Journal Evaluation in Education (JEE) Vol.
No.
January 2026, pp.
ISSN: 2716-4160.
DOI: 10.
37251/jee.
Research Article Implementation of Merdeka Curriculum: In Lesson Study Based Differentiated Learning Sri Rejeki1,* .
Rihal Jayadi1 Wahyu Azwar1 1 Department of Civic Education.
Universitas Muhammadiyah Mataram.
Nusa Tenggara Barat.
Indonesia
Article Info
ABSTRACT
Article history:
Purpose of the study: This study aims to conduct a meta-analysis of various studies discussing the implementation of the Independent Curriculum (Kurikulum Merdek.
in differentiated learning based on the lesson study approach across different educational levels.
Received Jun 24, 2025 Revised Oct 04, 2025 Accepted Dec 02, 2025 OnlineFirst Jan 23, 2026 Keywords:
Methodology: The study employs a quantitative meta-analysis method by analyzing 88 articles published between 2020 and 2025, retrieved from several academic databases such as Google Scholar.
ScienceDirect.
DOAJ.
PubMed.
WorldCat.
Dimensions, and Portal Garuda.
Differentiated Learning Lesson Study Merdeka Curriculum Main Findings: The findings show a very high overall effect size (ES = 1.
SE = 0.
Specifically, elementary (ES = 1.
and senior high schools (ES = 0.
show high effects, while junior high schools demonstrate the strongest and most consistent impact (ES = 1.
Novelty/Originality of this study: This studyAos novelty lies in integrating differentiated learning with the lesson study approach under the Independent Curriculum, offering empirical evidence of its strong positive effect on learning quality across educational levels and highlighting its potential as an innovative model for improving teaching effectiveness in Indonesian schools.
This is an open access article under the CC BY license A 2025 by the author.
Corresponding Author:
Sri Rejeki Department Civic Education.
Universitas Muhammadiyah Mataram.
Jl.
KH.
Ahmad Dahlan No.
Pagesangan.
Kec.
Mataram.
Kota Mataram.
Nusa Tenggara Barat, 83115 Indonesia.
Email: umi.
66@gmail.
INTRODUCTION
Education in Indonesia continues to evolve in response to the changing times and the growing demands of society .
As a result, the education sector is required to continuously innovate, particularly in the development and implementation of its learning systems .
Historically, the Indonesian education system has undergone significant curriculum reforms, with the national curriculum having been revised eleven times since its initial implementation in 1947 .
The curriculum is designed and developed to align with the rapid advancement of science and technology, ensuring that educational practices remain relevant and responsive to the needs of the modern era .
The curriculum, as the foundational framework for educational planning, plays a crucial and strategic role in guiding all aspects of the implementation of educational activities .
This curriculum is oriented towards the natural potential of learners and the demands of the times, with a more flexible learning approach that focuses on the development of students' individual interests and talents .
In the school context, the curriculum can be regarded as the AuspiritAy of the education system, which must be evaluated Journal homepage: http://cahaya-ic.
com/index.
php/JEE A ISSN: 2716-4160 in an innovative, dynamic, and continuous manner to remain relevant to the development of the times, as well as advances in science, technology, and the arts .
In the era of rapid technological advancement, the Merdeka Curriculum emerged as a form of adaptation to the evolving demands of the times .
Education has undergone a significant transformation with the implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum as an effort to enhance the quality of learning through a more flexible, contextual, and student-centered approach .
Therefore, a curriculum that aligns with the needs of society and the world of work has become imperative, considering its strategic role in education.
Accordingly, curriculum development must be grounded on a strong and solid foundation .
This curriculum emphasizes competency-based learning and differentiation to accommodate the diverse learning needs of individual students .
One of the strategies that can support the implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum is differentiated learning based on the Lesson Study approach .
The Merdeka Curriculum emphasizes student centered learning by providing freedom, flexibility, and differentiation according to the needs, interests, and abilities of students .
Differentiation in this curriculum covers aspects of content, process, and learning outcomes so that each student gains meaningful learning experiences .
Support this practice, the implementation of Lesson Study is one relevant strategy.
Lesson Study enables teachers to collaboratively design, implement, and reflect on learning, so that the diverse needs of students can be better accommodated .
