Learning to read and numerate in thedeveloping world:
Cross-national commonalities anddifferences in primary school curricula
and textbooks

Prof. Aaron Benavot
Seminar, Center for the Study of International
Cooperation in Education, Hiroshima University

A real team effort!
Thanks to the following colleagues and students for theirexpertise and efforts in support of this large-scale project:
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Dr. Gilbert Valverde
Dr. Samira Alayan
Dr. Lilia Verónica Toranzos
Dr. Yi-Jung Wu
Gloria Zambrano
Treisy Romero
Marcellus Taylor
Polinda Keo
Fadi Kanaan
Zakhar Berkovich
Laurence Padjip
Julliet Ochienghs

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Laura Manley
Dr. Prachayani Praphamontripong
Yaser Robles
Hue DoPerveen Faisal
Muhammad Mubeen
Newshaw Bahreyni
Rostati Rostati
Chinthaka Jayawardena
Faisal Yaqoob
Zafar Aminov
Dhanushki Samaranayake

Project was funded by UNESCO’s Institute for Statistics, Montreal Canada

Preliminary Remarks
In contrast to many existing cross-national studies ofcurricula and textbooks, this study:• Mainly addresses policy concerns/debates around ‘quality education’and learning outcomes, and not a specific issue in the analysis ofschool curricula• Focuses on international, rather that national, level policies• Focuses on end of primary cycle (grades 4-6), not secondary educ• Analyzes ‘core’ subjects—reading and mathematics—and not
subjects in the social sciences (history, geography, civics, environ)• Focuses exclusively on countries in the developing world• Depicts cross-national patterns in the current period and notchanges over time
• Codes textbooks and curricula using native language speakers

Outline of Presentation
1. Background: Recent international policies/UNESCO
initiatives to improve quality education in thedeveloping world
2. Creating an international collection of official curricular
documents in reading and mathematics-ICATA
3. Examining the diversity & representativeness ofanalyzed curricular materials
4. Three main research questions
5. Methods: Coding frameworks and coding process
6. Results, Summary and Caveats
7. Conclusion and Next Steps

International policy: EFA & Quality• In 1990, Jomtien Thailand, the Education for All
agenda emerged - an ‘expanded vision of basic
education’ – committing governments, international
agencies, donors and NGOs to ‘universal access to,and completion of, primary education by 2000’• In 2000, Dakar Senegal, the World Education Forumagreed that by 2015 ‘all children…will have access toand complete free and compulsory primary educationof good quality.’ More comprehensive set of six EFA
goals was established• EFA Goal 6: “Improving all aspects of the quality ofeducation and ensuring excellence of all so that recognized
and measurable learning outcomes are achieved by all,especially in literacy, numeracy and essential life skills”

UNESCO Initiatives on Quality• Main interagency initiatives (2000-2010): ‘But Can
They Read’, ‘From Access to Success’; ‘Learning
Counts’; ‘International Working Group on
Assessing and Improving Quality Learning’ andTeacher Education in Sub-Saharan Africa (TISSA)• UNESCO involved in regional learning assessments in
Latin America and sub-Saharan Africa• On-going shift in monitoring quality education: from afocus on monitoring inputs and enabling conditions(eg, pupil-teacher ratios, teacher qualifications,
textbook availability, expenditures) to learning
outcomes—especially in literacy, numeracy and ‘life
skills’Specific Background to this Study• Linked to International Education for All
Agenda: Emerging priority since 2000-quality education & learning outcomes• Captures policy shift: from access toquality issues; from monitoring inputs tooutcomes; though learning process still‘black box’
• Initially part of UNESCO inter-agency
initiative: ‘Learning Counts’ (2008-2010)• Present study was one of several
commissioned by UIS as background forthe ‘International Working Group on
Assessing and Improving Quality
Learning’Main aims: Create int'l curriculum
archive and explore commonalities
Aim: To obtain official curriculum documents in reading
and mathematics for the upper grades of primaryeducation in a diverse range of developing countries,
and identify curricular commonalities/ differences• Specific focus: The intended
curriculum guidelines andTextbooks in reading andmathematics for grades 4-6• Means: Official networks e.g.
IBE, UNESCO, MoE web sites• Non-official networks: int’lcolleagues and scholars;
UAlbany int’l students

Creation of International Curriculum
and Textbook Archive: ICATA• ICATA contains over 700 documents• Includes different document types: official
guidelines, policy statements, teacher
guides, textbooks, exercise books and (afew) exams• Documents come from over 60 countries• Two main doc categories: 1) Official
curriculum guidelines; 2) Textbooks• About 60% of relevant documents coded• (Additional documents compiled but notcoded: out of date, other subjects/grades)Countries Represented in Archive
Egypt

