In an effort to effectively communicate with our families regarding our current successes and student achievement in Elementary Literacy, as well as our plans for further growth and improvement, our Curriculum and Instruction Coordinator, Rainey Mock, will be sharing a series of updates for parents in this and coming newsletters.

Rainey is an experienced educator who has taught and coordinated instructional programs here, as well as in the United States, South Korea, and Saudi Arabia in a variety of settings, including homeroom instruction, English as an additional language, and intervention for students with outlying learning needs. She is a certified Reading Specialist and Special Educator for students from early childhood through grade twelve. She has a graduate degree focused in Curriculum and Instructional Design as well as a postgraduate, educational specialist degree in Educational Leadership, which certified her to be a Senior Administrator in the United States.

As Curriculum and Instruction Coordinator, Rainey’s primary focus is the efficacy and improvement of educational programs and instructional practices at SIBS. The goal is to ensure the needs of all students are effectively met and they reach their full potential for growth and achievement. Based on an analysis of the needs of our students, the current primary focus is English Reading. Please read ahead for an update on the progress achieved in this area to date as a result of the curriculum initiatives put in place to enhance programs and instruction for the 2019-2020 school year. Further updates focused on plans for further enhancement to SIBS’ curriculum and instruction will be forthcoming in future newsletters.

Teachers and administrators are continually working to improve the quality of instruction and educational programs for our students. Our primary focus has been on English Literacy, particularly Reading instruction, as we know this is a foundational skill critical to a child’s success in all academic disciplines. As was introduced to you at the end of last school year, several changes were put into place for the 2019-2020 school year to support this focus. We introduced a new Reading textbook, Wonders (published by McGraw Hill), which is up to date, aligned with Common Core State Standards, and widely used throughout the United States. We implemented Reading A-Z to provide leveled literacy instruction targeted at students’ specific learning needs during the school day as well as high quality independent practice at home. Finally, and perhaps most importantly, we have enhanced the quality of Reading instruction inside the classroom. We have shifted to a Balanced Literacy approach with the addition of guided reading instruction. The guided reading approach meets students’ individual needs by providing reading support at their instructional level. Teachers support students in reading material that is slightly above the level they have currently mastered but not too challenging as to cause frustration. Structured instruction at this level ensures students are continually growing in their ability to accurately read and comprehend literature and informational texts.

We were confident in these enhancements as we knew them to be heavily supported by educational research. However, we are committed to data-based decision making and clearly tracking the success and efficacy of our educational programs and instructional practices. We measure success in terms of the percentage of students who meet their goals for growth. This makes conditions fair for all as the focus is on a standardized, anticipated growth rate from the starting point to ending point of a given time period. This is the most effective way of determining if all students are meeting their full potential, including raising achievement levels for struggling students and continuing to support the further development of very high performing students.

We are pleased to share that we have seen a remarkable increase in students meeting growth targets following the implementation of these initiatives. Based on the analysis of students’ Reading performance from the beginning to the middle of the 2019-2020 school year, we have seen a 36% increase in the percentage of students meeting or exceeding their goals for growth as compared to the 2018-2019 school year results. This is a testament to the efficacy of these new programs and practices, the hard work of the teachers, and all your essential support at home. Thank you for sharing in our celebration of this achievement!

While we are thrilled with these improvements, we are mindful of our great opportunity for continued progress. We firmly believe this is only the beginning and are very excited to continue the journey with our school community, including students, faculty, and parents, for continued growth and success. With this goal in mind, we are currently finalizing plans for further enhancements to educational programs and instructional practices. We are excited to share those upon finalization, which we expect in the coming weeks.

Take care and stay well,

SIBS ES Team