113 - What Makes Curriculum Reform at School Level Successful? An Evaluation Utilizing the Change Model

Abstract Information: Educational interventions are critical for enhancing educational quality. Nonetheless, the intricacies of policy initiatives often pose challenges for policymakers and practitioners in identifying crucial components and understanding the dynamics that contribute to their success, including the pathways of influence among various elements and outcomes. Theory-driven evaluation offers a potent conceptual framework for elucidating these connections. Given the limited empirical research utilizing theory-driven evaluation in the context of curriculum reform in Asian countries, this study employed a change model derived from Chen (2005, 2015) to evaluate a significant curriculum reform program in Taiwan since 2019. The formulation of the program theory involved synthesizing data from documentary analyses and focus group interviews with program stakeholders. The constructed change model encompasses “leading curriculum development” and “emotional support” as the intervention variables, with “teacher collaboration” serving as the determinant, and “school curriculum quality” and “competency-oriented teaching” as the outcome variables. A survey design was employed to examine the influence pathways. Through stratified cluster sampling, responses were collected from 624 out of 640 upper secondary school teachers across diverse geographical and institutional contexts in Taiwan via an online questionnaire. Structural equation modeling was utilized for statistical analysis. The evaluation of this change model reveals that “leading curriculum development” constitutes the most vital leadership action for the realization of curriculum reform objectives at the school level. Additionally, “teacher collaboration” plays a crucial mediating role beyond its direct effects. Contrary to expectations, the influence of emotional support for teachers did not align with the model’s predictions. Contrary to expectations, the influence of emotional support for teachers did not align with the model's predictions. Although emotional support is essential in the reform process, as indicated in prior studies, its significance in this study was lower than anticipated. Since a profound professional shift is needed to enhance "school curriculum quality" and promote "competency-oriented teaching," our preliminary analysis reveals that merely offering emotional support is insufficient. When schools can substantively offer professional support and guidance through curriculum leadership actions, teachers will be able to collaborate and learn better for change. Finally, suggestions were provided for evaluation theory and curriculum reform.