully investigate each occurrence of theft or missing items. Students report to Mr. Baron-Toaldo in Middle School or Mr. Doug Helgeson in High School. If there is any indication of theft, Khun Usa interviews the students to understand all the circumstances and to follow-up.
We have established sole use e-mail address where thefts can be reported by parents. ISBtheft@isb.ac.th
We have purchased four portable, inconspicuous video cameras to survey areas where thefts have occurred.
Implementing “sting” operations.
We will be arranging an “engraving station” where students can have their names permanently written on their cell phones and iPods.
We have put in place a reward system for staff and students who find items that have been left out in public places making easy theft targets.
We will be setting up a system so that students or staff can anonymously “rat on a rat.”
We need to work on helping students to understand that theft has no place in a school like ISB. This work will take place in synergy and com groups. Also we are considering student productions and prestigious guest speakers for student assemblies. We also need to help student understand their roles in preventing theft, for example, not leaving attractive items out in public places.

There are other measures that we are considering. So far this year, we have had 7 confirmed thefts from students and 1 from adults. We think these numbers are substantially lower than last year but they are still much too high.

This is an evolving story but I am certain that with the involvement and support of everyone in the ISB community, we will achieve our targets.

Measuring Academic Performance

Thu, 27 Sep 2007 21:15:00 GMT

September 28, 2007

The Iowa Test of Basic Skills and the International School Assessment have well served our students, teachers, and parents for a number of years. They are assessments of learning and allow us to gauge the learning of our students against others around the world. However they have not been good assessments for learning. For at least the following reasons, teachers have found them to be of limited value in planning instruction.

The arrival of results lags the testing by 2 or 3 months. By then, students have moved on. Students on the low end of the achievement range struggle with the tests and are sometimes demoralized. Students at the high end reach a ceiling that prevents us from seeing what they can really do. The testing itself consumes considerable learning time, often the better part of week. Finally, because students take each test every two years, it is difficult to track learning progress.

Last spring, I learned about a relatively new testing program that solves these problems by utilizing IT. Each year about four million students in the United States take the Measuring Academic Performance (MAP) assessment. Each student sits at a computer and takes an adaptive test. If the student correctly answers a question, the next one is more difficult and vice versa. This means students spend most of their testing time at the correct level of difficulty. Low performing students are not frustrate. The test has no ceiling so we can better understand the capacities of our highly able students. Students receive their scores immediately and ISB the next day. The test takes 60 minutes or less per subject.

For these and a number of other reasons, MAP should serve our purposes much better than ITBS or ISA. In my opinion, the most important improvement is that we hope teachers will find the results useful in planning for learning. If you would like more detailed information you can go to http://www.nwea.org/assessments/.

We have decided to move quickly with initial implementation. In October, one class at each grade level 3 to 10 will take the reading MAP and another the math MAP. In December and again in May, all students in these grades will take the tests. If MAP is as effective as we hope, starting next year, students will be tested three times a year. Because of its multiple advantages and because it gives us more useful norms, MAP is replacing ITBS this year. We will continue with ISA testing as before this year because it allows us to compare our students’ learning with 40 other nations. I would be interested in any reactions you have to this blog.

Construction at ISB

Mon, 13 Aug 2007 00:00:00 GMT

We are four days into the new school year. The classrooms have filled with enthusiastic, curious students eager to learn. This is one of those magic times for me.

Our summer construction projects have gone well. The elementary school library was gutted and rebuilt in a rather spectacular fashion. We expect it to become the focus for all forms of literacy learning. In addition to books, it contains a full computer lab. I have attached photos taken by our new librarian Kim Cofino that I hope capture the design aesthetic – exciting, inviting, and eye-catching.

The athletic facilities, especially the locker rooms, received a makeover. The new spaces will be much better for students.

Our youngest students have a new playground. The play structures are safer and offer more diverse play opportunities.

ES students seem to love their lunches. With our new ES cafeteria and new contractor, the food quality has improved substantially.

There were a number of internal spaces built and doors added between classrooms. For example, when we added a fifth counselor in the high school, we needed to create a new office for her. Since we have added Spanish as a modern language in the elementary school, two rooms were created.

Work continues on the design of our new Cultural Center. The architects have given us detailed drawings that specify every space. In total, this four story building to located behind the high school will add about 25 percent to the total usable space in the school. I am especially impressed with their efforts to make the building “green.”

Physics Journal

Thu, 14 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

In my most recent blog entries, I have discussed the quality of teaching at ISB and why it so strongly influences learning. Just in case you think I have been blathering about how great ISB teachers are, I would like to offer some evidence.

