Evaluation

Insightful regulation of curricula and educational systems for quality education for all

Educational systems need to be constantly evaluated and regulated in order to ensure that they actually and optimally serve educational visions behind them. Evaluation and regulation apply to all theoretical and practical aspects, in particular curricula that should be in constant evolution to ensure their efficiency.

Curricula need to be particularly evaluated and regulated to ensure that:

Mind-and-brain based pedagogy and life-related programs of study are adopted that conform to students’ cognitive states, self-fulfillment aspirations, and competency needs.
Experiential learning ecology is in place that makes wise use of reliable technology and various resources available on-campus and in neighboring communities.
Job market and community needs are met in relation to local, national, and global development.
Teacher practice is in order and continuously enhanced in propitious working conditions.

Evaluation of curricula and all other aspects of educational systems should:

Take place according to well-defined quality norms and standards.
Rely systematically on viable evaluation means and methods, authentic assessment included.
Involve all stakeholders within individual educational institutions and surrounding communities.
Come out with reliable outcomes that are brought to the attention of decision makers and all concerned actors in timely manner, and so as to allow them easily analyze these outcomes and interpret what they are about, and readily decide upon and proceed with necessary regulation.

Select Publications:

Factors Affecting Intermediate School Students’ Achievement in Science and Mathematics.

Experts came together at ERC (2013-2014), with Prof. Halloun as PI, analyzed science and mathematics curricula in Gulf Arab States along with related best pedagogical frameworks and teachers’ preparation programs and practices around the world, and subsequently developed, validated, and administered a battery of inventories and surveys about learning and teaching science and mathematics to thousands of students and their parents, teachers, program coordinators, and school principals in a representative sample of intermediate schools (grades 7, 8, 9) across all Gulf states. Results were analyzed and recommendations made for the reform of science and mathematics curricula in these states.

Evaluation of the Impact of the New Physics Curriculum on the Conceptual Profiles of Secondary School Students. (2007). Beirut: Phoenix series / Lebanese University.

Lebanese secondary school students’ conceptual profiles in physics are evaluated by comparison to their U.S. peers, in an attempt to ascertain the effectiveness of the Lebanese physics curriculum currently in place. A battery of three instruments were developed and validated to assess student profiles in particular areas of physics. The three instruments were administered to over three thousand Lebanese and U.S. students between 2004 and 2007. Results show that Lebanese students: (a) enter secondary school encumbered with naive conceptual profiles that are at odds with scientific paradigm, (b) fail, after physics instruction, to enhance their profiles and develop them to the level aspired for in the official curriculum, and (c) lag, in most conceptual respects, behind their U.S. peers. Full Text

Normative Evaluation of Mathematics, Science and Technology Curricula: The Case of the Modeling Curriculum. (2004). Proceedings of the 12^th annual meeting of the Southern African Association for Research in Mathematics, Science and Technology Education. Cape Town, South Africa: SAARMSTE.

Evaluation of a given curriculum is not an end by itself, and it does not mark the end of curriculum development. It is an ongoing process carried out throughout curriculum development and implementation for continuous regulation. Regulation at any point may extend from minor refinements of some curriculum components to a radical reform of the curriculum on entirely new grounds. For reliable outcomes and sustainable impact, curriculum evaluation needs to be normative. Normative evaluation is conducted according to well-defined taxonomy of conceptions, processes and trends that students are expected to develop under the given curriculum. It comes out with quantitative indicators ascertaining in terms of pre-established criteria to what extent students have actually met original expectations. Full Text

Evaluating Science and Technology Learning Materials: The Case of the Modeling Curriculum. (2003). UNESCO regional workshop. Beirut: Lebanon.

Evaluation of science and technology education (STE) materials needs to be normative and carried out according to well-defined criteria and taxonomy of what students are expected to learn with such materials. Data from the evaluation of the modeling curriculum are presented and discussed to illustrate how normative evaluation of learning materials may be conducted in a way to contribute to sustainable reform and meaningful and equitable learning in STE. Full Text

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Evaluation tools:

Teacher practice

Classroom Observation and Teaching Evaluation (COTE) are designed to evaluate teachers’ practice at all grade levels. Each COTE form comes in five dimensions. Three dimensions, conceptions, processes and dispositions, pertain to student profiles. The other two dimensions, assessment and approach, pertain to the followed pedagogy.

Please click on the form of your interest to download it.

COTE – Science and mathematics form. English Form Formulaire Français

COTE – Arabic language form. عربي

COTE – English language form. Form

COTE – French language form. Langue Française

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Textbook evaluation

Textbook Evaluation (TE) forms are conceived to evaluate various textbooks at all grade levels. Each of these forms comes in nine dimensions: framework, scope and sequence, conceptions, processes, dispositions, assessment, format, pedagogy, and stakeholders’ needs.

Please click on the form of your interest to download it.

TE – Science and mathematics form. Form

TE – Arabic language form. عربي

TE – English language form. Form

TE – French language form.

Reading books leveling

Two Children Books Leveling (CBL) forms allow grading, in 6 levels, English and Arabic readers for 5 to 12 years old children. Leveling criteria include: genre; theme, message or moral lesson; story composition and structure; language, style and readability; format and quality; information processing.

Please click on the form of your interest to download it.

CBL – English form. Form

CBL – Arabic form. عربي