TOPIC 4

CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTIONAL MANAGEMENT

Curriculum and instruction management involves various strategic activities and responsibilities aimed at
ensuring that the educational content and pedagogies are effectively delivered and aligned with national
education standards and goals.
1. Curriculum development;
a. Aligning with Educational Standards
 Ensuring curriculum fidelity
- School administrators ensure that the curriculum is implemented as prescribed by the KICD,
with no unauthorized modifications.
- They monitor and give feedback on Professional documents, lesson plans, teaching materials,
and classroom activities to ensure alignment with curriculum objectives.
 Curriculum Mapping:
Develop detailed curriculum maps that outline the scope and sequence of what is taught across all subjects
and grade levels. This helps in identifying gaps and ensuring comprehensive coverage of all standards. They
arrange for the how the syllabus will be covered and provide insights for the strategies.
 Curriculum review and update:
Regularly review and update the learning curriculum to ensure it remains relevant and aligned with
current educational standards and student needs.
Ensuring the curriculum remains relevant to the changing socio-economic context and future job market
needs.
 Resource Allocation and Utilization
- Adequate resources, including textbooks, teaching aids, and technological tools, are
essential for effective curriculum delivery.
- School administrators ensure that resources are appropriately allocated and utilized to support
teaching and learning activities.
 Promotion of Co-Curricular activities:
These activities (music, drama and games) form part of the general goals of education and students
should be involved.
  Collaboration:
Collaboration with parents, guardians and stakeholders ensures that the students are well
supported in their learning and their needs catered to.
 Time Requirements:
The curriculum should be implemented in accordance to the set standards by the Ministry of
Education and the administrators should ensure the same.
 Monitoring and supervision
regular monitoring and supervision of instructional activities help ensure that the curriculum is being
implemented as intended and that learning practices are effective.
 Professional Development:
- Provide continuous professional development opportunities for teachers to enhance their
instructional skills and stay updated with the latest educational trends.
b. Incorporating Diverse Learning Needs
 Fostering a Positive Learning Environment
- Create a school culture that values academic excellence, encourages student participation,
and fosters a love for learning.
- Students in Secondary schools are going through adolescence the administrators are tasked
to consider their social, emotional and psychological needs and how this could affect their
academic performance.
- Ensure that the physical and emotional needs of students are met, providing a safe and supportive learning
environment.
- This extends to the teaching and support staff the administrators are to ensure that this
personnel are well taken care of in order for them to effectively achieve the goals
 Integrating cross-curricular themes
Ensure that themes such as critical thinking, digital literacy, and civic education are embedded across
subjects e.g. Develop interdisciplinary projects where students apply skills from multiple subjects, such as
a history and technology project on local history using digital storytelling tools.
*Discipline and conduct:
Ensures that the learner's discipline is upheld by setting rules and strategies of reinforcing the same, they
provide feedback on the discipline and conduct of the teachers as well to the relevant authorities.
 2. INSTRUCTIONAL STRATEGIES
These are the methods, materials and procedures that enable students to achieve learning outcomes as
outlined in the national goals of education.
I. Setting clear instructional goals:
Clearly communicate instructional goals and standards to the teaching and support staff on how to achieve
the goals; here they hold beginning-of-the-year meetings to outline academic expectations and the
strategies used to get to the expectations.
II. Differentiated instruction:
-Guide on the implementation of teaching methods that cater to diverse learning styles and abilities.
-They support tailored learning the varied instructional and assessment techniques such as group work,
hands-on activities, and technology integration to address different learning preferences.
-They provide resources required to promote creativity and innovation in learning.

III. ICT Integration:

Organize for educational software applications and Learning Management Systems that enhance
learning and students’ engagement. E.g. Zeraki
Provision of ICT gadgets to enhance digital literacy and integration e.g. computers, tablets projectors,
smart boards etc.
3. ASSESSMENT AND EVALUATION
Assessment and evaluation in secondary education administration play a critical role in understanding
student performance, informing instructional practices, and improving educational outcomes to align with
the national goals of education.
TYPES OF ASSESSMENT
There are three main types of Assessment:
a) Assessment for Learning
b) Assessment as Learning
c) Assessment of Learning

