Teaching and Learning
We are all part of a learning community and on a continuous learning journey at ASD. Our mission, vision, and values at ASD continue to support the growth, development, and achievement for all learners.
Learning at ASD is challenging, experiential, inspiring, and fun. Our community of learners, encompassing all students and all adults, engage in opportunities that invite curiosity, generate challenge, and enhance personal growth.
Our learning principles emphasize what we value as a learning community. The ASD learning principles highlight that learning best occurs when
- Learners actively construct meaning to build personal understanding
- Learners engage in collaborative experiences where learning occurs with and from one another
- Learners have clarity of what they are learning and why it is significant
- Learners know where they are and how to strive forward when guided with effective and timely feedback
- Learners have ownership of their learning
- Learners readily see the transfer of learning across disciplines
- Learners have experiences that value process, performance, and product
- Learners engage in reflective practices and self-assessment
- Learners feel a sense of belonging and safety
Through the ASD experience, including PreK-12 standards that are anchored in the best of American education, our learners develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that lead to becoming positive, active global citizens.
Teaching & Learning Initiatives
For each unit of study, teachers clearly post “big ideas” and “essential questions” in the classroom. This makes the purpose of the learning clear to students and promotes ongoing conversations around the big ideas. In the hallways All bulletin board displays and classroom displays clearly identify the targeted learning that prompted the display. Samples of student work, when displayed, identify the benchmarks, through big ideas or essential questions that are being assessed through the assessment. Assessment data, both quantitative and qualitative, is used to set goals and target learning improvement for individual students. Grade level teams in the elementary, look at DRA results, running records, and formative assessments based on grade level standards. For Grades 3-9, Measurement of Academic Progress (MAP) data becomes an important data point in addition to common assessment results. In high school, data from Advanced Placement (AP) and International Baccalaureate (IB) in addition to PSAT, SAT results are utilized for goal setting. Common assessment results and formative assessments are equally important as assessments are linked to grade level or course indicators. Data is also used to evaluate programs and refine curriculum. ASD is involved in a collaborative effort with eight other schools for a data dashboard project that utilizes key performance indicators in student achievement as well as human resources, finance, and other areas. There is a distinct difference between a “learning focused” meeting and an “informational” meeting. A learning focused meeting will always focus on either student learning as the focal point of the meeting content, or will have an element of professional learning embedded into the content of the meeting. Beginning a meeting with a professional discussion is always a good starting point and fosters professional learning. Meetings that focus on student work are crucial evidence of being a learning focused school. Our aim at ASD is to have an element of “learning” embedded in every meeting throughout the school. The American School of Doha has created a standards-based curriculum that is based on research and best practice. Curriculum is developed using an ongoing curriculum alignment process approach. Each curricular area has a mission statement, a vision statement, and a set of Essential Agreements and Pre-K – 12 standards and benchmarks. Common standards span from Pre-K to Grade 12. Performance Indicators have been developed by grade level for Pre-K though 8, and by course in the high school. We recognize the fact that curriculum alignment and review is an ongoing process and our curriculum is constantly monitored for appropriateness, alignment, and rigor. The Director of Teaching & Learning oversees all curriculum work in conjunction with the leadership team, curricular experts and the ASD faculty. Please click on the link for Standards-Based Learning. The American School of Doha uses the AERO (American Education Reaches Out) standards as the basis for curriculum design, and also utilizes the work of national and international benchmarking organizations. ASD is looking at the alignment between our ASD standards and the work that is occurring with the Common Core standards in the US. The ASD curriculum is closely aligned to current best practices in the United States and aligned to the Common Core. At the same time, we also recognize our uniqueness as an international school that embraces a global perspective as we prepare our students to become citizens of the world. Units of study are developed around the principles of Understanding by Design (Wiggins and McTighe) and include enduring understandings, essential questions and assessments that are aligned to the ASD standards and benchmarks. All courses or grade level subjects are mapped on Atlas Rubicon, and are accessible to all teachers at the ASD Atlas Rubicon site (asdqatar.rubiconatlas.org). By identifying the desired results for a unit of study as the first step in the process of unit design, teachers know that the unit will be completely aligned to the identified standards and benchmarks for the particular course. Enduring Understandings and Essential Questions are created to focus the learning and achieve the desired results. Once the results are identified, an appropriate assessment is created to gather evidence that the targeted learning has been met. Essential Skills and Essential Knowledge are identified. Finally, Learning Activities are crafted to lead students to the Enduring Understandings and the desired results. At ASD we believe that this “backwards” planning model promotes quality instruction, and facilitates quality learning for our students Please find link to the Atlas Unit Mapping Guide Assessment is a key component in a standards-based school that is focused on learning. In the elementary and middle levels, student progress is reported out according to the standard. In the high school, student progress is recorded according to the standard and then reported out with a grade. Toward that end, the faculty collectively made the following agreements relative to assessment practices: Overarching Assumption: Students are the primary users of assessment. In order to educate all stakeholders in understanding ASD’s assessment practices and policies, support is provided to parents, students, teachers and administrators to understand the elements of accurate and effective assessment practices. ASD uses the NWEA Measures of Academic Progress test as a data-gathering tool to benchmark our students against other students, using US and International performance norms. The MAP is unique in its structure compared to other standardized tests. Primarily the MAP assessment is aligned to US standards and benchmarks from which we have adapted our ASD standards and benchmarks. This makes MAP much more aligned to our curriculum than other more traditional standardized tests. The MAP test is given online, and is able to adapt to the appropriate level of each child’s learning. As a result, each student has the same opportunity to succeed and maintain a positive attitude during the testing. The tests are untimed and adjust in level according to the student’s answers. The tests are used to determine the student’s instructional level and to measure academic growth throughout the school year, and from year to year. The students are tested three times a year in the areas of math, reading, and language usage in the elementary and middle school and in math and reading in Grade 9. From the test data, we will be able to see skills and content that the student has mastered, determine the instructional level, and identify areas for future learning. At this point in time, ASD tests all students in Grades 3 through 9. How do we use the MAP data? Teachers focus on several data points: As a school we are looking at the data through the following lenses: Although we value the information we receive from the MAP testing, we recognize that this type of standardized testing is a “snap-shot” and is not the complete picture of a student’s learning. It serves as one piece of a student’s learning portfolio. You may like to browse the NWEA site online at http://www.nwea.org/support Every Tuesday afternoon of a five-day school week, students are dismissed at 12:30pm for teachers to utilize PACT time. We use PACT to collaborate within various changing “Learning Communities” to grow professionally, and to collaborate together to enhance our planning, teaching, and assessment of student learning. Goals: Grade level or department teams organize meetings and structure their time around school, division and team goals. Some common tasks include: looking at student work, analyzing data from a common assessment, evaluating the quality of an assessment task, development of an integrated unit, discussion of professional reading, refining the team’s curriculum map on Atlas Rubicon and professional learning. The American School of Doha is committed to the on-going professional learning of all faculty members. The learning of a comprehensive professional learning program serves to further enhance the professionalism and skills of faculty members, and results in both improved levels of student learning and enhanced teaching practice. Professional Learning at ASD is understood as a shared responsibility. The Professional Learning program within The American School of Doha provides faculty with the opportunity to: To these ends, the Professional Learning program within the American School of Doha is focused on expanding the repertoire of skills of staff members by: Please click on this link for our 2013-2014 strategic overview “Looking for Learning” classroom visits are focused on student learning and not on the teaching. Observers look for student behaviors that demonstrate that sufficient learning is happening. Students converse with the observers about the type of learning in which they are engaged. As outlined in our student learning objectives, looking for learning is an initiative that supports students being able to articulate their own learning. The Looking for Learning Protocol supports teachers and leaders as they look for learning in classrooms by questioning students about their learning. Follow up conversations between observers and a teacher about the type of learning that is taking place is critical in creating a mind shift from teaching to learning.
