Al Maaref American SchoolKHDA Inspection Report & RatingsLast Updated: April 7, 2026
Executive Summary
Al Maaref American School provides an Acceptable quality of education, maintaining this rating for the 2023-2024 academic year. The school follows the American curriculum, with notable strengths in students' personal and social development, and their understanding of Islamic values and Emirati culture.
Students' achievement is consistently Acceptable across all core subjects and phases, though learning skills show some variation. The curriculum meets statutory requirements and offers Advanced Placement courses in High School, but its focus is more on knowledge acquisition than skill development, and adaptations do not always cater to higher and lower attainers.
The school demonstrates comprehensive safeguarding and child protection, along with effective promotion of healthy lifestyles and positive relationships. However, leadership roles lack clarity, and self-evaluation is overly optimistic, impacting improvement planning. Support for students of determination is improving, with inclusive admission procedures.
Overall School Performance
Outstanding
Very Good
Good
Acceptable
Weak
Very Weak
Al Maaref American School Overall Rating
Acceptable for 5+ consecutive years
Dubai Focus Areas
These three pillars represent the Dubai education authority's priorities: ensuring inclusive practices, prioritizing student wellbeing, and meeting UAE National Agenda targets.
The provision and outcomes for students of determination are acceptable, led by a well-qualified leader promoting an appropriate inclusion policy. However, new identification procedures are not fully in place, and planned interventions are inconsistently delivered with variable impact. While most students of determination make expected progress, assessment procedures need to be more rigorous to inform planning and provision effectively. students of determinationidentification proceduresindividual education plans
The overall quality of wellbeing provision and outcomes is acceptable, with leaders demonstrating commitment through school values and policies. Stakeholders, including students and parents, influence its effective promotion, and school counsellors provide support. However, a mental health policy is inconsistently applied, and improvement plans lack focus due to limited and unanalyzed wellbeing data. wellbeing visionmental health policyschool counsellors
Overall school standards in the National Agenda Parameter are acceptable, despite weak international and benchmark achievement for both the whole school and Emirati cohort. The school missed its PIRLS target, and benchmark assessment results show weak progression. While leaders are aware of gaps and have implemented initiatives, these efforts have not significantly impacted students' progress, and action plans are overly general. National Agenda ParameterPIRLSEmirati cohortreading literacy
Key Highlights
Standout achievements identified by the inspection team that distinguish this school.
Personal & Social Development
Students demonstrate very positive and responsible attitudes, fostering respectful relationships and understanding Islamic values and Emirati culture.
Protection & Care
Comprehensive safeguarding, child protection policies, and health and safety arrangements ensure students feel very safe and supported.
Parental Support
Parents are highly supportive, and communication between home and school is effective, contributing to a positive school environment.
Curriculum Offerings
An appropriate range of core and elective courses, including Advanced Placement, are offered in High School to support student interests.
Inclusive Admissions
The school has inclusive admission procedures and is improving support for students of determination.
Academic Performance Breakdown
Students' achievement is acceptable across all core subjects and phases. Learning skills are also acceptable, though there is some variation between phases, with KG children occasionally demonstrating independent learning capacity. Many students in upper phases do not take enough responsibility for their own learning.
Leadership & Management
Effectiveness of school governance, strategic planning, and leadership capacity to drive continuous improvement.
Leadership Approach
School leaders are committed to national priorities, with an emphasis on enhanced literacy and lifelong learning. However, the roles and responsibilities of staff with leadership functions, especially those of the CEO and new principal, lack clarity. The leadership's self-evaluation is overly optimistic, and governors do not sufficiently hold them accountable, impacting the effectiveness of improvement planning.
Inspection Findings
Students' Outcomes
Students' achievement is acceptable across all core subjects and phases, with learning skills also rated acceptable, though with some variation. While most students are self-disciplined and foster respectful relationships, many in upper phases do not take enough responsibility for their own learning. Progress in Arabic speaking skills is less developed, and English achievement is not strong in any phase.
Personal Development
Students demonstrate very positive and responsible attitudes, with a strong understanding of Islamic values and Emirati culture, particularly in Middle and High phases. They are self-disciplined, foster respectful relationships, and understand healthy lifestyles. Students are engaged in community activities and show initiative in addressing local and global issues, including environmental concerns.
