Educators share notes on best practices at their schools

Rhona Tomlinson, Observer WriterMANDEVILLE, Manchester — Days after releasing a report which gave a failing grade to the performance of Jamaican students and recommended sweeping changes to the education system, the Caribbean Policy Research Institute (CaPRI) started a nationwide consultation with the island's educators to get their views on how to fix the problem.During the first such exercise, which took place at Belair High School in Mandeville, educators from the south central region of the island compared notes on best practices and new initiatives being used at their schools and made recommendations about tackling the problems.Educators from Vere Technical said their school had appointed an assessment manager who not only gathered data on classroom operations and student and teacher performance, but used the data to drive future plans.Representatives from Knox Community College said they had instituted a student-based assessment week at their school, which encouraged students to do better on the papers which are part of the Caribbean Secondary Education Certificate (CSEC) examinations for some subjects.Other educators recommended that special incentives be granted to teachers to work in rural areas, while others recommended that new teachers be placed in a mentorship programme to help prepare them for work in the classroom.CaPRI's study, entitled A Report Card on Education in Jamaica 2012, gave the system two Ds, four Cs and three Bs in the nine critical areas of education, with 'D' being unsatisfactory, 'C' being average, and 'B' being good. The score card, which was released last Monday, said Jamaica was still performing below its Caribbean counterparts at the CSEC level, particularly in Mathematics and English Language.The report also said only about half of the students at the secondary level sat the minimum four subjects needed to matriculate into tertiary institutions, and that the average Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) score in 2011 was 60 per cent.Given the current trends, "it will take until 2036 before every 11th grader has the four CSEC passes required to matriculate into the least competitive tertiary programmes", the report said. It pointed out, too, that Jamaica will not reach 100 per cent literacy at the Grade four level until 2036.Co-executive director of CaPRI, Dr Damien King told the Jamaica Observer that the recommendations would form part of an action plan."We're engaging all of those who are part of the education system, not just the teachers, but everybody, even civil society groups," he said.Another consultation will follow in Montego Bay and recommendations from that session will also be placed on the organisation's action agenda, King said.He told the Observer that while there were a number of weaknesses which needed attention, the most pressing problem in the school system was the poor performance of Jamaica's students."The test scores are below what they should be, especially given the amount of expenditure on education, which is very high," he said.The raft of recommendations which CaPRI released last Monday include giving schools more autonomy to conduct their day-to-day affairs, putting special curricula in place to drive male learning and ensuring that Jamaica participates in at least one global test of student achievement, such as Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study, Progress in International Reading Literacy Study or Programme for International Student Assessment, to better understand how they compare in the global economy.The report also called on the Government, as well as parents, churches, the private sector and civil society to aid in finding solutions to the problems.Read more: http://www.jamaicaobserver.com/news/Educators-share-notes-on-best-practi...