I am new to this forum and I wanted to ask about references made to tier 1 or tier 2 or even tier 3 schools. I don´t quite see how this is decided apart from reading between the lines.
My guess would be:
Tier 3 schools are national schools often not accredited by CIS or NEASC and who offer poor expat packages.
Tier 2 schools: Mostly national schools with national students and administration. May offer IB and IGCSE and usually have accreditation. Expat packages will vary but offer flight and savings potential
Tier 1 schools: An international student body offering the IB , AP and?or British curriculum. Accredited and hire mostly expat admin and teachers. Package is competitive and dependents can be supported.
Is this more or less correct. Would anyone add anything.
How do i know a schools tier?
Re: How do i know a schools tier?
If the school pays a shedload of money (for the region) then it's a first tier school, if it pays crap then it's a third tier school.
People might moan about the above definition but when all's said and done, that's what it boils down to.
People might moan about the above definition but when all's said and done, that's what it boils down to.
Re: How do i know a schools tier?
@joe30
Hit the nail on the halloween coffin.
Paycheck is what makes S.E.Asian schools most competitive and S.America and Europe least desirable. Doesn't make sense to live in Paris and Geneva as a poor teacher with no housing.
Hit the nail on the halloween coffin.
Paycheck is what makes S.E.Asian schools most competitive and S.America and Europe least desirable. Doesn't make sense to live in Paris and Geneva as a poor teacher with no housing.
Re: How do i know a schools tier?
It's all in the eye of the beholder. I look for quality programs, schools really doing good things for children. Judging a school by the nationality of its students seems rather racist. I've known great national schools and cruddy ones with lots of European students and teachers.
Nothing wrong with a good package.
Nothing wrong with a good package.
Re: How do i know a schools tier?
I do look at the package first when evaluating a school. But there are a lot of other small details that can add up to a make a tier one school as well. I just interviewed with a what I consider to be a tier one school. They mentioned that teachers are given joint planning time with their entire grade level twice a week, that the orientation process continues for the first 4 months, that you are given a curriculum mentor and a different mentor to help with life in that country, etc. Aside from earning a lot of money, these things keep teachers content. And a big factor in making a tier one school is that the teachers stay a while and make the school better. So I would suggest looking at the package, but see if there is anything beyond that as well.
Response
here is no objective definition of Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3, and as such there is no "master list" of who is in which list, and to that end even if there was no one would agree on it. The greatest consensus is found in the middle of the tiers, and the least in the margins, but there would still be a lot of disagreement. As a community we tend to agree achieve consensus on the top and the bottom of the tiers. Our biggest disagreement is the margins in-between and the middle. Though if your on the international school circuit long enough you get a feel for which schools are at which tier. School quality also has a lot to do with where you are a tier 2 school in Hong Kong, might be a tier 1 school in mainland China...
There is no "definition" of Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3. Its all subjective, There are several models generally applied to dividing of the tiers, the teacher model is:
Elite Tier: Top schools in the first tier usually 1-2 schools.
1st Tier: The top 5%
2nd Tier: 75%-95%
3rd Tier: Bottom 75%
Upper tier is typically the elite, first tier and some portion of the second tier. Lower tier is the third tier and some portion of the second tier.
In general when teachers describe a tier 1, etc school from one another it comes down to
1) Compensation package
2) Work environment.
Historically the compensation package is the priority, not because of greed or anything, but because its easy to quantify. If your in Brazil, $30K is better then $28K. Schools that pay more for a given region tend to have more stable finances (a sign of longevity, given enrollment, and reputation), and have larger endowments, meaning they have been around long enough to develop efficiency and have well planed capitol projects. Better schools can charge more in fees, and be more selective in their admissions. This creates more "cash" on hand for salaries and benefits.
COMPENSATION:
Typically includes (in this order of importance/priority:
1) Salary (based on number of contract or teaching hours per week)
2) Housing (including utility costs)
3) Tuition (If you have kids. In addition if you have a non teaching spouse, how easy is it for them to find a job)
4) Transportation (Including Airfare, moving, and settling in allowances).
