school id: date: principal interview form-independent ...€¦ · principal interview...

Version 11.13.05

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School ID: Date: __________

Principal Interview Form-Independent Schools

Informed Consent Script My name is _____________________, and I work for the RAND Corporation, a private, nonprofit, public policy research institute. At the request of the Supreme Education Council (SEC), we’re conducting a study on schools in Qatar. The aim of the study is to understand how schools in Qatar are performing. As part of the study, RAND is conducting interviews with principals at a number of schools in Qatar. These interviews will concentrate on what your school is like and how it might be different from other schools you have worked at. The discussion today is confidential. We will not include your names or any other identifying information about you in our future discussions or written reports, and will destroy notes and information linking you to specific comments at the end of the project. Taking part in this interview is voluntary. If you agree to participate, you should feel free to skip any questions that you prefer not to answer, or stop the interview at any time. You may also designate specific comments as “off the record,” and they will not be recorded at all. We appreciate your participation and hope you will share your honest thoughts with us. Do you have any questions before we begin?* * If researchers are asked about their affiliation: “We are researchers at RAND, a nonprofit institution based in California that has worked on education policy around the world for more than three decades. RAND is a contractor working for the Supreme Education Council.”

Revised 10/18/05 - 1 -


Principal Interview Form-Independent Schools Page 1

Preamble: We are here to learn from your experiences. We want to know what you did, what challenges you encountered, what solutions you developed to solve them and what kinds of challenges you anticipate facing in the future. We are NOT here to evaluate you or your school. Rather we want to see what sorts of approaches are working and what hasn’t worked well, so we can advise the SEC how they might help all schools reach their goals of the best possible education for students. 1. Grand Tour & Overview Questions

What has it been like to open a new independent school? Since you became principal, what have been the major challenges?

What have you done to try to overcome them? What are the major challenges that remain?

What are you plans for tackling these in the future?

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Preamble: We know there are many different aspects of running a school, and particularly a school that is not like the MoE schools. You and your staff had had to make a lot of decisions. What we would like to do now is cover some of critical areas one at a time. We realize that we will probably not get through the whole set of questions in this first interview, but we will continue the next time we meet. 2. Administration – Principal’s Role

As the principal, what is your role in the school? What was your role in setting up the school? Now that the school is underway, how do you normally spend your days?

What is your role vis-à-vis the operator(s)?

What are you responsible for versus what is the operator responsible for? What is the communication like between you? What kinds of challenges have you faced (if any) and how have you dealt with them?

Comparing your previous administrative experiences to this one, what (if any) are the

differences in: Conditions of work: time, burden, and pay? The set of skills needed by the principal of an Independent School as compared to a principal of an MoE or other school?

To what degree do you find this job more rewarding or exciting than previous jobs? Why?

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3. Administration – Managing Students

How did you go about setting up a student-management system to track students, grades, attendance, etc.? How did you figure out class scheduling and the allocation of teachers and students to classrooms? How did you go about establishing rules that would guide student behaviors in terms of attendance, discipline, etc.

For each, PROBE about:

Who made decisions How were decisions made What challenges were encountered What solutions came up to deal with these challenges

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4. Administration – Managing Staff

How much of a role did you have in deciding how to organize the staff? How did you structure your middle management (e.g., vice principals, department head, etc.)?

Why did you choose this structure? What are their responsibilities? Who reports to them? Have you had to make modifications along the way? IF SO, WHAT?

What kinds and how many additional non-academic staff did you decide to hire (e.g., counselors, social workers, nurse, support staff, etc.)?

What are their responsibilities? Who is responsible for each of the tasks below (also get numbers for each category)?

Behavior management (e.g., monitor arrivals, restrooms–maybe assigned to sections of school) Direct help to students with academic problems (e.g., students referred by teachers, spend lots of time with parents and struggling students) Disciplinary work (e.g., students referred who have unexcused absences or are tardy, spends lots of time with parents and misbehaving students) Support to teachers (e.g., how to motivate students, engage parents) Other (describe): ________________________________________

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4. Administration – Managing Staff (cont.)

