Annual Report. Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau The performance of private schools in Dubai

Transcription

1 Annual Report Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau The performance of private schools in Dubai

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3 In the name of Allah, Most Gracious, Most Merciful

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5 Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau The Performance of Private Schools in Dubai Annual Report 2013

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7 Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau Annual Report Knowledge and Human Development Authority, Dubai, UAE. All rights reserved. In the interests of enhancing the value of the information contained in this report, you may download, print, reproduce and distribute any material contained in the report so long as KHDA is acknowledged as the source.

8 Dr. Abdulla Al Karam Director General and Chairman of the Board of Directors Knowledge and Human Development Authority This year marks the fifth year that KHDA has been inspecting schools in Dubai. In that time, the city has seen many changes. It has emerged as a more dynamic, robust economy which is once again going through great growth. Since 2008, the private education sector has grown not just in size, but in quality. Results from international assessments such as PISA, TIMSS and PIRLS have corroborated inspections findings that student outcomes are improving across the sector. Partnerships with international accreditation and quality assurance bodies such as British Schools Overseas and New England Associations of Schools and Colleges are also ensuring that the quality of education offered by Dubai s schools is comparable to the best in the world. In the past five years of inspections, we have identified many strengths in Dubai s schools sector, ranging from teaching and learning, to leadership and student wellbeing, to name just a few. We are committed to concentrating on these strengths and encouraging schools to share them with each other, so that all students have access to high quality education. We believe we will continue to transform education in Dubai through collaboration, greater engagement with parents, teachers and students, and reinforcing the strengths and positive practices of every school in Dubai. 8

9 Jameela Al Muhairi Chief of the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau Knowledge and Human Development Authority I am proud to welcome you to the fifth Annual Report of the Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau (DSIB). We have continued to carry out our annual inspections of all the private schools in Dubai and to gather vital information about the progress of the schools since inspection began. We have been able to generate a comprehensive picture of school performance which directly influences parents, school leaders and government policy. Our information shows an improving picture over time, not perhaps as dramatic this year as in the earlier years, but nonetheless steady and assured. In , fewer than a third of students attended good or better schools. This year, the number has improved yet again and now almost exactly half of our students now go to schools that are judged to be good or better. Consequently, there are fewer students in acceptable or unsatisfactory schools. DSIB continues to focus its energies and resources to raise standards in the less effective schools. We value the partnerships that we have created with all schools and acknowledge the commitment and hard work of staff and leaders. It is our custom to develop and refine our approaches to inspection and expectations of schools, as well as addressing particular issues. In , there have been distinct focuses on students personal development and the provision for students with special educational needs. We have also looked closely at how well Emirati students perform. In addition, we have established selfevaluation procedures as a fundamental part of inspection, so that schools can play a full part in the process and be more responsible for their own improvement. In the coming year, we will continue to focus on students with special educational needs and Emirati students. Following a current emphasis on the provision for Arabic as a first language, each inspection this year will gather key information. Inspection reports will feature short sections on all of these three themes. As an added dimension, inspectors will be checking how well schools use international assessment data to influence their performance. We remain very grateful for all the support and input from everyone involved in school inspection. We are heartened by the continuing successes in Dubai schools and we will continue to do our best to champion excellent practice and minimise poor provision so that all students in Dubai can benefit from good quality schools. We look forward to working alongside all stakeholders to promote and ensure further successes. My colleagues and I wish you every success for the coming year. 9

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11 Contents Introduction 12 Part One: Inspection Findings Chapter 1: Trends in the performance of schools over five years - Overview 18 - Overall performance 20 - Performance against the quality indicators 30 - The overall performance of schools offering different curricula 82 Chapter 2: Tackling unsatisfactory performance Chapter 3: Early years learning Chapter 4: The views of parents, teachers and students Chapter 5: Thematic investigations - Developing provision for students with special educational needs US schools in Dubai 186 Chapter 6: Challenges for the next five years Part Two: The Development of DSIB s Organisation and Methods Chapter 7: The framework for inspection Chapter 8: The role of self-evaluation in school inspection Chapter 9: Collaboration with other organisations and local partnerships Chapter 10: DSIB in the media Part Three: School Performance Tables 11