BahamasIndonesia

JordanBermudaLebanonNicaragua

Iran

Namibia

Papua New Brazil
GuineaPanamaPakistan

Senegal

Dominican
Republic

Philippines

Chile

Paraguay

Sri Lanka

South Africa

Palestinian
Autonomous
Territories

Eastern
Caribbean*

Singapore

Colombia

Peru

AngolaUgandaQatar

Jamaica

TaiwanCosta Rica

Venezuela

Benin

Armenia

Syrian Arab
Republic

Saint Lucia

Thailand

Ecuador

Trinidad &TobagoBotswana

Kyrgyzstan

Tunisia

Cambodia

VietnamEl Salvador

Afghanistan Ghana

United Arab China (+two Sudan
Emirates
major cities) (south)

GuatemalaBangladesh

Lesotho

Libya

MexicoIndia

Mauritius

Hong Kong

Argentina

BelizeUzbekistan

MaltaLanguage Diversity: Documents
coded in 15 different languages
Curricular Guidelines

Textbooks

Enrollments of countries in analysis
relative to enrollments in region
What percentage of primary school enrolments in each region is'covered' by coded curriculum materials in this study?
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
40%
30%
20%
10%
0%

Not covered
Covered

93%
50%

93%

98%

42%
19%

Arab States

Central Asia

East Asia and Latin America South and West Sub-Saharan
the Pacificand theAsia
AfricaCaribbean

Only enrolments in developing countries are included in regional calculations

Average income of countries in analysis
relative to average income in region
How representative are countries in study to all developing countries in
the region, by weighted regional averages* of GNP per capita?
12000

US$ (PPP)

10000
8000

Sample10142 9822

Region
7727
6912
6026

6000
4719

5112

4000

4577
2929 2880

2770

1888

2000
0

Arab States

Central Asia

East Asia and the Latin America andPacific
Caribbean

South and West Sub-Saharan Africa
Asia

Only developing countries are included in the calculation of regional averages

3 Key Research Questions• To what extent do diverse developing countries in the world
define similar contents and performance expectations inreading and mathematics in the upper grades of primaryeducation? (the commonalities issue- International policy)• To what extent do the content domains of official curriculum
statements in reading and mathematics align with those foundin relevant textbooks? (the alignment issue- National policy)• In which countries are performance expectations inmathematics curricula more (or less) cognitively challenging?
(the challenging curriculum issue- Curriculum developers)[In the future performance expectations in reading will be explored.]Challenge: How to characterize (and compare)the entire contents of a curricular guideline or
textbook, not a specific topic within them

CodingFrameworks(from TIMSS & PIRLS)

CodingProcess

Coding the intended contents ofmathematics & reading• Drew upon detailed coding frameworks from TIMSS and PIRLS todefine two basic dimensions of the mathematics and reading
curriculum: 1) the intended topics, issues and contents taught ineach subject; and 2) the standards that students are expected toachieve in each subject at a given grade level (or cycle)• The first dimension--contents--reflects the subject knowledge
domains; the latter--performance expectations--refers to the skills
and competences that students are expected to possess as aconsequence of classroom instruction• Detailed TIMSS and PIRLS coding schemes were simplified• Also, coding frameworks cover a wider range of knowledge than one
would expect to find primary-level textbooks in developing countries• Note: the same subject coding framework was used for bothcurricular statements/ guidelines and textbooks

Coding framework in mathematics• The mathematics framework is divided into 10 generalcontent topics (2 digit) that are divided into detailed subcategories (3 digit) and even sub-sub-categories (4 digit) .
• The topics range from simple mathematical concepts (e.g.,whole numbers, fractions and decimals) and operations tomore complex topics such as geometry, proportionality anddata representation• Performance expectations in mathematics are organizedfrom simple to more complex.
• Five major performance expectations: knowing; using routine
procedures; investigating and problem solving; mathematicalreasoning; and communicating.
• Each performance standard is further subdivided into one ormore specific competencies

Coding Framework In Math(Contents)
1.1

Numbers
1.1.1

Whole Numbers
1.1.1.1
Meaning
The uses of numbers
Place value & numeration
Ordering & comparing numbers
1.1.1.2

