Evaluation of the sixth grade English curriculum through the illuminative program evaluation model

The purpose of this study is to evaluate the sixth grade English Curriculum through the Illuminative Program Evaluation Model. The concurrent transformative design, which is one of the mixed methods, was applied in the research and the instructional system and learning milieu dimensions of the program were evaluated in accordance with the Illuminative Program Evaluation Model. Data related to the instructional system of the program were collected through document review and the "School/Classroom Equipment and Physical Setting Observation Form" developed by the researcher. Data regarding the learning milieu were obtained through the "Lesson Observation Form", "Teacher Interview Form", "Student Interview Form", "Teacher Survey" developed by the researcher and the "Attitude Scale Towards English" developed by Aydoğmuş and Kurnaz (2017). The English curriculum was analyzed in terms of recommendations for teachers as part of the study. Observations were made on the equipment/physical setting of two socio-economically different public secondary schools in Siirt province and six-week observations were made in the lessons of 2 teachers teaching English in the sixth grades of these schools. Interviews were also held with 7 English teachers in the schools where observations were made. The attitude scale was applied to 54 students in which observations were took place, and interviews were held with 40 students studying these classes. Besides, a survey was applied to 175 English teachers teaching English in public secondary schools in Siirt province and its districts. In the study, curriculum was analyzed with document analysis technique. Content analysis was used to analyze teacher and student interviews and observations regarding equipment/physical setting. Mean calculations and descriptive analysis techniques were used in lesson observations. Wilcoxon Signed Rank Test was used to analyze the attitude scale, and arithmetic mean and percentage calculations were used to analyze the surveys. According to the findings related to the evaluation of the instructional system of the curriculum, 32 suggestions for teachers were found in the curriculum and it was determined that these suggestions match up with the principles of the communicative approach. In the findings obtained regarding the equipment/physical setting, the Central School, and the Neighborhood School, which are different from each other in terms of socio-economic terms, were compared. Although the equipment/physical setting of the Central School and the Neighborhood School are mostly similar, it was found that no additional reference books are used in the lessons of the Neighborhood School. According to the findings related to the evaluation of the learning milieu of the program, it was revealed that the program had a negative effect on the Central School students' attitudes towards English course, whereas it did not have a significant effect on the Neighborhood School students' attitudes towards English course. According to the findings obtained from lesson observation results, it was concluded that the average score of the observation form of the 2 English teachers teaching English in the Central School and the Neighborhood School was at a low level. As a result of the interviews with students from the Central School and the Neighborhood School, it was found that students studying at the Neighborhood School were more disadvantaged in terms of socio-economic status. Additionally, although the opinions of Central School and Neighborhood School students were similar, it was determined that student views differed at some points due to a number of factors such as school, environment, family, culture, and socio-economic status. The findings from the surveys applied to the teachers showed that the average score of the teachers for the effective implementation of the curriculum was at a good level. Finally, various suggestions are presented for teachers, researchers, course book authors and designers, and curriculum developers based on the findings and results of the study.