12 Introduction The close of the academic year marks the end of the fifth year of private school inspections in Dubai. The initial quality inspections in followed several months of preparation, involving research into best practices and working with schools and external agencies to create an inspection framework and method to meet the needs of Dubai. Since then, Dubai Schools Inspection Bureau s (DSIB) core team of international staff, together with several hundred associate inspectors from around the world, have enabled DSIB to fulfil its mission to contribute to the improvement of educational outcomes and parental choice by providing independent, comprehensive, authoritative assessment of education quality in Dubai. Inspectors have carried out approaching 10,000 separate analyses of data and documents, have conducted around 20,000 interviews with school staff and students, and observed in excess of 60,000 lessons. The framework for inspection in was useful for the initial quality inspections. It informed schools and other stakeholders of the basics of the school inspection process, the Key Questions and the Quality Indicators that were used to evaluate provision and outcomes. In subsequent years we have continued to ask the same seven Key Questions but in greater depth and with more rigour. The precision and clarity of the quality indicators have been developed considerably; and the quality descriptors are now much more detailed so that there is little room for ambiguity. The story of school inspection from the autumn of 2008 to the present day the evolution of the framework, the response of schools to inspection, DSIB s involvement with other organisations, and the reaction of parents, other stakeholders and the media is the subject of this review of the first five years of DSIB. 12

13 The structure of this report Part One presents a detailed analysis of the findings resulting from inspection activity over the five years since Chapter 1 describes trends in the performance of private schools, first generally in relation to each of the quality indicators employed by inspection teams; and then with regard to each group of schools that offer the different curricula available in Dubai. Chapter 2 is concerned with how KHDA has encouraged improvement in schools whose performance has been rated unsatisfactory in inspections. Chapter 3 describes DSIB s findings about Early Years learning. Chapter 4 presents a summary of the views expressed by parents, teachers and students in the surveys of opinion that have become part of the inspection process. Besides inspecting and reporting on individual schools, DSIB is mandated to investigate how well Dubai schools are performing in terms of key educational themes, in order to inform policy decisions. Reports of three of these thematic investigations appear in Chapter 5. Chapter 6 presents a discussion of the main challenges facing private schools in Dubai over the coming period, based on the evidence gained from the experience of five years of inspection and reporting on education quality. Part Two describes how some of DSIB s essential practices have evolved and developed over the last five years in the light of continuing experience of inspecting schools. Chapter 7 records how the inspection framework has altered in response to changing priorities, while maintaining its original emphasis on producing authoritative evaluations of school effectiveness. Chapter 8 is concerned with the developing role of school self-evaluation in the inspection process, as well as with its demonstrable importance in the effective leadership and management of schools. Chapter 9 outlines DSIB s work in partnership with other organisations and Chapter 10 recalls some examples of how school inspection activity has been reported in the media. Part Three contains a table of the overall performance over the period of the report

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15 Inspection Findings

16 Part One: Inspection Findings Chapter:

17 Trends in the performance of schools over five years

18 Overview The numbers of private schools and students in Dubai have increased over the five years. There are now thirty four more schools providing for around 107,000 more students. Compared with , there are three times the number of outstanding schools, fifty per cent more good schools and fewer unsatisfactory schools. However, analysis of findings from year to year shows that improvement has not been equal across all types of school, nor has the rate of improvement been steady from year to year. Schools that have improved the most are those offering a UK-based curriculum. The group of schools that has been slowest to improve offer the MoE curriculum. The greatest period of change was seen over the two years following the initial quality inspections. After that, improvement has slowed; the proportions of schools in the acceptable and good categories have remained broadly the same although the number of outstanding schools has continued to increase. Nevertheless, taken overall, there has been an upward trend in the quality of education provided and in students academic and personal development. Improvements in students achievements in the individual key subjects have differed. Greatest improvement has been seen in English, mathematics and science. There has also been improvement in Islamic Education, although overall attainment levels still lag behind those in the other three subjects. In Arabic, however, there has been no improvement over the last three inspection cycles and even a decline in attainment and progress in Arabic as a first language. Attainment and progress in Arabic as both a first and an additional language are at much lower levels than in the other key subjects. Students personal and social development has improved throughout the five years. It is important to note, however, that the aspects of personal and social development inspected and the inspection method have both been revised significantly since the first inspections. Improvements have been seen in the quality of teaching, learning and assessment. However, there have been significant variations in the rates and types of improvement between the age phases and between schools offering different types of curricula. Improvements have been most notable in all phases of UK-style schools. There have also been noteworthy improvements in phase 4 of schools offering MoE and Indian curricula but phases 1 and 2 of these schools have been slowest to respond. The quality of the curriculum has improved most in UK, US, IB and French schools. There has been no overall improvement of the curriculum in private MoE schools. Provision for the health and safety of students improved rapidly in the two years following the first inspections. It has remained static since then, with most schools providing a good or outstanding level of care. Similarly the quality of support got better in the same early period but then appeared to decline slightly. However, that decline coincided with a revision of this quality indicator which now places a greater emphasis on the identification of, and provision for, students with special educational needs. All aspects of leadership and management were better in the last round of inspections when compared to the first. In keeping with trends in other quality indicators, the quality of leadership, self-evaluation and improvement planning, governance and management improved until then levelled out. In contrast, partnerships with parents and the community have continued to improve year on year. Most schools now have good and better partnerships, and in a third of all schools partnerships are outstanding. 18

