International Academic School
Executive Summary
The International Academic School, an American curriculum school in Shakhbout City, Abu Dhabi, has maintained an Acceptable overall rating in its latest ADEK Irtiqa inspection for the 2023-2024 academic year. The school demonstrates a commitment to providing a broad-based education, with notable strengths in student personal development, health and safety, and effective care and support across all phases.
Academically, the school has shown improvement in students' progress in English across the elementary and middle phases, now rated Good. Teaching in KG is also effective, meeting most children's needs, and the school actively engages in international assessments like TIMSS and PISA to benchmark student attainment. Parental partnership is highly valued, and the school's governance, led by the Managing Director, is effective in challenging leadership and ensuring accountability.
However, the inspection identified areas for development, particularly in raising student achievement to at least good levels in all key subjects, strengthening teaching and assessment processes, and improving leadership capabilities at all levels. These recommendations aim to enhance students' conceptual understanding, critical thinking, and independent inquiry skills.
Overall School Performance
Outstanding
Very Good
Good
Acceptable
Weak
Very Weak
International Academic School Overall Rating
Acceptable
ADEK Performance Standards
The six Irtiqa inspection standards used by ADEK to evaluate school performance across Abu Dhabi.
Students' attainment and progress are generally acceptable across most subjects and phases, with some areas of good progress, particularly in English in KG, elementary, and middle phases. However, attainment in international assessments like TIMSS and PISA remains below international standards, and the application of scientific methods and conceptual understanding in mathematics needs improvement. EnglishTIMSSPISA
Students demonstrate good personal development, including positive and responsible attitudes towards learning, high attendance, and consistently positive behavior. They show a clear understanding and appreciation for Islamic values and Emirati culture. Social responsibility and innovation skills are acceptable, with emerging critical thinking and problem-solving abilities. Islamic valuesEmirati cultureAttendance
Teaching and assessment are acceptable overall, with good practices observed in KG where teachers effectively support children's learning. However, across other phases, there is a need to strengthen differentiation, set higher challenge levels, and improve the accuracy of assessment procedures and data analysis to reliably measure attainment and progress. KGDifferentiationAssessment data
Curriculum design and implementation are good in KG but acceptable in other cycles, aligning with American Virginia state and MoE standards. Curriculum adaptation is acceptable, with opportunities for students to connect learning to real-life experiences and make cross-curricular links. The school promotes reading across subjects and provides a well-resourced library. American curriculumReading programs
The school provides good protection, care, guidance, and support for students across all phases. Health and safety arrangements are effective, with rigorous safeguarding procedures. Students receive personalized academic and career guidance, particularly in high school, contributing to their well-being and future planning. SafeguardingHealth and safetyCareer guidance
Leadership and management are acceptable overall, though governance has improved to good, providing strong support and accountability. There is a need to improve the accuracy of self-evaluation, empower subject leaders with dedicated time, and establish a system of accountability across all leadership levels to drive change effectively. GovernanceSelf-evaluationAccountability
Key Highlights
Standout achievements identified by the inspection team that distinguish this school.
Improved English Progress
Students in KG, elementary, and middle phases show good progress in English, a notable improvement since the last inspection.
Strong Personal Development
Students exhibit well-developed personal attributes, a strong understanding of Islamic and Emirati cultures, and high attendance rates.
Effective KG Teaching
Teaching in the Kindergarten phase is effective in meeting the diverse learning needs of most children across subjects.
Robust Safeguarding & Care
The school maintains effective health and safety arrangements, including rigorous child protection procedures, and provides strong care and support for all students.
Effective Governance
The school's governance, led by the Managing Director, is effective, providing strong support and ensuring accountability for school improvement.
Valued Parental Partnership
The school fosters a strong partnership with parents, recognizing them as valuable contributors to their children's education.
Academic Performance Breakdown
While internal assessments often suggest attainment above curriculum standards, this does not consistently align with external assessments or observed classroom performance. Progress in English has improved in elementary and middle phases, but science progress for older students has regressed. There is a general need to improve the application of scientific methods, conceptual understanding in mathematics, and higher-order thinking skills across subjects.
Leadership & Management
Effectiveness of school governance, strategic planning, and leadership capacity to drive continuous improvement.
Leadership Approach
The leadership and management are acceptable overall, with a notable improvement in governance. The governing board provides significant support to the leadership team, with the managing director effectively challenging them to ensure accountability for school improvement. Leaders are aware of international assessment targets but need to develop more explicit action plans and improve the accuracy of self-evaluation.
Inspection Findings
Students' Achievement
Students' attainment and progress are generally acceptable across most subjects and phases, with good progress in English in KG, elementary, and middle. However, internal assessment data often overestimates attainment compared to observed skills and external assessments. There is a need to improve language skills in Arabic and English, application of scientific methods, and conceptual understanding in mathematics.
Personal & Social Development
Students demonstrate good personal development, including positive attitudes, high attendance (97%), and consistently respectful behavior. They show a clear understanding of Islamic values and Emirati culture. While social responsibility and innovation skills are acceptable, there's a need to promote greater self-efficacy and improve punctuality.
Teaching & Assessment
Teaching and assessment are acceptable overall, with good practices in KG where teachers effectively engage children. However, across other phases, there is a need for better differentiation, higher challenge in tasks, accurate tracking of KG progress, and reliable analysis of assessment data to inform teaching and measure attainment and progress accurately.
Curriculum Design & Adaptation
Curriculum design and implementation are good in KG and acceptable in other cycles, aligning with American Virginia state and MoE standards. The curriculum is adapted to promote reading skills across subjects, supported by a well-resourced library. Students connect learning to real-world experiences, but further development of critical thinking, problem-solving, innovation, and enterprise skills is needed.
Protection, Care & Support
The school provides good protection, care, guidance, and support for students. Health and safety arrangements are effective, including rigorous child protection and safeguarding procedures. Students receive effective care and support, with personalized academic and career guidance for older students, contributing to their well-being and future planning.
Areas for Development
- •Improve students’ achievement in all key subjects across all grades to reach at least good levels by focusing on the development of language skills in Arabic and English, ensuring students apply scientific methods in science, and developing conceptual understanding of mathematics through hands-on manipulatives.
- •Strengthen teaching and assessment processes in all phases of the school to reach at least good levels by differentiating learning tasks, setting higher levels of challenge, accurately tracking KG progress, and ensuring accurate assessment procedures and analysis of data to inform teaching.
- •Improve the capabilities of leaders at all levels by ensuring greater accuracy of school self-evaluation, empowering subject leaders with appropriate time, establishing a system of accountability, engaging parents to improve punctuality, and ensuring adherence to lesson start and finish times.