INTRODUCTION

SSA, Kerala entrusted RIESI to investigate the English language achievement of learners in the classes III and VII. The study was titled as ‘Impact Study on the achievement of learners in English in Classes III and VII in Kerala on the implementation of the revised curriculum, syllabi and textbooks under KCF 2007.’

The study intends to triangulate teacher proficiency in terms of language and pedagogy, the objectives of the curriculum and learner achievement. It is designed to asses the achievement of learners in English in classes III and VII after the implementation of the revised textbooks. It is expected to provide data for policy makers about key aspects of the system. The impact study is designed to describe the achievement of learners in English in Class III and 7 in all the BRC’s in Kerala. The study also intends to describe the beliefs and practices of teachers and teacher trainers in the state.

1
2
3
4
5
6

CURRICULUM, TEACHER, AND LEARNER- OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

The study triangulates the three critical components namely, curriculum, teacher and the learner. Whatever the curriculum envisages is to be reflected in the syllabi, the materials and the methodology. The curriculum objectives are realized in the classroom by the facilitation of the teacher who uses the material as a trigger to help the learners acquire the targeted language. Since the constructivist curriculum is process-oriented care has to be taken to follow the processes meticulously.

The study assumes that the curriculum objectives are achieved through the classroom processes. It also assumes that there will be no gap between the intended curriculum and the achieved curriculum if teachers, the most important component of the triangle, follow the processes. In that case it is assumed that the learners will have achieved all the competencies targeted in the curriculum. If there is a gap between the intended curriculum and the curriculum that is transacted, there will not be any significant achievement in the learners’ proficiency.

Scoring Methods

a.       Ability to communicate ideas (rated in a 3 point scale where A= 3; B=2 and C= 1)
b.       Ability to express ideas in well-formed constructions (rated in a 3 point scale where A=3; B= 2 and C= 1)
c.       Ability to construct the targeted discourses (rated in a 3 point scale where A=3; B= 2 and C= 1)

The following holistic indicators were developed to rate the response sheets of students in class VII.

a.       Ability to communicate ideas (rated in a 4 point scale where A= 4; B=3; C= 2 and D = 1)
b.       Ability to express ideas in well-formed constructions (rated in a 4 point scale where A= 4; B= 3; C= 2 and D =1)
c.       Ability to construct the targeted discourses (rated in a 4 point scale where A=4; B= 3; C= 2 and D =1)

Scoring rubrics for analyzing student portfolios
Holistic indicators as mentioned above have been used for assessing student portfolios. In addition to these, discourse –specific indicators also have been taken into consideration.

Scoring rubrics for analyzing group products
The assessment rubrics give prominence to checking whether there is any evidence of collaborative work and editing of the group products. The indicators are:

• Ideas are communicated
• The constructions are well-formed
• Evidence of collaborative work namely, group refinement and
• editing

As in the cases of assessing response sheets and portfolios, a 3-point scale (A, B, C) is used for class III where A=3; B=2 and C=1. For class VII a 4-point scale is used where A=4; B=3; C=2 and D=1.

Scoring rubrics for analyzing Self Assessment of students
The scoring rubrics for self assessment check competencies related to language skills (Listening, speaking, reading and writing).

Scoring rubrics for analyzing Teaching Manual
The indicators for assessing the Teaching manual are:
Maintaining the process the page
A= Excellent; B= Good; C= Average; D=Poor
Recording assessment
A= Excellent; B= Good; C= Average; D=Poor

Tool for recording the beliefs and practices of teachers
For recording the beliefs, attitudes and practices of teachers in Kerala, the Study has designed a tool named as Tool 1.

Tool for recording the beliefs and practices of trainers
For recording the beliefs, attitudes and practices of trainers in Kerala, the Study has designed a tool named as Tool 2.

Tool for recording parents’ feedbacks
For recording parent’s responses the study has designed Tool 3.

Most of the teachers of class II and VII rate that the training that they received during vacation is inadequate. They also report that OSS is also highly inadequate. However, teachers in Kasaragod, Wayanad, Kozhikode, Alappuzha and Pathanamthitta report that the quality of training that they got during vacation was good.

Teachers of class III and VII across the district report that the textbooks and handbooks are good. They also rated the textbooks ‘good’ in terms of its language quality, gender sensitivity, learner friendliness, interest level and so on. With regard to class III text book there is a general agreement among teachers across the State that its illustrations are not up to the mark.

Teachers by and large reported that the teachers’ handbooks are very good and they helped them in better classroom transaction. Teachers also report that the training they got during vacation was in-adequate especially in the context of the curriculum revision and the launching of new textbooks for classes III and VII. It has been reported that they got training only for 2 days during the vacation even though it was the launching phase of the revised textbooks. They report that training for at least 10 days is required giving equal focus to language proficiency and pedagogy

By and large, more than 80% of trainers have positive attitude to the curriculum. However, more than 50% of the trainers do not have clarity in discourse mode of treatment of language as well as the classroom processes and practices.

