Why ACS?

1. A clearly defined and strategic Mission and Student Profile. 

2. Strategic Priorities that provide a roadmap for the next 3-4 years.

3. There is a rigorous externally moderated accreditation process by the Middle States Association that reviews 12 comprehensive standards of performance by a school.

• There is a guaranteed and viable curriculum in place that is focused on enhancing student learning.  

• ACS has a standards-based, regularly reviewed, well-articulated scope and sequence for learning (AERO/Common Core, NGSS, C3, ACTFL, NCASS, SHAPE, Columbia University Readers/Writers Workshop, Stanford Design School /Design Thinking, Asian Society/Global Advocacy, Second Step).

• The curriculum is dynamic and continually under review.

• Teachers are observed and provided with feedback on a regular basis, based upon a set of performance criteria, to ensure quality instruction is taking place. This feedback is based on a rubric structure and best practice pedagogy. Support is provided to teachers to continually enhance their pedagogical skills through reflection and professional growth plans.

• Instruction in class is not “one size fits all”. Teachers offer differentiated instruction in class to support students who need to be challenged at different academic levels.

• Teachers are provided with job-embedded professional development that is directly related to their instructional growth goals.

• We use a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS) to “teach to the edges” addressing both, needed interventions to help students, and enrichment to help challenge students.

• ACS has a significant number of certified teachers with experience both in North America and other American/International schools like ACS. 

• Teachers deliver quality education through experiential and interactive learning where teachers act as facilitators rather than knowledge providers.

• ACS offers elementary school “specialists” in Art, PE, and Music, that provide expertise.

• Teachers have opportunities to observe and discuss effective teaching strategies with consultants, in professional learning programs, and with each other both formally and informally. 

• Assessments are tied to established standards and outcomes (see Curriculum).

• Teachers are well versed in collecting learning evidence around standards. This is an area we continue to develop in working with the US State Department/Office of Overseas School sponsored and supported Standards Based Learning Summit. 

• Students and parents receive ongoing formative feedback. We want students focused on the learning and not the grade. 

• There are weekly mProfessional Learning Communities-PLC meetings for teachers to come together to talk about student progress, curriculum alignment, assessment strategies that align with standards, and intervention strategies to support students. 

• Close connections and collaboration with other high-quality international schools, not only in the region but across the world.

• Teacher collaboration among content areas and divisions is one of our hallmarks resulting in a clearly articulated curriculum.

• Students benefit from a strong system of support, both academically and socio-emotionally, by professionally trained and certified counselors and support specialists. These specialists prepare them by helping to develop their life skills and taking care of their emotional wellbeing with an additional focus on co-curricular activities to enrich the student experience.

• ACS offers ongoing professional learning/growth opportunities.

• Current, relevant, and student-centered professional learning for educational staff throughout the year.  This professional learning is focused on curriculum development, assessment, and instruction.

• ACS has intentionally and thoughtfully designed and planned renovations and new facilities that allow students to engage in a wide variety of learning opportunities.

• Using the framework of David Thournbourgh, ACS seeks to create learning spaces that provide multiple opportunities for students to learn in a variety of ways.

Data is analyzed, interpreted, and used to regularly monitor progress toward achieving goals for individual students.

What data does ACS collect and use?

ACS collects, reviews, and sets action plans based on data.  ACS uses a data dashboard with four areas of data collection. These areas are Academic, Personnel, Admission/Enrollment, Finance.  Additionally, we collect other data such as:   

• Survey data (annual, situational, and surveys done for our accreditation).

• End of year community survey.

• Qualitative data - gathered informally - the "feel" of the school.

• Our biographical data - who is here and what do they bring to our school (teachers, degrees, nationalities represented, services we offer, etc.).

• Data about enrollment (numbers of students on the waiting list, who we accept, decline, and why, who leaves, and why do they leave?).

• Quantitative assessment data that is tied to our standards as reported in terms of:

• • Indicators on report cards 

  • Marks on assessments reported in PS 

  • Common assessments like the TC literacy assessments

  • Standardized assessments (MAP, SAT, AP, etc.)

1. ACS provides programs that support the development of the whole child rather than a singular focus on academic achievement.

2. We seek to help students “tailor-fit” their university to their interests and do not solely focus on “brand name” university acceptances. 

3. One of the key indicators of a student’s success in life after school is the degree and variety of the extracurricular activities in which they participated at ACS. Middle and high school students have the opportunity to travel internationally with our activities league, SAISA, participate in the Compassion Summit, MUN, BtC, and others for a global experience. Jordan’s heritage, culture, and history is also celebrated through field trips, Adventure Jordan, and History and Arabic classes and events. 

ACS DOES NOT use standardized testing such as MAP, SAT, AP exams as a primary measure of our school’s success as there are just far too many variables to provide any accurate metrics. These variables include: 

• The number of English Language Learners who may not have the academic language to perform well on these standardized tests.

• Assessing only content knowledge as decided upon by the College Board or the NWEA. There are some elements of our curriculum that we do not cover at the time of the taking of these exams. 

• Number of Learning Support students.

• Number of students who transition in and out of ACS on a regular basis.  

• The SAT, AP, ACT does not track individual growth but rather collective performance. 

ACS DOES use standardized tests as a “third data point”.  When we talk about a third point, we do not mean that literally but are using the language around a “third point” in hard conversations that goes beyond the perspectives shared at the time. ACS is much more interested in being able to track individual student progress throughout a year.