Creating an Effective School

LISBON, PORTUGAL
25 June - 1 July 2024
Facilitator: James Dalziel and Jen Swinehart

11 - 17 July 2024
Facilitator: Ji Han and Jamie Otis

ONLINE
15 - 21 June 2024
Facilitator: Simon Gillespie and Sue Easton
Please note: The synchronous session on 18 June will run an extra 30 minutes (7-9:30am EDT).

Hear what our participants have to say about the course: Kathy Patton, Todd Brink

Listen to James Dalziel answer the question: “Why should you take this course?”

The international school has unique characteristics which compel its leaders to have a sharpened view of the big picture and skill set to match. This course offers the knowledge and skills for international school leaders to articulate a vision and to design and implement a plan for an effective school that is focused on student learning. It addresses the ‘big picture’ of what international schools are and how leaders can optimize conditions to maximize learning through focusing on results.

Learning Goals

  • Identify the elements of an effective school that is focused on learning and constantly improving

  • Develop strategies for bridging from mission, vision and learning principles to day-to-day efforts and decisions

  • Demonstrate the importance of a systematic process for the collection, analysis and use of data for school improvements

  • Analyze how schools can be best organized to support learning in areas of teacher configurations and leaderships roles, student groupings patterns, and learning sequences and timing

  • Apply an understanding of systematic change models to one's school and determine leverage points

  • Develop skills in human resource allocation for recruiting, hiring and developing quality staff and in building relationships and incorporating parents into the school culture

  • Develop strategies for creating an effective professional development program

  • Deepen understanding about the role of culture and determine leadership activities to build and maintain a strong culture

  • Develop a school improvement goal and action plan for student learning gains and increased school effectiveness

  • Develop effective strategies for all of the above in the hybrid and online learning environment, with consideration of the rapid development artificial intelligence

  • Apply principles of social justice and anti-racism across all facets of school design and implementation

The curriculum for all PTC courses is rooted in the ‘Standards for International School Principals’ and created using our design principles.