This study aims at investigating the effectiveness of the establishment of the school based curriculum development teams as a response to the challenges of the school performance and student learning. A theoretical framework is derived from the various assumptions about school leadership, patterns of dissemination and teacher development. This framework will then be used to evaluate the extent that school based curriculum development teams contribute to teacher development and school improvement. The findings will shed light on the necessary conditions for successful implementation of school based curriculum development in a policy context of decentralizing curriculum decision making. Two case schools from two different socio-cultural milieu, Hong Kong and the Netherlands, are chosen for comparison. A mixed method approach of investigation is adopted and methods include interviews of teachers and students, analysis of video taped meetings and questionnaires.

Over the years numerous studies have been conducted in an attempt to determine the effect of homework on students’ learning (Thomas, 1992). In practice, there are much problems and misconceptions with the implementation of homework. In Hong Kong, this issue worsens existing educational problems (Education Department, & Home School Cooperation Committee, 1994). With the launching of curriculum reform in 2001, the education bureau in Hong Kong recommends that there be a change in homework policy and practices(Curriculum Development Committee, 2001). Schools should put more emphasis on "meaningful homework" as an integral part of the school curriculum. In the past, curriculum changes in Hong Kong often encounter unsuccessful experiences because of poor policy dissemination and implementation and mismatching teachers’ conceptions, etc (Yeung, 2004). Studies alike demonstrate that any educational change needs an authentic "paradigm shift" in perspectives, philosophy and pedagogy (Kuhn, 1970). The paper intends to look into the underpinning theory and thereafter the underlying agenda embedded with this homework policy. The researcher has adopted research method including documentary analysis and simple survey. The researcher conducts and compares content analysis of two kinds of documents -- Official homework guideline as well as various samples of school homework. A simple survey of teachers’ conception about the new homework policy has been used as kinds of triangulation. The researcher wishes that findings from the study may have empirical and practical significance to future development of homework practices and policy in schools.

Formative assessment is regarded as a means to provide teachers and students with information about the strengths and weaknesses of student learning with the ultimate goal of making responsive changes in teaching and learning. In Hong Kong, formative assessment has recently been promoted in schools. Through analyzing a case study, this paper aims to explore: (1) the key strategies employed by the school in assessing and improving students’ performance, (2) the effects of these strategies in student learning and (3) the challenges the teachers have encountered in practising formative assessment. The intention is to provide a living example for those teachers and policy makers who favour the use of formative assessment as the major approach to improving students’ learning.

Cooperative learning is only a small component of a core module in the pre-service programmes and an elective module in the in-service programmes of the biggest teacher education institute in Hong Kong. Schools attempting to implement cooperative learning have to rely mainly on the help of external staff developers. Most of the school-based staff development programmes provided by the staff developers start with some introductory talks and workshops, followed by lesson planning, lesson observation and post-lesson sharing by the teachers, and end with a concluding session by the staff developers. Many of these school-based staff development programmes are not effective in attempting to add cooperative learning to the repertoire of the teachers largely because of the weakness of these programmes and the overlooking of the diversified aspects of cooperative learning. This paper suggests a six-phase model of school-based staff development in cooperative learning to enhance the effectiveness of the programmes. These phases are described as setting objectives, participation in workshops, collaborative lesson preparation, peer observation, post-lesson conference and reflection. The model is effective in that it gives ownership to teachers in working in collaboration with their peers as well as staff developers in planning and implementing an innovation.

In the current curriculum reform of Hong Kong, the Curriculum Development Council (2002) recommends that teachers make use of co-operative learning to cater for their students' individual differences. A common feature of co-operative learning is that students help each other to learn in small groups towards a common goal (Cohen, 1994; Johnson & Johnson, 1999). For such kind of co-operative learning, the success of members of a group is interdependent to one another (Kagan, 1994; Slavin, 1995). The concept of co-operative learning is radically different from competitive learning in which a student's success builds on the failure of others. This paper aims to investigate the factors influencing teachers when they consider using co-operative learning in their classrooms. A questionnaire was administered to a sample of teachers (n = 179) from five primary schools conveniently chosen. Descriptive statistical analysis as well as factor analysis was performed on the data collected. The results suggested that the respondents agreed, to different extent, to all the twenty items of constraints as listed in the questionnaire. Four categories of factors that influenced teachers' decision to use co-operative learning were extracted. They represented the school and system levels, teachers' conceptions of teaching, pupils' ability and discipline, and classroom level. The study concluded that, in view of the various constraints, it would be difficult for teachers to implement co-operative learning to meet the curriculum re-structuring. Based on the findings, some recommendations were made.

The emphasis of learning to learn in curriculum reform has signaled to teachers to adopt student-centered strategies of teaching and different modes of assessment. Cooperative learning, as an innovative instructional strategy, and portfolio assessment, as an alternative assessment, are increasingly being used in Hong Kong classrooms. The change from listening to teachers teach and answering examination questions to taking the initiative to learn and demonstrating competence with self-selected evidence is a great challenge to the students. This paper first discusses the various constraints and difficulties of using cooperative learning and portfolio assessment that Hong Kong teachers and students are encountering, such as the large class size, using social skills in group discussion, writing reflective statements, choosing evidence for inclusion in portfolios, grading portfolios and conducting self and peer assessment. Then examples are drawn from schools of small classes to investigate how the teachers attempt to tackle the problems and difficulties in implementing cooperative learning and portfolio assessment in their schools. The paper concludes with a discussion of the implications for successful use of portfolio assessment.