19 After five years of inspections, KHDA and DSIB now have a reliable and detailed view of the strengths, trends and aspects for improvement in private schools in Dubai. This information is guiding DSIB in its plans and strategies for the next five years. What has changed for the better There are now more good and outstanding schools and more students attend these schools Students attainment and progress have improved in most key subjects Students are consistently well behaved and demonstrate strong personal and social development There is good quality teaching, learning and assessment in more schools Far more schools fulfil the MOE statutory requirements There are better arrangements for the health and safety of students More schools are led well More schools have effective governance arrangements More schools have created effective partnerships with parents Where improvement has been less pronounced A persistently high proportion of schools are rated no better than acceptable overall There has been very little improvement in students attainment and progress in Arabic Students investigative skills in mathematics and science are still insufficiently developed A persistently high proportion of teaching is rated no better than of acceptable quality Weak teaching and learning is common in kindergarten classes Students have too few opportunities to use ICT to help them learn Some schools still deny their students opportunities to gain internationally recognised qualifications Provision for students with special educational needs remains weak in half the schools There are persistent weaknesses in leadership in too many schools Too many schools have weak self-evaluation and improvement planning processes International Assessments The quality of education is one of the most fundamental priorities for a country s present and future and the implementation of international assessments alongside the inspection process has been a significant development in helping Dubai evaluate the quality of schools. These assessments provide an international comparison of what Dubai can do compared with international peers. The first international assessment Dubai students participated in was TIMMS in Two years later, Dubai participated in PISA In 2011, Dubai participated in the joint cycle of TIMMS and PIRLS. This cycle allowed Dubai to benchmark achievement trends. In Chapter 1, international assessments and student attainment and progress are discussed and linked. 19

20 Overall performance Context Most private schools have been inspected five times. Indian and Pakistani curriculum schools were inspected for the first time in. The number of private schools in Dubai has grown from 109 to 143 since, a 31 per cent increase. The number of students attending private schools inspected by DSIB has almost doubled over the same period. Students in inspected private schools 177, , , , ,111 The fact that Indian and Pakistani schools were not inspected in accounts only partly for this increase: the number of students has risen in private schools offering all types of curriculum. 20

21 Numbers of students in private schools inspected in UK 69,666 (51 schools) Indian 67,579 (23 schools) US 46,790 (32 schools) MOE 16,085 (13 schools) IB 5,574 (6 schools) French 3,762 (4 schools) Others* 11,876 (14 schools) * The title Others refers to six schools which follow an Iranian curriculum, three schools following the Pakistani National Curriculum, two schools which follow a Philippine curriculum and three further schools which provide German, Russian and Japanese curricula 21

22 UK US Private-MOE IB French Other * UK US Indian Private-MOE IB French Other * UK US Indian Private-MOE IB French Other * UK US Indian Private-MOE IB French Other * UK US Indian Private-MOE IB French Other * 49 Inspected private schools over the five inspection years - by curriculum 109 private schools inspected in 131 private schools inspected in 136 private schools inspected in 139 private schools inspected in 143 private schools inspected in

23 Overall quality ratings Percentage of students 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% Students in private schools between and Fewer students attend 'acceptable' schools More students attend 'good' schools Fewer students attend 'unsatisfactory' schools More students attend 'outstanding' schools Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding Overall rating of schools Lower proportions of the student population now attend unsatisfactory and acceptable schools than in Higher proportions of students now attend good and outstanding schools. 23

24 Numbers of private schools achieving different quality ratings to Quality of Private Schools Inspected Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding Note: Indian and Pakistani schools were not inspected in Fifty-one private schools in Dubai now offer a good quality of education, compared with 34 in. The number of unsatisfactory schools has fallen from 17 in to 13 in The number of schools rated acceptable has changed very little: between 65 and 69 in each of the last four inspection cycles. Schools of all the major curriculum types are amongst this group. Nevertheless, three times as many private schools in Dubai now provide education of an outstanding quality than they did in

