Dr Peggy Kong and Dr Jill Sperandio—College of Education, Lehigh University
This study aims to investigate schools’ definitions of the “success” of the Primary Years Programme (PYP) and how they evaluate their definitions of success in relation to the following: 1) school leadership, 2) teachers’ pedagogical beliefs and practices, 3) parent satisfaction with the PYP, 4) student learning outcomes, 5) students’ demonstration of IB learner profile attributes, 6) development of international-mindedness and 7) school ethos and culture. Between October 2012 and May 2013, questionnaires were distributed to all PYP schools that had gone through their first evaluation, followed by site visits to six schools from the three regions to gather in-depth information about schools’ perceptions of “success” and their journeys to successful programme implementation in context. The study provides an understanding of the most valued aspects of the PYP from the perspective of stakeholder groups in different school contexts and identifies the indicators these groups use to measure successful programme implementation. The study also suggests areas for future programme development and offers recommendations on how this development could be approached.