5) Insurance (Mostly how good the medical is)
6) Retirement (Including end of year bonuses).
WORK ENVIRONMENT:
Working conditions is the far more subjective of the two. It means something slightly different to everyone. But can include as a general principal (and these get more "fuzzy" the lower I go):
1) Staff/Faculty/Parents:How qualified are your co teachers? Do they know what they are doing? Do the aids, secretaries try and help you? Is the PTA crazy helicopter parents? Are the parents really the ones running the school?
2) Admins Management Style: Biggest reason for a school to go down hill. Does the admin back the teachers? Are they just a spokesperson for the owners? Do they yield to parent pressure? Do they value faculty input? Do they care?
3) Organization: Does the front/back office run efficiently? Do you get reimbursed in a timely fashion? Are salaries paid on time? Is the school relationship with the local immigration bureau good, can they process visas, permits, etc quickly?
4) Resources: Do you have a projector? Access to computers, internet? Can you make copies when you need too. What about textbooks, are they old and out dated, do teachers even use them? Whats the library look like? Whats the cafeteria look like (do they feed the teacher lunch?) Do you have a classroom/department budget, or do you have to ask for everything?
5) Academics: Do they have a curriculum? Do they use the curriculum? Does the department share a common curriculum or does everybody teach what they know and prefer? What are the assessment/grading policies and procedures?
6) Community: Are the people nice, friendly, helpful? What's there too do in the area? Is it safe? Clean? Is transportation easily accessible? Availability of shopping/groceries? Medical Care? This could be a long one....
JOB SEARCH:
1st tier schools are typically non-profit private prepatory schools that focus on an international student body. They are very westernized, and would be very similar to a private school in western cultures.
2nd tier schools are private private non-profits that act like for profits. They are predominately domestic students, who are affluent. They are equivalent to a "good" public school in a western culture.
3rd tier schools are for profit schools that are run as business. The purpose is to make generate revenue, and provide the owner with some level of prestige and status. Education is just the product, the students parents just the consumers.
Most 3rd tier schools advertise on TIE Online, Joy Jobs, and with SEARCH. You can also find them on Daves ESL Cafe (They advertise everywhere, except the "selective" recruitment agencies, such as ISS)
Tier 3 schools either pay very well because the only reason someone would work there is the money, or they pay enough to get by. Most of these schools are in the middle east or africa. There are some very "beautiful" schools that Dante could use to deepen the levels of hell a bit, and the only reason they have faculty is because 1) The money, 2) Desperate teachers who cant do any better. Of course one issue that i see common with Tier 3 schools is related to "safety" either the regional culture is very very rigid, with serious consequences for what you might consider "minor rule infractions" or the region/area could become quickly hostile and dangerous...
Your typical "ESL School" is right around the border between tier 3 and tier 2 schools.
"Elite" (also called prestige or premier) schools are a subset of tier 1 schools, that represent the top school(s) in the region.
An "elite" or "premiere" international school is simply the top (or contested top) tier one school in a region (or city). What differentiates them is they usually have the best reputation in an area as "THE" school, and you see that in a compensation package that is substantially higher then the other tier one schools in the area, as well as in their staff support, resources, and facilities.
For example; ISB (Bangkok) is typically seen as the elite school in Bangkok. ISB (Beijing) is usually tied with WAB (Western Academy of Beijing) in Beijing/China. SAS (Singapore American School) is seen as the elite school in Singapore. ASP (Paris) is the elite school is France. IS Frankfurt is usually (lot of debate on this) considered the Elite school in Germany. ASIJ is well thought of as the elite school in Japan.
Tier status is only comparable to other schools within a region. Local economies, costs of living, cultural differences make global comparisons unhelpful. For example; most european schools dont provide housing, and taxes are high so even though salaries would rival many that you would find in a place like China, the savings potential and lifestyle you can live are very different (and often better in asia).
