CURRICULUM IMPLEMENTATION

& EVALUATION

MODULE VI
 Introduction
 A curriculum starts with a plan

 It becomes a reality only when

teachers implement it with real
students in real classrooms
(Ornstein & Hunkins, 2004)
 Introduction
 Careful planning and
development are obviously
important to a good curriculum
 But they count for nothing
unless teachers are aware of
what a plan calls for and how
they can implement it in their
own classes
 Introduction
Curriculum
implementation,
therefore, can be
considered as the process
of enacting the planned
curriculum
 Introduction
 Put another way, curriculum
implementation is the
translation of a written
curriculum into classroom
practices
 Doing so can be very complex
and problematic (Fullan, 1999)
 Introduction
Many people (including
many educators) believe
that the enacted
curriculum should be
identical to the planned
curriculum
 Introduction
 But this is not possible because
the planned curriculum is an
abstract document and the
enacted curriculum is a flesh-
and-blood creation
 This belief is contrary to the
maxim “precision in planning,
flexibility in execution”
 Introduction
 The most appropriate and valued
school curriculum will go for
naught if it is left on the shelves
after its development
 A curriculum must be
implemented throughout a school
system if it is to make any impact
on student learning
 Introduction
 Very often the planned
curriculum is not
implemented because no
proper plan was developed
for dispersal throughout the
school system
 Introduction
 One reason that a new curriculum
may “miscarry” is that
implementation was not considered
critical in curriculum development
 Implementation requires adjusting
personal habits, ways of behaving,
programme emphases, and
learning spaces
 Introduction
 It means getting educators
to shift from the current
programme to a new
programme, a modification
that can be met with great
resistance
 Introduction
 Effective implementation
requires time, personal
interaction and contacts, in-
service training, and other
forms of people-based
support
 Introduction
 Research has shown that
personal contact among
implementers, and between
implementers and planners is
critical if the difficult process
of unlearning old roles and
learning new ones is to occur
 Introduction
 Implementation takes time
because we are attempting
to win over people, to
influence their attitudes
sufficiently so that people
will alter their ways
 Introduction
 To win over people we must
assure them that there is
some recognition and/or
reward in making the effort
to change, that is, to enact or
implement the new
curriculum
 Introduction
 There must be internal
motivation if an innovation
is to be institutionalized
 Too much reliance on
external incentives actually
constrains people
 Introduction
 Individuals contribute their
best talents:
 when they accept the new
programme
 Introduction
 when they derive a good
feeling from being involved
 when they view their
contributions as adding to
the quality of students’
education
 Guidelines for Effective
Implementation

1. Obtain teacher buy-in

We need to motivate
teachers to assume new
roles and be responsible
to that which is to be
implemented or enacted
 Guidelines for Effective
Implementation
We need to encourage teachers to
consider themselves as
playwrights, producers, and actors
in new “educational plays.”

And we need to obtain the general

public’s approval and support for
such new teacher roles
 Guidelines for Effective
Implementation
Teachers need time to try the new
programme to be implemented

They need time to reflect on new

goals and objectives, to consider
new contents and learning
experiences, and to try out new
tasks
 Guidelines for Effective
Implementation
Implementation, therefore, does
not occur all at once with all
teachers

Ideally, an implementation process

allows sufficient time for certain
groups of teachers to try out the
new curriculum in pieces
 Guidelines for Effective
Implementation

Whenever a new
programme is being
designed, communication
channels must be kept open
so that the new programme
does not come as a surprise
 Guidelines for Effective
Implementation

Frequent discussion about

a new programme among
teachers, principals, and
curriculum workers is a
key to successful
implementation
 Guidelines for Effective
Implementation
2. Provide Adequate Teaching/Learning
Support

Curriculum designers need to

provide the necessary support for
their recommended programmes
to facilitate rapid implementation
 Guidelines for Effective
Implementation

Teachers often require in-

service training or staff
development time to feel
comfortable with new
programmes
 Guidelines for Effective
Implementation

Open discussions on the

new programmes should
be scheduled throughout
the implementation
process
 Guidelines for Effective
Implementation

Such discussions allow

implementers to voice
their objections or
concerns and consequently
reduce opposition
 Guidelines for Effective
Implementation

