Abstract
Using the participants-oriented approach, this study evaluated public schools’ out-of-school time academic support programs, corresponding to the corrective/enrichment stage of Bloom’s Mastery Learning Model and offered outside formal education’s weekday hours and on weekends. Study participants included 50 principals, 110 teachers, 170 students attending programs, 110 students not attending programs, and 61 parents, all selected through random sampling in a survey-model study in Istanbul, Turkey. Partial findings were the following. According to principals and teachers, programs were sufficiently introduced to target groups. Satisfaction of attending students with the teaching—learning process was sufficient, and students believed program participation increased their success in regular classes. However, program functioning presented some problems. Administrators and teachers think the no-cost programs resulted in lack of interest among students. In addition, problems of materials and transportation have not been completely solved. Similarly, offered classes and lessons’ content organization fall short of expectations. In conclusion, out-of-school time academic support programs play important roles in reducing differences among learning levels based on individual characteristics in collective or formal learning. Still, student needs should be fulfilled, and programs should be maintained. Further studies should be conducted on these programs’ integration into formal education.
Highlights
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), national public education and a country’s management of its educational system are critical factors in a country’s development (Arthur, Hisrich, & Cabrera, 2012)
Bloom’s (1976) Mastery Learning Model concentrates on causes of individual differences in formal collective learning and how these differences can be controlled according to interests of students, schools, and society
Mastery Learning has not been practiced in the Turkish educational system in an organized way, private teaching institutions can be considered within the scope of corrective/enrichment activities, as in Bloom’s Model, in method and in the additional learning time they provide
Summary
According to the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development (OECD), national public education and a country’s management of its educational system are critical factors in a country’s development (Arthur, Hisrich, & Cabrera, 2012). Mastery Learning has not been practiced in the Turkish educational system in an organized way, private teaching institutions can be considered within the scope of corrective/enrichment activities, as in Bloom’s Model, in method and in the additional learning time they provide. The Ministry of Education began to open Out-Of-School Time Academic Support (OSTAS) Programs in public schools to reduce the need for private teaching institutions and to ensure spontaneous closure of such institutions when OSTAS Programs appeared These programs began to operate in public schools and could be offered outside weekday hours of formal education and at weekends (at semester or summer vacations when necessary) beginning October 20, 2014, to eliminate differences that might occur in learning outcomes. This study used the participant-oriented evaluation approach because does it include all participants related to the program, and the idea that data obtained from those involved in or affected by the program will be more functional in practical research
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