| NFI Newsletter September 2019 | |
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Updates from the NFI Design Team | | |
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| | The NFI Design Team hopes that everyone has had a great start to the 2019-2020 school year as you continue your journey towards inclusion. We look forward to connecting with you this school year and included here in our September, 2019 newsletter are ways that you can get involved with NFI. We are excited to be launching a new design and update to our website in the coming months to assist schools in engaging more with our resources and sharing stories on how we are supporting inclusion in international schools. With warm wishes, The NFI Design Team, Ochan Kusuma-Powell, Kristen Pelletier, Simon Gillespie, Kevin Bartlett | |
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| | NFI Building Capacity Conversation - Nanjing International School - March 26 - 28, 2020 Increasingly, international schools are embracing the challenges and opportunities of educating children who learn differently. School leaders recognize that "doing inclusion well" requires commitment and an alignment of values across different stakeholder groups -- including the students and parents who we serve. As such, all voices and perspectives of community members need to be included. When all stakeholder groups engage in structured professional conversation, they can build individual and organizational capacity and the will to serve. This is transformational learning for all. | | |
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NFI Learning Support Audits | | |
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| | One of the ways that NFI supports schools is by conducting audits of their Learning Support programs. NFI takes a systems approach in reviewing what is in place at the school to support children who learn differently and examines four dimensions of inclusion: Developing Common Meaning and Community Commitment; Designing and Delivering the Program; Building Professional Capacity; and Evaluating and Improving the Program. This year, NFI conducted two learning support audits at large international schools.
The review process can be broken down into three parts: a) pre-visit preparation; b) on-site visit; and c) report writing. Typically, we send in a team of two individuals who prepare themselves by reading school documents on the support programs. Documentation might include any pertinent accreditation reports, board policies on admissions and on student support, any available program handbooks, and recording, reviewing and reporting protocols (IEP forms and processes, report cards, etc.). In advance of the visit, we also ask the school's help to send out surveys to different stakeholder groups, collate the results, and return these to the NFI team members.
During the on-site visit, we meet with focus groups representing the different stakeholder groups and visit classes. The length of the on-site visit depends on the size of the school. We have typically spent four days on campus.
Team members also spend a day putting together a first draft of the written report and before leaving the school, offer a draft executive summary to the leadership. A draft report is usually sent to the school within three weeks of the visit, with the request that the school check it for tone and accuracy. Our hope is that the report will support the school in generating the excitement and energy necessary to put into place and implement any necessary action plan. And, NFI will continue to serve as consultants remotely afterwards.
NFI usually advises schools to take a systems approach in looking at their support programs, rather than looking only at a single school division. We also ask schools whether they want a review of all support programs, or just the program for learning support. In conjunction with our colleague Jon Nordmeyer, International Programs Director for WIDA, this year marks the exploration of joint audits that include simultaneous reviews of the EAL program. We are working to support all schools in moving from silos to systems! | |
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| Another way that NFI supports schools is through its research arm. Entitled “Leading the Way”, we respond to needs on learning support-related issues put forward by member schools. Examples of previous LTWs include: “Why LS or EAL is the Wrong Question: Serving ELLs with Learning Issues in Inclusive Schools?’”, “Challenge Accepted! Reframing our Approaches to Behavior Management in Inclusive International Schools”, “Processes and Tools to Support Data-Driven Decision Making in Learning Support”, and “Serve the Need, Not the Label: Highly Able Learners in International Schools.”
The LTW process works in the following way: Typically, a school will nominate a topic they're interested in for deep study. NFI will pull together a team of no more than 10 individuals who are known for their interest and expertise in the topic, and all committee members read published material in the field for 6 months, assessing it against their own personal and professional experiences in the context of international schools. A face-to-face meeting is scheduled in advance, and the committee comes together for 48 hours to distill thinking and write a first draft of a monograph on the topic for distribution to member schools. A follow-up conference on the topic is scheduled at the school several months later.
Participation of committee members is financed by their own schools for flights and accommodations. The hosting school usually provides catering, including one evening meal, during our time together.
This year, an LTW on Co-teaching for Diverse Populations will be hosted by UNIS Hanoi in March, 2020, with a follow-up conference scheduled for November, 2020, when we will present our findings. Stay tuned! NFI continues to contribute to the growing literature on neurodiversity and inclusion in international schools. Please sign in with your school membership password on our website to download your copies. Hard copies can also be purchased on Amazon. | |
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Association for the Advancement of International Education - AAIE is taking a bold move of focussing this year's conference on being Diverse on Purpose, Different by Design. Diversity has been defined in broad terms and includes themes that many of us in NFI care deeply about, from including those with different learning profiles, to ethnic diversity in our faculties to women in leadership to socio-economic exclusion from international education. The NFI Design Team will be presenting a pre-conference and will be represented throughout the annual conference in New York February 1-5, 2020. | |
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International Schools Consultancy - In collaboration with the International Schools Consultancy, there will be a third global survey on the status of inclusion in international schools distributed in November. NFI and ISC value your responses and input as we shift the conversation worldwide. | |
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RtI for International Schools Summit - NFI is a proud sponsor of the RtI for International Schools Summit in Singapore on October 24 & 25, 2019. Don’t miss the impressive line up on this topic, including NFI Regional coordinator, Kristel Solomon- Saleem. Visit the website for more information and to register click HERE. | |
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Special Education Network and Inclusion Association - SENIA is an association of educators, professionals, and parents, whose mission is to advocate for and provide resources and supports for differently-abled individuals. SENIA has an annual conference held in the Asia region and have local chapters in Europe, South America, Africa and beyond. If you are interested in joining this dynamic network, please learn more about SENIA on their website at the following link: http://seniainternational.org. This years annual conference will be held at International School Manila February 21-23, 2020. | |
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