Implementation is a
collaborative and emotional
effort

Peer support is vital if

implementation is to be
successful
 Guidelines for Effective
Implementation

Money is also required for

materials and equipment
to institutionalize a new
programme
 Obstacles to Implementation
 Perhaps the biggest barrier to
implementation or change is
inertia – among the staff, the
administration, or the
community
 Many people think it is simply
easier to keep things as they are
Obstacles to Implementation
 Teachers frequently view
change as simply signaling
more work – something else
to add on to an already
overloaded schedule for
which little or no time is
allotted
 Obstacles to Implementation
 Teachers often view new
curricular programmes as :
 requiring them to learn new
teaching skills
 develop new competencies in
curriculum development
 acquire new skills in
interpersonal relations
Obstacles to Implementation
Another factor that
causes people to resist
change is the rapidity of
change
 Obstacles to Implementation
 Sometimes people resist
innovation and its implementation
because they lack knowledge
 Curriculum leaders need to
furnish all affected parties with
information about the nature of
the programme and its rationale
Obstacles to Implementation
 Some teachers resist getting
involved in curricular change
because they do not know
about the latest research,
or if they know about it, they
refuse to use it in guiding
their actions
 Obstacles to Implementation
 Question: Why do people
generally resist change?
(Thomas Harvey)
1. Lack of ownership:
Individuals will not accept
change if they consider it alien
or coming from outside their
organization
Obstacles to Implementation
Interestingly, much of
the current demand for
reform in schools is
coming from the Ministry
of Education and wider
government sources
 Obstacles to Implementation
2. Lack of benefits: If teachers are
unconvinced that a new
programme will make things
better for students (in terms of
learning) or themselves (in terms
of greater recognition, respect, or
reward), they are likely to resist
the suggested change
 Obstacles to Implementation
3. Increased burdens: Often change
simply means more work or
increased burdens
 Teachers tend to be hostile toward
outside groups prescribing what
needs to be done especially when
it involves adding work to the
teachers’ already heavy schedules
 Obstacles to Implementation
4. Lack of administrative
support: People will not
embrace change unless those
officially responsible, often
legally responsible, for the
programme have shown or
guaranteed their support for
the change
Obstacles to Implementation
5. Loneliness: Few people
want to innovate alone
 Collegial action is necessary
for successful
implementation of new
programmes
 Obstacles to Implementation
6. Insecurity: People resist that
which appears to threaten
their security
7. Chaos: If a change is
perceived as lessening control
or of generating chaos, it is
likely to be opposed
 Obstacles to Implementation
8. Norm incongruence: The roles and
assumptions of new programmes
must be congruent with the norms
and expectations held by
personnel in the system
 Some new programmes may be at
odds with the staff’s philosophical
orientations to education
Obstacles to Implementation
9. Suddenwholesale
change: People tend to
resist major changes,
especially those requiring
a complete redirection
 Three Stages to Implementing
Change

1. Initiation: refers to setting

the stage for the
implementation process,
getting the school culture
receptive to the planned
innovation
 Three Stages to Implementing
Change
 Essential questions at this stage
include:
 Who will be involved?
 What is the expected level of
support?
 What is the state of readiness of
persons for the innovation?
 Three Stages to Implementing
Change
2. The implementation stage
involves presenting
innovation and getting people
to try it out in their
classrooms
 It is the “doing” phase of the
implementation
 Three Stages to Implementing
Change
 Getting teachers to attempt
some innovation may
require the help of other
educational change agents
 Three Stages to Implementing
Change

3. The maintenance or
institutionalization phase
essentially refers to the
monitoring of the
innovation after it has been
introduced
 Three Stages to Implementing
Change