25 Proportions of students in private schools with different quality ratings to Students in private schools over inspection years 3% 1% 3% 9% 9% 27% 30% 35% 36% 41% 44% 47% 38% 40% 49% 56% 56% 51% 47% 45% 14% 8% 5% 6% 6% Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding The student population now attending private schools is almost twice the number it was in Almost half of the current students are receiving a good or outstanding quality of education compared with less than a third in

26 Numbers of students in private schools with different quality ratings to Numbers of students in inspected private schools 15,757 13,243 9,983 10,988 14,049 64,069 99,171 95,562 95,249 99,185 31,187 62,394 76,183 77,176 87,663 3,098 2,205 6,177 18,546 20,435 Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding Note: Indian and Pakistani schools were not inspected in The number of students attending unsatisfactory schools has fallen from 15,757 (14 per cent) in to 14,049 (6 per cent) in. The number of students attending outstanding schools has risen from 3,098 in (under 3 per cent) to 20,435 (9 per cent) in. 26

27 Changes in schools overall ratings Changes in the overall rating of schools between their first inspection and 45 Improved 18 Declined During each of the past five years, the ratings of more schools have improved than declined. However, the movement toward higher overall ratings has slowed in the past year, after increasing steadily for the first four years. Although the schools whose overall ratings have altered from one inspection round to the next have been relatively few in number, inspectors have recorded changes in the quality of different aspects of the work of many more. These changes in ratings have mostly been in an upward direction. It is also important to note that the criteria against which school provision and outcomes are judged have evolved over the five years of inspections. DSIB has increased the levels of expectation in several ways over the five years in response to inspection findings. It has consequently become, in some important respects, increasingly demanding for schools to achieve each quality rating. 27

28 The importance of leadership The significant role of effective school leadership and management is widely acknowledged in education research. The quality of leaders and leadership is critical if schools are to produce the best possible outcomes for their students. Inspection results have shown that not only do schools need skilful teachers to improve students outcomes, they also need leaders who are able to plan and use resources to assist teachers and the rest of the school in making improvements. Inspections over the five years have shown that leadership and management are important factors that affect schools overall improvement. Inspection ratings for leadership, self-evaluation and teaching are closely inter-related. The charts which follow demonstrate the impact of improved leadership on: The quality of the teaching in schools; The attainment and progress of students. Improved leadership and improved overall performance The quality of leadership is a key indicator in the inspection framework for determining the overall performance of schools. Schools that have good or outstanding leadership are likely to be rated good or outstanding overall. Chart 1, below, illustrates how improving leadership over time is matched to the improving overall performance of 45 schools since The graph indicates that it takes more than one year for the overall rating to improve in line with the grade given for leadership. This link between leadership and overall performance is also shown in Chart 2 with schools that declined in their overall performance rating since Chart 1 Percentage of 'good' and 'outstanding' ratings Leadership in schools that have improved their overall performance since their first inspection (45 schools) 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Inspection year Leadership Overall rating 28

29 Chart 2 Leadership in schools in which the overall performance has declined since their first inspection (18 schools) Percentage of 'good' and 'outstanding' ratings 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Inspection year Overall ratings Leadership In addition to leadership, the quality of teaching and its subsequent effect on students progress are other factors. Good leadership results in good teaching, which leads to good progress. Chart 3 shows how leadership, teaching and students progress have improved in parallel in the schools where leadership (QI 6.1) was rated good or outstanding in. Chart 3 Percentage of 'good' and 'outstanding' ratings 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% Teaching and students' progress in schools in which leadership is 'good' or 'outstanding' in 0% Inspection year Leadership Teaching Progress 29

30 Performance against the Quality Indicators Students attainment and progress in five key subjects Islamic Education Islamic Education is a statutory requirement for all schools in Dubai. It is one of the five key subjects inspected and reported on in private schools regardless of the curriculum offered. Inspectors evaluate Islamic Education against the curriculum standards and expectations set by the UAE MoE in the National Curriculum Document for Islamic Education (updated in 2011). Inspectors make judgements on students attainment and progress in seven main areas of the subject: Holy Qur an, Seerah, Principles of Faith, Islamic Rulings & Forms of Worship, Islamic Values, Islamic Culture & Identity, and Universal Values and Concepts from an Islamic Perspective. The curriculum depth and detail, as well as expectations for the memorisation of Holy Qur an are taken into account when making evaluations of the attainment and progress of non-arab Muslim students. Islamic Education - Attainment 100% 1% 1% 1% 1% 1% 90% 80% 70% 28% 29% 30% 31% 43% 44% 39% 40% 40% 41% 60% 50% 40% 51% 57% 30% 48% 53% 54% 20% 10% 0% 20% 12% 8% 7% 5% Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding 30