In the classroom
Language Arts
Students read a wide range of literature from many periods in many genres to build an understanding of the many dimensions (e.g., philosophical, ethical, aesthetic) of human experience. RL.1 Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. RL.2 Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas. RL.3 Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. RL.4 Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone. RL.5 Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole. RL.6 Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text. RL.7 Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including print and digital resources. RL.8 Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence. RL.9 Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take. RL.10 Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently. Students read a wide range of print and non-print texts to build an understanding of texts, of themselves, and of the cultures of the United States and the world; to acquire new information; to respond to the needs and demands of society and the workplace; and for personal fulfillment. Among these texts are fiction and nonfiction, classic and contemporary works. RI.1 Read closely to determine what the text says explicitly and to make logical inferences from it; cite specific textual evidence when writing or speaking to support conclusions drawn from the text. RI.2 Determine central ideas or themes of a text and analyze their development; summarize the key supporting details and ideas. RI.3 Analyze how and why individuals, events, and ideas develop and interact over the course of a text. RI.4 Interpret words and phrases as they are used in a text, including determining technical, connotative, and figurative meanings, and analyze how specific word choices shape meaning or tone. RI.5 Analyze the structure of texts, including how specific sentences, paragraphs, and larger portions of the text (e.g., a section, chapter, scene, or stanza) relate to each other and the whole. RI.6 Assess how point of view or purpose shapes the content and style of a text. RI.7 Integrate and evaluate content presented in diverse formats and media, including print and digital resources. RI.8 Delineate and evaluate the argument and specific claims in a text, including the validity of the reasoning as well as the relevance and sufficiency of the evidence. RI.9 Analyze how two or more texts address similar themes or topics in order to build knowledge or to compare the approaches the authors take. RI.10 Read and comprehend complex literary and informational texts independently and proficiently. Students apply a wide range of strategies to comprehend, interpret, evaluate, and appreciate texts. They draw on their prior experience, their interactions with other readers and writers, their knowledge of word meaning and of other texts, their word identification strategies, and their understanding of textual features (e.g., sound-letter correspondence, sentence structure, context, graphics). RF.1 Demonstrate understanding of the organization and basic features of print. RF.2 Demonstrate understanding of spoken words, syllables, and sounds (phonemes). RF.3 Know and apply grade-level phonics and word analysis skills in decoding words. RF.4 Read with sufficient accuracy and fluency to support comprehension. Students employ a wide range of strategies as they write and use different writing process elements appropriately to communicate with different audiences for a variety of purposes. W.1 Write arguments to support claims in an analysis of substantive topics or texts, using valid reasoning and relevant and sufficient evidence. W.2 Write informative/explanatory texts to examine and convey complex ideas and information clearly and accurately through the effective selection, organization, and analysis of content. W.3 Write narratives to develop real or imagined experiences or events using effective technique, well-chosen details, and well-structured event sequences. W.4 Produce clear and coherent writing in which the development, organization, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. W.5 Develop and strengthen writing as needed by planning, revising, editing, rewriting, or trying a new approach. W.6 Use technology, including the Internet, to produce and publish writing and to interact and collaborate with others. W.7 Conduct short as well as more sustained research projects based on focused questions, demonstrating understanding of the subject under investigation. W.8 Gather relevant information from multiple print and digital sources, assess the credibility and accuracy of each source, and integrate the information while avoiding plagiarism. W.9 Draw evidence from literary or informational texts to support analysis, reflection, and research. W.10 Write routinely over extended time frames (time for research, reflection, and revision) and shorter time frames (a single sitting or a day or two) for a range of tasks, purposes, and audiences. Students use speaking, listening, and information literacy to accomplish their own purposes (e.g., for learning, enjoyment, persuasion, and the exchange of information). LS.1 Prepare for and participate effectively in a range of conversations and collaborations with diverse partners, building on others’ ideas and expressing their own clearly and persuasively. LS.2 Integrate and evaluate information presented in diverse media and formats, including visually, quantitatively, and orally. LS.3 Evaluate a speaker’s point of view, reasoning, and use of evidence and rhetoric. LS.4 Present information, findings, and supporting evidence such that listeners can follow the line of reasoning and the organization, development, and style are appropriate to task, purpose, and audience. LS.5 Make strategic use of digital media and visual displays of data to express information and enhance understanding of presentations. LS.6 Adapt speech to a variety of contexts and communicative tasks, demonstrating command of formal English when indicated or appropriate. Students apply knowledge of language structure, language conventions (e.g., spelling and punctuation), media techniques, figurative language, and genre to create, critique, and discuss print and non-print texts. L.1 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English grammar and usage when writing or speaking. L.2 Demonstrate command of the conventions of standard English capitalization, punctuation, and spelling when writing. L.3 Apply knowledge of language to understand how language functions in different contexts, to make effective choices for meaning or style, and to comprehend more fully when reading or listening. L.4 Determine or clarify the meaning of unknown and multiple-meaning words and phrases by using context clues, analyzing meaningful word parts, and consulting general and specialized reference materials, as appropriate. L.5 Demonstrate understanding of word relationships and nuances in word meanings. L.6 Acquire and use accurately a range of general academic and domain-specific words and phrases sufficient for reading, writing, speaking, and listening at the college and career readiness level; demonstrate independence in gathering vocabulary knowledge when considering a word or phrase important to comprehension or expression.
