Longitudinal study on the impact of curriculum reforms (2012 - 2013)

Abstract

The National Institute of Education (NIE) of the Ministry of Education is currently in the process of implementing a major curriculum reform in the Maldives. Some of the changes were implemented in 2012. A nation-wide rollout is planned soon. In order to monitor the impact of curricular reforms, NIE along with UNICEF has partnered with Educational Initiatives Pvt. Ltd (EI) to carry out the ‘Longitudinal Study on the Impact of Curriculum Reform (LSICR)’, a large-scale assessment study for the school children of Maldives. The first phase of the study is to establish a baseline performance of student outcomes, before the curricular reforms are implemented on a large scale (based on the National Curriculum Framework). Over the coming years, this baseline will provide a reference level to which the improvement in student outcomes, throughout the implementation process of the new curriculum, will be compared. Work on the baseline assessment started in September 2012, and the assessments were administered between 21st and 24th March, 2013. Around 17000 students across Grades 4, 7 and 9 from about 220 schools participated. The students were given different test papers for English, Maths, EVS/Science and Social Studies. Students from Grade 9 took different papers for Physics, Chemistry, Biology, History and Geography according to the subjects they had selected. In addition to the academic subjects above, students were also assessed on values and attitudes, based on the key competencies identified in the National Curriculum Framework.