Elite (also called premier) doesnt equal easy. Elite schools typically expect a lot from their teachers. Some teachers thrive in that environment, some dont.
Why a separate category? well there is typically a substantial and significant increase in work and compensation between the "elite" school and the other tier one schools.
I guess thats 4 levels. is there a lower level, some people throw tier 4, and lower levels around, but i have to think that is really just an individual adding insult to injury when they call a particular school a "tier 4" school.
MODELS
We first need to explore the four models of the tier system (which are the parent, owner, admin, and educator). Starting with the easiest is the parent model:
The Parent model, or "Prestige" model is a two tier system that can be described as the "wanted school" (upper tier) and the "waiting school". Parents have a school they want to get into (the wanted school), but for various reasons (no places, not enough pull, wrong organization sponsor, etc) can not get a place, so they then move to their next school down the continuum, until they secure a place for their child/children, this school is the "waiting school", they are waiting until the scenario changes and they either get their top wanted school or they move up the chain to a better school. This system is almost entirely based on the reputation/recognition/popularity/affiliation of the school. Westerners are going to aim for the appropriate embassy school, and then having to invest more and more research will identify additional schools as the need arises.
The Ownership, or "Point" model is based on determining standing and tier level based on a single "point" criterion, usually either compensation (they can buy their way into upper tiers, if they pay enough) or curriculum (were tier 1 is we have IB, etc). This allows school ownership to focus their resources on bettering a single criterion, allowing them to maximize their potential to whatever point they can afford. A lot of the "upper tier" schools in the ME employ this metric. This is often a result of ownership understanding business more than they understand education, but frustrated educators of all types when faced with numerous descriptors, many of which are simply unknown, can and do resort to this tier ranking metric to reduce frustration.
The Admin model or "Divisional" model (Ive also had is described at the Equality Continuum and Linear Equality models) divides the continuum of schools into equal divisions along a continuum. Rank order all the schools and institutions and if you want 3 tiers divide them into the bottom third, the middle third, and the upper third (if you want 4 tiers divide into quarters, and so on). There are two issues with this model. First, what admins love is that because the lower tier schools are so numerous, that any respectable "REAL" IS gets pushed into the first tier. Second, it artificially skews the top and the bottom, while compressing the middle.
The Educator, or "Curve" model (because it approximates the normal curve). takes those same schools on a normal curve and putts the upper 1stSD, lower 2ndSD and lower 3rdSD (Standard deviation, under the curve int his case) and classifies those as the 3rd tier, thats a lot of schools. It then places the upper 80-85 percentile too 95-98 percentile in the 2nd tier. With the remaining upper 5-2 percentile as the 1st tier (the elite school/s are a sup population of the first tier, and is just at or under the 100th percentile). What this means is that schools must truly demonstrate exceptional characteristics befitting the title of "International School", not simply a local, or municipal schools that are characterized as average or slightingly better than average compared to the surrounding market.
Admins hate this model, or as they call it the "depressing, why bother trying model", because the elite schools like palaces of kingdoms of old are very well established and unless your in a region (such as Japan) you often dont have room for more than one palace, and its not likely going anywhere. Meaning that a school and ownership has to do a massive amount of work, and expend tremendous resources to compete with other ISs to get into that very small percentage (top 5% at best) to be considered 1st tier, because the range doesnt change, you have to beat another school out such that their ranking falls so your schools ranking can gain. This leaves the practical outcome that most new schools or re branded schools will expend considerable effort and resources just to get into tier 2, and thats how it should be, because competition is good for the market and the consumer. This isnt some warm fuzzy, and cuddly everyone can get an "A", no this is more like medical school or low school where no matter what you do or how well you do it, there is a forced ordinal ranking from bottom to top. An admin can think their performing at the 90 percentile but if everyone else is at 92% or higher, your still in the bottom, and the bottom is the third tier.