What kinds and how many teachers do you employ now? How did you decide the number and kinds of teachers you needed?

What was the hiring process like? How did you advertise for teachers? When did you start looking at teachers? When did you finishing with all your hiring? How much control did you have over selecting teachers? What kind of competition did you face when hiring teachers? How did you convince teachers to work in your school? Where did your teachers come from (e.g., MoE, Private Arabic, free graduates, outside Qatar)?

What kinds of challenges did you face in trying to find the most appropriate and qualified teachers for your school? PROBE FOR: Salary limits, not enough lead time, etc.

What did you do to work around these challenges? If Qatarization does not come up spontaneously, ASK: Some principals have mentioned that the Education Institute’s expectations about hiring Qataris have made hiring even more challenging. What have been your experiences in this regard? Do you think you were able to hire the best teachers available?

IF NOT, what interfered in the hiring of the best teachers?

For Generation I schools that are in their second year of operation: From last academic year to this year, how many (if any) teachers did you lose?

Why did they leave? Were there some teachers you wanted to keep but could not?

What has been your experience in replacing them? IF EASIER, ask: Why? IF HARDER, ask: What has made hiring more difficult this year?

How qualified are the replacements compared to those that left?

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5. Curriculum Development

How were curricula developed? Who was responsible (e.g., individual teachers, department heads, vice principals, SSOs?) Do all teachers at the same grade level use the same curricula? Did this school put any strategies in place to ensure that curricula in Arabic, English, Math and Science were aligned to the new curriculum standards?

IF YES, please describe. IF NO, did you do anything to promote alignment?

How much are individual teachers expected to adapt and modify the curriculum for their own classes? What kinds of challenges have you had in developing curricula?

How have you tried to address these challenges? What have you found to be most successful?

Do you have a process for modifying the curriculum over time?

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6. Teacher Professional Development

What kind of professional development (PD) do teachers need most? What kinds of PD do your teachers now receive?

What kinds of PD do they receive from inside the school?

Who provides this professional development? IF SSOs ARE NOT MENTIONED, ask: What role did the SSO’s play in providing support for your school? How adequate do you feel this training was for your staff?

What kinds of PD do teachers receive outside the school?

Who provides this PD? IF THE EDUCATION INSTITUTE IS NOT MENTIONED, ask: What training, if any, did your teachers receive from the Education Institute? How useful was this training?

Do all teachers receive the same training? IF NO, ask: Who decides who will be trained? Which teachers are getting the most training? The least?

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6. Teacher Professional Development (cont.)

To what degree do you feel that your teachers have received adequate professional development in the following domains:

Their teaching abilities / pedagogical styles? Their curriculum planning and development? Their relationship with the other teachers, your students, you (the principal)? Their ability to teach to the curriculum standards?

Have you tried to further your goals for the school through PD, e.g., more collegiality, more creativity? What kinds of challenges have you had in providing adequate and appropriate professional development to your staff?

How have you tried to address these challenges? What have you found to be most successful?

What is your plan (if any) for making additional professional development available to your teachers this year and next?

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7. Students

What kinds of students attend this school?

Does the make-up of the student body pose any particular challenges for your school? Are the students in this school any different from those in schools you’ve worked with in previous jobs?

IF SO, how? Do you have a waiting list?

How many students are currently on it? Where do they come from?

Have you had any students that have left your school?

Did they transfer to another school? IF SO, why?

Have any students dropped out (no transfer to another school)? IF YES, did you do anything to try to keep them enrolled?

How engaged and interested are students at this school in learning?

What have you done (if anything) to motivate students to learn? Have you tried to change the school’s approach to student learning?

What have you done? How successful have these efforts been?

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8. Parental Engagement

How does the school make information available to parents (e.g., bulletin board, newsletter, letters, text messaging, e-mails, website)?

What kinds of information are provided to parents (for example)? School information (e.g., schedule) Parent information (e.g., parent meeting notices) Community information (e.g., family-oriented events) Test schedules Other: ______________________________________

What kinds of support roles do parents play in the school (e.g., teacher aides, help with field trips, etc.)? What mechanisms (if any) are in place for parents to voice their opinions and concerns?