1.1.2

Operations

Addition
Subtraction
Multiplication
Division
Mixed Operations
1.1.1.3
Properties of Operations
Associative properties
Commutative properties
Identity properties
Distributive properties
Other number properties
Fractions & Decimals
1.1.2.1
Common Fractions
Meaning & representation of common fractions
Computations with common fractions & mixed numbers
1.1.2.2
Decimal Fractions
Meaning & representation of decimals
Computations with decimals
1.1.2.3.
Relationships of Common & Decimal Fractions
Conversion to equivalent forms
Ordering of fractions & decimals
1.1.2.4
Percentages

Math Coding Framework(Contents)
1.4

1.5

1.6

Geometry: Symmetry, Congruence & Similarity
1.4.1
Geometry: Transformations
Patterns, tessellations, friezes, stencils, etc
Symmetry
Transformations
1.4.2
Congruence & Similarity
Congruence
Similarities (similar triangles and their properties; other similar figures and properties)
1.4.3
Constructions w/ Straightedge & Compass
Proportionality
1.5.1
Proportionality Concepts
Meaning of ratio and proportion
Direct and inverse proportion
1.5.2
Proportionality Problems
Solving proportional equations
Solving practical problems with proportionality
Scales (maps and plans)
Proportion based on similarity
1.5.3
Slope & Simple Trigonometry
1.5.3.1
Slope and gradient in straight line graphs
Trigonometry of right triangles
1.5.4
Linear Interpolation & Extrapolation
Functions, Relations, & Equations
1.6.1
Patterns, Relations & Functions
Number patterns
Relations and their properties
Functions and their properties
Representation of relations and functions
Families of functions (graphs and properties)

Math Coding Framework(Performance Expectations)2

Performance Expectations
2.1
Knowing
2.1.1

2.1.2

Representing
Select an appropriate representation
Construct an appropriate informal representation for the subject (e.g., a sketch)
Construct a formal representation governed by strict construction procedures
Recognizing equivalents
Indicate recognition of an equivalence by identification or selection

2.1.3

Construct an object equivalent to a given object or two equivalent object of a certain category
Select or construct an object and its equivalent decomposition or two equivalent decompositions
Recalling mathematical objects and properties
Recalling mathematical objects and properties
Recognizing mathematical objects and properties

2.2

Using routine procedures
2.2.1

Using equipment
2.2.1.1
2.2.1.2

2.2.2

Using instruments, for example, measuring instruments
Using computational devices

Performing routine procedures
2.2.2.1

Counting

2.2.2.2

ComputingIdentify an appropriate single computational operation
Identify an appropriate single computational method
Predict the effect of a computation operation or method

Coding framework in reading
The reading framework consists of three dimensions
1. The types of written texts that students can expect
to find in reading textbooks and guidelines
2. The key elements of written texts (e.g., types andstructure of plots, purposes and functions of written
texts)
3. Various performance expectations in reading which
examine levels of reading comprehension.

Coding framework in reading• The coding framework lists more than 60 types of written
texts that can be found in reading textbooks and official
guidelines• The key elements of written texts include, eg, types andstructure of plots, purposes and functions of texts, which arefurther subdivided into more specific categories• Performance expectations in reading are divided into fourtypes of reading comprehension:
1. literal comprehension (e.g., identifying parts of the text, remembering
what is written)
2. inferential comprehension (e.g., compare, deduce, generalize, apply)
3. value or evaluative comprehension (judgments about text)
4. meta-comprehension (e.g., formulating and proving hypotheses;
continued reading, elaborate analogies)

Coding Framework In
Reading(Types of texts)
60+ Types of written texts
RiddlePosters .Banner
Ad
Opinion Article
NoticeBiography
Letter
Signs
Catalog
Comment
Contract
Chronicle
Story / Tale
Curriculum Vitae
Joke
National form of verse
Definition
Personal Diary
Dictionary
Housekeeping Journal
Dissertation
Editorial
Encyclopedia

Essay
Interview
EpitaphTags, Labels
Fable
Bill
Brochure
FormGraphic, Graph
Tourism guideScience fiction story
Real life story
Mystery story
ComicsReportInstruction (Procedure)
Invitations
Sign
Law
Legend, myth
School textbook
ManualMap
Menu

Monograph
Annotation
News item
Novel
Play
Newspaper
Poem
Postcards
Weather forecast
Proverb
RecipeReceipt
SayingHistoric account
ArticleReview
Magazine
Labels, signs, heading
Table
Cards
Religious textSong
OthersReading Coding Framework (elements)(Contents)

Reading Coding Framework(Performance Expectations)