31 Islamic Education - Attainment - by curriculum 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% UK US Indian Private MOE IB French Others Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding Islamic Education - Progress 100% 1% 1% 2% 2% 1% 90% 80% 70% 60% 28% 29 30% 31% 50% 52% 47% 49% 51% 52% 50% 40% 49% 56% 30% 20% 42% 45% 44% 10% 0% 22% 13% 6% 6% 4% Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding 31

32 Islamic Education - Progress - by curriculum 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% % 20% 10% 0% UK US Indian Private MOE IB French Others Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding Students attainment and progress in Islamic Education improved in the first three years of inspections but has remained static since then. There was a remarkable decline in unsatisfactory attainment and progress in the subject during the first three years of inspections. Equally, there was a significant increase in the proportion of good attainment and progress in the same period. Approximately half the progress recorded in was judged to be good or better and this has been maintained since then. However, the proportion of good and outstanding attainment judgements has remained at around 40%. There has been almost no change in the small amount of outstanding attainment and progress. Students understanding of the direct meaning of verses of the Holy Qur an and of Hadeeth remains secure. The best progress was made in the development of students knowledge of the Prophet s Seerah and key forms of worship and Islamic rulings. This, however, has been at the expense of developing students ability to recognise and establish links between what they are learning and their everyday lives. The Holy Qur an recitation skills remain within the expected levels for the majority of students, with the pronunciation of verses being mostly clear but not necessarily following the appropriate recitation rules. Most improvement has been achieved by students in the primary phase, a trend particularly noticeable in MoE curriculum schools. Overall progress has been best in MoE schools and this has been broadly matched by attainment. However, further progress in the subject in this group of schools is hindered by the excessive focus on learning facts and recalling information, together with the insuffcient opportunities for developing high-order thinking skills. A generally positive trend is also evident among UK schools. There is far less unsatisfactory attainment 32

33 and progress than in 2008 and, in the primary phase, attainment and progress are appreciably better since the first inspection cycle. Overall, progress has been good, although attainment has yet to catch up. The proportions of good and outstanding attainment are still low in UK schools, particularly in the primary and secondary phases. In US curriculum schools, students attainment and progress have steadily improved, most noticeably in the elementary phase. However, in the middle and high school phases, there has been only a slight improvement and this remains a significant area of attention for this group of schools for both Arab and non-arab Muslim students. The proportion of unsatisfactory attainment and progress has fallen but remains too high. Overall progress in IB and French schools has been good. Attainment has not been as good and significant minority of judgements are still unsatisfactory. There has been little change in both attainment and progress in the middle and secondary phases. Improvement has been evident in the primary phase in French schools since. There was initially a remarkable improvement in attainment and progress across most phases in Indian schools although this has not been maintained in recent years. 33

34 Arabic Students attainment and progress in Arabic as a first and as an additional language have been evaluated separately since DSIB has inspected Arabic since the first cycle of inspections. For the first two years of inspections, evaluations of attainment and progress were made together for all students, Arab and non-arab students, and were reported in one category. Since then, DSIB has refined its inspection processes so that separate evaluations have been made for students studying Arabic as a first language and those studying Arabic as an additional language. Arabic as a first language All Arab students are required to study the subject as a first language. The purpose is to give sufficient focus to the study of Arabic as a main element of Emirati and Arab culture and identity. Evaluations in this subject have been made against the age-related curriculum standards and expectations set by the UAE MoE which are published in the National Curriculum Document for Arabic Language. Inspectors also take account of international standards and expectations for other first language learners in similar age groups. Inspectors examine and evaluate students attainment and progress in the four key aspects of the language: listening, speaking, reading and writing. 100% Arabic as a first language - Attainment 2% 1% 2% 2% 2% 90% 80% 27% 29% 27% 28% 36% 38% 33% 35% 31% 33% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 54% 54% 56% 60% 62% 20% 10% 0% 17% 18% 6% 5% 5% Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding Note: In and Arabic as a First Language and Arabic as an Additional Language were inspected together as one subjec. 34