There is no "definition" of Tier 1, Tier 2, or Tier 3. Its all subjective, There are several models generally applied to dividing of the tiers, the teacher model is:
Elite Tier: Top schools in the first tier usually 1-2 schools.
1st Tier: The top 5%
2nd Tier: 75%-95%
3rd Tier: Bottom 75%
Upper tier is typically the elite, first tier and some portion of the second tier. Lower tier is the third tier and some portion of the second tier.
In general when teachers describe a tier 1, etc school from one another it comes down to
1) Compensation package
2) Work environment.
Historically the compensation package is the priority, not because of greed or anything, but because its easy to quantify. If your in Brazil, $30K is better then $28K. Schools that pay more for a given region tend to have more stable finances (a sign of longevity, given enrollment, and reputation), and have larger endowments, meaning they have been around long enough to develop efficiency and have well planed capitol projects. Better schools can charge more in fees, and be more selective in their admissions. This creates more "cash" on hand for salaries and benefits.
COMPENSATION:
Typically includes (in this order of importance/priority:
1) Salary (based on number of contract or teaching hours per week)
2) Housing (including utility costs)
3) Tuition (If you have kids. In addition if you have a non teaching spouse, how easy is it for them to find a job)
4) Transportation (Including Airfare, moving, and settling in allowances).
5) Insurance (Mostly how good the medical is)
6) Retirement (Including end of year bonuses).
WORK ENVIRONMENT:
Working conditions is the far more subjective of the two. It means something slightly different to everyone. But can include as a general principal (and these get more "fuzzy" the lower I go):
1) Staff/Faculty/Parents:How qualified are your co teachers? Do they know what they are doing? Do the aids, secretaries try and help you? Is the PTA crazy helicopter parents? Are the parents really the ones running the school?
2) Admins Management Style: Biggest reason for a school to go down hill. Does the admin back the teachers? Are they just a spokesperson for the owners? Do they yield to parent pressure? Do they value faculty input? Do they care?
3) Organization: Does the front/back office run efficiently? Do you get reimbursed in a timely fashion? Are salaries paid on time? Is the school relationship with the local immigration bureau good, can they process visas, permits, etc quickly?
4) Resources: Do you have a projector? Access to computers, internet? Can you make copies when you need too. What about textbooks, are they old and out dated, do teachers even use them? Whats the library look like? Whats the cafeteria look like (do they feed the teacher lunch?) Do you have a classroom/department budget, or do you have to ask for everything?
5) Academics: Do they have a curriculum? Do they use the curriculum? Does the department share a common curriculum or does everybody teach what they know and prefer? What are the assessment/grading policies and procedures?
6) Community: Are the people nice, friendly, helpful? What's there too do in the area? Is it safe? Clean? Is transportation easily accessible? Availability of shopping/groceries? Medical Care? This could be a long one....
JOB SEARCH:
1st tier schools are typically non-profit private prepatory schools that focus on an international student body. They are very westernized, and would be very similar to a private school in western cultures.
2nd tier schools are private private non-profits that act like for profits. They are predominately domestic students, who are affluent. They are equivalent to a "good" public school in a western culture.
3rd tier schools are for profit schools that are run as business. The purpose is to make generate revenue, and provide the owner with some level of prestige and status. Education is just the product, the students parents just the consumers.
Most 3rd tier schools advertise on TIE Online, Joy Jobs, and with SEARCH. You can also find them on Daves ESL Cafe (They advertise everywhere, except the "selective" recruitment agencies, such as ISS)
Tier 3 schools either pay very well because the only reason someone would work there is the money, or they pay enough to get by. Most of these schools are in the middle east or africa. There are some very "beautiful" schools that Dante could use to deepen the levels of hell a bit, and the only reason they have faculty is because 1) The money, 2) Desperate teachers who cant do any better. Of course one issue that i see common with Tier 3 schools is related to "safety" either the regional culture is very very rigid, with serious consequences for what you might consider "minor rule infractions" or the region/area could become quickly hostile and dangerous...
