In the face of transformation driven by technological advancement, global and natural economic uncertainties, and social change, thoughtful leaders of institutions of higher learning have long recognized that being great today isn’t necessarily good enough for tomorrow. To ensure a university or college legacy, school leadership must collaborate with its faculty, students, families, alumni, Board of Directors and the communities in which they are located to look clearly at the core elements that define that school.

Many perpetrators of violence in Jamaica are children and youth. In 2005, of 824 incidents of major crime, 10 per cent were committed by children aged 12–15, and 90 per cent were committed by children 16–20 (Constabulary Communication Network, 2005). These data suggest that latency age and mid-adolescent boys 15-19 are at risk for violence and are a seriously underserved population.

In this personal reflection, I am going to discuss the main commitments required for teaching in schools in under-resourced communities. In these contexts, teachers must be dedicated to help bring about change in the lives of their students, both academically and socially. Being an educator is one of the noblest of professions; as a matter of fact I boldly say it is the noblest profession. Teachers seek to find a job in a school in a community where they feel comfortable, safe and secure, with the necessary resources to get their job done.

Extensive research in the 1990s revealed that children who succeed in school and in life tend to have four crucial emotional needs met. Furthermore, they also have a particular mindset that helps them succeed. Children who are in trouble and fall through the cracks tend to lack these necessities. In this discussion I suggest that parents are uniquely positioned to meet children’s emotional needs and to influence their mindsets, and thus their school achievement. This explains parents’ impact on school achievement.

This paper describes the process undertaken to assess the cultural resonance and dissonance of INSIGHTS into Children’s Temperament in preparation for adapting the intervention for dissemination in Jamaica. INSIGHTS is an evidence-based intervention that enhances the social emotional development of young children and the behaviour management skills of their teachers and parents. To obtain stakeholders perspectives regarding an adaptation, 32 Jamaican educators atended a two-day INSIGHTS workshop conducted by the developer of the intervention.

This action research attempted to investigate the effect of integrating on students’ mathematics performance and environmental knowledge, atitudes and behaviour, and environmental education in mathematics classes. It involved two sample secondary schools and one sample primary school in under-resourced communities in Jamaica. A sample of four classes was conveniently selected. The action involved integration of environmental education in six mathematics lessons.

This paper addresses the role of technical vocational education and training (TVET) in economic development for both national and regional development. Also addressed are the key features of TVET for economic development as a tool for all people, and the benefits of TVET. It is argued that TVET can play a critical role in economic growth and sustainability.

The purpose of this study was to examine the extent to which a selected group of parents (mothers) in an under-resourced community in Kingston, Jamaica supported their children in their education. This study is a mixed-method case study involving 24 participants from a women’s organization in a low-income community. All women are mothers living in the inner city. They all have children ranging from age 3 to 24. Twenty-four copies of the questionnaire were first administered to the participants as a structured interview via telephone in 2013 by a graduate research assistant.

In this keynote address, the author shared a case study of an inner‐city girls’ school in Chicago. She discussed the school and community initiatives established to ensure academic, social, and emotional success. With their new model of assessment and academic supports, the school boasts a 100 percent graduation rate.

The School of Education, University of the West Indies, Mona, in collaboration with Operation Save Jamaica, hosted a two-day symposium, “Changing the Landscape of Education within Urban Schools and Communities” in Kingston, Jamaica on October 31 and November 1, 2013. The goals of the symposium were to expose educators to the rugged terrain that many children from inner-city communities encounter and also to facilitate discussions among the participants about some of the challenges and solutions to the critical issues raised by our presenters. Approximately 120 persons attended.