Curriculum–Textbook Alignment Analysis of the National Curriculum of Pakistan 2022–23 Science and the Grade 6 General Science Textbook

Abstract

The purpose of Pakistan's National Curriculum (NCP, 2022-23) is to move school science education from memorization to conceptual knowledge, scientific inquiry, engineering design, and science in the real world; the success of the curriculum reform depends on how well the approved textbooks reflect this new vision. This paper compares the NCP 2022-23 Science curriculum (Grades 4-8) with the Grade 6 General Science textbook developed as a Pilot Edition (2026) by the Balochistan Textbook Board. A qualitative document analysis design was employed, and directed qualitative content analysis was conducted on both documents using a multiple-step coding process, followed by a multidimensional alignment analysis of all 81 Grade 6 Student Learning Outcomes (SLOs) on a single-dimensional scale. Each SLO was analyzed in terms of multiple criteria: content coverage, cognitive level, inquiry and practical skills, assessment, visual support, and contextual relevance, and given an overall alignment rating. All 81 SLOs were covered in the textbook, and the overall alignment was high: 62 (76.5%) of SLOs were strongly aligned, 15 (18.5%) – moderately, 4 (4.9%) – partially, and none of the SLOs were weakly aligned. The highest alignment was noted for content coverage, visual support, and contextual relevance; the lowest was when outcomes required independent inquiry, original engineering design, performance assessment, and safety procedures. The textbook could be described as curriculum-saturated, with selective reduction of inquiry, design, and performance assessment – the issue of enactment depth but not content coverage. Recommendations are given to improve the textbook.