Mathematics
Counting and Cardinality
- K.CC.A Know number names and the count sequence
- K.CC.B Count to tell the number of objects
- K.CC.C Compare Numbers.
Operations and Algebraic Thinking
- K.OA.A Understand addition as putting together and adding to, and understand subtraction as taking apart and taking from
- 1.OA.A Represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction
- 1.OA.B Understand and apply properties of operations and the relationship between addition and subtraction
- 1.OA.C. Add and subtract within 20.
- 1.OA.D. Work with addition and subtraction equations
- 2.OA.A. Represent and solve problems involving addition and subtraction
- 2.OA.B. Add and subtract within 20
- 2.OA.C. Work with equal groups of objects to gain foundations for multiplication
- 3.OA.A. Represent and solve problems involving multiplication and division
- 3.OA.B. Understand properties of multiplication and the relationship between multiplication and division
- 3.OA.C. Multiply and divide within 100
- 3.OA.D. Solve problems involving the four operations, and identify and explain patterns in arithmetic
- 4.OA.A. Use the four operations with whole numbers to solve problems.
- 4.OA.B. Gain familiarity with factors and multiples
- 4.OA.C. Generate and analyze patterns
- 5.OA.A. Write and interpret numerical expressions
- 5.OA.B. Analyze patterns and relationships
Numbers & Operations in Base Ten
- K.NBT.A. Work with numbers 11-19 to gain foundations for place value
- 1.NBT.A. Extend the counting sequence
- 1.NBT.B. Understand place value
- 1.NBT.C. Use place value understanding and properties of operations to add and subtract
- 2.NBT.A. Understand place value
- 2.NBT.B. Use place value understanding and properties of operations to add and subtract
- 3.NBT.A. Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic
- 4.NBT.A. Generalize place value understanding for multi-digit whole numbers
- 4.NBT.B. Use place value understanding and properties of operations to perform multi-digit arithmetic
- 5.NBT.A. Understand the place value system
- 5.NBT.B. Perform operations with multi-digit whole numbers and with decimals to hundredths
Number & Operations
- 3.NF.A. Develop understanding of fractions as numbers
- 4.NF.A. Extend understanding of fraction equivalence and ordering
- 4.NF.B. Build fractions from unit fractions by applying and extending previous understandings of operations on whole numbers
- 4.NF.C. Understand decimal notation for fractions, and compare decimal fractions
- 5.NF.A. Use equivalent fractions as a strategy to add and subtract fractions
- 5.NF.B. Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division to multiply and divide fractions
Measurement & Data
- K.MD.A. Describe and compare measurable attributes
- K.MD.B. Classify objects and count the number of objects in each category
- 1.MD.A. Measure lengths indirectly and by iterating length units
- 1.MD.B. Tell and write time
- 1.MD.C. Represent and interpret data
- 2.MD.A. Measure and estimate lengths in standard units
- 2.MD.B. Relate addition and subtraction to length
- 2.MD.C. Work with time and money
- 2.MD.D. Represent and interpret data
- 3.MD.A. Solve problems involving measurement and estimation of intervals of time, liquid volumes, and masses of objects
- 3.MD.B. Represent and interpret data
- 3.MD.C. Geometric measurement: understand concepts of area and relate area to multiplication and to addition
- 3.MD.D. Geometric measurement: recognize perimeter as an attribute of plane figures and distinguish between linear and area measures
- 4.MD.A. Solve problems involving measurement and conversion of measurements from a larger unit to a smaller unit
- 4.MD.B. Represent and interpret data
- 4.MD.C. Geometric measurement: understand concepts of angle and measure angles
- 5.MD.A. Convert like measurement units within a given measurement system
- 5.MD.B. Represent and interpret data
- 5.MD.C. Geometric measurement: understand concepts of volume and relate volume to multiplication and to addition
Ratios & Proportional Relationships
- 6.RP.A. Understand ratio concepts and use ratio reasoning to solve problems.
- 7.RP.A. Analyze proportional relationships and use them to solve real-world and mathematical problems.
- 7.RP.A.1. Compute unit rates associated with ratios of fractions, including ratios of lengths, areas and other quantities measured in like or different units.
The Number System
- 6.NS.A. Apply and extend previous understandings of multiplication and division to divide fractions by fractions
- 6.NS.B. Compute fluently with multi-digit numbers and find common factors and multiples
- 6.NS.C. Apply and extend previous understandings of numbers to the system of rational numbers
- 7.NS.A. Apply and extend previous understandings of operations with fractions to add, subtract, multiply, and divide rational numbers
- 8.NS.A. Know that there are numbers that are not rational, and approximate them by rational numbers
Expressions & Equations
- 6.EE.A. Apply and extend previous understandings of arithmetic to algebraic expressions
- 6.EE.B. Reason about and solve one-variable equations and inequalities
- 6.EE.C. Represent and analyze quantitative relationships between dependent and independent variables
- 7.EE.A. Use properties of operations to generate equivalent expressions.
- 7.EE.B. Solve real-life and mathematical problems using numerical and algebraic expressions and equations
- 8.EE.A. Work with radicals and integer exponents.
- 8.EE.B. Understand the connections between proportional relationships, lines, and linear equations
- 8.EE.C. Analyze and solve linear equations and pairs of simultaneous linear equations
Functions
- 8.F.A. Define, evaluate, and compare functions
- 8.F.B. Use functions to model relationships between quantities.