Through the plan do see cycle, teachers can identify learning obstacles, develop a variety of methods, and adjust learning to suit the characteristics of individual students .
Differentiated learning has become one of the strategies and methods that educators can implement to meet the learning needs of every student.
It is an instructional approach that accommodates students' diversity in terms of learning readiness, interests, and learning profiles .
Lesson Study is an approach used to improve the quality of learning through the implementation of continuous professional development practices .
Therefore, teachers are required to adjust their learning strategies to be more responsive to individual differences within the classroom.
These differences reflect the unique characteristics of each student, where every learner possesses distinct ways of acquiring knowledge and understanding their surrounding environment .
Several previous studies have extensively examined the Merdeka Curriculum with a focus on differentiated learning, including the following research .
It explains that differentiated learning is one of the key components in the Merdeka Belajar Curriculum.
This concept, known as differentiated instruction, is a student-centered learning approach that considers individual student characteristics throughout the process of instructional design, implementation, and evaluation .
These characteristics include studentsAo learning readiness, learning interests, and learning profiles, enabling the learning process to be more effective and inclusive .
It emphasizes that differentiated instruction should be grounded in meeting studentsAo learning needs and how teachers respond to those needs within the teaching and learning process .
This involves taking into account studentsAo abilities, interests, and individual needs in acquiring and understanding learning Thus, this approach aims to create a more effective learning experience that aligns with the unique characteristics of each student .
It states that differentiated instruction is implemented with the aim of adjusting the learning process to optimally meet the learning needs of each student .
There is a gap in the literature regarding the implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum in Lesson Study-based differentiated learning, as most previous studies have only discussed the three separately.
Therefore, this study aims to conduct a meta-analysis of relevant studies to identify patterns, trends, and the effects of implementing the Merdeka Curriculum in Lesson Study-based differentiated learning at various levels of RESEARCH METHOD This research employed a quantitative meta-analysis approach.
Meta-analysis is a type of research conducted by summarizing, reviewing, and analyzing data from previous research studies that have been published .
The data in this study were collected by searching for relevant articles from both international and national journals through online databases using specific keywords, namely "Merdeka Curriculum," "Differentiated Learning," and "Lesson Study," within the time span of 2020 to 2025 .
The research procedure in this study followed the steps described by .
, as illustrated in Figure 1.
These steps involved identifying and selecting relevant articles, reviewing the content of the studies, extracting the necessary data, and analyzing the findings to draw comprehensive conclusions regarding the implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum in differentiated learning based on Lesson Study .
The meta-analysis research process is as shown in Figure 1.
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Searching Journal and Repository Database Scopus.
DOAJ & Google Scholar Encoding and tabulation Data: The published the year 2020-2025.
AuthorAos name.
Jenjang pedidikan.
Number of Students and Statistics Values .
-count, t-count and r-coun.
Interpretasi & Conclusion:
Output JASP.
Moderator variabel Data Analysis: Sofware JASP JASP Software Input: Effect Size (SE).
Standard Error (SE) Publication bias Figure 1.
Research Procedure Figure 1 presents the flow of the meta-analysis research process .
, which consists of the following steps: Conducting a systematic search for relevant articles from indexed databases such as Google Scholar.
ScienceDirect.
DOAJ.
PubMed.
WorldCat.
Dimensions, and Portal Garuda based on the predetermined criteria.
Performing coding and tabulation using Microsoft Excel, which includes information such as the year of publication, author.
, educational level, class, sample size (N).
F-value, t-value, and r-value.
ya = yc 2 A .
yc = Ooya A .
yc= yc Ooyc 2 ycA Oe 2 A .
Converting the F and t values into r values using the following formulas:
Z = ES = 0,5.
A .
1Oer ES = Oo A .
ycAOe3 p = ES = A .
ycA Drawing conclusions.
The criteria for drawing conclusions are based on the category of the level of effect, which is determined by the values of Effect Size (ES) and Standard Error (SE).
The classification of ES values is presented in Table 1.
Tabel 1.
Classification of GlassAos effect size Effect size (ES) Category Small Effect 20 O yaycI < 0.
Moderate Effect 50 O yaycI < 0.
High Effect 80 O yaycI < 1.
30 O ES
Very High Effect Table 1 presents the final stage, namely the publication bias test.