If maintenance is not

planned for, innovations
often fade or are altered
to such a degree that
they cease to exist
 The Role of the Teacher as
Change Agent
 Teachers are integral to the
thinking that drives
programme creation and
implementation
 The key to getting teachers
committed to an innovation is
involvement
 The Role of the Teacher as
Change Agent
 Good curriculum development
is a cooperative venture
 For implementation to occur,
many teachers will need to
experience skill-training
workshops
 The Role of the Teacher as
Change Agent
 To truly have educational
reform we must have
professional development
 To get teachers to
implement a new curriculum
requires a paradigm shift
 The Role of the Teacher as
Change Agent
It is easier to win
commitment to a new or
revised programme when
teachers are made aware
that change is a process,
not an event (Hall & Hord,
2001)
 The Role of the Teacher as
Change Agent
Teachers more readily
commit to a new programme
when they perceive it to
have an important relative
advantage over the one it is
to replace (Rogers, 1995).
 Curriculum Implementation
Models
 The Concerns- Based Adoption
Model (CBAM) is by far the most
robust and empirically grounded
theoretical model for the
implementation of educational
innovations to come out of
educational research in the 1970s
and 1980s (Anderson, 1997, p. 331).
 Curriculum Implementation
Models
 According to Hall and Hord
(1987, 2001) and
Rutherford, Hord, Huling,
and Hall (1983),
assumptions that underline
CBAM include the following:
 Curriculum Implementation
Models
 Change is a process, not an event,
requiring time, energy, and
resources to support it
 Change is achieved incrementally
and developmentally and entails
developmental growth in feelings
about the skills in using the
programmes
 Curriculum Implementation
Models

Change is accomplished
by individuals first
Institutions cannot
change until the
individuals within them
change
 Curriculum Implementation
Models
 Change is a highly personal
experience
 Change can be facilitated by
change agents providing
diagnostic, client-centred
support to individual teachers
 Curriculum Implementation
Models
 CBAM begins with the
assumption that there is a
specific curriculum that should
be adopted by a district or school
 Question: How to assist teachers
in adopting this curriculum as
their own?
 Curriculum Implementation
Models
 Answer: CBAM centres on the
concerns of the teachers, not
the school or the district
 It attempts to provide data that
will help teachers themselves
implement a new curriculum
 Curriculum Implementation
Models

Other implementation
models include:
Organizational
Development Model
Overcoming Resistance to
Change Model
 CURRICULUM EVALUATION
 Curriculum evaluation is essential
to curriculum development,
implementation, and maintenance
 However, there is little agreement
on deciding what evaluation is,
how to approach its use, and how
to employ the results of
evaluation activities
 CURRICULUM EVALUATION
 A key concept embedded in
evaluation is value
 Value is defined by one’s
philosophical position
 Value subsumes the
concepts of merit and worth
 CURRICULUM EVALUATION
 Merit relates to the degree to
which something is
accomplished or the degree
of success some person,
programme or activity has in
light of some preset standard
 Definitions of Evaluation
 Worthen and Sanders define
evaluation as “the formal
determination of the quality,
effectiveness, or value of a
programme, product,
project, process, objective,
or curriculum.”
 Definitions of Evaluation
 Evaluation includes inquiry
and judgement methods:
(1)determining standards for
judging quality and deciding
whether those standards
should be relative or absolute
 Definitions of Evaluation
2.collecting relevant
information
3.applying the standards to
determine quality
 Definitions of Evaluation
 Bruce Tuckman has defined
evaluation as “the means of
determining whether the
programme is meeting its goals:
that is whether a given set of
instructional inputs match the
intended or prescribed
outcomes.”
 Definitions of Evaluation
Daniel Stufflebeam has
defined evaluation as “the
process of delineating,
obtaining, and providing
useful information for judging
decision alternatives.”
 Nature and Purpose of
Evaluation
 Evaluation is a process or cluster
of processes that people perform
in order to gather and interpret
data to decide whether to
accept, change, or eliminate
something.
 Important questions to consider:
 Nature and Purpose of
Evaluation
1. The Question of Intrinsic
Value: This question addresses
the goodness and the
appropriateness of the curriculum
 It deals with the curriculum as it is
planned and also with the finished
curriculum as it is delivered
 Nature and Purpose of
Evaluation
 If a school were dealing with a
new language arts curriculum, it
would ask:
(a) whether the curriculum
incorporates the best thinking to
date on what is known about the
content of the language arts
 Nature and Purpose of
Evaluation
(b) the arrangement of content
and the presentation of that
content
 Would specialists in linguistics,
composition, grammar, and
communication give the
curriculum planned high
marks?
 Nature and Purpose of
Evaluation
2. The Question of Instrumental
Value: This question posits,
“What is the curriculum good for,
and who is its intended
audience?”
- To what extent will students
attain the planned activities in the
curriculum?
 Nature and Purpose of
Evaluation
- Note that the extent of
attainment relates to standards