35 Arabic as a first language - Attainment - by curriculum 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% % 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% UK US Private MOE IB French Others Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding Notes: - In and Arabic as a First Language and Arabic as an Additional Language were inspected together as one subjec. - Only one school in Others [The German International School] offers Arabic as a First Language. 100% Arabic as a first language - Progress 2% 1% 2% 2% 1% 90% 80% 70% 26% 28% 30% 31% 44% 46% 43% 45% 38% 39% 60% 50% 40% 30% 54% 50% 48% 52% 56% 20% 10% 0% 18% 19% 6% 3% 5% Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding Note: In and Arabic as a First Language and Arabic as an Additional Language were inspected together as one subjec. 35

36 Arabic as a first language - Progress - by curriculum 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% % 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% UK US Private MOE IB French Others Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding Notes: -In and Arabic as a First Language and Arabic as an Additional Language were inspected together as one subjec. -Only one school in Others [The German International School] offers Arabic as a First Language. There has been very little overall change in students attainment and progress in Arabic as a first language. The proportions of outstanding and unsatisfactory attainment have remained almost unchanged since and the overall proportion of good attainment has declined. There has been some improvement in the primary phases, where unsatisfactory attainment and progress have decreased since 2010 and around half the progress is now good or better. Improvements in this phase have been strongest in UK curriculum schools, where unsatisfactory attainment has almost been eliminated and almost all students now reach acceptable or better levels. However, in spite of this improvement, the proportion of good and outstanding attainment in the UK curriculum schools remains around at about 20 per cent only. There are more notable improvements in schools that offer the French curriculum or the German curriculum where attainment and progress in the primary phase are now all at a good level. Apart from in the primary phase, there has been no improvement overall and even some decline in attainment and progress in some types of school. There has been hardly any improvement in the US, private MoE or French schools in the middle phases in this subject and slight declines have been noted in UK and IB curriculum schools in the same phase. The trend is mostly negative in the secondary phase, with US and French schools showing no or limited improvements, while MoE, UK and IB schools saw slight declines. In private MoE schools nearly half the attainment ratings are currently unsatisfactory in kindergarten compared to around a quarter in With the exception of the primary phase, where key language skills are steadily improving, students skills in reading and writing remain significant areas for improvement. While basic reading skills, 36

37 for example to find specific information, are secure, deeper levels of reading are not sufficiently developed. Writing skills remain the weakest of the four key skills in the language across all school categories. Younger students skills in letter and word formation in the primary phase are developing well. Their skills in writing simple, short texts to convey basic information and to summarize or retell a familiar short story are within the range of expected levels. However, middle and secondary phase students are not developing their creative writing skills to a sufficient level in a significant proportion of schools. Insufficient attention is often given to helping students understand the process of writing, and limited feedback from teachers and poor guidance restrict students abilities to improve the quality of their writing. The Progress in International Reading and Literacy Study (PIRLS) tests the reading skills of Grade 4 students. When Dubai participated in PIRLS 2011, students in only nine schools were tested in Arabic. All of these schools were private MoE schools where Arabic is the language of instruction. The average score of students from only one of these nine schools was above the international scale average (500). The average of both female and male students in this school was above Dubai s PIRLS average. Arabic as an additional language Students attainment and progress in Arabic as an additional language were evaluated as part of the collective evaluation for all students in the first two cycles of inspection. They have been evaluated separately since then. Evaluations in this subject, across all curricula, are made against international standards and expectations for Modern Foreign Languages and are related to the number of years of study for the different groups of students. Inspectors expect schools to use the MoE resources for Arabic as an Additional Language, although DSIB encourages schools to enrich the curriculum with a wider range of resources to enable students to meet international expectations. Inspectors examine and evaluate students attainment and progress in the four key aspects of the language: listening, speaking, reading and writing. 37

38 Arabic as an additional language - Attainment 100% 90% 80% 2% 11% 1% 16% 16% 20% 20% 16% 17% 27% 29% 27% 28% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 54% 54% 66% 61% 70% 10% 0% 17% 18% 18% 19% 13% Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding Note: In and Arabic as a First Language and Arabic as an Additional Language were inspected together as one subjec. Arabic as an additional language - Attainment - by curriculum 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% UK US Indian IB French Others Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding Note: In and Arabic as a First Language and Arabic as an Additional Language were inspected together as one subjec. 38