In Kollam, Idukki and Thrissur trainers’ understanding about the classroom processes is found to be comparatively low.

The trainers in Idukki and Kottayam districts have comparatively low understanding about the micro-process of editing. Trainers of these districts also have poor understanding of maintaining the process page and assessment page of the teaching manual.

Above 80% of trainers in all districts believe in collaborative mode of reading. But in Idukki most of the trainers believe in teacher-centered reading.

All the trainers rate SRG/DRG training as good. But trainers of Wayanad district rate training as poor.

Trainers of all districts report that they do not get time for giving OSS to teachers.

Most of the trainers in the State report that they need supplementary reading materials and multimedia materials for teacher training as well as for using in the classrooms.

Trainers rated textbooks and handbooks of classes III and VII as good.

The problem areas for most of the trainers are: micro-processes of reading, editing, administering self assessment tools and maintaining the teaching manual.

In most of the cases a mismatch is found between trainers’ beliefs and practices. More than 50% of the trainers do not have proper understanding about classroom interaction, facilitating discourse construction, facilitating discussions, micro-processes of reading and editing and planning the lessons. However, they claim that they practice all these processes quite often.

In most of the group products the RIESI raters have found different types of errors implying that trainers do not facilitate editing in groups.

The study concludes that in terms of learner achievement in class III and class VII the BRC’s in the following districts have performed better than others: Wayanad, Kozhikode, Kasaragod, and Alappuzha.

The BRC’s in the following districts have performed marginally well: Kannur, Malappuram, Palakkad, and Pathanamthitta. However, most of the BRC’s in Ernakulam, Palakkad, Thiruvananthapuram, Thrissur and Malappuram districts failed to handover relevant documents and samples required for the study to RIESI.

Learners in the following BRC’s have performed well: Parali, Cheruvathur, Payyannur, Iritti, Vaithiri, Sulthan Bathery, Thodannur, Perambra, Panthalayini, Tanur, Parappanangadi, Mullasseri, Kodakara, Kolanchery, Ettumanur, Vaikkom, Mavelikkara, Chengannur, Veliyanad, Harippad, Thiruvalla, Pandalam, Vennikkulam, Kottarakkara, Kundara, Anjal, Kaniyapuram and Varkala.

The best BRC’s as per the study are: Parali, Cheruvathur, Vaithiri, Mavelikkara and Harippad.

70% of the parents report that the new English textbooks are very interesting and that their children show interest in learning English.
About 70% of the parents report that their children have improved in learning English. However, only 1/3rd of the parents participate in CPTA. About 40% of parents consider that teachers need more training in teaching the revised English textbooks.

The main objectives of the impact study as stated in the introductory Chapter are:

• to assess achievement of learners in classes III and VII,
• to provide information on the revised curriculum
• to assess the potentials of teachers and trainers
• to suggest guidelines for teacher empowerment, OSS and monitoring.

Besides materializing these objectives, the impact study has created reliable baseline data for the future educational planning involving curriculum revision and its implementation.

The curriculum and materials, the learner and the teacher are the three important corner stone’s of education. The study team triangulates these important components as part of the Impact study.

FINDINGS ABOUT THE TRAINER, THE TEACHER AND THE CURRICULUM

The study observes that the curriculum and materials have enough potential for making learners autonomous users of English. The findings of the study related to learner achievement supplement the strength of the curriculum and materials.

Majority of teachers and trainers (70%) have internalized the spirit of the curriculum. The high level of learner achievement substantiates this point. Nevertheless, among the three corner stones, the teacher and the trainer are comparatively weak. A major reason for this is the inadequate input given to teachers and trainers in the context of implementing the revised curriculum and textbooks. Teachers should have been given intensive teacher training for empowering them in terms of pedagogy and proficiency to transact the revised curriculum. Paradoxically, teacher training in English during the launching phase of the curriculum was limited to only 2 days. These 2 days are highly inadequate to sensitize the teachers on the constructivist pedagogy which encompasses subtle micro-processes. The subsequent cluster trainings are also found to be inadequate to equip the teachers. Besides teachers were not given sufficient On-Site –Support. Above all the training packages have not sufficiently focused on developing the proficiency of teachers.

The input of given to the trainers in SRG or DRG trainings was only for 6 days. It is reported that even among the 6 days the first 4 days were completely used for imparting the general pedagogy. Hence the trainings given to trainers by and large fail to equip them in terms of pedagogy and language proficiency. Besides, the study reveals that only about 70% of the trainers are sufficiently motivated to train the teachers. This being the state of affairs, training input for both teachers and trainers is inadequate. Without adequate training teachers will not be able to deliver the curriculum effectively. This in turn will reflect on the achievement of learners.

