Effectiveness of the Standards-Based Curriculum Implementation in the Amansie West District of Ghana

Abstract

This study examined the effectiveness of the standards-based curriculum implementation in the Amansie West District of Ghana. Its target population comprised all public primary school teachers, all District Education Directorate (DEO) staff and all public primary school learners in the Amansie West District. The study employed a descriptive survey research design using questionnaires and semi-structured interviews in the collection of data. A multistage sampling technique (stratified, simple random and purposive sampling techniques) was used to select a sample of 323, which was made up of 252 public primary school teachers, 42 headteachers, 11 D.E.O. staff and 18 pupils. Data gathered were analysed using descriptive statistics, specifically frequencies, percentages, means and standard deviation for the quantitative data and content analysis for the qualitative data. It was revealed that the implementation of the standards-based curriculum has been somewhat effective. This may be attributed to the fact that the implementation has not been that long, and since it’s a policy, it may have a long-term effect. However, the study revealed that among the Science, English and Mathematics objectives, the most achieved was the English objectives, and among the six core competencies, the most achieved was the digital literacy. It was therefore concluded that teachers be trained and motivated to see to it that the other objectives and core competencies that were least achieved will be greatly achieved, and the necessary resources provided for the same purposes