KHUNDUQJI, RULA AREF2024-07-232024-07-232024-0622000402https://bspace.buid.ac.ae/handle/1234/2654This study examines the impact of school leadership practices on student performance in NWEA MAP assessments at an American curriculum school in Dubai. It aims at identifying effective strategies that enhance student achievement in standardized external testing by leveraging different leadership styles and teacher empowerment. The main research question is: How do school leaders and teachers empower students to enhance their NWEA MAP performance? The study investigates Transformational and Instructional leadership theories along with Self-Determination Theory to assess their influence on educational outcomes. A mixed-methods approach was employed, collecting qualitative data through semi-structured interviews and quantitative data via surveys to gain comprehensive and holistic insights into the phenomena. Ten school leadership participants took part in the qualitative interviews, and fifty-seven teachers participated in the quantitative surveys. The findings indicate that transformational leadership fosters high student expectations and participation, while distributed leadership promotes shared decision-making among teachers, significantly influencing and boosting MAP results. Additionally, increased access to technology platforms also played a significant role and improved performance. Nevertheless, the study's limitation to one school indicates that further research across diverse educational settings is necessary for generalizability. In conclusion, effective leadership, in addition to teacher and student empowerment, is vital for enhancing student performance on MAP assessments.enNWEA MAP test, leadership, empowerment, student attainment, internal assessments, external assessmentsDissertationDr Solomon Arulraj David