The criteria used indicate that if the pvalue of the rank-test is greater than 0.
-value > 0.
, then the data used in this study is considered to be In addition, publication bias can also be determined using the equation 5yco 10 < ycAycI, where yco represents the number of data points and ycAycI refers to the file-safe number .
Implementation of Merdeka Curriculum: In Lesson Study Based Differentiated Learning (Sri Rejek.
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RESULTS AND DISCUSSION
In this study, data collection was carried out, resulting in a total of 100 data sets, of which 88 met the research criteria.
The collected data included Fisher's test values .
Student's t-test values .
, and the sample size (N) of each study.
Additionally, information regarding the learning methods and educational levels was also gathered for further processing or analysis based on specific criteria .
The available data showed the presence of both f and t values, which were subsequently converted into correlation values .
, and further transformed into Effect Size (ES) and Standard Error (SE).
The overview of the level of education is as shown in Table 2.
Table 2.
Based on Educational Level Educational Level Estimate p- value RE Model Category Elementary School Junior High School Senior High School 05 .
63,1.
00,1.
56,1.
Very High Very High Very High The results of this analysis indicate that the educational level has a very high influence on the measured Each level elementary school, junior high school, and senior high school demonstrates different estimate however, all show a very high level of significance .
-value < 0.
This suggests that the differences in influence across educational levels are not incidental but rather reflect a strong relationship with the factors under investigation.
Nevertheless, the magnitude of the effect varies among educational levels, with the junior high school level demonstrating the strongest influence compared to elementary school and senior high school.
At the elementary school level, the estimate value of 1.
049 indicates that the measured factor has a substantial The confidence interval .
63Ae1.
suggests that the effect may vary, ranging from moderate to Since the lower bound is less than 1, it is possible that under certain conditions, the effect at the elementary school level may not always be strong.
However, given the statistically significant p-value, the elementary school level still exhibits a high level of influence on the analyzed factors.
This indicates that education at the elementary level provides a meaningful impact, although the effect may fluctuate depending on specific circumstances .
Meanwhile, the junior high school level demonstrated the highest estimate value, reaching 1.
475, with a confidence interval of .
00Ae1.
This value indicates that the influence of the measured factor is greatest at the SMP level.
Furthermore, the lower bound of the confidence interval being exactly at 1 suggests that the effect is almost always significant and stable.
Therefore, the junior high school level exerts the strongest and most consistent impact compared to both elementary school and senior high school.
This may indicate that the junior high school period represents a critical phase in shaping the influence of the factor being examined.
At the senior high school level, the estimate value of 0.
826 reflects a smaller effect compared to elementary school and junior high school.
The confidence interval .
56Ae1.
indicates that, under certain conditions, the effect may be relatively small or even approach non-significance, as the lower bound falls below 1.
Nevertheless, since the pvalue remains < 0.
001, this result is still considered statistically significant.
In other words, while senior high school continues to exhibit a high level of influence, its effect size is relatively weaker than that of elementary school and junior high school.
Overall, these results indicate that educational level has a very high impact on the measured factor.
Despite the variation in effect size across levels, the results at all educational stages consistently demonstrate a statistically significant influence.
With the p-values being remarkably small (< 0.
across all levels, it can be concluded that these findings did not occur by chance but are supported by strong statistical evidence .
Table 3 presents the distribution of the studies based on the year of publication.
Variable Publication years Table 3.
Year of Publication Classification p-Rank test RE Model 08 .
85, 1.
Category Very High Based on the publication year variable within the range of 2020Ae2025, a total sample size (N) of 88 was The p-value of the Rank test was 0.
269, indicating that there was no statistically significant difference based on the rank test analysis.
Furthermore, the results of the Random Effect (RE) Model showed an effect size value of 1.
08 with a confidence interval ranging from 0.
85 to 1.
This interval reflects that the observed effect remains within a relatively stable range, with a minimum possible effect of 0.
85 and a maximum of 1.
Based on these results, the publication year variable is categorized as having a "Very High" effect, suggesting that this factor has a substantial influence despite the p-Rank test not indicating statistical significance .
Nevertheless, the results of the Random Effect Model demonstrate that the estimated effect remains at a relatively high level.
as for the overall summary of the data.
as shown in Table 4.
