Curriculum Improvement Program
In 1999, The Department of Education and Training introduced the Curriculum Improvement Program (CIP). This program supported schools in the implementation of the Curriculum Framework from the Curriculum Council in the context of the Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Policy (1998) .
To support implementation, and in particular the monitoring of student achievement of the Curriculum Framework outcomes, WA public schools were also provided with Student Outcome Statements. These were a series of developmental progress maps that described progressive achievement of student learning.
In 2002, the Department and the other systems/sectors agreed that the Curriculum Council would review the Student Outcome Statements and the Catholic Education Office progress maps with a view to producing a common set of Curriculum Framework Progress Maps. This work occurred in 2003-4 with the help of a series of key stakeholder groups of teachers and curriculum officers, data from schools/classrooms and research evidence from the Australian Council of Education Research (ACER).
During 2003 - 2005, Phase 2 of CIP involved :
- Implementation of the Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Policy (1998) and a focus on standards as the basis for reporting to parents;
- Development of aspirational Achievement Targets in:
- English in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9;
- Mathematics; Science in Years 5, 7 and 9;
- Society and the Environment in Years 7 and 9; and
- The Arts , LOTE, T & E, H & PE in Year 9.
- Specific professional development and the provision of support materials including Curriculum Guides focusing on pedagogy.
From 2005, the Outcomes and Standards Framework replaced the Student Outcome Statements with the revisions ensuring a more direct alignment to the Curriculum Framework outcomes and improved clarity, consistency and utility for teachers in classrooms. From 2006 all aspects of the policy became fully operational with the revised Curriculum, Assessment and Reporting Policy.