This week, Jonathan Eales dropped by my office to the share a preliminary draft of the first edition of the ISB Journal of Physics. He and fellow physics teacher Ian Jacobs have been asking high school students to conduct research experiments. Although the draft contains five papers, when it is finished in September it will offer more. You can read the draft Journal at http://www2.isb.ac.th/JournalOfPhysics/openJournalOfPhysics.html . You will see the quality of thinking and writing for yourself. Please remember that we are not a selective school like the Illinois Science and Math Academy or the Brooklyn High School of Science. We have smart but regular students at ISB. They would not have been capable of producing work of this quality unless their teachers were committed, smart, and caring.

What Parents Say About ISB

Wed, 13 Jun 2007 00:00:00 GMT

In early June, 2007, I e-mailed all departing ISB families asking for their future e-mail addresses so that in about 6 months we could survey them about their children’s transitions. Although comments were not requested at this time, many parents wrote about their children’s experiences at ISB. Here is a sample of them. I have removed student names in the interest of privacy.

"I take this opportunity to thank you for the excellent three years our children spent at ISB. During these years, they have matured and their horizons have greatly expanded. It was a great learning experience for them."

"We appreciate your concern for name, and would like to let you know that ISB is a wonderful school, and name has had many good experiences here. It is the root of his future success."

"We are confident that ISB's education will be helpful for our children to adapt themselves to school transition at new school in Korea. So we would like to express our sincere appreciation to ISB's staff and all teachers who taught and assisted our children for 3 years."

"We certainly appreciate your continuing effort in making ISB a great school, and we are glad to be able to contribute towards your remarkable effort."

"Leaving ISB is one of the saddest parts of this move. We have been overwhelmingly happy with our experiences at the school over the years. I just went to my 3rd Fifth grade graduation yesterday, and it was perfectly lovely as usual. I really believe that we have some of the best teachers in the world here."

"Name has been with ISB since KG and it seems he always saw himself graduating from here. This is the secret he shared with us on coming to know of the upcoming move.ISB worked very well for name, and every year we could see the transition and development he underwent. We've been closely involved with ISB and that's the reason this move doesn't seem too easy. We hope that we can get a similar set up there but at the same time are sure that the base name got here is so wonderful and he will always carry it with him wherever he is!"

"Thank you for all your support and guidance as we will cherish these years always!"

"Name and name have been very engaged with the school and activities since they joined ISB in January 2006. ISB will be on a very short list of experiences that they will miss dearly and treasure for many years to come. Thank you for creating a nuturing and stimulating environment for name and name this past year."

"We have been extremely fortunate in Bangkok because one could not wish for a better school, for a more satisfying, challenging and safe environment. We wanted to thank all of you for your hard work and dedication, for the warmth and care and for creating this unique atmosphere, which makes ISB such a wonderful place."

"Perhaps the best way to summarize what ISB meant for our family, would be to quote name. His reaction to having to stay at home due to a bout of flu was one sentence: “Oh no, I will miss the school!!!!!"

"Thank you for giving name the best education we could hope for."

"We have loved having our son at ISB and will dearly miss the school and teachers. It's been nothing but the best experience for our son."

"We will miss ISB's culture, environment and friends and will be happy to give you feedback on name and name transition in Virginia."

"We would be pleased to hear from you sometime during the next school year, so we can provide feedback to ISB about how our kids will have done in the transition to a new school. I hope that the next school is as thoughtful about measuring success (and failure) as ISB has been."

"Overall it has been a great experience at the ISB and all children have had three great years."

"We appreciate and truly value our children's learning experience in the midst of ISB's warm, nurturing and caring environment - something Noel, Michelle, name, name and name can take with them wherever they go and build on."

"ISB has been a wonderful experience for us. It is a large contributor to making our two year stay in Bangkok a tremendous experience. Holly has earned all A's and B's and has grown up a lot and made lots of new friends from all over the world. What more can a parent want?"

"ISB has been a wonderful school, and it will be hard to leave. We feel like we are leaving part of our family behind in Bangkok."

"Thank you to you and your terrific staff for making ISB more than just a school ! We have had a fantastic 4 years here."

"I would like to take this opportunity to thank everyone at ISB for the excellent time and education name has experienced. He has never complained about going to school and if his report card is up to previous he certainly has worked hard."

"I am confident that name will have no problems with the transition and has been well prepared by her teachers at ISB."

"I can tell you that both name and name have enjoyed ISB very much. They are not ready to move on, my son especially. He wanted to graduate from ISB. I think ISB is a great school and will be with name and name for their lives."

