EduFocus #12: Multigrade schools continue to struggle: What does the inspection reports tell us?

The popular perception of multigrade schools in Jamaica is that they fail to deliver quality education to their students. National assessment data has supported this perception, showing multigrade schools to be among the those schools attaining the lowest averages  in the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) and lowest level of mastery in the Grade Four Literacy Test. 

Data from the National Education Inspectorate confirm the unsatisfactory nature of the education being offered by these schools. Of the seven multigrade schools inspected in the first round of school inspection in 2010/2011, only two were rated as satisfactory by the agency. Four were unsatisfactory and one was failing.

Major Gaps: Leadership and Management, and Teaching and Learning were identified as the two major areas of weakness in these schools. For one school, the report noted that  although academic performance was poor, “leaders and managers at all levels are yet to be held to account for students' achievement.”  Other schools were found to lack ‘instructional leadership’ and ‘systems of accountability and reliable governance’  and to ‘lack drive and vision’ . Even in the school that had  satisfactory leadership and management, the inspectors found that ‘instructional leadership is limited, especially in regard to holding teachers accountable for teaching and students performance.’

School self evaluation and improvement planning, governance, and relationships with parents and wider community were all assessed under the leadership and management rubric. Schools scored best in their relationship with parents and the wider community, but were generally assessed to be doing poorly in the other two areas. Even where school improvement plans existed, the Inspectorate found that there was no procedure in place to monitor progress and schools were often not aware of their own strengths and weaknesses. In one school, the report notes that ‘there is little use of school performance data to inform the priority areas and action plans are not contained in the overall School Improvement Plan (SIP).’
 
Among the recommendations made by the Inspectorate for improving leadership and management were:
1.    Implement performance measures for the teachers’ work performance and accountability.
2.    Hold the principal and the school board responsible for the overall performance of the school.
3.    Review the school’s self evaluation and school improvement planning process to include the analysis of student performance data to drive targets.

TEACHING AND LEARNING

The impact of teaching on learning was largely unsatisfactory. Inspections revealed that while some teachers have satisfactory subject knowledge, teaching does not build on students’ knowledge and understanding and “lacks sufficient attention as to how lessons might be organised to promote effective learning.”   Even where lesson plans are detailed, teaching is sometimes dull and slow-paced and usually teacher directed. Teachers made limited use of a variety of teaching strategies and in most of  the schools inspected, it was found that students were  given information and learning is dependent on memory rather than on understanding, resulting in students being insufficiently engaged in lessons. This sometimes led to disruptive behaviour and difficulties in classroom management.

In addition to the use of few teaching strategies, teachers were also found to make poor use of existing resources. In schools with libraries and information and communication technology (ICT) support, these resources were not always effectively utilized to support student learning. Assessment of students is also generally unsatisfactory. At Padmore, the report pointed out that “While procedures are in place for regular testing, the use of assessment as a tool for teaching, learning and forward planning is ineffective. Most teachers’ record books are unavailable and students’ notebooks do not bear evaluative comments to help in corrections and improvement. Assessment during lessons consists mostly of recall questions.” This concern was repeated throughout the reports.

Recommendations to improve teaching and learning:

  1. Ensuring teachers involve all students in their learning and use a wide array of methods and resources to meet individual needs.
  2. Develop effective assessment to include analysis of summative assessments to inform planning to better meet the needs of all students.
  3. Place greater emphasis on literacy and numeracy.
  4. Upgrading the existing teaching skills to include a more integrated approach to the delivery of the curriculum.

For more information, read the full Inspection Reports in our library (http://jamaica.kdid.org/library) and we hope you can join us for our discussion on the Challenges of Multigrade Classrooms May 30-June 1, 2012.