Is there a formal parent’s group (e.g., PTA-like organization)? Are parents represented on the board?

IF SO, how are they selected?

Have you tried to increase parent involvement? What kinds of challenges have you had in getting parents involved?

What kinds of solutions have you found successful?

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9. Student Performance

How are you evaluating the progress of your students?

Who is responsible for designing assessment tools, e.g., ongoing assessments, end-of-semester exams? What are your policies for deciding if a child needs to be retained? What challenges have you faced in regards to student assessment and how have you tried to address these challenges?

What has your experience with the enumeration, national testing, and surveys been like?

How did the enumeration process go in your school? How did the national testing in Arabic, English, Science, and Math go at your school?

What are your impressions of the national exams? Did you prepare students to take the exams?

IF YES, how?

What did you think of the principal and school surveys? Have your received any information back from the Evaluation Institute as to how well your students or the school did in comparisons to other schools? What kind of information would be helpful for you to receive?

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10. Interactions with Others

Education Institute What have your interactions with the Education Institute been like? How helpful have they been in providing the support you need? What could the Education Institute do to better help you achieve your goals for the school?

Evaluation Institute What have your interactions with the Evaluation Institute been like? How helpful have they been in providing the support you need? What could the Evaluation Institute do to better help you achieve your goals for the school?

Higher Education Institute (Only for Secondary Schools) Have you had any interactions with the Higher Education Institute? How helpful have they been in providing the support you need? What could the Higher Education Institute do to better help you achieve your goals for the school?

Other Independent Schools Have you visited other Independent schools or talked to their principal or staff? IF SO, what did you learn from them?

Other Exemplary Schools Have you visited other exemplary schools (either inside or outside Qatar)? IF SO, what did you learn from them?

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11. Facilities/Resources

How has your physical plant (the building and campus) affected your ability to provide a high quality education to your students?

What modifications (if any) have you made to building and classrooms? What further modifications would you like to make?

Why have these modifications not be made as of yet?

Resources What kinds of resources/support have you received to help you enact your plans or improve the education of your students (for example, from parents, the Education Institute, the SEC, the community at large, the MOE, or the operator of this school)?

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12. Mission

What is the mission of your school? What makes it different from other schools? How well do you think this school is meeting its mission?

What areas do you think still need improvement? What are your plans for such improvement?

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13. Governance

How is this school governed? What is the role of each of the following people in the governance :

Operator Board Principal Teachers Parents

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14. Finance

Preamble: One of the most important aspects of an Independent School is to figure out how to maximize the quality of education that can be delivered in a school within a given budget. What have been your experiences with the financial aspects of operating an Independent School? What aspects of the budget have worked as you had anticipated when you applied to operate a school? What aspects of your original budget have changed? What has been the most challenging aspect of school finance for the school? Why? Has your interaction with the Education Institute around finance been helpful?

What (if anything) could be improved?

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15. “Do-Overs”

Preamble: In making the 1000’s of decisions it takes to open a new Independent School, some principals find that they sometimes need to revisit previous choices.

In looking back at your previous decisions, do you see any you might want to reconsider? If you had a chance to open another school, what would you do differently?

Revised 10/18/05 - i -

Teacher Focus Group—Independent Schools Informed Consent Script

My name is _____________________, and I work for the RAND Corporation, a private, nonprofit, public policy research institute. At the request of the Supreme Education Council (SEC), we’re conducting a study on schools in Qatar. The aim of the study is to understand how schools in Qatar are performing. As part of the study, RAND is conducting focus groups with teachers at a number of schools in Qatar. These focus groups will concentrate on what your school is like, how it might be different from other schools you have taught at, and what you like or dislike about your school. The discussion today is confidential. We will not include your names or any other identifying information about you in our future discussions or written reports, and will destroy notes and information linking you to specific comments at the end of the project. We ask that you not discuss comments made by others after this session is over. Taking part in this focus group is voluntary. If you do not want to participate, you may leave now. If you agree to participate, you should feel free to skip any questions that you prefer not to answer, or leave the group at any time. You may also designate specific comments as “off the record,” and they will not be recorded at all. We appreciate your participation and hope you will share your honest thoughts with us. Do you have any questions before we begin?* * If researchers are asked about their affiliation: “We are researchers at RAND, a nonprofit institution based in California that has worked on education policy around the world for more than three decades. RAND is a contractor working for the Supreme Education Council.”

