Instruction for Mathematics and Science in Primary and Lower Secondary Grades
According to the General Guidelines of the Grades 1 to 9 Curriculum of Elementary and Junior High School Education, a school year consists of 200 school days, and students must attend school five days per week. School days include periods of subject area learning and alternative learning. For fourth grade students, there are 25 periods of subject area learning per week, and for eighth grade students, there are 28 periods. Science, technology, and mathematics in the fourth and eighth grades constitute approximately 10 to 15 percent of the subject area learning periods. In general, learning periods last 40 minutes in elementary school and 45 minutes in junior high school. However, the curriculum development committee in each school may adjust the learning periods for each subject area, the duration of each period, and the number of weeks during a semester to align with curriculum implementation and student needs.12
Grade at Which Specialist Teachers for Mathematics and Science are Introduced
Generally, teachers in elementary schools teach all subjects. No specialist teachers for mathematics and science are employed until seventh grade. However, rural-urban and large-small school disparities exist in elementary schools. In cities such as Taipei City and in large schools, elementary students may have specialist teachers for science.
Instructional Materials, Equipment, and Laboratories
From 1968 to 1995, all textbooks in mathematics and science for elementary schools and junior high schools were published by the National Institution of Compilation and Translation, a subdivision of the Ministry of Education. Article 8.2.1 of the 1995 National Education Law states, “All textbooks for elementary and junior high school students must be approved by the educational authority and if necessary, the educational authority may publish the official version of a textbook.” The act thus permits teaching materials to be edited and published by private publishers or by the National Institution of Compilation and Translation. Since 1996, the curriculum development committee in every school has been able to select its own teaching materials from various versions of textbooks approved by the Ministry of Education.
Use of Technology
The application of technology in education benefits teaching and learning. Thus, in 2001, the Ministry of Education announced the Blueprint for Information Education for Primary and Secondary Schools to encourage the application of Information and Communications Technology in subject area learning for elementary and secondary school students.13,14
Accommodation Policies for Instruction and Testing
Given the extension of the basic education system from 9 years to 12 years in Taiwan, its influence on testing practices in schools prompted the Standard-based Assessment of Student Achievement for Elementary and Junior High School Students (SBASA) program in 2011,15 by transforming the norm-referenced assessment into a criterion-referenced assessment. One purpose of SBASA is to connect criteria of assessments to curriculum guidelines, and thus to provide formative feedback to teaching and curriculum.