As is evident from the overview of the content of the articles, there is much in this volume which should appeal to a variety of readers. There is a richness and diversity in the methodologies used in the articles: a convergent mixed method design (Jennings et al); mixed method (Verna Knight); a cross-sectional survey design (Marshall et al.); a quantitative non-experimental design (Martina King); and case study (Green-Mitchell).

Meta-analysis techniques were utilized to examine the differences in summative academic achievement among African American and African Caribbean students. A fixed effects model with moderator analyses was applied to a sample of five studies. Significant between group heterogeneity was identified. The aggregate effect size of -1.08 for differences in academic achievement between both groups was statistically significant. The type of summative assessment emerged as a substantial moderator which explained 86% of the heterogeneity between both groups.

There is a lack of clarity on what quality education means and how it could be achieved. This study examines this question from the perspective of secondary school students in Jamaica and Trinidad. The study also sought to ascertain whether there were significant country, school type and gender differences in the students’ perceptions .A convergent mixed methods design was used for the research.

The paper examines some of the methods used by a sample of Jamaican sixth form students in carrying out the work and study required for the General Certificate of Education Advanced Level (A-Level) examinations. Students’ opinions of, and their reactions to, their course of study are also explored. The need for school programmes which offer guidance in study skills seems indicated.

Research on teaching and teacher behaviour has encountered numerous difficulties over the years primarily because of the complex nature of the classroom. Researchers were accused of using very sloppy and hazy variables and critics observed that many of the investigations did not adhere to the logics of scientific enquiry. In response to these observations and criticisms Dunkin and Biddle conducted a thorough analysis of the work of classroom researchers and proposed a model for the study of classroom processes.

This report summarizes the findings of a group of Diploma of Education students (N. 42) who each investigated, using a case-study approach, both a high and low anxiety subject chosen from an examination class in Jamaican secondary schools or tertiary institutions. Subjects were identified from responses to a common instrument, further investigation of pairs of subjects then being carried out on the initiative of each Diploma student.

The paper reports the results of a research study which sought to identify the process of teachers’ planning and their perspectives on some aspects of teaching. The nineteen teachers who formed the sample were interviewed over a period of ten months. It was found that in their planning, teachers’ thoughts were dominated by the search for novel “activities”. The factors which influenced planning were pupils’ ability levels and their preferences for certain activities.

This study explores Jamaican secondary students’ perceptions of the impact of remote instruction on their learning. The arrival of the global COVID-19 pandemic on the shores of Jamaica in March 2020 (declared as such by the World Health Organization in the same month) resulted in a change from traditional face-to-face teaching to a remote modality. The study used convenience sampling to identify 28 urban and rural, male and female, 12-17-year-old secondary students across Jamaica’s 14 parishes. Semi structured questions and one-on-one telephone interviews  were used to collect data.

Proposals to “restructure” the University of the West Indies will be officially implemented with effect from the Ist October, 1984. The stated objective of such restructuring is the need for more Campus autonomy in order that the University may contribute more effectively to the perceived “national needs” of the respective Commonwealth Caribbean territories.
Vice-Chancellor Aston Preston [11] has explained that:

Over the years, literacy education in Jamaica has been plagued by two closely related problems: (1) the absence of a consistent, officially accepted, socio-linguistically based language policy and teaching methodology for transmitting literacy to creole speakers; and (2) the resultant persistently low literacy levels across the population. Creole linguists have repeatedly expressed the view that the native English-based creoles of the English speaking Caribbean significantly affect the transmission/acquisition of Standard English literacy (see Bailey, Carrington, Craig, Stewart).