Author: Dr. Rob Mockrish and Kerstin Mockrish from Raffles American School (RAS)
The American Curriculum is a rigorous, standards-based system that aims to educate the whole child for the successful realization of dreams and goals.
Within the United States, each individual state maintains the right to deliver standards of its choosing, relevant to the state and region. American schools abroad that offer the American Curriculum have the opportunity to choose the most recent and rigorous standards that are relevant to an international community within the host country. American Schools abroad do not have the authority to accredit their educational programs, therefore the curriculum must be accredited in the United States by one of the six accreditation authorities. The Western Association of Schools and Colleges (WASC) is the accreditation authority assigned to international schools within the Asian region. Raffles American School (RAS) is fully accredited by WASC through June 2017.
This accreditation guarantees that as students progress from Elementary School to Middle School to High School they will possess the prerequisite knowledge and skills to move from one grade level to the next. It also ensures that schools are worthy of the trust placed in them to provide high-quality learning opportunities and clearly demonstrate continual self-improvement.
In addition, this accreditation gives the individual school the authority to deliver curriculum standards and assess those standards internally. This negates the necessity for preparing for regularly administered external examinations and allows the school to engage in the process of ongoing, continual assessment. Ultimately, the school maintains the official authority to grant students an American High School Diploma upon completion of 12 years of study, without a national or external examination. In addition, the American Curriculum allows for the study of Advanced Placement, university-level course work, in the final years of High School, which can culminate in a second diploma from the College Board Advanced Placement authorities.
A STANDARDS-BASED CURRICULUM
For every school offering the American Curriculum, there are “standards” or content knowledge that students must master and demonstrate for every subject, at every grade level.
In the United States, each state government chooses a set of standards and mandates these to the state public school system. American Schools abroad have the opportunity to choose standards based on current research and regional relevance. At RAS, we have chosen the Common Core State Standards (CCSS) for Language Arts and Mathematics, Next Generation Science Standards (NGSS), and American Education Reaches Out (AERO) for Social Studies. RAS also has chosen rigorous standards for the Arts, Physical Education and World Language.
Within each subject area, teachers are aware of, teach to and assist students in mastering these content standards, which have been adapted to reflect their geographic location. Over the course of one year, there are various “benchmarks” along the way to ensure that students are moving in the direction of mastery in each standard in each subject area.
LEARNING OUTCOME APPROACH
All quality American Schools abroad have adopted Learning Outcomes in some form and teach to these outcomes. The Learning Outcomes encompass what the school truly believes all students should know and be able to do, now and into the future.
At RAS, we embrace four Learning Outcomes; Problem Solving/Thinking; Communication; Organization/Research; and Character/Interpersonal Skills. Learning Outcomes are the processes and techniques through which the content standards are delivered. But more importantly, there is also the expectation that these skills and abilities will be acquired by students and will become the way in which they learn for life.
Outcome-based education is not a new concept. For example, if you wish the “outcome” to be high scores on a written standard exam then the practices of lecture, rote memorization, worksheets and tuition are solid ways to produce this end result or outcome. If, however, you wish to produce self-motivated, entrepreneurial, creative, problem-solving and collaborative team members, the practices described previously are not very effective.
American Curriculum schools deliver content through a series of selected and chosen Learning Outcomes, ensuring that students gain a mastery of these vital skills and abilities. Assessment of student learning takes place both in terms of content understanding and mastery, as well as the student’s ability to demonstrate Learning Outcomes. Assessment for Learning Outcome acquisition is ongoing, on a day-by-day basis, and intertwined with evidence of content mastery.
OVERALL STRUCTURE
The American Curriculum caters for students starting in Pre-Kindergarten (age 4) and then moves to Kindergarten (age 5) and runs through Grade 12. Normally, American schools are organized as Preschool, Elementary School, Middle School, and High School.
As American Curriculum schools have been accredited for its internal authority to offer viable education, there is no need for high stakes testing for movement to the next grade level. A student who successfully completes the American Curriculum will earn the American High School Diploma, which is recognized by universities around the world as a valid entry qualification. The American Curriculum also offers students the opportunity to do college-level work during their high school education through its Advanced Placement (AP) program. This may lead to a second diploma awarded by the from the College Board Advanced Placement authorities.
Students who wish to gain admission to American universities will take the College Board SAT or the American College Test (ACT), and TOEFL (if they are not native English speakers) at the end of Grade 11 or the beginning of Grade 12.
In Elementary school (Kindergarten to Grade 4) and Middle school (Grades 5 to 8) the American Curriculum ensures that students have the knowledge and skills for their age and grade level. Students get a solid foundation in language arts and mathematics, but also focus on other subjects including science and social studies, art, physical education, and foreign languages.
Furthermore, because of the strong emphasis on delivery of content knowledge through a Learning Outcome approach, students “learn how to learn”, and transferability to other American schools or non-American schools is quite strong.
At the High School level (Grades 9 to 12) this transferability is even more important. Graduation from an accredited American High School is in itself a passport to university entry in virtually every country across the globe.
In High School, students must earn credits toward graduation by completing four years of English, three years of mathematics, science and social studies, two years of a foreign language and physical education, one year of art as well as six electives.
At schools like RAS, the addition of Advanced Placement (AP) courses ensures a further world recognized standard of excellence. AP courses have the content level, scope and rigor of first-year university courses. The United States College Board, the supervising body for AP courses, also offers the International Advanced Placement Diploma and the newly-designed Capstone Diploma, a combination of coursework and research, which results in an additional diploma above and beyond the accredited High School diploma.
CO-CURRICULAR PROGRAM
American schools strive to provide students with a rich variety of co-curricular activities, so that students can explore their interests and develop their passions. A strong sports, arts, technology, academic competitions and service learning program gives students a venue for application of both content knowledge and learning outcomes. Co-curricular activities are optional and allow students to either take a sampling of offerings, or focus on developing a high level skill in a known passion.
For more information, visit www.corestandards.org or www.collegeboard.org or www.raffles-american-school.edu.my
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