Educational excellence and the school curriculum

The paper focuses on three key concepts, defining them as follows:-

Curriculum is a set of planned conditions for learning.

Excellence is the valued, value-added multiplied attainment of crucial institutional or societal needs.

A Performance Indicator is a summary statistic or statement indicating the nature and extent of overall performance of a system or subsystem.

Using a conceptual model, the complexities of curriculum development is explored. The situation in Singapore, which stresses societal needs and progressive decentralisation of responsibility for curriculum development, is briefly alluded to.

Likely problems of operationalising certain statements on educational excellence in Singapore are also examined. Three dimensions of excellence, namely effectiveness, efficiency and equity, are advocated and elaborated upon.

A general approach to developing indicators is suggested. A framework for highlighting important individual and societal needs is presented to accompany this challenging task.