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Study Study 1
Study 2
Study 3
Study 4
Study 5
Study 6
Study 7
Study 8
Study 9
Study 10
Study 11
Study 12
Study 13
Study 14
Study 15
Study 16
Study 17
Study 18
Study 19
Study 20
Study 21
Study 22
Study 23
Study 24
Study 25
Study 26
Study 27
Study 28
Study 29
Study 30
Study 31
Study 32
Study 33
Study 34
Study 35
Study 36
Study 37
Study 38
Study 39
Study 40
Study 41
Study 42
Study 43
Study 44
Study 45
Study 46
Study 47
Study 48
Study 49
Study 50
Study 51
Study 52
Study 53
Study 54
Study 55
Study 56
Study 57
Study 58
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Table 4.
Presents the Overall Data Summary Year
Level 1,0234 JHS
JHS
JHS
JHS
JHS
JHS
JHS
JHS
JHS
JHS
JHS
JHS
JHS
JHS
JHS
JHS
JHS
JHS
JHS
JHS
JHS
JHS
Category Very High High Effect Small Effect Small Effect Very High Very High Small Effect Small Effect Very High Small Effect Small Effect Very High Very High Small Effect Small Effect Small Effect Medium Effect Small Effect Small Effect Small Effect Small Effect Small Effect Small Effect Small Effect Medium Effect Very High High Effect Very High Medium Effect High Effect Medium Effect Medium Effect Very High Very High Very High Very High Very High Medium Effect Very High Very High Very High Very High Small Effect High Effect Medium Effect Small Effect Very High Very High Small Effect Medium Effect Small Effect Small Effect High Effect Small Effect Small Effect Small Effect Small Effect Small Effect Implementation of Merdeka Curriculum: In Lesson Study Based Differentiated Learning (Sri Rejek.
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Study Study 59
Study 60
Study 61
Study 62
Study 63
Study 64
Study 65
Study 66
Study 67
Study 68
Study 69
Study 70
Study 71
Study 72
Study 73
Study 74
Study 75
Study 76
Study 77
Study 78
Study 79
Study 80
Study 81
Study 82
Study 83
Study 84
Study 85
Study 86
Study 87
Study 88
Average Year
Level VHS
VHS
VHS
VHS
VHS
VHS
VHS
Category High Effect Medium Effect High Effect Small Effect Very High Very High Very High Small Effect Very High Small Effect Very High Small Effect Medium Effect High Effect Very High Small Effect Small Effect Very Hingh Very Hingh Efek Kecil Small Effect Small Effect Small Effect Small Effect Medium Effect Very High Small Effect Small Effect Small Effect Small Effect Very High Based on the data obtained, the average Effect Size (ES) was 1.
086 with a Standard Error (SE) of 0.
Based on the classification used, this value is included in the AuVery HighAy category which indicates that the variable tested has a strong influence in the context of the research analyzed .
At the primary school level, the results showed a wide variety of effects.
Some studies recorded very high effect sizes such as in Study 1 (ES = 3.
Study 5 (ES = 3.
, and Study 6 (ES = 3.
, indicating that the variables tested had a very strong influence.
However, there are also studies that show small effects, such as Study 3 (ES = 0.
and Study 4 (ES = 0.
, which indicates that not all studies at the primary level show significant effects.
At the junior high school level, the majority of studies showed a higher effect size than the primary school level.
Some studies recorded very high effect sizes such as in Study 35 (ES = 3.
Study 36 (ES = 2.
, and Study 37 (ES = 3.
, indicating that the variables studied had a substantial impact at the junior high school level.
However, there are also some studies that show small to medium effects, such as Study 43 (ES = 0.
and Study 45 (ES = 0.
, indicating that not all studies at this level have a large impact.
Meanwhile, at the senior high school level, the results showed considerable variation in effects.
Some studies with high effect sizes include Study 63 (ES = 1.
Study 64 (ES = 1.
, and Study 67 (ES = 75.
, which indicates that the variables tested have a very large impact.
However, there are also some studies that show small to medium effects, such as Study 57 (ES = 0.
and Study 58 (ES = 0.
, which indicates that not all studies at the high school level show significant effects.
In addition to primary and junior secondary schools, studies were also conducted in various types of schools within senior secondary schools, including Madrasah Aliyah and Vocational High Schools.
