International School Effectively Implements MAP Growth and Maximises Student Growth
Sulaiman Akbar School Principal, Bright Learners Private School, Dubai, “It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. When our Emirati student council president spoke, the other children got so excited, and they all promised to do their best and reach their MAP goals.”
Bright Learners Private School opened in 2020, during the global pandemic. Although the school’s doors were technically open, most of its first year was conducted online with very low enrolment due to the pandemic. The Bright Learners’ Board of Directors recruited Principal Sulaiman Akbar in the spring of 2021. He started with mostly a new teaching staff, many of whom were new to the UAE, unfamiliar with NWEA MAP assessments and KHDA expectations.
Together, the Bright Learners community co-created a new mission and vision for the school and began making significant changes to improve school performance. The principal recruited a strong leadership team and highly qualified teachers who were tasked with developing a viable curriculum and using data-driven instruction to improve student outcomes.
Ligia Hernandez – Pre-K Teacher A
“We have a strong commitment to our school’s guiding statements, the UAE National Agenda, and DSIB expectations. With quality teaching and learning as a priority, and a focus on student outcomes, attainment, and progress, we have seen significant improvement at an accelerated rate,” explains Principal Sulaiman.
The principal and leadership team, experienced with NWEA MAP, knew the assessment was critical for identifying students’ present levels of performance and their individual learning needs to exceed growth expectations. The leadership team understood that the key to success would require a mindset shift of the entire learning community. This shift would be crucial to ensure that students, families, and staff shared a common understanding of the school’s mission and vision, enabling learners to reach their maximum potential and achieve optimum success. The school provided professional development for teachers and parents to ensure the entire community understood the collective goal and the importance of the MAP assessment.
Charnese Green, English Lead, Bright Learners Private School, “Our curriculum has been redesigned to be more integrated and offer greater depth, ensuring that all standards are comprehensively covered and that students receive a well-rounded education responsive to their individual needs.”
MAP Growth scores were used as a baseline assessment and starting point for measuring student growth. The school leadership ensured that teachers created learning portfolios for every child and scheduled conferences with students to share their RIT scores, review projected growth, and set individual goals. Additionally, conferences were arranged with parents to ensure they understood their child’s present level of performance, projected growth over time, and the goals set for their child.
The leadership team also used MAP growth data to inform their self-evaluation and school improvement plan.
Bright Learners Private School established weekly Professional Learning Community (PLC) meetings where teaching staff could share best practices, envision new strategies, and develop data-driven action plans for each learner. School leaders emphasised the importance of collaboration among teaching staff and focusing on the learning needs of each child.
The leadership team developed several interventions to support learners according to their individual needs. Firstly, they developed an RTI (Response to Intervention) programme to support learners before school and during the instructional day. Students were assigned morning sessions in Reading and Maths from 7:30 AM to 8:00 AM twice a week. During the instructional day, students in the RTI programme received additional small group support and personalised assistance from the IXL programme, an artificial intelligence learning support tool. Recognising that language comprehension was a major barrier for their learners, considering almost all students were EAL (English as an Additional Language) learners, they developed an EAL programme using WIDA standards and SIOP strategies to support identified EAL learners. EAL learners also received push-in and pull-out support from a qualified EAL teacher.
Testing Preparation
The approach to testing was paramount to their success. In previous years, the school had rushed through assessments, resulting in students not taking testing seriously. This time was different. Bright Learners held a school-wide assembly, where the student council president and cabinet members presented to all students. The student council representatives empowered and encouraged their peers, rallying everyone. The school’s Multi-Purpose Hall was overflowing with confidence and determination.
“It was like nothing I’ve ever seen before. When our Emirati student council president spoke, the other children got so excited, and they all promised to do their best and reach their MAP goals. Every child knew their RIT scores and what they had to achieve. There is no better motivation for children than when it is done through peers,” explained Principal Sulaiman.
The testing schedule was carefully planned with manageable expectations for students. Instead of cramming all assessments together, tests were split into sessions, and on testing days, students received short breaks and various accommodations provided by the NWEA platform. Students were given brain breaks and participated in movement activities between tests.
After the spring window of MAP, Bright Learners Private School exceeded their expectations for student growth.
Bright Results
MAP Window 3 Results (Fall to Spring data measured as per KHDA criteria).
- In Reading, 87% of students across grades met or exceeded their projected growth; 76% exceeded their projected growth.
- In Maths, 94% of students across grades met or exceeded their projected growth; 85% exceeded their projected growth.
- In Science, 90% of students across grades met or exceeded their projected growth; 75% exceeded their projected growth. What’s Next for Bright Learners
During the KHDA inspection for AY 2023-24, Bright Learners Private School successfully improved 19 judgements to “GOOD” ratings, while several others were rated as “VERY GOOD.” This past inspection was a milestone for a newly formed leadership team and rapidly growing learning community. “We had an extremely successful year, and I understand it takes time for new schools to secure a ‘GOOD’ rating, but I always challenge my team to get better every day. We’ve already met and exceeded most of our goals in our School Improvement Plan, and I recognise that our leadership team is strong. It is only a matter of time before we move to ‘GOOD,’ ‘VERY GOOD,’ and eventually ‘OUTSTANDING,’ as we focus on taking one step at a time,” explains Principal Sulaiman.
Now, the school is focused on developing reading literacy as a cross-curricular theme in all subjects. They developed cross-curricular units in all subjects focusing on common core priority standards. “Our curriculum has been redesigned to be more integrated and offer greater depth, ensuring that all standards are comprehensively covered and that students receive a well-rounded education responsive to their individual needs,” says the school’s English Lead.
Bright Learners applied for an inspection in MAY 2024-25 despite the new change from KHDA permitting inspection to be optional this year. Bright Learners is courageous and confident, knowing how hard their learning community worked to achieve such success. They are determined to move the school rating to “GOOD” and beyond.
Sulaiman Akbar School Principal, Bright Learners Private School, Dubai, “We have a strong commitment to our school’s guiding statements, the UAE National Agenda, and DSIB expectations. With quality teaching and learning as a priority, and a focus on student outcomes, attainment, and progress, we have seen significant improvement at an accelerated rate.”