Your typical "ESL School" is right around the border between tier 3 and tier 2 schools.
"Elite" (also called prestige or premier) schools are a subset of tier 1 schools, that represent the top school(s) in the region.
An "elite" or "premiere" international school is simply the top (or contested top) tier one school in a region (or city). What differentiates them is they usually have the best reputation in an area as "THE" school, and you see that in a compensation package that is substantially higher then the other tier one schools in the area, as well as in their staff support, resources, and facilities.
For example; ISB (Bangkok) is typically seen as the elite school in Bangkok. ISB (Beijing) is usually tied with WAB (Western Academy of Beijing) in Beijing/China. SAS (Singapore American School) is seen as the elite school in Singapore. ASP (Paris) is the elite school is France. IS Frankfurt is usually (lot of debate on this) considered the Elite school in Germany. ASIJ is well thought of as the elite school in Japan.
Tier status is only comparable to other schools within a region. Local economies, costs of living, cultural differences make global comparisons unhelpful. For example; most european schools dont provide housing, and taxes are high so even though salaries would rival many that you would find in a place like China, the savings potential and lifestyle you can live are very different (and often better in asia).
Elite (also called premier) doesnt equal easy. Elite schools typically expect a lot from their teachers. Some teachers thrive in that environment, some dont.
Why a separate category? well there is typically a substantial and significant increase in work and compensation between the "elite" school and the other tier one schools.
I guess thats 4 levels. is there a lower level, some people throw tier 4, and lower levels around, but i have to think that is really just an individual adding insult to injury when they call a particular school a "tier 4" school.
MODELS
We first need to explore the four models of the tier system (which are the parent, owner, admin, and educator). Starting with the easiest is the parent model:
The Parent model, or "Prestige" model is a two tier system that can be described as the "wanted school" (upper tier) and the "waiting school". Parents have a school they want to get into (the wanted school), but for various reasons (no places, not enough pull, wrong organization sponsor, etc) can not get a place, so they then move to their next school down the continuum, until they secure a place for their child/children, this school is the "waiting school", they are waiting until the scenario changes and they either get their top wanted school or they move up the chain to a better school. This system is almost entirely based on the reputation/recognition/popularity/affiliation of the school. Westerners are going to aim for the appropriate embassy school, and then having to invest more and more research will identify additional schools as the need arises.
The Ownership, or "Point" model is based on determining standing and tier level based on a single "point" criterion, usually either compensation (they can buy their way into upper tiers, if they pay enough) or curriculum (were tier 1 is we have IB, etc). This allows school ownership to focus their resources on bettering a single criterion, allowing them to maximize their potential to whatever point they can afford. A lot of the "upper tier" schools in the ME employ this metric. This is often a result of ownership understanding business more than they understand education, but frustrated educators of all types when faced with numerous descriptors, many of which are simply unknown, can and do resort to this tier ranking metric to reduce frustration.
The Admin model or "Divisional" model (Ive also had is described at the Equality Continuum and Linear Equality models) divides the continuum of schools into equal divisions along a continuum. Rank order all the schools and institutions and if you want 3 tiers divide them into the bottom third, the middle third, and the upper third (if you want 4 tiers divide into quarters, and so on). There are two issues with this model. First, what admins love is that because the lower tier schools are so numerous, that any respectable "REAL" IS gets pushed into the first tier. Second, it artificially skews the top and the bottom, while compressing the middle.
The Educator, or "Curve" model (because it approximates the normal curve). takes those same schools on a normal curve and putts the upper 1stSD, lower 2ndSD and lower 3rdSD (Standard deviation, under the curve int his case) and classifies those as the 3rd tier, thats a lot of schools. It then places the upper 80-85 percentile too 95-98 percentile in the 2nd tier. With the remaining upper 5-2 percentile as the 1st tier (the elite school/s are a sup population of the first tier, and is just at or under the 100th percentile). What this means is that schools must truly demonstrate exceptional characteristics befitting the title of "International School", not simply a local, or municipal schools that are characterized as average or slightingly better than average compared to the surrounding market.