39 Arabic as an additional language - Progress 100% 2% 1% 1% 1% 90% 80% 26% 28% 30% 31% 26% 26% 32% 33% 26% 27% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 54% 50% 61% 52% 62% 10% 0% 18% 19% 13% 15% 11% Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding Note: In and Arabic as a First Language and Arabic as an Additional Language were inspected together as one subjec. Arabic as an additional language - Progress - by curriculum 100% 90% 80% % 60% % % 30% % 10% 0% UK US Indian IB French Others Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding Note: In and Arabic as a First Language and Arabic as an Additional Language were inspected together as one subjec. 39

40 There have been slight improvements in attainment and progress in Arabic as an additional language. While there has been no significant change in the proportion of good or better attainment in this subject overall, unsatisfactory attainment has reduced since 2010, although by no more than five percentage points. A positive trend has been noted in the primary phases of UK and US curriculum schools. In addition to a reducing proportion of unsatisfactory attainment, there has been a slight improvement in the proportion of good attainment in the US curriculum schools over the last three years. Improvements were noted in students skills in letter and word script shaping, and in decoding and pronouncing Arabic script. Some progress in the recognition of a limited range of spoken familiar phrases was evident. Improvements in students abilities to use the language to communicate simple information in writing have been modest. Attainment in the middle and secondary phases has remained mostly static, and in the Indian schools the proportion of unsatisfactory attainment has increased. In the middle phase, there has been little improvement in the progress of the majority of students who have been studying the subject for many years. They still struggle to communicate in Arabic at a basic level. Schools that were rated outstanding overall showed very different rates of progress made by first and additional Arabic language learners. These schools have made genuine efforts in recent years to improve their provision for additional language learners, which has resulted in better progress. Nevertheless, progress among first language learners in these schools remains at a far lower level. Students' progress in Arabic in schools rated good in Percentage of 'good' and 'outstanding' ratings 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Progress in Arabic as a first language Inspection year Progress in Arabic as an additional language Note: In and Arabic as a First Language and Arabic as an Additional Language were inspected together as one subject. 40

41 Students' progress in Arabic in schools rated 'outstanding' in Percentage of 'good' and 'outstanding' ratings 100% 80% 60% 40% 20% 0% Progress in Arabic as an additional language Inspection year Progress in Arabic as a first language Note: In and Arabic as a First Language and Arabic as an Additional Language were inspected together as one subjec. 41

42 English English is the medium of communication in most private schools. When making judgements about students attainment and progress, inspectors make evaluations about speaking, listening, reading and writing. In some schools, where English is not the first language of many of the students, inspectors take into account expectations for those learning English as an additional language. Both attainment and progress in English improved in the two years following the first inspections. Since then, the pace of improvement has slowed. Nevertheless, despite the combined good and outstanding ratings appearing to dip slightly in the last two rounds of inspections, the proportions of outstanding attainment and progress have continued to improve and the percentage of unsatisfactory ratings has declined. English - Attainment 100% 90% 9% 8% 10% 15% 16% 80% 70% 60% 50% 44% 47% 35% 39% 60% 56% 57 50% 41% 41% 40% 30% 20% 38% 46% 38% 39% 41% 10% 0% 18% 7% 2% 5% 2% Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding 42

43 English - Attainment - by curriculum 100% 90% 80% % 60% % 40% 30% % 10% 0% UK US Indian Private MOE IB French Others Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding English -Progress 100% 90% 12% 8% 11% 15% 19% 80% 70% 60% 32% 44% 48% 56% 68% 57% 46% 61% 64% 45% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% 42% 37% 30% 35% 34% 14% 7% 2% 4% 2% Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding 43

44 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% English - Progress - by curriculum UK US Indian Private MOE IB French Others Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding Students attainment and progress in English improved in the first three rounds of inspection. Improvement has been slower since then, although the proportions of outstanding attainment and progress have increased. The proportion of outstanding attainment has almost doubled since There has also been a significant decrease in the proportion of unsatisfactory attainment, and these judgements in were at minimal levels. Progress is now good or better in the majority of schools and has developed at a slightly faster pace than attainment. However, attainment has tended to follow the improvements in progress year on year. Attainment and progress in English have improved spectacularly in French schools. Students are articulate and expressive, using a wide range of vocabulary and, by the Secondaire phase, most are skilled bilingual or trilingual learners. English is generally a strong subject in the UK curriculum schools, particularly at the secondary phase. Students in UK and US schools have improved their capacities to write well because they are now better at individual expression, breadth of vocabulary, creating imaginative storylines. Performance in English tends to be weaker in the US schools, particularly in the elementary phase. In half of the US schools, the curriculum has not been sufficiently modified to meet the needs of the significant number of students who are learning English as an additional language. Students attainment and progress in English in Indian schools improved radically in the early part of the inspection period but performance has levelled off in the last two years. In IB schools, attainment in English has improved markedly over the last three years, mainly in the Middle Years Programme. Students performance in English is weakest in MoE schools. The proportion of unsatisfactory attainment and progress has reduced only slightly since and there is too little that are good or outstanding. 44

