Longitudinal Study of Learning Achievement of Students in the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao

Project Details

In October 2012, the Australian government announced a six year aid program, Basic Education Assistance to Mindanao – Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao program (BEAM-ARMM) to support around 40,000 children gain access to a basic education. This program included the implementation of the BRAC Alternative Delivery Model (ADM). The Australian Government funded a three year study, LearnARMM, which was undertaken by the University of Melbourne in partnership with the Assessment Curriculum and Technology Research Centre (a partnership between the University of Melbourne and the University of the Philippines, supported by Australian government). The study was designed to track and analyse the learning achievement of students in ADM schools in rural and remote areas of the Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (ARMM). The study commenced on 13 June 2013 and was completed in 2016. The major objective of the study was to understand how learning achievement unfolds in very different contexts with the intention of informing curriculum design, classroom practices, assessment processes and teacher professional development at the national level and especially in ARMM.

The project team completed activities designed to identify how students under the ADM progress through the Philippines curriculum, and the extent to which this progression may be similar to their peers in the Department of Education (DepEd) ARMM schools. The goals of the study were to:

• Develop a suite of assessment tools which will assess students' skills consistent with the objectives of the national curriculum, and which will therefore have wider applicability beyond the needs of this project.
• Assess students toward beginning of Grade 1, end of Grade 1 and end of Grade 2 in order to evaluate their learning in line with curriculum objectives.
• Understand explanatory influences on student outcomes, both across and within the two teaching contexts.

Please visit the LearnARMM project website for details of the project team and for more information about the project.

Project Team

• Professor Esther Care, Project Director
• Pam Robertson
• Dr Alvin Vista
• Dr Rebekah Luo
• Dr Cuc Nguyen

Collaborators

Assessment Curriculum and Technology Research Centre

Australian Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Funding

Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade - Australian Government