Admins hate this model, or as they call it the "depressing, why bother trying model", because the elite schools like palaces of kingdoms of old are very well established and unless your in a region (such as Japan) you often dont have room for more than one palace, and its not likely going anywhere. Meaning that a school and ownership has to do a massive amount of work, and expend tremendous resources to compete with other ISs to get into that very small percentage (top 5% at best) to be considered 1st tier, because the range doesnt change, you have to beat another school out such that their ranking falls so your schools ranking can gain. This leaves the practical outcome that most new schools or re branded schools will expend considerable effort and resources just to get into tier 2, and thats how it should be, because competition is good for the market and the consumer. This isnt some warm fuzzy, and cuddly everyone can get an "A", no this is more like medical school or low school where no matter what you do or how well you do it, there is a forced ordinal ranking from bottom to top. An admin can think their performing at the 90 percentile but if everyone else is at 92% or higher, your still in the bottom, and the bottom is the third tier.
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bobbydylan84
- Posts: 10
- Joined: Sun Oct 30, 2016 7:55 pm
Re: How do i know a schools tier?
Thanks for all the posts, especially to Psyguy.
What really suprises me is that not one post attached weight to the curriculum. I am in a tier 1 but not elite school in Bogota, Colombia but do not teach IB or AP as I am in middle school. I am British with 6 years experience, 2 abroad and 4 in a large school in London.
I want progression and more opportunities in the future and i have decided to leave an excellent school with an excellent package to do this. I hope i have made the right choice!
Thanks for your posts once again.
What really suprises me is that not one post attached weight to the curriculum. I am in a tier 1 but not elite school in Bogota, Colombia but do not teach IB or AP as I am in middle school. I am British with 6 years experience, 2 abroad and 4 in a large school in London.
I want progression and more opportunities in the future and i have decided to leave an excellent school with an excellent package to do this. I hope i have made the right choice!
Thanks for your posts once again.
Re: How do i know a schools tier?
I think many of us do put a priority on the curriculum. You can't be a decent school without having a decent curriculum in place and a system to monitor and improve it.
I have my personal preference for IB schools, but the fact is that lots of different types of schools have lots of different types of curricula, and students graduate and go on to successful lives, so clearly there are decent options around the map.
I have my personal preference for IB schools, but the fact is that lots of different types of schools have lots of different types of curricula, and students graduate and go on to successful lives, so clearly there are decent options around the map.
Re: How do i know a schools tier?
A lot of people don't like the tier system, but honestly I feel there are some pretty intuitive groupings.
Tier 1 consists of non-profit schools that cater primarily towards international students rather than host nationals.
Tier 2 consists of schools that have a single wart: they might be for-profit (but the upper echelon of for-profit schools), they might have too many host national students to be considered 'real' international schools, they might be extremely small, there might be problems between management and teachers, it is a boarding school, etc.
Tier 3 consists of the vast majority of schools - for-profit schools for host national students. There is a wide range of quality here from kind of-sort of ok to absolutely putrid.
As the tier gets higher, the salary/housing/benefits tend to get better, relative to that particular region.
YMMV
Tier 1 consists of non-profit schools that cater primarily towards international students rather than host nationals.
Tier 2 consists of schools that have a single wart: they might be for-profit (but the upper echelon of for-profit schools), they might have too many host national students to be considered 'real' international schools, they might be extremely small, there might be problems between management and teachers, it is a boarding school, etc.
Tier 3 consists of the vast majority of schools - for-profit schools for host national students. There is a wide range of quality here from kind of-sort of ok to absolutely putrid.
As the tier gets higher, the salary/housing/benefits tend to get better, relative to that particular region.
