dc.description.abstract |
Education systems and structures in Kenya has rapidly expanded, posing quality issues on
production of educational materials. Although Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development
(KICD)is in the nucleus of quality assessment towards production of quality educational materials
in Kenya through execution of its mandate, there has been limited focus on determining the extent
of the role played towards quality assessment of educational materials in Kenya. The purpose of
this study was to investigate quality assessment of educational materials by KICD with a view of
identifying the challenges and recommending measures for improvement. The specific objectives
were to: Examine the evaluation process as a tool of assessing quality of educational materials;
determine the educational policies that lead to quality educational materials; analyze the role of
stakeholders towards assessing the quality of educational materials; and make recommendations
on quality assessment of educational materials by KICD. This research was guided by total
quality management theory. A case study research design was employed, utilizing mixed method
approach. Interviews were conducted on 18 senior officers drawn from KICD, Ministry of
Education and publishing houses through purposive sampling. Quantitative data was collected
from a sample size of 71 members representing 20% of 356 members of staff working in the three
departments, through a structured questionnaire. Qualitative data was analysed through content
analysis while Quantitative data was analysed using descriptive statistics. The results from the
qualitative interviews carried revealed that the KICD uses vetting teams and guides in evaluation
of learning materials. The study findings showed that the entire process of book evaluation was
done by various stakeholders who include subject teachers, quality assurance officers, Kenya
National Examinations Council, curriculum developers, printing and publications members,
officials from Ministry of Education, the evaluation committees, and the academic committees.
The quality of learning materials in relation to choice of paper and binding style was found to be
determined by target users, size of book, grammage and KICD’s guidelines. Major finding from
correlation results indicated that stakeholders’ involvement has negative association towards
quality of educational materials while regression estimations revealed that policy implementation
was significant in determining the quality of educational materials positively. On the other hand,
stakeholder involvement was found to influence quality educational materials negatively. The
study therefore, recommends that the government should create more policies and/or strengthen
the existing ones and should ensure that these policies are strictly enforced. Quality in book
evaluation at the KICD should ensure that few stakeholders are involved and given proper
guidelines to follow in designing, production and distribution of educational materials |
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