Public Report of Survey on the School Curriculum Reform and Implementation of Key Learning Area Curricula in Schools 2003

Q&A

Q1. What was the purpose of the study?
	The purpose of this study was to explore what progress had been made in curriculum reform and the implementation of Key Learning Area curricula in schools from the perspective of frontline practitioners, including school heads, KLA/subject heads and teachers.

Q2. What is the planning of the study?
	The study is one of the evaluation studies of the curriculum reform.
	The study is a longitudinal one commencing in the 2002-03 school year, designed to track the changes at school level over the subsequent three years.

Q3. Who conducted the Survey?
	The Curriculum Development Institute (CDI) has commissioned the Division of Social Studies, City University of Hong Kong to conduct the Survey in 2003.

Q4. When was the Survey conducted?
	The pilot study was conducted in June - July 2003. After refining the questionnaire, the Survey was administered in schools in July 2003.

Q5. Who took part in the Survey?
	Primary and secondary school heads, KLA/Subject heads and teachers teaching primary and junior secondary classes of the sampled schools took part in the Survey.

Q6. What sampling method was used?
	Stratified random sampling by financial mode was used.

Q7. What was the sample size of the Survey?

Altogether 5,532 questionnaires were collected from 148 primary schools and 2,239 questionnaires were collected from 101 secondary schools.

The table below shows the number of questionnaires collected from different respondents.

Q8. What were the response rates of the Survey?
	The response rates of primary schools and secondary schools were 85.5% and 75.9% respectively.

Q9. Why was the survey not administered to parents and students?
	Perception on student performance was provided by the respondents.
	Parents’ and students’ views on the school curriculum reform have been taken care by the Stakeholder Monitoring Survey on Education Reform and Major Education Initiatives conducted in 2003.
	Information on academic performance of students is being collected through systemic tests, including the Hong Kong Attainment Test and the Territory-wide System Assessment, and other means.

Q10. What will the information be used for?
Information collected in the survey will be used:
	to help understand the current state of the curriculum in schools;
	to identify areas in which further support is required for schools and teachers, and to adjust strategies of support;
	to determine whether and how greater impact on learning might be achieved; and
	to inform the interim review of the curriculum reform scheduled for 2005-06. The result of the study would also be used to inform the implementation of education reform in general.

Q11. Will there be a survey in 2003-04 school year? If yes, what is the progress?
	This school year, CDI commissioned the Chinese University of Hong Kong to conduct the survey again in order to obtain a thorough understanding about the state of affairs of how schools implement the curriculum reform. The information collected will be used to inform decisions on how to support schools better in the implementation of the curriculum reform.
	The survey has been administered in secondary schools and primary schools at late June 04 and early July 04 respectively.