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. 

This article explores the issue of the lecturer as a researcher in the context of a tertiary level technical and vocational education and training (TVET) institution in Jamaica. Much of what is said, however, will find easy application to TVET institutions in small developing countries in the Commonwealth Caribbean and elsewhere. The article first explores, broadly, the concept of research in education and its general application to the field of TVET. It then addresses a number of issues more specifically related to the lecturer as a researcher in a TVET institution.

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.

Since its establishment in 1972, the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) has been providing improved access to education and certification for both in-school and out-of-school students in the Caribbean.  In order to optimize the benefits of its courses of study and examinations to out-of-school students, CXC had to treat with the challenge of the School-Based Assessment which must be undertaken under the guidance of the teacher and is therefore designed for in-school students.