Geometry
- K.G.A. Identify and describe shapes (squares, circles, triangles, rectangles, hexagons, cubes, cones, cylinders, and spheres)
- K.G.B. Analyze, compare, create, and compose shapes
- 1.G.A. Reason with shapes and their attributes
- 2.G.A. Reason with shapes and their attributes
- 3.G.A. Reason with shapes and their attributes
- 4.G.A. Draw and identify lines and angles, and classify shapes by properties of their lines and angles
- 5.G.A. Graph points on the coordinate plane to solve real-world and mathematical problems
- 6.G.A. Solve real-world and mathematical problems involving area, surface area, and volume
- 7.G.A. Draw construct, and describe geometrical figures and describe the relationships between them
- 7.G.B. Solve real-life and mathematical problems involving angle measure, area, surface area, and volume
- 8.G.A. Understand congruence and similarity using physical models, transparencies, or geometry software
Statistics & Probability
- 6.SP.A. Develop understanding of statistical variability
- 6.SP.B. Summarize and describe distributions
- 7.SP.A. Use random sampling to draw inferences about a population
- 7.SP.B. Draw informal comparative inferences about two populations
- 7.SP.C. Investigate chance processes and develop, use, and evaluate probability models
- 8.SP.A. Investigate patterns of association in bivariate data
The Real Number System
- HSN-RN.A. Extend the properties of exponents to rational exponents
- HSN-RN.B. Use properties of rational and irrational numbers
Quantities
- HSN-Q.A. Reason quantitatively and use units to solve problems
The Complex Number System
- HSN-CN.A. Perform arithmetic operations with complex numbers
- HSN-CN.B. Represent complex numbers and their operations on the complex plane
- HSN-CN.C. Use complex numbers in polynomial identities and equations
Vector & Matrix Quantities
- HSN-VM.A. Represent and model with vector quantities
- HSN-VM.B. Perform operations on vectors
- HSN-VM.C. Perform operations on matrices and use matrices in applications
Seeing Structure in Expressions
- HSA-SSE.A. Interpret the structure of expressions
- HSA-SSE.B. Write expressions in equivalent forms to solve problems
Arithmetic with Polynomials & Rational Functions
- HSA-APR.A. Perform arithmetic operations on polynomials
- HSA-APR.B. Understand the relationship between zeros and factors of polynomials
- HSA-APR.C. Use polynomial identities to solve problems
- HSA-APR.D. Rewrite rational expressions
Creating Equations
- HSA-CED.A. Create equations that describe numbers or relationships
Reasoning with Equations & Inequalities
- HSA-REI.A. Understand solving equations as a process of reasoning and explain the reasoning
- HSA-REI.B. Solve equations and inequalities in one variable
- HSA-REI.C. Solve systems of equations
- HSA-REI.D. Represent and solve equations and inequalities graphically
Interpreting Functions
- HSF-IF.A. Understand the concept of a function and use function notation
- HSF-IF.B. Interpret functions that arise in applications in terms of the context
- HSF-IF.C. Analyze functions using different representations
Building Functions
- HSF-BF.A. Build a function that models a relationship between two quantities
- HSF-BF.B. Build new functions from existing functions
Linear, Quadratic, and Exponential Models
- HSF-LE.A. Construct and compare linear and exponential models and solve problems
- HSF-LE.B. Interpret expressions for functions in terms of the situation they model
Trigonometric Functions
- HSF-TF.A. Extend the domain of trigonometric functions using the unit circle
- HSF-TF.B. Model periodic phenomena with trigonometric functions
- HSF-TF.C. Prove and apply trigonometric identities
Congruence
- HSG-CO.A. Experiment with transformations in the plane
- HSG-CO.B. Understand congruence in terms of rigid motions
- HSG-CO.C. Prove geometric theorems
- HSG-CO.D. Make geometric constructions
Similarity, Right Triangles, & Trigonometry
- HSG-SRT.A. Understand similarity in terms of similarity transformations
- HSG-SRT.B. Prove theorems involving similarity
- HSG-SRT.C. Define trigonometric ratios and solve problems involving right triangles
- HSG-SRT.D. Apply trigonometry to general triangles
Circles
- HSG-C.A. Understand and apply theorems about circles
- HSG-C.B. Find arc lengths and areas of sectors of circles
Expressing Geometric Properties with Equations
- HSG-GPE.A. Translate between the geometric description and the equation for a conic section
- HSG-GPE.B. Use coordinates to prove simple geometric theorems algebraically
Geometric Measurement & Dimension
- HSG-GMD.A. Explain volume formulas and use them to solve problems
Modeling with Geometry
- HSG-MG.A. Apply geometric concepts in modeling situations
Interpreting Categorical & Quantitative Data
- HSS-ID.A. Summarize, represent, and interpret data on a single count or measurement variable
- HSS-ID.B. Summarize, represent, and interpret data on two categorical and quantitative variables
- HSS-ID.C. Interpret linear models
Making Inferences & Justifying Conclusions
- HSS-IC.A. Understand and evaluate random processes underlying statistical experiments
- HSS-IC.B. Make inferences and justify conclusions from sample surveys, experiments and observational studies
Conditional Probability & the Rules of Probability
- HSS-CP.A. Understand independence and conditional probability and use them to interpret data
- HSS-CP.B. Use the rules of probability to compute probabilities of compound events in a uniform probability model
Using Probability to Make Decisions
- HSS-MD.A. Calculate expected values and use them to solve problems
- HSS-MD.B. Use probability to evaluate outcomes of decisions
Science
Students at any grade level should be able to ask questions of each other about the texts they read, the features of the phenomena they observe, and the conclusions they draw from their models or scientific investigations. For engineering, they should ask questions to define the problem to be solved and to elicit ideas that lead to the constraints and specifications for its solution.
Practice 2: Developing and Using Models
Modeling can begin in the earliest grades, with students’ models progressing from concrete “pictures” and/or physical scale models (e.g., a toy car) to more abstract representations of relevant relationships in later grades, such as a diagram representing forces on a particular object in a system.
Practice 3: Planning and Carrying Out Investigations
Students should have opportunities to plan and carry out several different kinds of investigations during their K-12 years. At all levels, they should engage in investigations that range from those structured by the teacher—in order to expose an issue or question that they would be unlikely to explore on their own (e.g., measuring specific properties of materials) — to those that emerge from students’ own questions.
Practice 4: Analyzing and Interpreting Data
Once collected, data must be presented in a form that can reveal any patterns and relationships and that allows results to be communicated to others. Because raw data as such have little meaning, a major practice of scientists is to organize and interpret data through tabulating, graphing, or statistical analysis. Such analysis can bring out the meaning of data—and their relevance—so that they may be used as evidence.
Engineers, too, make decisions based on evidence that a given design will work; they rarely rely on trial and error. Engineers often analyze a design by creating a model or prototype and collecting extensive data on how it performs, including under extreme conditions. Analysis of this kind of data not only informs design decisions and enables the prediction or assessment of performance but also helps define or clarify problems, determine economic feasibility, evaluate alternatives, and investigate failures.
