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

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.