YMMV
Reply
@bobbydylan84
Curriculum really isnt important:
1) There are ISs that are putrid train wrecks of an IS, and their curriculum is still accredited. They could be whipping ITs and as long as the binder is above board there isnt a curriculum issue.
2) On the other side on the continuum, you have ISs that have a "local" curriculum, they hire western ITs, and what they teach is the curriculum, and some of them are really easy places to work at. No one bothers you, you can do what you want.
3) Across the vast landscape of western curriculums there is a high degree of congruence. Chaucer is pretty much the same everywhere. There isnt a difference in factoring a polynomial. Thermodynamics works the same regardless of the classroom. The color wheel is the same round circle and colors. There are some courses like history that can be vastly different, but adapting isnt hard. If you are a good biology or economics IT in the USNC you will do fine in the UKNC or the IBO curriculum.
4) There is a high degree of momentum in IE, when an IS does their curriculum right as they define right they crystallize it. Why fix something that isnt broken, experimentation and change increases risk.
5) Leadership generally understand that PD costs have to produce a substantial ROI, or are mandated requirements. An IS isnt going to keep dumping coin into PD, if it doesnt change anything, and all ITs do is watch the presentation, go through the motions, and then back to business as usual. Dont be surprised but a lot of ITs dont want PD, not the kind that most ISs provide, which often require time outside of duty hours, or on weekends, travel, and other sacrifices.
Curriculum really isnt important:
1) There are ISs that are putrid train wrecks of an IS, and their curriculum is still accredited. They could be whipping ITs and as long as the binder is above board there isnt a curriculum issue.
2) On the other side on the continuum, you have ISs that have a "local" curriculum, they hire western ITs, and what they teach is the curriculum, and some of them are really easy places to work at. No one bothers you, you can do what you want.
3) Across the vast landscape of western curriculums there is a high degree of congruence. Chaucer is pretty much the same everywhere. There isnt a difference in factoring a polynomial. Thermodynamics works the same regardless of the classroom. The color wheel is the same round circle and colors. There are some courses like history that can be vastly different, but adapting isnt hard. If you are a good biology or economics IT in the USNC you will do fine in the UKNC or the IBO curriculum.
4) There is a high degree of momentum in IE, when an IS does their curriculum right as they define right they crystallize it. Why fix something that isnt broken, experimentation and change increases risk.
5) Leadership generally understand that PD costs have to produce a substantial ROI, or are mandated requirements. An IS isnt going to keep dumping coin into PD, if it doesnt change anything, and all ITs do is watch the presentation, go through the motions, and then back to business as usual. Dont be surprised but a lot of ITs dont want PD, not the kind that most ISs provide, which often require time outside of duty hours, or on weekends, travel, and other sacrifices.
Re: How do i know a schools tier?
I'm still saying that tier status is determined almost exclusively by the salary/benefits package (in comparison with others in the same region).
Put it this way, open a school, state on your website that you pay $100,000 a year tax free+the usual benefits, then write underneath it that staff duties are to teach a rote learning curriculum modelled on the Cambodian public education system. You'll get no shortage of 'quality' applicants with many years of experience, advanced degrees etc - this is because it's really all about the money. Your school would attract the best teachers and would be acclaimed as first tier without question.
Put it this way, open a school, state on your website that you pay $100,000 a year tax free+the usual benefits, then write underneath it that staff duties are to teach a rote learning curriculum modelled on the Cambodian public education system. You'll get no shortage of 'quality' applicants with many years of experience, advanced degrees etc - this is because it's really all about the money. Your school would attract the best teachers and would be acclaimed as first tier without question.
Discussion
@joe30
Thats untrue, countless ITs give up ME coin at that level to work in the WE. The IS might be hailed as first tier, but only by that IS and its leadership. You cant buy your way into a tier (though you can try).
Thats untrue, countless ITs give up ME coin at that level to work in the WE. The IS might be hailed as first tier, but only by that IS and its leadership. You cant buy your way into a tier (though you can try).