Practice 5: Using Mathematics and Computational Thinking
Although there are differences in how mathematics and computational thinking are applied in science and in engineering, mathematics often brings these two fields together by enabling engineers to apply the mathematical form of scientific theories and by enabling scientists to use powerful information technologies designed by engineers. Both kinds of professionals can thereby accomplish investigations and analyses and build complex models, which might otherwise be out of the question.
Practice 6: Constructing Explanations and Designing Solutions
“The goal of science is the construction of theories that provide explanatory accounts of the world. A theory becomes accepted when it has multiple lines of empirical evidence and greater explanatory power of phenomena than previous theories.”
Asking students to demonstrate their own understanding of the implications of a scientific idea by developing their own explanations of phenomena, whether based on observations they have made or models they have developed, engages them in an essential part of the process by which
conceptual change can occur.
In engineering, the goal is a design rather than an explanation. The process of developing a design is iterative and systematic, as is the process of developing an explanation or a theory in science. Engineers’ activities, however, have elements that are distinct from those of scientists. These elements include specifying constraints and criteria for desired qualities of the solution, developing a design plan, producing and testing models or prototypes, selecting among alternative design features to optimize the achievement of design criteria, and refining design ideas based on the performance of a prototype or simulation.
Practice 7: Engaging in Argument from Evidence
The study of science and engineering should produce a sense of the process of argument necessary for advancing and defending a new idea or an explanation of a phenomenon and the norms for conducting such arguments. In that spirit, students should argue for the explanations they construct, defend their interpretations of the associated data, and advocate for the designs they propose.
Practice 8: Obtaining, Evaluating, and Communicating Information
Any education in science and engineering needs to develop students’ ability to read and produce domain-specific text. As such, every science or engineering lesson is in part a language lesson, particularly reading and producing the genres of texts that are intrinsic to science and engineering.
PS.1 Matter and Its Interactions
- PS.1.A: Structure & Properties of Matter
- PS.1.B: Chemical Reactions
- PS.1.C: Nuclear Processes
PS.2 Motion and Stability: Forces and Interactions
- PS.2.A: Forces and Motion
- PS.2.B: Types of Interactions
- PS.2.C: Stability and Insatability
PS.3 Energy
- PS.3.A: Definitions of Energy
- PS.3.B: Energy: Conservation & Transfer
- PS.3.C: Energy & Forces
- PS.3.D: Energy in Chemical Processes & Life
PS.4 Waves and Their Applications in Technologies for Information Transfer
- PS.4.A: Wave Properties
- PS.4.B: Electromagnetic Radiation
- PS.4.C: Information Technologies
ESS.1 Earth’s Place in the Universe
- ESS.1.A: The Universe & Its Stars
- ESS.1.B: Earth & the Solar System
- ESS.1.C: History of the Planet Earth
ESS.2 Earth’s Systems
- ESS.2.A: Earth Materials & Systems
- ESS.2.B: Plate Tectonics/Large Scale Systems
- ESS.2.C: Role of Water on Earth
- ESS.2.D: Weather & Climate
- ESS.2.E: Biogeology
ESS.3 Earth and Human Activity
- ESS.3.A: Natural Resources
- ESS.3.B: Natural Hazards
- ESS.3.C: Human Impacts on Earth Systems
- ESS.3.D: Global Climate Change
LS.1 From Molecules to Organisms: Structures and Processes
- LS.1.A: Structure and Function
- LS.1.B: Growth and Development
- LS.1.C: Organization in Organisms
- LS.1.D: Information Processing
LS.2 Ecosystems: Interactions, Energy, and Dynamics
- LS2.A: Relationships in Ecosystems
- LS2.B: Cycles in Ecosystems
- LS2.C: Ecosystem Dynamics
- LS2.D: Social Interactions & Behavior
LS.3 Hereditary: Inheritance and Variation of Traits
- LS.3.A: Inheritance of Traits
- LS.2.B: Variation of Traits
LS.4 Biological Evolution: Unity and Diversity
- LS.4.A: Evidence of Common Ancestry
- LS.4.B: Natural Selection
- LS.4.C: Adaptation
- LS.4.D: Biodiversity & Humans
1. Patterns
Observed patterns of forms and events guide organization and classification, and they prompt questions about relationships and the factors that influence them.
2. Cause and effect: Mechanism and explanation
Events have causes, sometimes simple, sometimes multifaceted. A major activity of science is investigating and explaining causal relationships and the mechanisms by which they are mediated. Such mechanisms can then be tested across given contexts and used to predict and explain events in new contexts.
3. Scale, proportion, and quantity
In considering phenomena, it is critical to recognize what is relevant at different measures of size, time, and energy and to recognize how changes in scale, proportion, or quantity affect a system’s structure or performance.
4. Systems and system models
Defining the system under study—specifying its boundaries and making explicit a model of that system—provides tools for understanding and testing ideas that are applicable throughout science and engineering.
5. Energy and matter: Flows, cycles, and conservation
Tracking fluxes of energy and matter into, out of, and within systems helps one understand the systems’ possibilities and limitations.
6. Structure and function
The way in which an object or living thing is shaped and its substructure determine many of its properties and functions.
7. Stability and change
For natural and built systems alike, conditions of stability and determinants of rates of change or evolution of a system are critical elements of study.
Social Studies
Individually and with others, students construct compelling questions, and…
- Explain how a question reflects an enduring issue in the field.
- Explain points of agreement and disagreement experts have about interpretations and applications of disciplinary concepts and ideas associated with a compelling question.
Individually and with others, students construct supporting questions, and…
- Explain points of agreement and disagreement experts have about interpretations and applications of disciplinary concepts and ideas associated with a supporting question.
- Explain how supporting questions contribute to an inquiry and how, through engaging source work, new compelling and supporting questions emerge.
Individually and with others, students…
- Determine the kinds of sources that will be helpful in answering compelling and supporting questions, taking into consideration multiple points of view represented in the sources, the types of sources available, and the potential uses of sources.
CIVICS
Individually and with others, students…
- Distinguish the powers and responsibilities of local, state, tribal, national, and international civic and political institutions.
- Analyze the role of the citizens in the U.S. political system, with attention to various theories of democracy, changes in America’s participation over time, and the alternative models from other countries, past and present.
- Analyze the impact of constitutions, laws, treaties, and international agreements on the maintenance of national and international order.
- Explain how the U.S. Constitution establishes a system of government that has powers, responsibilities, and limits that have changed over time and that are still contested.
