The Impact of a Systemic Innovation Sustainability Model on Students’ Academic Performance in Oman

Abstract

In light of the need for improving the quality of education and extending the boundaries of students’ learning potential, the Sultanate of Oman has exerted efforts in reforming and restructuring its education system during the past four decades. However, most of the reform initiatives focused on either subsystems or certain driving forces in the education system, and thus, did not result in a sustained school improvement (Osman, 2011). This status quo has led to initiating a large cope project which aims to systemically activate the impact of all interrelated elements in the school system that promote the empowerment of student learning in the Sultanate of Oman. As part of this project, this study aims to examine the collective impact of the proposed model (The Innovation Sustainability Wheel- ISW) on students’ academic performance. The sample included a total of 5513 students from eight schools, divided into two groups: the experimental consists of 2906, and a control group of 2607 students (grades 5 -9). The students’ performance was tested over three years in five subject areas (Math, Science, English, Arabic and IT). The findings revealed that students of the experimental group outperformed their counterparts in the control group both collectively and in each single subject area.