• Home
• /
• Education

KHDA hosts workshop on assessment for teachers

DUBAI - The Knowledge and Human Development Authority (KHDA) has completed a second workshop to train school staff on analysing the data gathered during the international assessment of Dubai’s 15-year-old students.

The assessment, PISA 2009 (Programme for International Student Assessment), was conducted in April and May 2009.

At the workshop, run by Mike Helal, director of Parkville Global Advisory, guests were taught how to read the results, guidelines from international best practices, and how to use the evidence from the assessment to influence policy decisions.

The KHDA also invited members of the Ministry of Education, which will be carrying out a PISA Plus assessment next year, and the Abu Dhabi Education Council (ADEC) so that they are better prepared when they have their own assessment results to publish.

Fatma Al Janahi, Head of International Assessments at the KHDA, said: “These workshops have prepared us for the task of presenting our PISA 2009 results in a way which is relevant to our policy-making, and also useful for school principals and teachers.

“We were especially happy to include representatives from the Ministry of Education and ADEC in our workshops, as we will work together to create a clear picture of how schools across the United Arab Emirates are performing. We all share the same goal; we want to improve the quality of education in our country, and this is a good step towards that.”

In its first participation in the worldwide assessment, Dubai was placed top of the MENA (Middle East and North Africa) countries that took part. Of the 65 countries that were assessed, Dubai came 42^nd in reading proficiency with a score of 459, 41^st in mathematics with a score of 453, and 41^st in science with a score of 466.

PISA measures how well students have absorbed their schooling, and how well they are able to apply their knowledge in life outside school. PISA 2009 focused on reading skills, which account for 80 per cent of the results. Previous rounds of PISA have focused on mathematics and science. 


muaz@khaleejtimes.com