Causes of the Gap between Junior High School Intended, Implemented, and Attained Curricula and Ways of Bridging It

Causes of the Gap between Junior High School Intended, Implemented, and Attained Curricula and Ways of Bridging It   M.A. Jamaalifar* S. Sh. HaashemiMoghadam, Ph.D.** Z. Aabedi Karajibaan, Ph.D.*** A.R. Faghihi, Ph.D.****   To identify the causes of the perceived gap between junior high school intended, implemented, and attained curricula, a group of 30 curriculum planners, 50 educational experts, and a set of 10 evaluation studies conducted within the previous 5 years were consulted through the use of a questionnaire and an observation list. Data analyses revealed that bridging the existing gap between the three curricula requires adjusting the intended curriculum to the learners’ levels of development, emphasizing the applicability of the content, attending to the social values and cultural beliefs, and avoiding highly abstract and difficult concepts. As for the implemented curriculum, it is the expansion and improvement of the in-service courses (real & virtual) and the training of specialized teachers for subjects that require specialized knowledge that need to be prioritized. Familiarization of teachers with methods and principles of evaluation and test construction, in the light of individual differences among learners, can help with the improvement of the curriculum outcome. Keywords: intended, implemented, and attained curricula, junior high school  _______________________ Date received: June 20, 2017                   Date accepted: June 15, 2018 *Doctoral Student in Curriculum Planning, Islamic Azad University, Arak Branch. [email protected] ** Assistant Professor of Philosophy of Education, Faculty of Humanities, Arak University (corresponding author). [email protected] *** Assistant Professor, Organization for Educational Research and Planning, Ministry of Education. [email protected] ****Assistant Professor of Educational Administration, Faculty of Humanities, Islamic Azad University, Arak Branch. [email protected]