This study examines student retention using Astin’s Input-Environment-Output model of assessment. Using administrative data, binomial logistic regression was performed to identify factors for successful student retention of first year, full-time, First-degree entrants at a Caribbean university. The odds of being retained were highest for scholarship recipients and female students. Living on campus was found to reduce one’s odds of being retained. The number of courses passed in high school and age were found to be statistically significant.

To understand the significance of the online launch of this issue of the Journal of Education and Development in the Caribbean (JEDIC), one must understand its beginnings. Created by the late Professor Dennis Craig and Professor Emerita Zellynne Jennings-Craig, JEDIC was birthed out of a need to produce scholarly research by and for the Caribbean people, pertaining to both education and development. The first issue, published in June 1997 in Guyana, produced four articles, one book review and one thesis abstract.

The mediocre performance of students in the Caribbean Secondary Examination Certificate (CSEC) examinations, particularly in mathematics, raises the question whether private/public tutoring – more popularly termed in Jamaica, extra lessons – can improve academic performance in secondary education. The 2009 Jamaican Survey on Living Conditions revealed that extra lessons are the third highest expense in household education expenditures, after transportation and lunches.