WIS students record elevated academic growth
For the fourth consecutive year, Windhoek International School (WIS) has recorded world-beating academic growth in its internationally benchmarked standardised assessments in Grades 1-8.The MAP Growth tests are the most-utilised standardised assessment tool in the USA, and among leading embassy-supported international schools. They are given to students at WIS twice a year, in September/October and again in May/June.
Ethan van Drunen, WIS educational director, explained how WIS is using the MAP Growth data: “MAP Growth tests are adaptive, so if a student gets one question wrong, then the next will be easier, and if they get the question right, the next question is more challenging. This allows for a very accurate representation of what each student knows and is ready to learn next.
Primary principal Jenna Brown explained, “The September/October tests are used by teachers to differentiate instruction and meet each student where they are at, while we use the May/June results to reflect on the curriculum, resources, and what went well and can be improved. In November, we will take a day as a school community to look at this data from student achievement and from our community-wide survey and develop a shared understanding of what high quality learning looks like at WIS.”
Van Drunen identified three questions which the school will use:
“What do we see? Why is it happening? What will we do about it?”
Between 2021 and 2025, the percentage of WIS students in Grades 1-8 performing in the top 20th percentile globally has nearly quadrupled, while those in the bottom 20th global percentile fell from up to 36% to under 4%. In 2025, newly introduced Scientific Reasoning testing for Grades 6–8 placed WIS students in the 61st percentile globally.
Middle school principal and instructional coach Derrek Berkompas shared, “Our academic results have vastly outperformed world averages, with the average WIS student surpassing their global peers’ growth in Mathematics (+35%), Reading (+25%), and Language Usage (+29%). School-level gain scores at this level are almost unheard of in schools where such tests are given. Schools with these types of results in the USA are given something called ‘High Achievement Growth Awards’ as recognition for teacher excellence.”