Board Approves Plan 2010

Wed, 23 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT

At last night's meeting, the Board of Trustees endorsed our three year learning improvement plan --- ISB 2010. In purpose and form, I believe it is unique in the international school world. It focuses on learning targets, rather than activities. It emphasizes the only thing that really matters in schools, how students and teachers work and learn together. I have included the plan overview below in case you are interested.

ISB Student Learning Targets and School Improvement Initiatives 2007-2010

Student Learning Improvement Targets: Specific and measurable goals to improve student learning informed by measures of achievement from one point in time to the other.

School Improvement Initiatives: Specific and measurable goals to support the attainment of the Vision and improved student learning.

Student Learning Improvement Targets:

Reach Academic Potential:

Given their individual abilities and prior knowledge, all students achieve at least their expected annual learning progress. In reading, writing and math this progress is measured by gain scores on internal and/or external measures.
Every student recognized as unusually able in a subject or topic achieves beyond the standard learning outcomes for each unit of study.

Acquire an International Education:

Students have at least age appropriate knowledge of key global issues. Over time they develop a thorough understanding of their impact on and responsibility for an environmentally sustainable future and have had experience applying this learning locally .

Become Experts in their Own Learning:

For each learning activity, all students can explain what they are learning, how it is connected to other learning, where they are in their learning, and what they need to improve.

School Improvement Initiatives:

Reach Academic Potential:

The curriculum has learning outcomes, essential questions, enduring understandings and assessments that are aligned vertically, allowing all students to be challenged.
Proactive use is made of students’ prior knowledge, skills and understanding to assist students in making connections and to inform lesson planning. Teachers use their understanding of this prior knowledge to adjust their lesson planning as measured by classroom observations and discussions with teachers.
Each student has an electronic, academic profile that is used by students and teachers to transfer information between grades levels and to set learning targets. Any student who has not been making adequate yearly progress has been identified and adjustments have been made accelerating learning to acceptable levels.
Processes for collecting, analyzing, reporting and using results from internal and external student learning measures have been implemented in order to achieve Student Learning Improvement Targets 1, 2 and 3.

Acquire an International Education:

Commensurate with their subject areas, ISB teachers and administrators have the knowledge, skill, and understanding necessary to integrate international mindedness and environmental stewardship into their teaching.

Outstanding Teaching Using Best Practices:

All ISB teachers and administrators participate in a professional learning community. This involves collaborative teams focusing on learning supported by classroom visits and reflection.
Human resource processes and procedures – recruitment, retention, appraisal, development, substitutes – have been deeply and systematically reviewed and the resulting recommendations have been implemented to ensure that students in every classroom experience excellent learning and teaching.
ISB has evolving school wide agreements on best instructional and leadership practices. These practices are used consistently and appropriately by every teacher as measured by reflection on learning gains and observation. These ISB standard practices have been identified through classroom visits and collaborative work within the school as well as from research on effective teaching practices.

Nurturing and Supportive Environment:

ISB is seen as a pace setter in environmentally sound operational policies and practices as measured by rigorous external review.
As measured by student surveys and an informed oversight committee, effective systems are in place so that each student is supported, nurtured , and encouraged with a designated adult for the student to go to for advice and assistance.
Parents in each division are satisfied with the communication they have with their children’s teachers as reflected by an 85 percent or more approval rating on the annual survey in each divisionA system of learning and support key performance indicators allows the Board of Trustees to monitor the progress of ISB towards our Vision and Guiding Principles.
Facilities have been improved by implementing the master plan and modernizing interiors to create more student friendly, efficient, ergonomic and aesthetically pleasing spaces.

ISB 2010 Plan

Tue, 15 May 2007 00:00:00 GMT

As this year’s accreditation self-study winds down, our planning for the future winds up. Using the results from the self-study, parent surveys, Board of Trustees’ thinking and other sources, we have been drafting ISB 2010. This 3 year strategic plan will serve as a roadmap, guiding ISB to the next level of quality. Unlike such plans in most international schools I know, ours focuses on learning. We have asked the question --- What actions can we take to achieve the ISB Vision and make sure that all students achieve their academic potential?

The plan may seem surprisingly simple. All the basic targets and initiatives fit on one A3 page. However, it contains powerful ideas.

We want every student to achieve at least a year’s learning as measured by reliable internal and external assessments.
We want to systematically recognize students who are unusually able in a subject or topic and make sure they achieve above standard levels.
We want every student to be able to articulate what they are learning, how it is connected to other learning, and what they need to improve.
We want students to be environmentally aware and engaged in local action.
We want to have an evolving list of best teaching practices that are used in every classroom

These are five of sixteen targets and initiatives in the plan. If you would like to see and critically friend the plan, please e-mail me – billg@isb.ac.th – and I will forward a draft to you.

