Determinants of the Effective Implementation of Common Core Curriculum in Ghanaian Junior High Schools

Abstract

Over the past two decades, Ghana has been revising its curricula to address the country's existing needs, aspirations, and challenges. However, there is limited understanding of the factors that may contribute to the successful implementation of these curricula. This study aimed to assess the determinants of implementing the Common Core Curriculum in Junior High Schools in Ghana. A quantitative research approach employing a descriptive research design was utilized, and data were collected using a questionnaire from 436 respondents made up of teachers and head teachers. Confirmatory Factor Analysis (CFA) was used to validate the questionnaire. Multiple regression and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) were employed to analyze the data. The major findings reveal that school-based, learners-based and teachers-based factors are predictors of effective implementation of the Common Core Curriculum in public junior high schools in Ghana. It was recommended that adequate instructional materials, monitoring, and supervision be provided to facilitate the effective implementation of the Common Core Curriculum in Junior High Schools. These results have implications for both policy and practice concerning teacher recruitment and curriculum implementation in educational institutions.

Received: 31 July 2024 | Revised: 16 October 2024 | Accepted: 14 January 2025

Conflicts of Interest

The authors declare that they have no conflicts of interest to this work.

Data Availability Statement

The data that support this work are available upon reasonable request to the corresponding author.

Author Contribution Statement

Ibrahim Abubakari: Conceptualization, Software, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Project administration. Amadu Musah Abudu: Methodology, Validation, Formal analysis, Investigation, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Supervision, Project administration. Joseph Dwamena Quansah: Methodology, Validation, Investigation, Resources, Data curation, Writing - original draft, Writing - review & editing, Visualization, Project administration.