Executive Summary. EF Education. Dr. Randy Sinisi, Director 8 Education St Cambridge, MA

Transcription

1 Dr. Randy Sinisi, Director 8 Education St Cambridge, MA Document Generated On June 16, 2014

2 TABLE OF CONTENTS Introduction 1 Description of the Corporation 2 Corporation's Purpose 5 Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement 6 Additional Information 7

3 Introduction Every corporation has its own story to tell. The context in which teaching and learning takes place influences the processes and procedures by which the corporation makes decisions around curriculum, instruction, and assessment. The context also impacts the way a corporation stays faithful to its vision. Many factors contribute to the overall narrative such as an identification of stakeholders, a description of stakeholder engagement, the trends and issues affecting the corporation, and the kinds of programs and services that a corporation implements to support student learning. <br><br> The purpose of the Executive Summary (ES) is to provide a corporation with an opportunity to describe in narrative form the strengths and challenges it encounters. By doing so, the public and members of the community will have a more complete picture of how the corporation perceives itself and the process of self-reflection for continuous improvement. This summary is structured for the corporation to reflect on how it provides teaching and learning on a day to day basis. Page 1

4 Description of the Corporation Describe the corporation's size, community/communities, location, and changes it has experienced in the last three years. Include demographic information about the students, staff, and community at large. What unique features and challenges are associated with the community/communities the corporation serves? First is the leading international student travel and language study organization with more than 500 schools and offices in over 52 countries worldwide. Our team of educators and travel professionals work with schools across North America to enhance and build global education programs, which ensure that students have the knowledge, skills and experiences that prepare them for global citizenship. This gives a competitive edge to students and their teachers. The company is privately held by the Hult family. In 1965 Bertil Hult founded the travel and language study school in Lund, Sweden, taking students to England to learn the English language, see historical sites and immerse them in the culture. Our headquarters are in Cambridge, Massachusetts, and Lucerne, Switzerland. There are 37,000 employees including full-time office staff and faculty along with part-time teachers and tour directors. The corporate programs that make us the leader in international education are: EF Language and Schools - EF International Language Centers - EF Local English Language Centers for Adults - EF Local English Language Centers for Kids and Teens - EF Englishtown - EF Corporate Language Learning Solutions - EF Learning Labs - EF Academy - International Boarding Schools - EF High School Year - Cultural Care Au Pair, International al Travel - EF Explore America - al Tours - EF College Study Tours - Go Ahead Tours Hult International Business School - Hult International Business School, Graduate School - Hult International Business School, Undergraduate School Page 2

5 Our accreditation focus through AdvancED is al Tours and Explore America Tours that together comprise a travel school, which has been accredited since Students and teachers from all fifty states travel with EF. al Tours is focused on international travel while EF Explore America Tours is focused on domestic travel. Middle and high school students travel in groups with their teacher, accompanied by a 24/7 tour guide. There are over 250 itineraries plus customized tours. The average length is seven days for domestic and ten days for international travel. Our wide range of global education programs complement educators' curriculum with a spectrum of cultural and academic-rich experiences designed to meet the diverse needs of students and schools. We offer: Educational Tours and Explore America Tours Our immersive international and domestic programs provide new ways for teachers to inspire students for the rest of their lives. In addition to hundreds of itineraries, teachers can choose subject-specific and Advanced Placement tours that align more closely with their curriculum. Language Immersion Tours By learning a language where it is spoken, students develop confidence while improving fluency. In addition to formal lessons at our accredited International Language Schools, students practice skills with native speakers as they delve into authentic cultural experiences with specially trained tour directors. Service Learning Tours Our service learning tours are designed to instill humanitarian values through authentic community connections and hands-on service. Students gain a stronger understanding of their roles and responsibilities as global citizen. Using a process of experience, reflection and action, each trained service leader frames and facilitates service projects with local community partners that become powerful learning experiences. Global Student Leader Summits Student and teachers come together from around the world to be inspired and prepared to solve global challenges of today - and the future. The summit series combines immersive international tours with a two-day leadership conference focused on helping students develop critical 21st century skills. Through collaboration, independent research and discussion with world-renown experts, students work to find local solutions to global challenges. The experience creates a forum for students to strengthen their leadership and innovation abilities. Professional Development Tours Teachers who have been on a professional development tour can teach about the world because they have experienced it. Teachers gain a new perspective and bring back new ideas to their school and community. Exploring the world with other teachers is a unique venue for professional development. Custom Designed Tours Teachers know what kind of learning experiences their students need better than anyone - and we are the experts who make this happen. Teachers can work with itinerary specialists to create a tour that best fits their students' needs, while pulling in the most attractive elements from our existing portfolio of experiences. Blended Learning Program To enhance and expand the tour experience and the knowledge gained from travel, EF has developed a blended learning method. The method combines classroom and tour experience with our groundbreaking online learning platform, weshare. In this way we develop and deliver supplementary education courses using online learning tools. Combining before, during and after tour assignments and activities Page 3

6 gives the opportunity to earn high school credit and professional development hours from EF or credit from universities. This 10-course program uses the weshare online platform and learning management system. Page 4

7 Corporation's Purpose Provide the corporation's purpose statement and ancillary content such as mission, vision, values, and/or beliefs. Describe how the corporation embodies its purpose through its program offerings and expectations for students. For nearly 50 years, First has worked to open the world through education, helping people create new opportunities for themselves by offering every imaginable way to learn a language, experience another culture, or earn an academic degree. This has been our purpose since Together with educators around the world, we're dedicated to providing educational experiences that teach 21st century skills of critical thinking, problem solving, collaboration and global competence. Page 5

8 Notable Achievements and Areas of Improvement Describe the corporation's notable achievements and areas of improvement in the last three years. Additionally, describe areas for improvement that the corporation is striving to achieve in the next three years. We have experienced many positive changes during the past five years. At the 2009 accreditation review, we had only one position dedicated to education, and we had only recently launched our professional development tour portfolio. The review team's recommendations encouraged us to work even harder to become a leading expert in global education. To begin the new accreditation cycle, each specialized area reviewed their tours and curriculum and identified the challenges and possible areas for improvement. Across the variety of programs, everyone saw the challenge of building capacity for rapid growth while maintaining high quality. We conducted numerous interviews, convened focus groups of key stakeholder audiences, analyzed evaluation data from multiple sources, and launched a standards-compliance survey all focused to gain valuable insights before identifying new goals and actions. Most notable educational accomplishments and areas of improvement are: - Developed innovative specialized educational travel for service learning, global student leadership, language immersion and professional development. - Increased the expertise and specialization in education by adding 16 full-time employees. - Established online learning and adopted a learning management system. - Served on the Strategic Council for the Partnership for 21st Century Skills. - Developed weshare, a project-based learning online framework where students have authentic research experiences. We now have a gallery of global education multi-media projects. - Reviewed curriculum and developed or revised all courses including online PD courses. In the process we aligned the courses to national, state and Common Core standards. - Developed a record-keeping system, new transcript and grading rubrics. - Produced annual student global citizen scholarship tours, teacher professional development scholarship tours, and other PD tours for national and state organizations. - Held four International Advisory Board meetings in London, Peru, Costa Rica, and Shanghai to obtain external advice on our existing and proposed programs. We differentiated the representation and rotated board positions to provide more public representation. - Became experts in comparative global education and led PD tours worldwide. - Arranged with universities for students and teachers to earn credit for educational tours. Page 6

9 Additional Information Provide any additional information you would like to share with the public and community that were not prompted in the previous sections. As we enter our 50th year in 2015, we continue to open the world for teachers and students. Page 7