Re: How do i know a schools tier?
I doubt 'countless' IT's are giving up 6 figures tax free. A handful maybe, but there's always outliers in any large sample. And you can only compare pay and benefits within the same region anyway.
The reason Aramco is hailed as first tier and some generic IS paying $40,000 a year in the same location is called third tier is 100% down to the cash. Would ISB (Bangkok) be treated as first tier if they only paid $20,000 a year? Course they wouldn't, they'd be given third tier status as soon as they changed the payscale.
If one ranks the IS's within a given region in terms of tier, it's pretty much just a list from who pays the most to who pays the least. Take Thailand for example. While they might be the occasional disagreement on individual schools, a 'tier list' might look like this:
First Tier: ISB, NIST, Pattana
Second Tier: Harrow, Shrewsbury
Third Tier: St Andrews, St Stephens, American School Bangkok, Ascot, Bromsgrove, Regents etc etc
If you look at that list, then made a list of 'schools that pay the most money' it'd be practically identical.
The reason Aramco is hailed as first tier and some generic IS paying $40,000 a year in the same location is called third tier is 100% down to the cash. Would ISB (Bangkok) be treated as first tier if they only paid $20,000 a year? Course they wouldn't, they'd be given third tier status as soon as they changed the payscale.
If one ranks the IS's within a given region in terms of tier, it's pretty much just a list from who pays the most to who pays the least. Take Thailand for example. While they might be the occasional disagreement on individual schools, a 'tier list' might look like this:
First Tier: ISB, NIST, Pattana
Second Tier: Harrow, Shrewsbury
Third Tier: St Andrews, St Stephens, American School Bangkok, Ascot, Bromsgrove, Regents etc etc
If you look at that list, then made a list of 'schools that pay the most money' it'd be practically identical.
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global_nomad
- Posts: 72
- Joined: Thu Jan 07, 2016 12:12 pm
Re: How do i know a schools tier?
I would agree with Joe that money and benefits are (by far) the #1 indicator of Tier 1 status; however, other variables such as for/non profit status, % of host country students, school's commitment to PD, quality of curriculum, staff support, and commitment to Halloween celebrations (ha!) are in the mix as well.
I loathe educators whose mantras are "we didn't get into this for the money" and attempt to shame other educators for trying to live an above average life and perhaps someday be able to retire. My experience with educators who say things like this is that the majority are passed over for the better jobs. I would bet that at least 90% of ITs would jump at any school (outside the ME) that pays 100k tax free. It may drop to 75% for a school in the ME.
I loathe educators whose mantras are "we didn't get into this for the money" and attempt to shame other educators for trying to live an above average life and perhaps someday be able to retire. My experience with educators who say things like this is that the majority are passed over for the better jobs. I would bet that at least 90% of ITs would jump at any school (outside the ME) that pays 100k tax free. It may drop to 75% for a school in the ME.
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shadowjack
- Posts: 2140
- Joined: Sat Oct 06, 2012 9:49 am
Re: How do i know a schools tier?
Global Nomad, I'd say it would drop to about 25%, no matter if it is a decent package. For those arguing about money, for many teachers at top schools it isn't about the money. If the school was offering incoming teachers 10K a year less (say $50,000 USD instead of 60), teachers would still be applying by the bucketload because it is a top tier school. You get to teach in a real expatriate international environment. You have access to decent resources and they are present, or purchased as needed. You are provided PD that has meaning. You are trained for your program. You are not worked to death, but are expected to work. Parents are involved in the learning of their kids. The list goes on.
You don't find those things too much at the 2nd and 3rd tier schools. There are schools that pay well, but treat you like crap and I've personally witnessed teachers voting with their feet. Sad for the school, but such is the reality.
You don't find those things too much at the 2nd and 3rd tier schools. There are schools that pay well, but treat you like crap and I've personally witnessed teachers voting with their feet. Sad for the school, but such is the reality.