A study of the implementation and impact of the MYP: Next chapter (Summary report II) (2018)

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Tarek Azzam, Sarah Mason, Matt Swope, Agnieszka Rykaczewska and Megan Mansfield —Claremont Evaluation Center

/In 2014, the International Baccalaureate (IB) began a curriculum change intended to enhance the Middle Years Programme (MYP), making it “better for students, easier for teachers, and more flexible for schools”. This report summarizes findings from the second phase of a multi-year study examining the implementation and impact of this change, which was named “MYP: Next chapter”. The second phase of the study explored how schools implement nine MYP curriculum components. In this phase, more than 2,500 MYP teachers and nearly 17,000 MYP students completed online performance-monitoring surveys and 19 schools took part in case study visits. Findings suggest that most schools are meeting expectations for this stage of implementation, although the full MYP “package” is not always implemented. Instead, some schools tend to prioritize certain MYP components over others, with a particular emphasis on concept-driven teaching and global contexts. Teachers’ understanding of the MYP curriculum and their belief in its value as a framework for learning were the strongest facilitators of MYP implementation. Consequently, a school’s capacity to facilitate understanding of the MYP curriculum was a key driver of success in MYP implementation. Lastly, there is initial evidence of emerging student outcomes consistent with MYP: Next chapter intentions.

Summary report (PDF, 9.7 MB)