Al Kawthar Secondary School
TAMAM Improvement Project (2015-Present)
Spreading TAMAM Culture Among the Organization
*This improvement initiative was under the supervision of peer coaches.
Al-Mabarrat has embraced a vision that addresses innovation and improvement as main aspects of development believing that would have positive impact on the school community and its resources, especially that of human capital. Therefore, Al-Kawthar Secondary School has established a team (The Committee of Self-assessment and Development) whose mission is to tackle the needs in the school and work on, through planning, monitoring and assessing, the process of improvement and development. Having the privilege of being one of the pioneer schools in TAMAM Project and believing in the effectiveness of the project’s thought and approach on school improvement and reform, we have adopted the TAMAM thought and Pillars to lead the journey of improvement and development in the school. Based on that, below are the actions that were taken:
1– The Committee of Self-assessment and Development was integrated with TAMAM team to become one body (team) entitled “Committee of self-assessment and ongoing development based on TAMAM Movement” whose mission is to work on strategic and ongoing development in the institution. The committee reviewed the felt-needs of the previous (that of TAMAM Project and the Self-assessment and Ongoing Development Committee), studied the intersection between them, and set the new goals for development of 2016-2017.
2– Redistribute/reorganize the taskforce teams based on the new felt needs and assign a leader for each.
3– Adopt “TAMAM journey” as the framework of development end employ the action research approach (where it applies) in the action plans of the new felt-needs.
Below are the projects that are related to the new- felt-needs (goals):
Special Education to Improve Co-teaching Practices
Enhance teachers’ understating of the conceptual framework of special education to improve co-teaching practices which would have positive effects on students’ performance in loud reading and reading comprehension skills.
Improve Students’ Logical Thinking Skills Through Implementing
Improve students’ logical thinking skills through implementing “concept-based learning approach” in mathematics which therefore, would have positive effects on students’ performance in other subject areas.
Implementation of the New Teaching-Timetable
Track the implementation of the new teaching-timetable (blocks and units- 2016/2017) and the new changes on the physical environment & distribution of students according to age group and gender in school on playgrounds and building to measure their influence on students’ behaviors and learning.
Enhance the Partnerships between School- Parents and School- Alumni
Enhance the partnerships between school- parents and school- alumni in order to improve the teaching-learning process and to positively affect and modify students’ behaviors.
Dissemination of TAMAM Culture and Spirit
Enhance the dissemination of TAMAM culture and spirit within the school through introducing and applying TAMAM Pillars.
Disseminate and Enhance the Implementation of Active Learning Strategies
Disseminate and enhance the implementation of active learning strategies and skill and measure the impact of this aspect on teacher’s performance and consequently on students’ learning.
Enable the School Personnel to Use Technology
Enable the school personnel to use technology in order to improve the teaching-leaning process, documentation & measurement procedures (indicators of quality processes) and to facilitate all the related work. This would eventually lead to keeping up with the technological advancement on the level of both, students and teacher.
TAMAM Improvement Project (2009-2010)
Active and Collaborative learning
*This improvement initiative was under the supervision of TAMAM Steering Team.
The primary goal of this action research was to study the impact of teachers’ training on active learning strategies of inquiry learning, cooperative learning, problem solving skills, and presentation skills on the teaching-learning process, and how the application of active learning strategies through cooperative learning would improve critical thinking skills, presentation skills, and social skills of the students.
The tools used in this research were observations and questionnaires for students and teachers to insure triangulation of data. The pre-post measurement procedure was used to determine effect of training. Results revealed acquisition of 4th grade teachers to all indictors of active learning strategies in Science, Math, Arabic, and English.
The recommendations were to study the effect of teacher training on students’ acquisition of active learning skills as it was not completed at that time, and to answer the second research question on “how the application of active learning strategies through cooperative learning would improve critical thinking skills, presentation skills, and social skills of the students”. In addition, it was recommended to conduct supervision sessions for teachers who have not yet achieved active learning strategies skills, and fill the observation forms for each teacher for all active learning strategies. The main outcomes of this research action were the increase in awareness to the importance of evidence based research and the importance to train teachers to be reflective practitioners to enhance their teaching practices.