45 Over five inspection cycles there have been improvements in students attainment and progress in the four skills of listening, speaking, reading and writing. However, development in these skills has varied widely over time among the different kinds of schools. Most development has been in listening and speaking and less in reading, with slowest development in writing skills. Students make rapid progress in schools where there is a strong understanding of language development in all phases, and of the difference between first language acquisition and additional language acquisition. Over time, students have shown improving capacity to listen actively and show understanding of what they have heard. Their listening has been developed because sufficient time is allowed to consider and respond rather than only repeat what is heard. Listening has not been well developed when teachers talk for too long and move quickly to the next idea with few opportunities for students to explain by themselves or in groups, what they have heard. This is less common among older students. Most development of speaking skills has been when students have had ample opportunity to practise speaking for themselves, through dialogue, oral presentations, self-correction and correcting each other. Students showing least progress are expected to answer in only one or a few words, often only to the teacher,and have few opportunities to talk spontaneously participate with their peers. Teachers dominate the talk and on occasion finish sentences for the student. This approach in Kindergarten and primary has slowed development considerably. Most progress in reading has been when it is encouraged from the first year of school, and there is a wide choice of what to read and many opportunities to do so. Where attainment and progress are good or better, access to reading material is an integral part of learning and is featured across all subjects in the school. Students read for pleasure both in class and at home. Reading development has been slowest where textbooks are the only reading available and little additional reading material is provided. Often, older students read more widely but have not consistently developed the habit of reading beyond the curriculum. The skill of writing has shown least development during the five years of inspections in the majority of schools and across all phases. In a minority of schools, writing is valued as an extremely important element of language development. Writing is seen as an integral part of a child s academic, social and emotional development. Students are given opportunities to write independently and broadly across all areas of the curriculum. However, many schools continue to provide few opportunities for student-initiated writing. Writing is often seen as an opportunity for students to demonstrate grammar skills and little else. There are few opportunities for students to write extended pieces of text, for different purposes and different readers. More than 60 per cent of Dubai s students were tested in English in PIRLS Those in over half of Dubai s sampled schools achieved above the international average of PIRLS (500) and students from 29 schools achieved at the high international benchmark or above. These students were competent in making inferences to explain relationships between intentions, actions, events, and feelings. A further six per cent of students could distinguish and interpret complex information and give text-based support to their arguments. 45

46 Mathematics International curricula in mathematics include problem solving and analytical thinking as well as competence in data handling, calculation, understanding of number, and shape and space. Students are expected to be able to use mathematics in everyday life. Inspectors make judgements on students attainment and progress and check whether or not the curriculum expectations match international standards. Mathematics - Attainment 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 9% 7% 44% 43% 35% 36% 13% 13% 13% 53% 54% 56% 40% 41% 43% 40% 30% 20% 45% 51% 46% 42% 42% 10% 0% 11% 6% 1% 4% 2% Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding A largely positive overall trend in students attainment and progress in mathematics is evident across private schools in Dubai. In the first year of inspections, less than half the attainment ratings were good or better and about a tenth were unsatisfactory. This year, a clear majority of judgements was good or better and very few judgements were unsatisfactory. This represents an average increase of three percentage points year on year. The proportion of outstanding attainment has also increased over the five years of inspection. Nevertheless, this strong overall picture masks considerable variation between schools. 46

47 Mathematics - Attainment - by curriculum 100% 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 40% 30% 20% 10% 0% UK US Indian Private MOE IB French Others Unsatisfactory Acceptable Good Outstanding In the French schools all inspection ratings for mathematics have been good or better for the last three years. In UK and IB curriculum schools a solid majority of students attainment is now good or better and there is little unsatisfactory attainment. More than half the ratings for mathematics are now good or better in Indian schools, but this represents an appreciable decline from the previous year and has halted the upward trend. Improvement has been minimal in schools offering a US curriculum and performance in mathematics has shown a slight decline in MoE schools, where 10 per centof ratings are unsatisfactory and most remain no better than acceptable. Trends in progress in mathematics are broadly similar to those seen in attainment. The most marked improvements were seen in UK, IB and French curriculum schools. 47