An Original Contribution to Curriculum Evaluation Theory: Developing a Participatory Curriculum Evaluation Framework for Nigerian Basic Education

Curriculum evaluation in Nigerian basic education is predominantly conducted by external experts without systematic participation of teachers, students, parents, and communities, and developing an original participatory evaluation framework addresses both the methodological limitations of current practice and the democratic deficit in curriculum governance. This study developed an original Participatory Curriculum Evaluation Framework for Nigerian Basic Education, drawing on theoretical analysis of evaluation methodology and empirical grounding across primary and junior secondary schools in Kwara (NC), Anambra (SE), and Sokoto (NW) States. A participatory research and theory-building methodology was employed over 24 months, engaging 120 community stakeholders (40 per state), 60 teachers, 30 curriculum evaluation specialists, and 12 educational governance officials in co-design of evaluation processes. Systematic theoretical analysis of curriculum evaluation literature (78 publications) confirmed that participatory evaluation frameworks have not been developed for the specific governance context, cultural communication norms, and resource constraints of Nigerian basic education systems. The original Participatory Curriculum Evaluation Framework (PCEF-Nigeria) specifies five evaluation participation levels: stakeholder identification and representation, data generation and interpretation partnerships, evaluation criteria co-construction, finding validation and deliberation, and recommendation ownership and monitoring. Each level includes cultural facilitation guidelines, equity provisions for marginalised voices, and integration mechanisms with NERDC and UBEC quality assurance processes. Expert review by 20 curriculum evaluation and participatory research specialists confirmed the framework's theoretical originality and governance relevance.

Keywords: participatory curriculum evaluation, Basic Education Nigeria, evaluation framework, curriculum governance, original contribution