CATEGORIES OF ASSESMENT
1. Formative assessment
-On-going monitoring: implement regular, informal assessments such as quizzes, classroom
discussions, and observational checklists to monitor student progress and inform instruction.
-Feedback mechanisms: provide timely and specific feedback to students to help them understand
their strengths and areas for improvement.
2. Summative assessment
- End-of-term exams: use standardized tests, final exams, and major projects to evaluate student learning at
the end of a term or school year.
- Cumulative assessments: design assessments that cover a broad range of content learned over an
extended period to gauge overall student achievement. (CATS)
3. Performance-based assessment
- Project-based learning: assess students through projects that require the application of
knowledge and skills to real-world problems.
- Portfolios: use student portfolios to evaluate on-going work and progress over time, highlighting
both process and product.
4. Diagnostic assessment
- Pre-assessments: School administrators should ensure that their teachers conduct diagnostic tests
at the beginning of a class, lesson or topic to identify students’ prior knowledge and skills, allowing
for tailored instruction.
- Intervention planning: they should guide the teachers in using diagnostic data to plan targeted
interventions for students who need additional support.
5. Self and peer assessment
-Self-reflection: they encourage students to assess their own work and reflect on their learning
processes and outcomes.
- Peer feedback: implement peer assessment practices where students evaluate each other’s work, fostering
collaborative learning and critical thinking highlighting both process and product.

DESIGNING EFFECTIVE ASSESSMENTS

1. Define the purpose and goals
-The school administrators should ensure that the teachers Identify objectives and clearly define what they
want to assess. Are you measuring knowledge, skills, attitudes, or a combination?
- Set goals: They should guide and ensure that the teachers determine the specific goals of the
assessment, such as diagnosing learning needs, measuring progress, or evaluating overall
achievement.
2. Determine the type of assessment
- Formative vs. Summative: decide whether the assessment will be formative (ongoing, for feedback)
or summative (end of a unit or term, for grading).
- Assessment format: choose the format that best suits the objectives (e.g. Multiple-choice, short
answer, essay, performance-based, project-based).
3. Align with quality standards and curriculum
- Standards alignment: School administrators ensure the assessment aligns with relevant educational
standards and learning objectives.
- Curriculum integration: They should see to it that the teachers integrate the assessment into the
curriculum, ensuring it reflects the material taught and skills practiced.
4. Develop assessment criteria and rubrics
- Clear criteria: establish clear, specific criteria for what constitutes successful performance on the
assessment.
- Rubrics: create detailed rubrics that outline different levels of performance for each criterion.
Rubrics should be clear and concise to ensure consistent scoring.

5. Design the assessment items

- Variety of item types: School administrators should ensure that assessments use a mix of item types
(e.g., Multiple-choice, short answer, essays) to assess different levels of understanding and skills.
- Validity and reliability: They also should see to it that the items are valid (measure what they are
supposed to measure) and reliable (provide consistent results).
- Difficulty level: School administrators should also ensure balance the difficulty level to include
questions that assess basic understanding, application, and higher-order thinking skills.
6. Implement the assessment
- Clear instructions: They should provide clear instructions for both teachers and students on how to
administer and complete the assessment.
- Administration: ensure the assessment is administered under standardized conditions to maintain
fairness.

ANALYZING STUDENT PERFORMANCE

1. Descriptive analytics
- Basic statistics: School administrators should ensure calculation of average scores, pass rates, and
distribution of grades in subjects such as mathematics, English, and sciences.
- Visual representation: use bar charts, histograms, and pie charts to visually represent data, making it
easier to identify patterns and trends.
2. Comparative and trend analysis
- National benchmarks: School administrators should compare student performance against national
benchmarks, such as mean scores in KCSE.
- School comparisons: They should compare performance across different schools within the same
region or county to identify disparities and best practices.
3. Diagnostic analytics
- Subject-specific analysis: Principals should analyse data to identify strengths and
weaknesses in specific subjects by analysing performance trends a period of time.
- Teacher effectiveness analysis: Principals should evaluate the impact of teacher performance on
student outcomes by correlating student data with teacher evaluations and training records.
4. Establish clear objectives
- National goals: align data analysis objectives with Kenya's national education goals
and the competency-based curriculum (CBC) framework.
- School goals: define specific goals for improving student performance, such as KCSE (Kenya
certificate of secondary education) results, transition rates, and overall academic excellence.
5. Data collection and management
- Integrated systems: utilize the systems to collect and manage student data. Ensure the system
captures various data points such as exam scores, attendance, disciplinary records, and student
demographics.
- Manual records: supplement digital data with manual records where necessary, especially in
regions with limited digital infrastructure.
6. Data cleaning and preparation
-Accuracy checks: regularly verify the accuracy of data entries in LMS and other records to
correct any errors or inconsistencies.
- Standardization: ensure data from different sources is standardized in format for easier analysis.