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National assessment reports on health of UAE school system Results from the 2010 United Arab Emirate National Assessment Program (UAENAP) show that, on average, UAE students are performing well in the areas of Reading, Mathematics and Science but need to do better in Writing and Spelling. More than 40 000 students from 285 schools participated in the November 2010 assessment, which assessed all students in Grades 3, 5, 7 and 9 in the Emirates of Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al Khaimeh, Sharjah, and Umm Al Quwain. The results indicate that on average students in Grades 3, 5, 7 and 9 are performing well relative to the expected curriculum outcomes in Arabic and English Reading, Mathematics and Science. There is considerable variation in the results with some students performing exceptionally well. On average the mean performance of girls is better than the mean performance of boys, but boys are well represented in the top performing students. The study shows that there is room for improvement in the areas of Writing and Spelling, both in Arabic and English and especially for boys. Alan Egbert, Manager of ACER’s Dubai office, said that these findings are a cause of concern and need to be addressed. “These results highlight some long-term and short-term recommendations that need to be implemented, including modifying the curriculum and focusing more on writing activities in schools,” said Egbert. UAENAP aims to investigate the progress of students against the standards defined national curriculum and to gather data to inform decisions about the allocation of resources, curriculum development and teacher development to improve the learning outcomes of UAE students. The study is conducted by the UAE Ministry of Education with assistance from ACER. Minister for Education, Humaid Mohammad Obaid Al Qutami, first commissioned the study in order to monitor the current health of the UAE education system and provide evidence about how the system is performing in meeting the goals of the ‘Education 2020’ policy introduced in 2007. Under UAENAP, a range of reports are provided to all levels of the educational community. At the highest level, the Minister and the ministry receive an overview of the performance of students across all the participating Emirates and information about the strengths and weaknesses in their current learning. This information can be used to inform policy and curriculum development for the nation. At each level of the education system there are reports to assist educators in improving student learning, with reports to Zone Directors, the principal of every school and each classroom teacher about the performance of students in their care. Parents also receive a report that shows their child’s results in each subject, both in terms of their success in individual skills and overall as an indication of their standard in the subject. The standards statements also indicate to parents the types of skills that students need to acquire in order to improve their learning outcomes. "The tests not only show the children how they have fared but also provide the actual expectations,” said Egbert. “This will help tremendously in their personal goal setting for improvement.” Following this successful first implementation of UAENAP, the survey will next be conducted in January 2012 and will continue annually. Further information on ACER's International Development work is available from http://www.acer.edu.au/international/ « Back to eNews
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Results from the 2010 United Arab Emirate National Assessment Program (UAENAP) show that, on average, UAE students are performing well in the areas of Reading, Mathematics and Science but need to do better in Writing and Spelling.

More than 40 000 students from 285 schools participated in the November 2010 assessment, which assessed all students in Grades 3, 5, 7 and 9 in the Emirates of Ajman, Dubai, Fujairah, Ras al Khaimeh, Sharjah, and Umm Al Quwain.

The results indicate that on average students in Grades 3, 5, 7 and 9 are performing well relative to the expected curriculum outcomes in Arabic and English Reading, Mathematics and Science. There is considerable variation in the results with some students performing exceptionally well. On average the mean performance of girls is better than the mean performance of boys, but boys are well represented in the top performing students.

The study shows that there is room for improvement in the areas of Writing and Spelling, both in Arabic and English and especially for boys. Alan Egbert, Manager of ACER’s Dubai office, said that these findings are a cause of concern and need to be addressed.

“These results highlight some long-term and short-term recommendations that need to be implemented, including modifying the curriculum and focusing more on writing activities in schools,” said Egbert.

UAENAP aims to investigate the progress of students against the standards defined national curriculum and to gather data to inform decisions about the allocation of resources, curriculum development and teacher development to improve the learning outcomes of UAE students.

The study is conducted by the UAE Ministry of Education with assistance from ACER. Minister for Education, Humaid Mohammad Obaid Al Qutami, first commissioned the study in order to monitor the current health of the UAE education system and provide evidence about how the system is performing in meeting the goals of the ‘Education 2020’ policy introduced in 2007.

Under UAENAP, a range of reports are provided to all levels of the educational community. At the highest level, the Minister and the ministry receive an overview of the performance of students across all the participating Emirates and information about the strengths and weaknesses in their current learning. This information can be used to inform policy and curriculum development for the nation. At each level of the education system there are reports to assist educators in improving student learning, with reports to Zone Directors, the principal of every school and each classroom teacher about the performance of students in their care.

Parents also receive a report that shows their child’s results in each subject, both in terms of their success in individual skills and overall as an indication of their standard in the subject. The standards statements also indicate to parents the types of skills that students need to acquire in order to improve their learning outcomes.

"The tests not only show the children how they have fared but also provide the actual expectations,” said Egbert. “This will help tremendously in their personal goal setting for improvement.”

Following this successful first implementation of UAENAP, the survey will next be conducted in January 2012 and will continue annually.

Further information on ACER's International Development work is available from http://www.acer.edu.au/international/

National assessment reports on health of UAE school system