Reading Coding Framework(Performance Expectations)
Performance expectations
Literal comprehension (elements explicitly found in
the text)
Explicit information found in the text
Identify
Extract
Find
Remember
Inferential comprehension (use/handling of implicit
elements in the text).
Types of inference, according to the operation
Differentiate
CompareDeductGeneralize
ApplyInterpret
Reorganize
Relate/Connect
Summarize

Value or evaluative comprehension(judge reading elements against values, norms
criteria)
Judgments about
Precision-vaguenessCoherence-incoherence
Complexity-simplicity
Validity and/or reliability
Completeness of the information
The probability or plausibility
The contrast with values and/or personal expe
The contrast with socio-cultural values or exp
Metacomprehension
Strategies
Formulate hypotheses
Prove hypotheses
Predict
The content
The ending
Information

Training Coders and Coding Process
Applying complex coding frameworks to actual curricular materials in different languages• Pilot phase and training sessions: Application andadjustments to frameworks; Week-long training at
UAlbany with language proficient coders; Weekly
team meetings to identify coding problems andsolutions; Training of new coders and language
specialists• Coding procedures: Coder divides archived document
into ‘segments’; reviews each segment and lists a
series of (3 or 4 digit) codes relevant to content andperformance expectations found in segment.
• (Later completes supplemental questionnaire)Examples of coded documents (1)Examples of coded documents (2)Examples of coded documents (3)Codes organized for each country by
subject, document type and grade level
Creation of 8 ‘Master’ Tables:
1. Mathematics Text Books 5th & 6th Grades
2. Mathematics Text Books 6th Grade only
3. Mathematics Curriculum Guidelines 5th & 6th Grades
4. Mathematics Curriculum Guidelines 6th Grade only
5. Reading Textbooks 5th & 6th Grades
6. Reading Textbooks 6th Grade only
7. Reading Curriculum Guidelines 5th & 6th Grades
8. Reading Curriculum Guidelines 6th Grade only
Reported results based on master tables in yellow-- info for grades 5 & 6

Number of countries in Master Tables(benchmark of 70% to define commonalities)
Subject
Document
type

Curriculum

Mathematics

Reading

Grade 6 (only):27

23

Grades 5 & 6

30 (21)25 (18)33

32

31 (22)30 (21)

Guidelines

Grade 6

Textbooks
Grades 5 & 6(Parenthesis: # of countries that must have same codes to reach 70% benchmark)Results

Results: Commonalities in Mathematics(Pooled info for grades 5 and 6)• Much common ground (across at least 70% of examineddeveloping countries) in knowledge domains and performance
expectations of mathematics textbooks and curricular
guidelines (pooled info from grades 5 and 6).
• Most textbooks and guidelines include instruction in: whole
numbers (their meaning, operations and properties), fractions
and decimals; measurement issues; two- and threedimensional geometry; and data representation and analysis.
Proportionality concepts and problems are common to
textbooks but not guidelines.
• Examples of content domains not in common: Integer, rationaland real numbers; Other number concepts; functions, relations
and equations; as well as probability and statistics.

Results: Commonalities in Mathematics(Pooled info for grades 5 and 6)• Common performance expectations (in both textbooks andguidelines) include: representing math expressions and recognizing
equivalents; using measuring instruments (in textbooks); performing
various kinds of counting, computing and measuring (but notgraphing) procedures; investigating and problem solving. Using more
complex procedures was common in guidelines but not textbooks.

• Overall, commonalities in math standards mainly revolvearound routine and basic skills in mathematical problem solving
and reasoning, and not in relation to the more cognitively
demanding skills• Overall, fewer commonalities in the contents of official
policy statements in mathematics when compared to
textbooks

Results: Commonalities in Reading• Unlike mathematics, countries hold more divergent views
about the contents of the primary reading curriculum.
Countries vary significantly in the types and functions of thewritten texts used, the acts of speech learned, as well as thetypes and structures of plots found in the texts.
• Reading textbooks draw on a diverse array of text types inteaching students to read. From a list of over 60 types of written
texts, only 6 show up in 70% or more of all grade 5 and 6
textbooks examined: stories/tales, poems, plays,
letters, historical accounts and biographies.
• In official statements and guidelines there is only one
common type of written text: poems.
•

Thus, ministry officials and textbook writers hold divergent views as to thetexts students should use to acquire reading proficiency

Results: Commonalities in Reading•

Commonalities in reading textbooks: 1) written texts are typically informativeand express factual informative; 2) they typically have plot types emphasizing
narration, description and explanation; 3) they include 1st person, 2nd person and 3rd
person accounts; 4) they typically include acts of speech focusing on dialogue; 5)
the purpose of the texts is ‘to learn something’; and 6) they typically have
instructions that ask students to read texts in different modes: read out loud, insilence & by scanning or skimming.

