Development of Secondary Education Curriculum of Kazakhstan in the Context of Modern Reforms is a current research project implemented in strategic collaboration and close cooperation between local researchers of the Graduate School of Education and international colleagues of the University of Cambridge, Faculty of Education.

<The main goal of this international study is to explore how the current secondary education system changes with undergoing school reforms and define what conditions and support are needed for the continuity in the system development. The Project will be implemented in three stages (2014 – 2016). Joint research groups have designated three main directions for the first stage: the development of educational innovations in secondary schools, the role of school leaders and teachers in the educational reform, and ensuring consistency and interconnection in the transition from school to university. Data collection, which involved such research methodology as survey, questionnaire, individual and group interviews, and focus groups, took place in the period of January, 2014 – May, 2014.

Overall, the survey involved 90 teachers, 46 principals and deputy principals of secondary schools, three rectors and four vice-rectors of higher education institutions as well as 93 high school students and first-year university students across Kazakhstan. Also, interviews were held with representatives of Education Departments as well as city-level and regional Offices of Education across different regions of Kazakhstan. The further work of the survey included an additional sample of 876 school students (Year 10 and Year 11). The research teams are working on analyzing and coding obtained quantitative and qualitative data.

A special feature of the Project is its geographical coverage: the research covers northern, northeastern, southeastern, southern, western and central regions of Kazakhstan. The study reaches representatives of academic institutions based in different regions: villages, districts, towns and regions. It is projected that such an approach will allow for identification of challenges that educational practitioners face in the regions and allow them to provide their bottom-up vision of the system and perceptions of the impact of the changes taking place in the system. This will enable the researchers to define directions for further development of school reforms.