- Evaluate citizens’ and institutions’ effectiveness in addressing social and political problems at the local, state, tribal, national, and/or international level.
- Critique relationships among governments, civil societies, and economic markets.
Individually and with others, students…
- Apply civic virtues and democratic principles when working with others.
- Evaluate social and political systems in different contexts, times and places, that promote civic virtues and enact democratic principals.
- Use appropriate deliberative processes in multiple settings.
- Analyze the impact and appropriate roles of personal interests and perspectives on the applications of civic virtues, democratic principles, constitutional rights, and human rights.
Individually and with others, students…
- Evaluate multiple procedures for making government decisions at the local, state, national, international levels in terms of the civic purposes achieved.
- Analyze how people use and challenge local, state, national, and international laws to address a variety of public issues.
- Evaluate public policies in terms of intended and unintended outcomes, and related consequences.
- Analyze historical, contemporary, and emerging means of changing societies, promoting the common good, and protecting rights.
ECONOMICS
Individually and with others, students…
- Analyze how incentives influence choices that may result in policies with a range of costs and benefits for different groups.
- Use marginal benefits and marginal costs to construct an argument for or against an approach or solution to an economic issue.
Individually and with others, students…
- Analyze the ways in which incentives influence what is produced and distributed in a market system.
- Evaluated the extent to which competition among sellers and among buyers exists in specific markets
- Describe the consequences of competition in specific markets.
- Generate possible explanations for a government role in markets when market inefficiencies exist.
- Use benefits and costs to evaluate the effectiveness of government policies to improve market outcomes.
- Describe the possible consequences, both intended and unintended to government policies to improve market outcomes.
- Describe the roles of institutions such as clearly defined property rights and the rule of law in a market economy.
Individually and with others, students…
- Use current data to explain the influence of changes in spending, production, and money supply on various economic conditions.
- Use economic indicators to analyze the current and future state of the economy.
- Evaluate the selection of monetary and fiscal policies in a variety of economic conditions.
- Explain why advancements in technology and investments in capital goods and human capital increase economic growth and standards of living.
Individually and with others, students…
- Analyze the role of comparative advantage in international trade of goods and services.
- Explain how current globalization trends and policies affect economic growth, labor markets, rights of citizens, the environment, and resource and income distribution in different nations.
GEOGRAPHY
Individually and with others, students…
- Use geospatial and related technologies to create maps and display and explain the spatial patterns of cultural and environmental characteristics.
- Use maps, satellite images, photographs and other representations to explain relationships between the locations of places and regions and their political, cultural, and economic dynamics.
- Use geographic data to analyze variations in the spatial patterns of cultural and environmental characteristics at multiple scales.
Individually and with others, students…
- Analyze relationships and interactions within and between human and physical systems to explain reciprocal influences that occur among them.
- Evaluate how political and economic decisions throughout time have influenced the cultural and environmental characteristics of various places and regions.
- Evaluate the impact of human settlement activities on the environmental and cultural characteristics of specific places and regions.
Individually and with others, students…
- Analyze the reciprocal nature of how historical events and the spatial diffusion of ideas, technologies, and cultural practices have influenced migration patterns and the distribution of human population.
- Evaluate the impact of economic activities and political decisions on spatial patterns within and among urban, suburban, and rural regions.
- Evaluate the influence of long-term climate variability on human migration and settlement patterns, resource use, and land uses at the local-to-global scales.
Individually and with others, students…
- Evaluate how changes in the environmental and cultural characteristics of a place or region influence spatial patterns of trade and land use.
- Evaluate how economic globalization and expanding the use of scarce resources contribute to conflict and cooperation within and among countries.
- Evaluate the consequences of human-made and natural catastrophes on global trade, politics, and human migration.
HISTORY
Individually and with others, students…
- Evaluate how historical events and developments were shaped by unique circumstances of time and place as well as broader historical contexts.
- Analyze change and continuity in historical eras.
- Use questions generated about individuals and groups to assess how the significance of their actions changes over time and is shaped by the historical context.
Individually and with others, students…
- Analyze complex and interacting factors that influenced the perspectives of people during different historical eras.
- Analyze how historical contexts shaped and continue to shape people’s perspectives.
- Analyze the ways in which the prescriptive of those writing history shaped the history that they produced.
- Explain how the perspectives of people in the present shape interpretations of the past.
- Analyze how current interpretations of the past are limited by the extent to which available historical sources represent perspectives of people at the time.
Individually and with others, students…
- Analyze the relationship between historical sources and the secondary interpretations made from them.
- Detect possible limitations in various kinds of historical evidence and differing secondary interpretations.
- Critique the usefulness of historical sources for specific historical inquiry based on their maker, date, place of origin, intended audience, and purpose.
- Use questions generated about multiple historical sources to pursue further inquiry and investigate additional sources.
- Critique the appropriateness of the historical sources in secondary interpretation.
Individually and with others, students…
- Analyze multiple and complex causes and effects of events in the past.
- Distinguish between long-term causes and triggering events in developing a historical argument.
- Integrate evidence from multiple relevant historical sources and interpretations into a reasoned argument about the past.
- Critique the central arguments in secondary works of history on related topics in multiple media in terms of their historical accuracy.
Individually and with others, students…
- Gather relevant information from multiple sources representing a wide range of views while using the origin, authority, structure, context, and corroborative value to the sources to guide the selection.
- Evaluate the credibility of a source by examining how experts value the source.
Individually and with others, students…
- Identify evidence that draws information directly and substantively from multiple sources to detect inconsistencies in evidence in order to revise or strengthen claims.
- Refine claims and counterclaims attending to precision, significance, and knowledge conveyed through the claim while pointing out the strengths and limitations of both.
Individually and with others, students use writing, visualizing, and speaking to…
- Construct arguments using precise and knowledgeable claims, with evidence from multiple sources, while acknowledging counterclaims and evidentiary weaknesses.
- Construct explanations using sound reasoning, correct sequence (linear or non-linear), examples, and details with significant and pertinent information and data, while acknowledging the strengths and weaknesses of the explanation given its purpose.
- Present adaptation of arguments and explanations that feature evocative ideas and perspectives on issues and topics to reach a range of audiences and venues outside the classroom using print, oral technologies, and digital technologies.
Individually and with others, students…
- Critique the use of claims and evidence in arguments for credibility.
- Critique the use of reasoning, sequencing, and supporting details and explanations.