The plan is also grounded in what we have learned over the past five years about systematic school improvement. One of those lessons involves the idea of evolutionary planning in contrast to the strategic variety. In a school and community as rich in human capital as ISB, people have good ideas at the most unpredictable times. Our improvement work is open to these ideas. We do not want to be frozen into a rigid three year plan that prevents us from moving quickly when a good idea surfaces. You could be a source of those ideas.

Teacher Power

Tue, 17 Apr 2007 00:00:00 GMT

The International Educator is a newspaper read widely in the international school community. The latest issue has an article I wrote.

Teacher Performance Counts

The International Educator

April 15, 2007

Bill Gerritz

International School Bangkok

As head of school at International School Bangkok for six years, I have offered the following speech at least 100 times to visiting parents and educators.

“When you tour ISB today you will walk away with the wrong impression. You will see lovely buildings and small classes with Smart Boards and laptop carts everywhere. You may even review our standards based curriculum and instructional materials. You will likely think all this is wonderful but you will have missed what is really important. What you will not see is what really matters, the thoughts and feelings of ISB teachers, which are behind 95 percent of our students’ learning. Frankly, the vast majority of our teachers are so passionate about children and so skilled at teaching, that great learning would go on if they had 40 students in a shack out in a swamp with nothing but a blackboard.”

I firmly believe that it is all about teachers. Until now, common sense and thousands of classroom visits over 25 years propelled my belief, not “scientific fact.” However, in the past few years compelling evidence has emerged about the degree of impact of teacher effectiveness on learning. Several independent studies have documented this impact. For me, the results of these studies are both exhilarating and frightening.

In the reports that I will cite below, hundreds of teachers and thousands of students were studied over at least 3 years. The investigators used a relatively new approach to teacher performance research. This “value added” assessment focuses on gains in academic achievement over a given year. The researchers used rather sophisticated multivariate statistical analysis to cancel out all the other factors that contribute to learning – individual student capacity, family backgrounds, school effects, and so on.

Rowan (2004), reports on work by Sitha Babu and Robert Mendro. When low achieving fourth graders had three effective teachers in a row, 90 percent of them passed a 7^th grade state math assessment. With three ineffective teachers, only 42 percent passed.

Wright (1997) found that the most effective teachers produced gains of 53 percentage points in student achievement over one year. The least effective produced 14 percentage points. Students who had three less effective teachers in a row were unlikely to ever recover.

Figure 1 displays the findings reported by Rockoff (2003). A student, with a reading comprehension national percentile of 50% who consecutively had three top 10% effective teachers would on average test at the 78^th percentile three years later. Similarly, a student with three consecutive top 25 % teachers would test at the 68^th percentile. In contrast, the poor kid who got a teacher at the 10^th percentile of effectiveness would have achieved only at the 22^nd percentile.

I could cite a number of additional studies but I think the story is clear. The varying effectiveness of teachers has a huge impact on learning. Marzano (2003) in summarizing all available evidence suggests that the impact of individual classroom teachers has a greater influence on student achievement than all other factors. So what does all this mean for international school leaders?

The first question should be how can we identify low and high performing teachers. We certainly cannot pursue the complex approaches of the researchers. Also all the studies rely on U.S. style norm referenced tests to measure learning. Many of us in international schools recognize the weaknesses in such tests and have higher expectations for learning than just the 3Rs.

Work by Milanowski (2004) offers one way forward. He used data sets from some of the studies reported above. He investigated principals’ judgments about teacher performance using the kind of standards based teacher evaluation approaches many of us are using, especially those based on the work of Danielson and McGreal. Milanowski reported a positive correlation. He wrote, “The empirical results show that evaluations produced by a relatively rigorous, standards based system are related to an accepted measure of student learning.” I know from experience that making judgments about teacher performance is complex and time consuming work. It is all too easy to get it wrong, for example, relying on insufficient information, resulting in false positive or false negative decisions. Nevertheless, properly implemented, Danielson style approaches can help identify high and low performing teachers.

However, understanding the meaning of these studies leads to broader issues. Many of us pursue similar school improvement agendas with efforts like curriculum development, professional learning communities, staff development, and strategic planning. I certainly think these are useful and deserve our support. However, perhaps we need to focus more attention as school leaders on the quality of our teachers. How often do we visit classrooms to witness learning? How often do we have professional conversations with teachers and students about their learning? When we identify exceptional teachers, how do support them and guide other teachers in learning from them? When we find an underperforming teacher, do we ignore the situation because it is too difficult and upsetting to take action?