- What we determine as acceptable

or unacceptable is influenced in
large part by our philosophical
and psychological points of view
 Nature and Purpose of
Evaluation
-Ifwe are humanists, we might
ask if the specifics planned for
the curriculum are going to be
instrumental in fostering in
students a humanistic
orientation toward themselves
and others
 Nature and Purpose of
Evaluation
-A behaviourist, however,
might ask if the encounters
planned in the programme
are such that students will
attain the specific behaviour
at the intended level of
competence
 Nature and Purpose of
Evaluation
3.The Question of Comparative
Value: This question is often asked
by those faced with possible new
programmes
-Is the new programme better than
the one it is supposed to replace?
 Nature and Purpose of
Evaluation
 - If the programme being
suggested for
implementation is of the
same type as the existing
programme, the question of
comparative value should be
considered
 Nature and Purpose of
Evaluation
 In the final analysis, the
evaluator and curriculum
decision maker should have
enough documented
evidence to determine
whether to retain, modify, or
discard the new programme
 Approaches to Evaluation
 Evaluation is a methodological
activity that really is not
content specific
 The same procedures can be
used to evaluate the
effectiveness of any
curriculum
 Approaches to Evaluation
Essentially evaluation
consists of gathering and
combining data in relation to
a weighted set of goals so
as to allow people to make
judgements about worth
 Approaches to Evaluation
 In determining the value of a
curriculum plan, educators
must eventually ask whether
the results they expect to
obtain are worth what the cost
of delivering them is likely to
be (Ornstein & Hunkins, 2004).
 Approaches to Evaluation
 Evaluation focuses on decisions in
one or more of three areas:
(1) decisions about the curriculum,
the subject matter, as to whether
to maintain the curriculum, revise
and improve the curriculum, or to
replace the existing curriculum
with a new one
 Approaches to Evaluation
(2) decisions about
individuals, primarily the
teachers and students,
which focus on instruction
and learning
 Approaches to Evaluation
(3)decisions about administrative
regulation, which focus on the
existing management of the
school and its programme, to
determine whether the existing
school organization should be
maintained or reformed
 Approaches to Evaluation
Also, part of this focus is
centering attention on
the school environment
and the community
environment within which
the school exists
 Formative Evaluation
One way to view evaluation
is to distinguish between
formative and summative
evaluation
Formative evaluation
involves those activities
undertaken to improve an
intended programme
 Formative Evaluation
 Formative evaluation takes place
at a number of specified points
during the curriculum
development process
 It provides the opportunity for the
evaluator to modify, reject, or
accept the programme as it is
evolving
 Formative Evaluation
 Formative evaluation also occurs
during the teaching of a new or
existing curriculum, focusing on
both the teacher and student
 It can be used to judge the
effectiveness of the teachers’
pedagogical approaches
 Formative Evaluation
It can also be used to
note the productiveness
of students’ learning
processes
 Formative Evaluation
Whether focused on teacher
or student actions, formative
evaluation does provide data
that allow for the fine-tuning
of the curriculum and
individuals’ behaviours
 Summative Evaluation
Summative evaluation
aims at getting the total
picture of the quality of
a produced and then
taught curriculum
 Summative Evaluation
 When applied to a newly
developed curriculum,
summative evaluation is
usually undertaken after it
has been implemented
school-wide, district-wide or
nation-wide
 Summative Evaluation
 It focuses on the effectiveness of
the total course or total
curriculum
 This type of evaluation is used to
determine whether students have
been successful in obtaining the
final goals of the curriculum
 Summative Evaluation
 Likewise, it is employed to
judge whether teachers have
been successful in meeting the
minimum accountability
standards
 Overall, it asks the question:
 Has the curriculum worked?
Stufflebeam’s Context, Input,
Process, Product Model
(CIPP)
 Perhaps the most important
contribution to a decision-
management-oriented
approach to educational
evaluation has been that
presented by Daniel
Stufflebeam
Stufflebeam’s Context, Input,
Process, Product Model
(CIPP)
 His approach to evaluation is
recognized as CIPP (context,
input, process, product) model
 This comprehensive model
considers evaluation to be a
continuing process
Stufflebeam’s Context, Input,
Process, Product Model
(CIPP)

