INVESTIGATING THE ALIGNMENT BETWEEN THE FOURTH-GRADE LEBANESE SCIENCE CURRICULUM AND TIMSS-2019 ASSESSMENT FRAMEWORK

Abstract

This conducted research focused on the alignment between one of the TIMSS large-scale assessment frameworks and the Lebanese curriculum. Particularly, the purpose of this study was to investigate the alignment between the fourth grade Lebanese science curriculum and TIMSS-2019 assessment framework in terms of two dimensions, with content forming the first dimension and cognitive demands forming the second one.

The Surveys of Enacted Curriculum alignment model was adopted in this study to examine the agreement between the two documents under analysis. Data available by means of the two selected documents were analyzed using the three tools: ‘Curriculum Matching Sheet’ (CMS), ‘Assessment Matching Sheet’ (AMS) and ‘Content-by-Cognitive Demands Matrix’ in the three methodological procedures: ‘Fourth Grade Lebanese Science Curriculum Matching Procedure’, ‘TIMSS Assessment Framework Matching Procedure’ and ‘Curriculum-Assessment Classification Procedure’, respectively.

Findings revealed the presence of a huge content gap in the fourth grade Lebanese curriculum with respect to the TIMSS assessment framework requirements. On the other hand, results showed that the latter is not missing a lot from the former’s content demands. Further analysis disclosed the existence of similarities and differences in the content and cognitive demands emphasis of the two chosen documents. The calculated Porter alignment index indicated that there exists a somewhat moderate alignment between the fourth grade Lebanese science curriculum and TIMSS assessment framework.

Implications for the concerned educational parties are discussed in the light of these results.