This paper tells the experiences and perspectives of six exemplary elementary school principals and their teachers participating in a regional project in the Caribbean. These principals all work in difficult environments and oversee schools which had histories of academic failure. The accounts drew on a number of sources: oral presentations made by the principals in a regional forum; written reports by the principals; interviews with the principals; and questionnaire data collected from teachers from the various schools.

This paper reports on the development of an observation instrument that is designed to assess teachers of language and literacy in the Caribbean, and to provide an avenue for feedback to these teachers. The instrument contains four broad dimensions (planning, execution, classroom environment, and reflection), each with several items that are based on literature in the field, and validated by literacy professionals in the Caribbean. The items on the instrument were piloted across the region and modified before the final version was produced.

National and international large-scale literacy assessments play an indelible role in impacting educational policy and curriculum across the globe. In fact, the value attached to these measures persists regardless of questions raised about the influence of the nature of such tests, characteristics and requirements of test items, and the ways in which demographic characteristics such as English learner status, gender, ethnicity, socioeconomic status (SES), and disability impact student literacy performance.