Teaching Quality
Teachers possess secure subject knowledge, but their understanding of effective learning promotion and the American curriculum is limited. Teaching strategies are often narrow, with excessive teacher talk, leading to inconsistent development of critical thinking and independent learning. Assessment processes are consistent but not always accurate, and data is not consistently used to plan activities matched to students' needs.
Protection & Care
Comprehensive safeguarding and child protection policies, supported by regular staff training, ensure students feel very safe. Health and safety are prioritized, with regular evacuation drills and well-organized transport. Positive relationships and clear behavioral expectations contribute to a strong ethos of wellbeing. Support for students of determination is improving, with inclusive admission procedures and effective guidance for future careers.
Areas for Development
- •Improve the quality and consistency of teaching to raise the achievement of students in all subjects, across all phases.
- •Ensure that school self-evaluation is based on accurate information and provides a valid and secure platform for improvement planning.
- •Make more effective use of reliable assessment information to guide curriculum modifications in order to meet the needs of all students, particularly those of higher and lower ability.
- •clarify the roles of all staff with leadership functions and ensure that they have the capacity to bring about improvement in their areas of responsibility.
- •Ensure that governors fulfil their responsibilities for holding school leaders to account for the school’s performance.
- •Ensure that full use is made of the information contained in the external benchmark assessment reports and the outcomes of reading tests.
- •Devise a cross-curricular plan for improving students’ reading literacy and ensure that it is implemented consistently in all subjects and phases.
- •Ensure greater consistency in the nurturing of highly supportive classroom climates.
- •Increase the scope and quality of wellbeing data to guide improvement planning.
- •Develop students’ ability to refer to the Holy Qur’an, Hadith and Seerah in discussion.
- •Improve students’ Holy Qur’an memorization and recitation skills.
- •Improve students’ progress and raise attainment in all phases in Arabic as a First Language.
- •Raise teachers’ expectations of what students can achieve and provide more opportunities for independent learning in Arabic as a First Language.
- •Provide more opportunities for students to practice and develop their speaking skills in everyday contexts in Arabic as an Additional Language.
- •Improve students’ Arabic reading literacy skills.
- •Extend the reading literacy program to all phases and ensure that it is implemented consistently with its impact carefully monitored in English.
- •Provide sufficient time in lessons for sustained independent writing in English.
- •Ensure that internal and external assessments are more closely aligned in English.
- •Develop students’ mental mathematical skills to help to improve their problem-solving and reasoning skills.
- •Improve students’ ability to apply their learning to everyday contexts in Mathematics.
- •Improve student’s understanding and use of scientific vocabulary.
- •Provide more opportunities for students to engage in scientific experiments and investigations across all phases.
- •Provide more opportunities for students to develop and apply their independent learning skills.
- •Ensure that all students are provided with opportunities for enterprise, enquiry, research and critical thinking.
- •Improve students’ punctuality at the start of lessons.
- •Strengthen students’ sense of personal responsibility in Elementary.
- •Provide more opportunities for all students to initiate and implement their ideas.
- •Ensure that assessment information is accurate and used effectively to match work in lessons to students’ needs and abilities.
- •Ensure consistency in teachers’ marking of students’ work, clear guidance on the standard of the work and advice on how it can be improved.
- •Extend the range of teaching strategies and provide more opportunities for students to learn independently.
- •Ensure that the taught curriculum provides an appropriate balance between the transmission of knowledge and the development of skills.
- •Provide more opportunities for students to develop creative, enterprising and innovative skills.
- •Ensure that curriculum adaptations successfully meet the needs of higher and lower achieving students, and students of determination.
- •Ensure that systems for identifying students of determination and those who are gifted and talented are rigorous and fully implemented.
- •Ensure that assessment procedures identify barriers to learning and lead to informed adjustments to planning and provision.
- •Ensure that the school inclusion policy is fully implemented.
- •Ensure that students of determination are provided with individual education plans that identify clear and measurable learning goals and that the plans are developed in consultation with parents.