•

None of the above elements are commonly found in official guidelines.
Only one basic element of the reading curriculum is common to both textbooks andguidelines—namely, including a written text whose function is to be informative.

•

Commonalities in performance levels—in textbooks and guidelines.
Students should: 1) be able to identify, extract, find and remember explicit
information in the written text; 2) develop various inference skills: to compare,deduce, generalize, apply, interpret, connect, include summarize and paraphrase
implicit elements in the text; and 3) develop evaluative judgments about the written
texts—e.g., the extent to which they are coherent (or not), precise/opaque,complex/simple, valid, reliable, complete or plausible. More cognitively challenging
reading standards were much less common across countries.

Second Research Question• To what extent do diverse developing countries in the world
define similar contents and performance expectations inreading and mathematics in the upper grades of primaryeducation? (the commonalities issue)• To what extent do the content domains of official
curriculum statements in reading and mathematics
align with those found in relevant textbooks? (thealignment issue)• In which countries are performance expectations inmathematics curricula more (or less) cognitively challenging?
(the challenging curriculum issue)

Curricular Alignment: Comparing
intentions with classroom implementation•

Important distinction between official, intended curriculum and actual,
implemented curriculum (and also received or achieved curriculum)•

Considerable cross-national information available about the intended
curriculum and much less about the implemented curriculum; there aredifferent ways to conceive and measure the latter•

In current study, curricular guidelines represent reasonably well the official
intended curriculum; textbooks lie in between the intended and the actual
implemented curriculum•

Especially in classrooms where teaching is organized in close accordancewith the textbook, then textbooks more accurately approximate the actual
implemented curriculum. Nevertheless, this tendency varies between
classrooms, schools, and within and between countries•

Therefore, makes sense to refer to textbooks as the ‘potentially
implemented’ curriculum (Valverde)Measuring Curricular Alignment• Determine and compare the content codes found in curricular
guidelines and in textbooks for same grade level(s)• The denominator refer to the total number of content codesthat are found in either the guidelines or the textbooks in either
grade 5 or grade 6• The numerator refers to the number of content codes that arefound in each subject in BOTH the intended curricular
guidelines and the textbooks in either grades 5 and 6• The constructed percentage refers to the percent of shared oraligned contents per subject area across document types

Results: Curricular Alignment inMathematics
Percentage of aligned contents between official curriculum and textbooks in mathematics, in
grades 5 & 6, by country
Sri Lanka

42%

Colombia

42%

Thailand39%

Cambodia37%

Mexico**35%

Costa Rica

35%

Phillipines

33%

Hong Kong*

32%

Dominican Rep

32%

Taiwan

32%

China

30%

Peru

28%

Pakistan***28%

Argentina

26%

Paraguay

25%

Chile

21%
0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

40%

45%

Results: Curricular Alignment in
Reading
Percentage of aligned contents between official curriculum and Textbooks in Reading,
grades 5 & 6, by country
Mexico31%

Philippines

28%

Pakistan**

23%

Cambodia

22%

Hong Kong*

17%

Dominican Rep

15%

Colombia

13%

Taiwan12%

Paraguay

10%

Thailand7%

Costa Rica

7%

Bahamas

7%
0%

5%

10%

15%

20%

25%

30%

35%

Possible reasons for low alignment levels?
• the relatively insular world of subject textbook writers• the lack of specificity in official guidelines and statements• the different target audiences addressed by official
statements/guidelines and textbook writers• the high expense of revising/adjusting textbooks in thewake of reforms to official curricular policies• editors, authors and even curriculum designers rely moreon past practices and existing materials, even whenstrongly urged to operationalize “new” ideas in the next
generation of materials• Other reasons?