Individually and with others, students…
- Use disciplinary and interdisciplinary lenses to understand the characteristics and causes of local, regional, and global problems; instances of such problems in multiple contexts; and challenges and opportunities faced by those trying to address these problems over time and place.
- Assess options for individual and collective action to address local, regional, and global problems by engaging in self-reflection, strategy identification, and complex causal reasoning.
- Apply a range of deliberative and democratic strategies and strategies and procedures to make decisions and take action in their classrooms, schools, and out-of-school civic contexts.
Fine Arts
Conceiving and developing new artistic ideas and work.
Anchor Standard #1. Generate and conceptualize artistic ideas and work.
Anchor Standard #2. Organize and develop artistic ideas and work.
Anchor Standard #3. Refine and complete artistic work.
Performing (dance, music, theatre): Realizing artistic ideas
and work through interpretation and presentation.
Presenting (visual arts): Interpreting and sharing artistic work.
Producing (media arts): Realizing and presenting artistic ideas and work.
Anchor Standard #4. Select, analyze and interpret artistic work for presentation.
Anchor Standard #5. Develop and refine artistic techniques and work for presentation.
Anchor Standard #6. Convey meaning through the presentation of artistic work.
Understanding and evaluating how the arts convey meaning.
Anchor Standard #7. Perceive and analyze artistic work.
Anchor Standard #8. Interpret intent and meaning in artistic work.
Anchor Standard #9. Apply criteria to evaluate artistic work.
Relating artistic ideas and work with personal meaning and external context.
Anchor Standard #10. Synthesize and relate knowledge and personal experiences to make art.
Anchor Standard #11. Relate artistic ideas and works with societal, cultural and historical context to deepen understanding.
Physical Education
ASD Physical Education Standards
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STANDARD 1: The physically literate individual demonstrates competency in a variety of motor skills and movement patterns.
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STANDARD 2: The physically literate individual applies knowledge of concepts, principles, strategies and tactics related to movement and performance.
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STANDARD 3: The physically literate individual demonstrates the knowledge and skills to achieve a health-enhancing level of physical activity and fitness.
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STANDARD 4: The physically literate individual exhibits responsible personal and social behavior that respects self and others.
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STANDARD 5: The physically literate individual recognizes the value of physical activity for health, enjoyment, challenge, self-expression and/or social interaction.
Health
Health Philosophy PreK – 5
The American School of Doha’s Health Education Program empowers students to establish positive health practices that will support and enhance lifelong wellness.
Health education is a planned sequential PreK – 12 Curriculum that addresses the physical, mental, emotional and social dimensions of health.
Health education provides the knowledge and critical thinking skills necessary for students to make informed choices, and to exert positive control over their lives.
The role of the family and community in reinforcing and supporting healthy lifestyle decisions is essential. The resulting sense of well-being and self esteem in each individual promotes the ongoing development of a healthy individual who is a contributing member of our society.
Essential Agreements for Elementary School Health
A PreK – 5 Health Program will:
- Include health concepts, knowledge and skills that enable students to develop health enhancing behaviors
- Enable students to develop and use appropriate skills when assessing risks, considering potential consequences and making health-enhancing decisions
- Provide students with the knowledge and skills to critically evaluate and communicate health information clearly for self-management and health promotion
- Encourage students to make a positive contribution to their own health and that of the community and environment
- Assist in creating a safe and supportive environment wherein individual similarities and differences are acknowledged and respected. For health education classes to be effective they should also be conducted in a safe and supportive environment
ASD’s comprehensive health education is strengthened through collaboration between all components of the coordinated school health program, other subjects, non-classroom based activities and the wider school community.
Health Education Philosophy Grades 6 – 12
American School Of Doha’s health education program encourages students to establish positive health practices that will support and enhance lifelong wellness. Health education is a planned, sequential, 6-12 curriculum that addresses the physical, mental, emotional, and social dimensions of health. It allows students to develop and demonstrate increasingly sophisticated health-related knowledge, attitudes, skills, and practices in an ever-changing world.
Health Essential Agreements for Grades 6-12
Students will:
- Be presented with health concepts and skills that enable them to foster healthy habits and behaviors
- Be exposed to the use fundamental health concepts to assess risks, to consider potential consequences and to make health–enhancing decisions
- Have an understanding of how to communicate health information clearly for self-management and promotion
- Have an understanding of how to work in a positive manner with families, school staff, peers and community members to enhance personal health and create a safe and supportive environment in where individuals, similarities and differences are acknowledged
ASD’s comprehensive health education is strengthened thru collaboration, in partnership among all components of the coordinated school health program and other subjects.
Technology
Students demonstrate creative thinking, construct knowledge, and develop innovative products and processes using technology.
- Apply existing knowledge to generate new ideas, products, or processes
- Create original works as a means of personal or group expression
- Use models and simulations to explore complex systems and issues
- Identify trends and forecast possibilities
Students use digital media and environments to communicate and work collaboratively, including at a distance, to support individual learning and contribute to the learning of others.
- Interact, collaborate, and publish with peers, experts, or others employing a variety of digital environments and media
- Communicate information and ideas effectively to multiple audiences using a variety of media and formats
- Develop cultural understanding and global awareness by engaging with learners of other cultures
- Contribute to project teams to produce original works or solve problems
Students apply digital tools to gather, evaluate, and use information.
- Plan strategies to guide inquiry
- Locate, organize, analyze, evaluate, synthesize, and ethically use information from a variety of sources and media
- Evaluate and select information sources and digital tools based on the appropriateness to specific tasks
- Process data and report results
Students use critical thinking skills to plan and conduct research, manage projects, solve problems, and make informed decisions using appropriate digital tools and resources.
- Identify and define authentic problems and significant questions for investigation
- Plan and manage activities to develop a solution or complete a project
- Collect and analyze data to identify solutions and/or make informed decisions
- Use multiple processes and diverse perspectives to explore alternative solutions.
Students understand human, cultural, and societal issues related to technology and practice legal and ethical behavior.
Advocate and practice safe, legal, and responsible use of information and technology
- Exhibit a positive attitude toward using technology that supports collaboration, learning, and productivity
- Demonstrate personal responsibility for lifelong learning
- Exhibit leadership for digital citizenship
Students demonstrate a sound understanding of technology concepts, systems, and operations.
- Understand and use technology systems
- Select and use applications effectively and productively
- Troubleshoot systems and applications
- Transfer current knowledge to learning of new technologies
World Languages
World Languages’ Standards are currently under review, and will updated soon.