I end with a worry. Perhaps you believe as I do that good schools focus single mindedly on learning, Perhaps you believe as I do that learning is all about the quality of our teachers. We all know that around the world the number of international schools is growing rapidly and the pool of available teachers is not. If we want to staff our schools with excellent teachers as we have in the past, how will we attract, develop, and support them?

Danielson,C., & McGreal, T.L. (2000). Teacher Evaluation to Enhance Professional Practice. Alexandria, VQ: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Marzano, R.J. (2003). What Works in Schools:Translating Research Into Action. Teacher Evaluation to Enhance Professional Practice, Alexandria, VQ: Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development.

Milanowski, A.T. (2004) The Relationship Between Teacher Performance Evaluation Scores and Student Achievement: Evidence from Cincinnati. Peabody Journal of Education, 79(4).

Rockoff, J.E., (2003) The Evidence of Individual Teachers on Student Achievement: Evidence from Panel Data. Report published by the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, ED 475274.

Rowan, B. (2004). Teachers Matter: Evidence from Value-Added Assessments. Essential Information for Education Policy, American Educational Research Association, Vol.2, Issue 2.

Wright, S.P., Horn, S.P. & Sanders, W.L. (1997), Teacher and Classroom Effects on Student Achievement: Implications for Teacher Evaluation, Journal of Personnel Evaluation in Education, Vol 11.

Parent Survey

Fri, 30 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

Ten days have passed since I began this half blog. Good news, an ISB parent sent me a lovely e-mail appreciating what I had written about our teachers. What I wrote about teachers on March 20th was opinion informed by about 3,000 classroom visits over the past 5 years. However, I could have backed up my opinions from our survey data.

Each year about this time, we survey all current ISB parents. Sixty to seventy percent of families respond. Our Board of Trustees and Leadership Team pour over the results looking for patterns and changes. The numerical results are analyzed in several ways. We read and reread the more than 1,000 written comments looking for themes. If you looked at our annual school improvement targets, you would see that several of them are framed in terms of the parent survey.

As head of school, I try to listen and understand parents' views on ISB. Although First Fridays with Bill and casual conversations with parents around school are consistently informative, I find that parent survey results to be more thorough and compelling. Sometimes the news from the survey is good. Sometimes it is bad. But it is always useful in deciding our next steps guiding ISB to be the school it can and should be.

If you would like to agree, disagree, or extend what I write here, please contact me by e-mail at (billg@isb.ac.th). Whenever possible, I will comment on your ideas in my next half-blog

Third Thursdays

Thu, 22 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

I have been informed by a thoughtful faculty member who is also IT savvy that my blog is not a blog. It lacks a way for readers to immediately respond on the website. So, I guess I am a half-blogger. Readers can still e-mail me. If you indicate that you want your e-mail posted here, I will copy it.

Each month, I have a First Friday Meeting with Bill. Any interested parents can come. For about an hour we discuss any topic of interest to parents. I learn useful info about what parents are worried about. As important, I often walk away with ideas and improvement suggestions that I can pursue. This afternoon I had my very first Third Thursday with Bill for staff members ---same game plan and same expected results as the parent conversations.

Seven Teachers came this afternoon. We discussed topics such as staff reductions, energy conservation, tuition increases, land purchases, and retirement policies. I walked away with four good ideas. It sure was worth my time. I hope it was for the teachers who participated.

Teachers

Tue, 20 Mar 2007 00:00:00 GMT

I must admit the entering the blogosphere has never been on my life agenda. However, wise people at ISB have explained that a Head's Blog is a good idea so I will follow their guidance. If you find what I offer engaging or offensive, please let me know. (billg@isb.ac.th) I will use your responses to improve my blogging skills and understanding.

I have decided to start with a little talk that I have given at least a hundred times to parents and educators visiting ISB for the first time. I suppose that if all those innocent people have had to listen to to the talk, then it belongs on my blog.

“When you tour ISB today you will walk away with the wrong impression. You will see lovely buildings and small classes with Smart Boards and laptop carts everywhere. You may even review our standards based curriculum and instructional materials. You will likely think all this is wonderful but you will have missed what is really important. What you will not see is what really matters, the thoughts and feelings of ISB teachers, which are behind 95 percent of our students’ learning. Frankly, the vast majority of our teachers are so passionate about children and so skilled at teaching, that great learning would go on if they had 40 students in a shack out in a swamp with nothing but a blackboard.”