1. Program Monitoring and Evaluation of Mandarin Bilingual Alternative Program at King George School February 2011

2. The program evaluation was designed with the objectives of: Highlighting the success of the Mandarin Bilingual program at King George School. Providing all participants with the opportunity to provide information and feedback. Evaluating the program’s adherence to the intent of this alternative language program as outlined in the draft Quality Control for Program Integrity for the Chinese (Mandarin) Bilingual Alternative Program document (Appendix I). Making recommendations, as needed, for both the school and the system as part of the CBE’s commitment to continuous improvement.

3. Draft Quality Control for Program Integrity for the Chinese (Mandarin) Bilingual Alternative Program MANDARIN Integrity Document.docx MANDARIN Integrity Document.docx

4. Key Findings Based on the analysis of hard data – Provincial Achievement Test results – GLAR – Accountability Survey results – Parent survey results As well as soft data – principal interview – teacher and student focus group – site visit – classroom observations – the school development plan – parent comments

5. Key Findings King George is compliant with the Draft Quality Control for Program Integrity for the Mandarin Bilingual Alternative Program except for these areas: – entry levels are not restricted to Kindergarten and grade 1 – library resources not interfiled – no support staff is fluent in Mandarin. The school, however, achieves all of the other indicators of the document and is well intentioned on providing their students a successful experience.

6. An area of concern is that the Mandarin Bilingual Alternative Program was designed for non-Mandarin speaking students; however, at King George there is a significant portion ( 32%) of students whose home language is already Mandarin, and 31% whose home language is Cantonese. Seventy percent (70%) of the students in the Mandarin program are coded English Language Learners. This calls into question for which population this program was intended and raises queries about the following statements in the Integrity document: Mandarin is not the prevalent language of the child’s home and community, and Instructional strategies and materials are designed for non-Mandarin speaking students.

7. Recommendations School: The principal shares the results of this review with all stakeholders: parents, staff and students. The school uses the results of the review to inform next year’s school development plan, where applicable.

8. Recommendations System: The system reviews and finalizes the draft document for Quality Control for Program Integrity for the Chinese (Mandarin) Bilingual Alternative Program. Specific areas to be reviewed include: – A decision on the target population of the program and thus the intent of the program. At this time the draft integrity document reads, “Mandarin is not the prevalent language of the child’s home and community” and thus, “instructional strategies and materials are designed for non-Mandarin speaking students” – Entry points. – Filing of library collections in dual track, dual language programs, including provision of support for cataloguing of new resources.

9. The system should consider the challenges of housing two different second language programs in one school. The system considers how to report on the Mandarin students’ achievement so as to begin the collection of year to year data. This has been difficult due to several moves for the program and system reporting not dividing the school population according to program. Mandarin teachers at King George are commended for developing and implementing an assessment tool for student achievement at the school level that will measure achievement over time.

10. Over 90% of parents were very satisfied or satisfied with: Quality of programming their child(ren) receive The program addresses their child’s social/emotional needs The program enhances their child’s feelings of self-esteem and pride The teaching practice of teachers in the program The program provides their child with the opportunity to learn about other cultures 75% or more of parents were very satisfied or satisfied: The program addresses their child’s academic needs The level of involvement in decisions about their child’s education The program is meeting its mandate to teach the Mandarin language and culture Only 50% of parents were very satisfied or satisfied that the program: Provides their child with opportunities to compete internationally. The other 50% of respondents didn’t know. Parent Survey - An online parent survey asked parents to respond to questions to ascertain their perception of the program in November 2010. Twenty-six (26) parents of those in the Mandarin program responded to this survey. (13.6%)

11. Comments from parents More homework Having English native speakers teaching all of the English subjects Increasing Mandarin instruction to be more immersion than bilingual. Twenty-four of twenty- six parents agreed that their child will continue in the program. This indicates a high level of satisfaction with the program.

12. Conclusion King George is intentionally focusing on offering the requisites of the Mandarin Bilingual Program to enable functional fluency in this second language. Overall, the school is to be commended for the effective response to the objectives of the Mandarin Bilingual program. Student achievement is high The program enhances the intellect, broadens the students’ cultural life through access to literature, art, music and theatre in another language and strengthens English literacy skills