Revised 10/18/05 - 1 -


Independent School Teacher Focus Group Form Page 1

Grade Levels Included ________ Subjects Included ______________ 1. How many of you are new to teaching? 2. Which subjects do you teach? 3. How many hours a week do you spend in the classroom? 4. How much time do you spend preparing for class each week? (Interviewer: please check off responses to above four questions in grid below)

Teacher New Old Subject # Hours/Week

Teaching # Hours/Week Preparation

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

5. What is it like to be in an Independent School? Compared to your previous teaching experiences, are there differences in:

a) Conditions of work: time, burden/ teaching load and pay and benefits, and job security? b) The school’s attitude about student learning, teacher creativity in the classroom, parental

involvement?

c) Do you find this job more rewarding, more challenging than previous jobs?

PROBE: In what ways are your experiences different? What makes you say that? (Ask for examples.)

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6. Are the students in this school any different from those in schools you’ve worked with in previous jobs? PROBE: How engaged or interested are students in learning? 7. Are your relationships with your students different in this school than in your previous schools, e.g., more respect, more informal interaction, know students better? 8. Do students in this school relate to each other differently than in your previous schools? 9. Does it seem that students find this school more interesting than their previous MoE school? Do they seem more motivated? 10. What is your opinion of the new curriculum standards in Arabic, English, Math, and Science? How do they compare to the standards underlying the MoE curriculum (ask of experienced teachers)? 11. What are the most critical challenges you encounter as you implement the new curriculum standards in your classes? 12. Do you feel you are receiving adequate professional development in the following domains?

a) Your teaching abilities / pedagogical styles? b) Your relationship with the other teachers, your students, your principal? c) Your curriculum planning and development?

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13. In what ways have your skills improved? 14. How do you prepare lessons? In a group? By subject or grade? Alone? 15. Does this school support you developing your own materials or classroom activities? How? 16. How satisfied are you with the facilities and equipment in this school? 17. Do your colleagues or supervisors provide you with teaching support?

In what ways? Is this support helpful to you? If NO: what would be helpful to you?

18. Is there recognition for teacher effort? In what form is the recognition provided? 19. Is your opinion valued in this school? Do you feel that you have a voice in this school’s educational planning / decision-making process?

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20. Thinking back to the number of hours you spend in the classroom and in preparation each week, can you tell us how much time you spend each week doing other things besides classroom instruction and preparation? PROBE: How much time do you spend with students, teachers, parents of students, and administrators? WRAP UP 21. Do you feel like you can be a better teacher in an IS? 22. Will you stay in an IS? If no, why not?

Revised 10/18/05 - i -

Student Focus Groups—Independent Schools Informed Consent Script

My name is _____________________, and I work for the RAND Corporation, a private, nonprofit, public policy research institute. At the request of the Supreme Education Council (SEC), we’re conducting a study of schools in Qatar. The aim of the study is to understand how schools in Qatar are performing. As part of the study, RAND is conducting focus groups with students at a number of schools in Qatar. These focus groups will concentrate on what your school is like, how it might be different from other schools you have attended, and what you like or dislike about your school. The discussion today is confidential. We will not include your names or any other identifying information about you in our future discussions or written reports, and will destroy notes and information linking you to specific comments at the end of the project. We ask that you not discuss comments made by others after this session is over. Taking part in this focus group is voluntary. If you do not want to participate you may leave now. If you agree to participate, you should feel free to skip any questions that you prefer not to answer, or leave the group at any time. You may also designate specific comments as “off the record,” and they will not be recorded at all. We appreciate your participation and hope you will share your honest thoughts with us. Do you have any questions before we begin?* * If researchers are asked about their affiliation: “We are researchers at RAND, a nonprofit institution based in California that has worked on education policy around the world for more than three decades. RAND is a contractor working for the Supreme Education Council.”