Context Evaluation
Context evaluation
involves studying the
environment of the
programme
Stufflebeam’s Context, Input,
Process, Product Model
(CIPP)

Its purpose is to define

the relevant environment,
focus on unmet needs
and missed opportunities,
and diagnose the reason
for unmet needs
Stufflebeam’s Context, Input,
Process, Product Model
(CIPP)
 Context evaluation is really a
“situation analysis,” – a
reading of the reality in which
individuals find themselves
and an assessment of that
reality in light of what they
want to do
Stufflebeam’s Context, Input,
Process, Product Model
(CIPP)
 Input Evaluation:
This second stage of the
model is designed to provide
information and determine
how to utilize resources to
meet programme goals
Stufflebeam’s Context, Input,
Process, Product Model
(CIPP)
Input evaluators assess the
school’s capabilities to carry out
the task of evaluation; they
consider the strategies suggested
for achieving programme goals,
and they identify the means by
which a selected strategy will be
implemented
Stufflebeam’s Context, Input,
Process, Product Model
(CIPP)
Input evaluates specific aspects of
the curriculum plan or specific
components of the curriculum plan
It deals with the following
questions:
 Are the objectives stated
appropriately?
Stufflebeam’s Context, Input,
Process, Product Model
(CIPP)
 Are the objectives congruent
with the goals of the school?
 Is the content congruent with
the goals and objectives of the
programme?
 Are the instructional strategies
appropriate?
Stufflebeam’s Context, Input,
Process, Product Model
(CIPP)
 Do other strategies exist that can
also help meet the objectives?
 What is the basis for believing
that using these contents and
these instructional strategies will
enable educators to successfully
attain their objectives?
Stufflebeam’s Context, Input,
Process, Product Model
(CIPP)

Process Evaluation
This stage addresses
curriculum implementation
decisions that control and
manage the programme
Stufflebeam’s Context, Input,
Process, Product Model
(CIPP)
It is used to determine the
congruency between the
planned and actual activities
It includes three strategies:
Stufflebeam’s Context, Input,
Process, Product Model
(CIPP)

(1) to detect or predict defects

in the procedural design or
its implementation stage
(2) to provide information for
decisions
(3) to maintain a record of
procedures as they occur
Stufflebeam’s Context, Input,
Process, Product Model
(CIPP)
 Process evaluation occurs during
the implementation stage of
curriculum development
 It is a piloting process conducted
to “debug” the programme
before district-wide
implementation
Stufflebeam’s Context, Input,
Process, Product Model
(CIPP)
 From such evaluation,
project decision makers
obtain information they need
to anticipate and overcome
procedural difficulties and to
make decisions
Stufflebeam’s Context, Input,
Process, Product Model
(CIPP)
Product Evaluation:
Product evaluators gather data
to determine whether the final
curriculum product now in use
is accomplishing what they
had hoped. To what extent are
the objectives attained?
Stufflebeam’s Context, Input,
Process, Product Model
(CIPP)
Product evaluation provides
evaluators with information
that will enable them to
decide whether to continue,
terminate, or modify the new
curriculum
Stufflebeam’s Context, Input,
Process, Product Model
(CIPP)
For example, a product evaluation
might furnish data that show that
the science curriculum has
successfully allowed students to
attain the programme objectives
The programme is now ready to
be implemented in other schools
in the system
Other Approaches to Evaluation
Goal-free evaluation
Empowerment evaluation
or self evaluation
Intrinsic and Pay-off
Evaluation
Other Approaches to Evaluation
 Provus’s Discrepancy Evaluation
Model (determining programme
standards, determining
programme performance,
comparing performance with
standards, and determining
whether a discrepancy exists
between performance and
standards
Other Approaches to Evaluation
 Stake’s Countenance Model
 Tyler’s Objectives Model
 Parlett & Hamilton’s
Illuminative Model
 Eisner’s Educational
Connoisseurship Model
 Review and Reflection
 Daniel Stufflebeam’s CIPP
model describes an approach
to programme evaluation that
has proved highly attractive to
the assessors of school
programmes for many years.
Why do you think the model
attracted so many supporters?