The purpose of this study was to examine the effectiveness of using differentiated instruction to improve students’ overall reading abilities in a Standard 1 Belizean classroom. Data were collected by conducting teacher interviews, pre- and post-literacy assessment, and analysis of teachers’ weekly reading plans. The pre- and post-tests assessed students in three areas: phonological awareness, phonics, and reading comprehension.

The development of a valid and reliable instrument and related procedures for the assessment of practice teaching is often a protracted exercise requiring inputs from various stakeholders. This paper discusses the challenges of developing such an instrument by the Joint Board of Teacher Education (JBTE) of the University of the West Indies (UWI), Mona campus, to replace an existing instrument which had been in use for several years, as part of the effort to reshape the assessment of the practicum which forms an important part of the initial teacher training programmes of the JBTE. 

In spite of seeming global indecision regarding the significance of teacher education, the Caribbean Journal of Education (CJE) has provided space for academics to research, discuss and theorize the education of teachers for the last 35 years.

The Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) in Jamaica is administered to students in the year in which they are expected to conclude their primary education. It assesses students for placement in secondary schools, where they are expected to continue their education by building on the foundation that they received at the primary level.

In the process of reviewing a course in classroom assessment offered as part of a programme leading to a Diploma in Teaching, the need to reconcile a constructivist-behaviourist tension that was embedded in the course became evident. The tension resulted from the course designers’ effort to replace a course in classroom testing and measurement that was more behaviouristic with one that emphasized a constructivist approach to assessment.

The external assessment of Year Three Practicum is an important component of the assessment process to certify teachers completing the teacher education programme in Jamaica. Students are required to complete nine credit hours* (16 weeks) of practicum, distributed over the three years of intramural study at the teacher education institution. The period of practice in the first and second years is assessed internally, with the third year externally examined (Joint Board of Teacher Education 2003).

This study investigated the instructional assessment practices, techniques, and challenges of science teachers in Barbados with a view to providing baseline data on the state of the art of this important aspect of science teaching. A total of 55 science teachers drawn from 12 out of 22 secondary schools in Barbados constituted the participants in the study. The self report data obtained by a survey questionnaire revealed that teachers use similar instructional assessment practices regardless of sex, teaching experience, professional qualification, or academic qualification.

There are several disadvantages of Rasch and other probabilistic models that outweigh those of the raw score classical test theory models. Examiners, parents and students can be mystified by the Rasch and probabilistic models as they may be less relevant in formative or training contexts. For these reasons, a raw score model of rater severity and rater fit was constructed and was applied to a data set of 8708 English Language proficiency candidates. This model is more intuitive and thus easier to explain to the stakeholders, including examiners, as a preliminary quality control tool.

International research supports the view that principals play an integral role in ensuring the effectiveness of educational programmes for students with disabilities through assuming the role of instructional leaders. This research is qualitative and utilizes phenomenology to explore principals’ experiences and decision-making practices in assessment, curriculum and instruction in special education. The researcher conducted indepth interviews, analyzed transcripts using content analysis, and grounded theory to extract themes which characterized principals’ practices at the four schools.

This issue of the Journal of Education and Development in the Caribbean contains articles that use a variety of methodologies and span countries in both the English-speaking Caribbean and Latin America. The article by Garcia Pena, Da Silva, Angelucci and Csoban, in fact, compares youth in higher education in Latin America and the Caribbean. Two of the articles were originally presented at the Biennial Conference on Education held at the University of the West Indies on the St. Augustine campus in Trinidad and Tobago in 2013.