Revised 10/18/05 - i -

Parent Focus Groups—Independent Schools Informed Consent Script

My name is _____________________, and I work for the RAND Corporation, a private, nonprofit, public policy research institute. At the request of the Supreme Education Council (SEC), we’re conducting a study on schools in Qatar. The aim of the study is to understand how schools in Qatar are performing. As part of the study, RAND is conducting focus groups with parents at a number of schools in Qatar. These focus groups will concentrate on yours and your child’s experiences with schools in Qatar, and what your child’s current school is like. The discussion today is confidential. We will not include your names or any other identifying information about you in our future discussions or written reports, and will destroy notes and information linking you to specific comments at the end of the project. We ask that you not discuss comments made by others after this session is over. Taking part in this focus group is voluntary. If you do not want to participate you may leave now. If you agree to participate, you should feel free to skip any questions that you prefer not to answer, or leave the group at any time. You may also designate specific comments as “off the record,” and they will not be recorded at all. We appreciate your participation and hope you will share your honest thoughts with us. Do you have any questions before we begin?* * If researchers are asked about their affiliation: “We are researchers at RAND, a nonprofit institution based in California that has worked on education policy around the world for more than three decades. RAND is a contractor working for the Supreme Education Council.”

Revised 10/18/05 - i -


Independent School Parent Focus Group Form Page 1

Before starting, ask each parent to identify one of their children who currently attends the IS as the “target child”. Try to pick a range of grade levels. Write down the first name of each target child and ask each parent to do so too so that you can focus specifically on target children. It is far less confusing and simpler. Names and Grade levels of target children 1. ___________________ Grade: _____ 2. ___________________ Grade: _____ 3. ___________________ Grade: _____ 4. ___________________ Grade: _____ 5. ___________________ Grade: _____ 6. ___________________ Grade: _____ 7. ___________________ Grade: _____ 8. ___________________ Grade: _____ 1. What made you decide to have (target child) attend this IS?

PROBE: inertia, lack of awareness of what was required to opt out, frustration about aspects of MoE schools—what aspects?, word on the street about ISs in general or this IS.

2. How much did you know about this IS before you had to decide whether to send your child to it? What else would you have liked to know? 3. How long has target child attended this IS? 4. What is different about this IS (since its conversion or in comparison to MoE schools)?

PROBE for new staff, new spirit, more homework, more reaching out to parents, teachers more knowledgeable

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5. What have been the most important changes?

PROBE for mention of curriculum standards, child-focused instruction, efforts to motivate children, new attitude towards parents

6. How does the school make information available to parents (e.g., bulletin board, newsletter, letters, text messaging, e-mails, website)? 7. What information is provided to parents?

For example:

• School information (e.g., schedule)

• Parent information (e.g., parent meeting notices)

• Community information (e.g., family-oriented events)

• Test schedules

• Other: ______________________________________

8. Does this school seem more welcoming to parents than MoE schools?

IF YES, how? 9. Do you have a different relationship to the school since it became an IS?

PROBE for: attend more meetings, more likely to stick around after dropping child off, ask more questions, more involved in volunteer activities, more involved in child’s schoolwork, less involved—why?

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10. Have you seen any differences in your child since he/she began attending an IS?

PROBE for details, e.g., more interested in school, doing more homework, thinking more about things, less happy

11. If you had to make the choice again, would you consider an IS for this child? What questions would you ask before selecting an IS for target child? 12. What about your other children—would you consider an IS for them? Why or why not? 13. Are you aware of the new curriculum standards in Arabic, English, Math, and Science? How did you learn about them? What is your opinion of them? 14. Are you aware of the k-12 education reform, Education for a New Era?

What do you think of it? What are the best things about the reform? The weaknesses of the reform? If you could change anything about the reform, what would you change?

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