Counseling
- GP:A1.1 Understand the difference between objective culture and subjective culture
- GP:A1.2 Understand a given society’s subjective culture and affirm its cultural variety
- GP:A1.3 Understand the various conceptual constructs of culture
GP: A2 Learn about the ways in which culture manifests in societies
- GP:A2.1 Examine the core dimensions in which people and cultures differ using various conceptual constructs
- GP:A2.2 Identify their place(s) on the dimensions of culture in various situations
- GP:A2.3 Identify where the people in their lives may place on the dimensions of culture
- GP:A2.4 Articulate the difference between “common sense” and “culture sense”
- GP:A2.5 Understand the difference between processing cultural knowledge and applying intercultural competence
GP: B1 Acknowledge the role of family
- GP:B1.1 Identify family as the first “culture”
- GP:B1.2 Explore their family’s cultural heritage(s)
- GP:B1.3 Recognize characteristics of family
- GP:B1.4 Understand how cultural identity can differ in family relationships
- GP:B1.5 Apply knowledge of their family culture
GP: B2 Acknowledge developing cultural identity
- GP:B2.1 Understand how “cultural identity” is affected by place, belonging, history and aesthetics
- GP:B2.2 Understand that “cultural identity” is made up of many different individual identities
- GP:B2.3 Delineate between fore-grounded or back-grounded identity
- GP:B2.4 Reflect on their own experiences with marginality
- GP:B2.5 Reflect on cultural aspects of life experiences
- GP:B2.6 Define the terms “cross-cultural kid, “third culture kid,” and “global nomad”
- GP:B2.7 Develop their worldview
- GP:B2.8 Use knowledge of cultural identity to inform decisions and intercultural encounters
GP: C1 Engage with host country culture
- GP:C1.1 Develop an awareness of their host country culture from surface culture to deep culture
- GP:C1.2 Demonstrate awareness of cultural adjustment
- GP:C1.3 Actively engage in learning about local culture and language
- GP:C1.4 Recognize emotional vulnerability as part of cross-cultural experience
- GP:C1.5 Practice intercultural orientation
GP: C2 Identify home country culture(s)
- GP:C2.1 Recognize various definitions of “home”
- GP:C2.2 Acknowledge that people have multiple “homes,” countries, cultures or places
- GP:C2.3 Articulate their unique history and experiences
- GP:C2.4 Identify diversity
- GP:C2.5 Balance their unique perspective and the perspectives of others from the “home” culture with respect and intercultural sensitivity
GP: D1 Take leadership of one’s own “cultural programming”
- GP:D1.1 Recognize that cultural values and beliefs may conflict
- GP:D1.2 Be willing to disentangle from your own cultural programming
- GP:D1.3 Entertain the possibility of simultaneous opposing cultural “truths”
- GP:D1.4 Demonstrate mindfulness
- GP:D1.5 Articulate what it means to take an intercultural orientation to all interactions
GP: D2 Be aware of the possible motivations (values and beliefs) behind someone else’s behaviors
- GP:D2.1 Demonstrate an ability to describe someone’s behaviors using purely descriptive language.
- GP:D2.2 Demonstrate an ability to describe someone’s values and beliefs using conceptual tools.
- GP:D2.3 Identify ways cultural values and beliefs may motivate other people’s behavior
- GP:D2.4 Be willing to ascribe positive intent to other people’s behavior
GP: D3 Bridge from your own cultural values and beliefs to those you think may be in operation for the other person(s)
- GP:D3.1 Refuse to take personal offense
- GP:D3.2 Identify shared values
- GP:D3.3 Be flexible in expressing the core dimensions of culture
- GP:D3.4 Demonstrate a readiness to interact across differences in values
- GP:D3.5 Envision a world where people automatically accept and bridge differences
GP: E1 Acquire knowledge of the transition process
- GP:E1.1 Understand that transitions happen over the life span
- GP:E1.2 Articulate a simple model of transition and apply it
- GP:E1.3 Accept the challenges of changing countries and schools
- GP:E1.4 Identify emotions throughout the transition event
- GP:E1.5 Recognize the individual nature of the transition xperience
- GP:E1.6 Use knowledge of the transition process to enhance communication and inform decisions.
GP: E2 Develop healthy attitude towards transition
- GP:E2.1 Recognize personal tendencies when faced with transition GP:E2.2 Develop positive strategies for how to manage transition events
- GP:E2.3 Apply positive strategies both personally and for others
- GP:E2.3 Understand that transition is complex
- GP:E2.4 Demonstrate “leaving” well, whether physically or in a life stage
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Pre K Standards & Benchmarks (pdf file) KG Standards & Benchmarks (pdf file) Grade 1 Standards & Benchmarks (pdf file) Grade 2 Standards & Benchmarks(pdf file) Grade 3 Standards & Benchmarks(pdf file) Grade 4 Standards & Benchmarks(pdf file) Grade 5 Standards & Benchmarks(pdf file) Grade 6 Standards & Benchmarks (pdf file) Grade 7 Standards & Benchmarks (pdf file) Grade 8 Standards & Benchmarks (pdf file)

Dr. Heather Vlach
Director of Teaching and LearningOffice: +974 4459 1500
Teaching and Learning
We are all part of a learning community and on a continuous learning journey at ASD. Our mission, vision, and values at ASD continue to support the growth, development, and achievement for all learners.
Learning at ASD is challenging, experiential, inspiring, and fun. Our community of learners, encompassing all students and all adults, engage in opportunities that invite curiosity, generate challenge, and enhance personal growth.
Our learning principles emphasize what we value as a learning community. The ASD learning principles highlight that learning best occurs when
- Learners actively construct meaning to build personal understanding
- Learners engage in collaborative experiences where learning occurs with and from one another
- Learners have clarity of what they are learning and why it is significant
- Learners know where they are and how to strive forward when guided with effective and timely feedback
- Learners have ownership of their learning
- Learners readily see the transfer of learning across disciplines
- Learners have experiences that value process, performance, and product
- Learners engage in reflective practices and self-assessment
- Learners feel a sense of belonging and safety
Through the ASD experience, including PreK-12 standards that are anchored in the best of American education, our learners develop the knowledge, skills, and dispositions that lead to becoming positive, active global citizens.
Gail Seay
Director of Teaching and Learning
[email protected]
Office: +974 4459 1500

Dr. Heather Vlach
Director of Teaching and LearningOffice: +974 4459 1500