In spite of the above limitations, the study observes that there is fairly high level of achievement among class III and class VII learners in about 65 to 70% of student population that came under the study. This testifies the dynamics of the revised materials and pedagogy. In order to enhance learner achievement, teachers and trainers should be empowered through training.

The study recognizes the dynamics and vibrancy of the revised curriculum and materials developed based on NCF 2005 and KCF 2007 in primary classes. At present learners in primary classes have text books as the sole reading materials. They need additional reading materials to create a print-rich environment.

As a part of the study most of the teachers and trainers reported the non-availability of multimedia materials that are in tune with the revised curriculum. Almost all teachers have reported that most of the multimedia materials available in the field are not in tune with the constructivist paradigm.

Technology is opening up many new possibilities to provide comprehensible input to learners. Integrating technology with second language curriculum and using it as a key tool will certainly sustain the interest of learners to acquire language with greater rigor.

The study based on the analysis of questionnaire 1 and 2 given to teachers and trainers arrive at the following:

• Classroom interaction is not taking place as it has been envisioned in the curriculum.
• The micro-processes of reading are not followed meticulously in the classroom
• Discourse construction and the process of editing are not properly facilitated

The study classifies the above issues under two headings namely, as proficiency related and as pedagogy related. Therefore the study recommends that teacher training and cluster trainings should predominantly address these central areas. If necessary, special packages may be developed and delivered to teachers to empower them in proficiency and pedagogy.

It is revealed in the study that OSS is taking place only below 10% of cases. Besides most of the teachers report that the OSS they get is not effective. The study recommends SSA to increase the frequency and efficiency of OSS. Specially trained OSS teams may be set up in BRC’s to ensure quality input to teachers. It is also recommended that at the district level and state level SSA has to set up monitoring teams wherever they are not constituted and pedagogically empower the existing monitoring teams. If possible there can be tele-mode/teleconferencing interaction among BRC level, District level and State level OSS structures.

The study observes that excepting in a few cases IT -enabled classroom transaction is not taking place in the classes. Though there are computers in most of the schools teachers are not using them. This is to be addressed through IT-enabled training programmes. It should be used as an integral component of teacher training. Moreover, teachers should get hands on experience in using IT for curriculum transaction.

RECOMMENDATIONS

A sustained programme for teacher training may be chalked out by SSA/Department of Education to address the specific needs of English teachers of classes 1-4 and 5-8

Training modules may be prepared to address both the proficiency of teachers and the pedagogy embedded in the English curriculum

Graded supplementary reading materials may be prepared for the students of classes 1-7.

Interactive multimedia learning materials may be prepared for the use in the classroom and the language laboratory (wherever such a facility exists).

The findings of the impact study may be validated through observation of classroom process and interaction with students and teachers.

The study has found that there is considerable transmission loss in the training process at the grass root level. Training at the BRC level is found to be ineffective as reported by the teachers. In addition to face to face training distance mode and teleconferencing mode of training should be given to the trainers as well as the teachers. Various structures like education department, SSA, SCERT, IT @school and RIESI can converge to undertake teacher training programmes including face to face, distance mode and teleconferencing modes.

In order to meet the present challenges with regard to teacher training the State needs a pool of trained resource persons at the State, district and BRC levels. This resource pool can be used for teacher training, preparation of modules, monitoring, action research and material production.

The highlights of the impact study and recommendations may be posted on the SSA website.

Monitoring and OSS activities may be strengthened at the grass root level to monitor the performance of the learners and the system.

Comments and suggestions may be invited from parents, students and public about the new curriculum, textbooks, classroom transactions and student performance.

A monitoring committee at SSA/Department of Education may be constituted to collate such comments and suggestions for suitable follow-up.

The study also has identified system-lethargy in the functioning of a few districts and BRCs of SSA structure in Kerala. SSA has to initiate action to revamp these structures.

The study observes IT -enabled classroom transaction is not taking place in the classes. Though there are computers in most of the schools teachers are not using them because they have a sort of technophobia. This is to be addressed through IT-enabled training programmes. It should be used as an integral component of teacher training.

Digital multimedia language labs with interactive software can be effectively used to facilitate language acquisition. The study recommends SSA to make use of the available computers in BRC’s and set up miniature language labs.

•	One major limitation of the study is that it mainly relies on the questionnaire as one of the research instruments and can only obtain information about what the teachers and trainers say they do, not what they actually do.
•	The investigators were not able to observe the training given to the trainers and teachers.
•	Some of the BRC’s did not furnish data required for the study.
•	The samples of student portfolio, group products and teaching manuals collected from the BRC’s are comparatively less in number than that of the student response sheets.
•	Most importantly, the study lacks data obtained from the observation of classroom process from all the BRC’s in the State.