In some schools at the senior high school level, most studies showed effect sizes in the small to medium category, such as in Study 59 (ES = 1.
and Study 85 (ES = 0.
However, there were also some studies that recorded very high effect sizes, such as in Study 76 (ES = 3.
and Study 77 (ES = 1.
, indicating that the variables tested had a strong influence on various schools in senior high school .
This study indicate that, in general, the variables tested have a very strong influence on improving learning outcomes, although there are variations at each level of education .
At the elementary school level, the influence of the variables studied is not always consistent, with some studies showing a very significant impact, while others show a low influence .
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to be more even and stronger, indicating that the application of these variables is more appropriate to the characteristics of students at this level.
At the senior high school level, the findings show considerable diversity, both in public schools, madrasas, and vocational schools.
Some studies show a high effect, but others are in the moderate to low category .
This indicates that the effectiveness of the variables studied depends not only on the level of education but also on the learning context, student characteristics, and the conditions of the school where the research was conducted .
Overall, the analysis results show that the average Effect Size value in this study is very high, namely 1.
086 with a Standard Error of 0.
This finding indicates that the integration of differentiated learning in the Merdeka Curriculum through the Lesson Study approach has a significant impact on improving the quality of learning at various levels of education, although there are variations in results between studies.
When compared to previous studies, such as HattieAos findings which state that an Effect Size 4 is considered high, these results show effectiveness that far exceeds this threshold .
This means that interventions based on differentiated learning and teacher collaboration through Lesson Study have great potential to be implemented widely in the context of Indonesian education.
The implication of these findings is that a collaborative, reflective, and adaptive approach to learning that is tailored to students' needs should be the main strategy in implementing the Merdeka Curriculum.
The Ministry of Education and policy makers need to provide ongoing training and guidance to teachers in implementing Lesson Study as part of their professional development.
As a brief recommendation, further research should focus on longitudinal studies to evaluate the long-term impact and examine the effectiveness of this model in more specific educational contexts, such as schools in 3T areas or vocational schools.
This studyAos novelty lies in integrating differentiated learning with the lesson study approach under the Independent Curriculum, offering empirical evidence of its strong positive effect on learning quality across educational levels and highlighting its potential as an innovative model for improving teaching effectiveness in Indonesian schools and The limitations of this study lie in the number and variety of studies analysed, as well as the different school contexts.
Therefore, the results of this study cannot be fully generalised to all regions or levels of education in Indonesia.
CONCLUSION
Based on the results of a meta-analysis of 88 studies, it can be concluded that the implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum through differentiated learning integrated with a subject-based approach has a very significant impact on improving the quality of learning at various levels of education.
This strategy is not only effective in responding to students' learning needs in a more inclusive and reflective manner, but also encourages professional collaboration among teachers in designing and evaluating the learning process.
This reinforces the view that the integration of differentiated learning with lesson study is an adaptive, contextual, and relevant model to support the implementation of the Merdeka Curriculum in Indonesia.
These findings not only provide a scientific basis for strengthening education policy, but also serve as a moral call for educators to continue serving through learning practices that respect every student's right to learn according to their potential.
Thus, this research not only answers academic needs, but also makes a real contribution to the fight for fair, humane and sustainable education.
Further research is recommended to explore contextual factors in greater depth and develop implementation models that are responsive to the characteristics of each educational unit, so that the results not only have a theoretical impact but can also be directly applied in equitable educational practices.
ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS
Thanks to Universitas Muhammadiyah Mataram for supporting this research.
AUTHOR CONTRIBUTIONS
SR was responsible for the research design, data collection, data analysis, and manuscript preparation.
RJ and WA, contributed to conceptual development, research methodology guidance, and critical review of the All authors have read and approved the final version of the manuscript.
CONFLICTS OF INTEREST
The author.
declare no conflict of interest.
USE OF ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE (AI)-ASSISTED TECHNOLOGY
The authors declare that no artificial intelligence (AI) tools were used in the generation, analysis, or writing of this manuscript.
All aspects of the research, including data collection, interpretation, and manuscript preparation, were carried out entirely by the authors without the assistance of AI-based technologies.
Implementation of Merdeka Curriculum: In Lesson Study Based Differentiated Learning (Sri Rejek.
A REFERENCES