In the context of Trinidad and Tobago, How do we identify schools that are succeeding or failing amidst exceptionally challenging circumstances?
Date
2008
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine
Abstract
The understanding that some schools face uniquely challenging circumstances represents a groundswell of new research in school improvement and education reform policy. Traditional school improvement theory does not account for variations in school contexts, and some have questioned the applicability of current practice to all schools, especially those in disadvantaged contexts. This leads directly to the core question of this paper: In the context of Trinidad and Tobago, how do we identify schools facing challenge? Answering this question will allow us to address the edifice of inequity strangling schooling outcomes in Latin America and the Caribbean. A critical task is the development of a database of schools with characteristics related to performance and context. This paper describes the protocol and initial data from such a project. Data came from the 2005 and 2006 primary school national achievement tests. A simple measure of school performance, called the Academic Performance Index, was developed, based on the distribution of students in each performance level defined in the national achievement tests. Additional indices were obtained, including disadvantage status and school size. From the database, a short list of high- and low-achieving schools in challenging circumstances was developed
Description
Table of Contents
Keywords
Educational efficiency, Educational improvement, Primary schools, Achievement tests, Disadvantaged schools, Performance factors, Trinidad and Tobago
Citation
De Lisle, J., Smith, P., Lewis, Y., Keller, C., McDavid, P., Jules, V...., and Seunarinesingh, K. (2008). In the context of Trinidad and Tobago, How do we identify schools that are succeeding or failing amidst exceptionally challenging circumstances?. In L. Quamina-Aiyejina (Ed.), Reconceptualising the agenda for education in the Caribbean: Proceedings of the 2007 Biennial Cross-Campus Conference in Education, April 23-26, 2007, School of Education, UWI, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago (pp. 547-562). St. Augustine, Trinidad: School of Education, UWI.