Third Research Question•

To what extent do diverse developing countries in the world define similar
contents and performance expectations in reading and mathematics inthe upper grades of primary education? (the commonalities issue)•

To what extent do the content domains of official curriculum statements inreading and mathematics align with those found in relevant textbooks?
(the alignment issue)• In which countries are performance expectations inmathematics curricula more (or less) cognitively
challenging? (the challenging curriculum issue)

Distinguishing more or less Cognitively
Demanding Performance Expectations in Math
Least cognitively
demandingModerately
cognitively
demanding

Most cognitively
demandingRepresenting
Recognizing equivalents
Recalling mathematicalobjects
Using instruments
Using computational
devices
Measuring
Using data
Classifying data
Problem solving
Using vocabulary & notation

Comparing
Formulating and clarifying
problems and situations
Developing a strategy
Problem solving
Relating representations
Predicting
Verifying
Graphing

Developing algorithms
Generalizing
Conjecturing
Justifying and proving
Axiomatizing

Results: Which countries define challenging
performance standards in math guidelines?
Ratio of High performance expectations in math guidelines, by country and grade

1.20
1.00

1.00

1.00 1.00

1.00

1.00 1.00

1.00
0.83

0.80

0.80

0.78

0.75

0.71

0.70

0.67
0.62

0.60

0.56

0.67 0.67 0.67 0.67 0.67

0.67
0.60

0.57

0.60

0.60

0.60 0.60

0.50 0.50 0.50
0.45

0.40

0.38 0.38

0.40

0.42

0.50
0.43

0.32

0.20
0.00

Curriculum‐ 5th Grade

Curriculum ‐ 6th Grade

0.86

0.89
0.75

Results: Which countries define challenging
performance standards in math textbooks?
Ratio of High performance expectations in mathematics textbooks, by country and grade

1.20
1.00

1.00

1.00

1.00
0.93
0.89

0.89

0.86

0.88

0.81
0.71
0.67

0.72

0.67

0.73

0.75

0.78

0.75

0.60

0.40

0.20

0.15 0.14

0.00

Textbook ‐ 5th Grade

0.79

0.90
0.80

0.64

0.57

0.35

0.11

1.00 1.00 1.00 1.00

1.00

0.70

0.63
0.57

0.88

0.83

0.80
0.67

1.00

1.00

0.95

Textbook ‐ 6th GradeOverall Summary (1)• Diverse developing countries hold a fairly consensualand detailed view of what constitutes the mathematics
curriculum in upper grades of primary education—bothin terms of contents and performance standards. Thisis especially apparent in mathematics textbooks• Globalization of policies: evidence of the diffusion andinstitutionalization of select reforms in math educationin the developing world: collecting data; arraying themin simple tables and graphs; understanding simple
measures of central tendency and dispersion; andsampling

Summary (2)• Intended reading curriculum: a more fragmented orheterogeneous picture emerges. Minimal agreement
concerning the intended contents and structure of theupper primary grade reading curriculum.
• Performance standards represent the one exception.
Most developing countries share common ideas as tothe kinds of reading competences students should
attain by the end of the primary school cycle• Not only more commonalities in mathematics than inreading, but there are also more shared contents, orcloser alignment, within countries between theintended guidelines and textbooks in mathematics

Concluding remarks• Exploratory nature of the analyses conducted thus far• Clear evidence of substantial differences--in target
audiences, contents and alignment—between official
curricular guidelines and textbooks• More work needed: which factors influence commonalities
and alignment patterns in each subject; and which kinds ofcountries incorporate more cognitively challenging
expectations, and for what purposes• Policy implications for learning assessments in developing
countries (for the end of primary cycle)• Policy implications for educational governance (esp. inteacher training) due to the lack of alignment between
intended curricular policies and textbook contents

Next Steps…Further ResearchNext Steps• Complete coding of existing documents (grade 4, newmaterials, special languages)• Obtain more complete information for countries withincomplete files• Expand ICATA to include official documents in social
sciences and sciences and for other grade levels• Situate ICATA in emerging Institute of Global Education
Policy Studies (IGEPS) at University at Albany• Submit new funding proposals; explore partnerships (IBE,
GEI)• Disseminate findings in conferences, professional meetingsand publications

New research and policy questions• New analyses of existing database—for example, bylanguage group or world region• Spin-off analyses--e.g., cultural contents in Mandarin
reading curricula materials (Wu); Numeracy curriculain Latin America (Valverde/ Romero); Diglossia
issues in Arabic speaking countries (Kanaan)• New research into underlying dimensions of
textbooks in mathematics and reading: childcenteredness, gender parity, cultural contents• Invite scholars to explore new research questions

Thank You!
Aaron Benavot’s email: abenavot@albany.edu
Copy of report:
http://steinhardt.nyu.edu/scmsAdmin/media/users/jnw216/HMSS/BENAVOT_UIS_Curriculum_Report_for_NYU__Nov17_2011_.pdf

web sites:
ICATA: www.albany.edu/eaps/icata/
UIS: www.uis.unesco.org/