Cary Tamil School AdvancED Accreditation Readiness Review Cary, NC December 16, 2014.

Cary Tamil SchoolAdvancED Accreditation Readiness

Review

Cary, NCDecember 16, 2014

Agenda• Introductions• Cary Tamil School– Overview– Mission– Vision– Curriculum

• Readiness Review - Preparation• Standards – our interpretations• Results of preliminary survey• Open discussion

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Cary Tamil School - Overview• Started in 2005 with less than 10 students– Classes held in peoples homes and in library rooms– Moved into Town of Cary facilities for a few years– Moved into Salem Middle School from 2014 – 2015

school year– Serving 237 students during current school year– Classes held once a week

• Governed by a Board of dedicated volunteers• Well served by volunteer teachers and parents

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Cary Tamil School - Mission• Enable and encourage young men and women to

learn Tamil, one of the oldest and classical languages of the world by: – providing them with quality instruction and

challenging learning experiences in a safe and orderly environment.

– accepting, appreciating, nurturing and challenging them according to their individual needs and abilities, striving to ensure that all students reach their highest potential

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Cary Tamil School - Vision• Create and maintain a school community that is conducive to

providing quality education to students. Enable students so inclined, to maintain their cultural heritage and bring diversity and richness to the society. Provide students with exemplary instructions designed to educate each student become conversant in this rich classical language, in both written and verbal forms. Nurture intellectual curiosity and effective communication. Encourage all members of the community to support our students learn our prestigious language. Our rigorous standards-based instructional program is geared toward enabling all students to meet the challenges of learning both spoken and literary versions of Tamil

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Cary Tamil School - Curriculum• 35 classes each year– Follows Wake County School System’s academic calendar– Approximately 135 hours of instructional hours each

academic year• (Teaching – 48, Homework – 60, Tests – 5, Preparation for

student performance – 12, Year book, performance, etc., - 10)

– Teacher to student ratio ranges between 1:5 and 1:7 – average of 1:6

– 3 major assessments each year– Follows curriculum developed by Government of

Singapore

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Cary Tamil School - Curriculum• Level I : Learn and master Tamil alphabet; learn simple songs with rhythm; begin learning simple

words and master vocabulary set for this level; learn basic phrases to greet people and engage in simple conversation – Textbooks for this level – Workbook 1, 1A, 1B, 2A and 2B. Number of years – up to 3

• Level II : Learn and recite poems; learn basic grammar; engage in conversation with native speakers; write letters to native speakers; participate in skits and plays done in Tamil. Pre-requisite Level I. Text books for this level – 3A and 3B. Number of years – up to 2

• Level III : Read long paragraphs and chapters; continue learning grammar; master vocabulary prescribed for the level; write essays with original thought; engage in conversations of substantial length with native speakers Prerequisite – Level II. Text books for this level – 4A and 4B. Number of years – up to 2

• Level IV : Use reference material independently to know meanings of words; master vocabulary prescribed for this level; learn grammar prescribed for this level; write page long essays with original thought; engage in fluent conversations with native speakers; learn and recite poems from Sangam era. Prerequisite - Level III. Text books for this level – 5A and 5B. Number of years – up to 2

• Level V : Read news paper and magazine articles; Continue learning grammar; Concentrate on poems from Sangam era; Prerequisite – Level IV. Textbooks for this level – 6A, 6B, HS-1A and HS-1B. Number of years – up to 2

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Extra Curricular opportunities

• Thamizh Mazhai– Cultural program conducted by Cary Tamil School and

performed entirely by its students based on their classroom learnings

• Students also participate in other events– Events conducted by local Tamil organizations– Tamil Bee, and other contests organized both locally

and nationally– Tamil Isai events wherein students sing classical songs

in Tamil

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Readiness Review – Preparation• Our journey

– General announcement of accreditation initiative and feedback request – August 2012

– Recognition obtained from Wake County Public School System – June 2014

– Attend External Review webinar – October 2014– Attend Fall Conference in Atlanta – November 2014– Apply for accreditation – November 2014– Appointment of teams to collect and present evidences for various

standards – November 2014– Surveyed stakeholders to obtain their input on this effort – December

2014• Significant commitment and support from stakeholders• Governing Board met regularly to prepare for readiness review

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Readiness Review – Standard I – Purpose and Direction

• Evidences – Well defined Vision / Mission – By-Laws– Handbooks (Student / Parent) – Survey/Reports

• Strengths – Support and textbooks from Government of Singapore– Dedicated volunteers– Strong community support

• Scope for Improvement – Devise a long term plan for school’s growth

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Readiness Review – Standard II – Governance & Leadership

• Evidences – Day to day operation check list– Well documented By-Laws– Well articulated policies and procedures– Meeting minutes / Action items– Well defined roles and responsibilities

• Strengths – School board consists of members from various professional areas bringing their

expertise– Popular Learning Management System (MOODLE) supporting governance

• Scope for Improvement – Creating more awareness in stakeholders about tools and technologies at their

disposal– Explore additional feedback possibilities from stakeholders

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Readiness Review – Standard III – Teaching & Assessing for Learning

• Evidences– Structured trimester evaluation– Well defined curriculum and matching lesson plans– Online Grade Book and progress reports– Frequent communication to parents– Periodically revised text / exercise books / homework material

• Strengths– Native language speakers as teachers with 15+ years of education– 6:1 student to teacher ratio– Formal teacher orientation document– Widely popular LMS system (MOODLE)

• Scope for Improvement– More professional development opportunities for teachers– Method for evaluating teacher performance

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Readiness Review – Standard IV – Resources & Support Systems

• Evidences– More than sufficient teaching and support staff– Functioning School Board with well defined responsibilities– Well defined communication plan– School’s online presence

• Strengths– Strong community support and dedicated volunteers– Semester-wise parent / teacher conferences– Online course contents and improved multimedia courseware– Widely popular Learning Management System (LMS) (MOODLE)– Availability of abundant technical expertise

• Scope for Improvement– Creating more awareness of the tools available to parents and teachers– Exploring options for higher education

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Readiness Review – Standard V – Data & Continuous Improvement

• Evidences– Standard gradebooks with clearly defined feedback– Survey results– Well defined process to communicate feedback about text books / syllabus– Templates for various teacher communications

• Strengths– Widely used survey tools and feedback methods– Standard gradebooks for all levels– Ability to generate ad-hoc and predefined reports

• Scope for Improvement– Explore additional data aggregation methods related to school’s performance

and improvement activities– Improve data analysis

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Survey Question I

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Survey Question II

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Survey Question III