Reports

May 11, 2016

INTRODUCTION

The world has made some remarkable progress in education since 2000, when the six Education for All (EFA) goals and the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) were established. Those goals were not, however, reached by the 2015 deadline and continued action is needed to complete the unfinished agenda. With Goal 4 of Transforming our world: the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development [i] – ‘Ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and promote lifelong earning opportunities for all’ (hereafter referred to as Education 2030) – and its associated targets, the world has set a more ambitious universal education agenda for the period from 2015 to 2030. Every effort must be made to guarantee that this time the goal and targets are achieved.

Education 2030 was developed through a broad consultative process driven and owned by Member States, and facilitated by UNESCO as well as other partners and guided by the EFA Steering Committee.1 Education 2030 draws on the thematic consultations on education post-2015 of 2012 and 2013 led by UNESCO and UNICEF, the Global Education for All Meeting held in Muscat, Oman, in May 2014, non-government organization (NGO) consultations, the five regional ministerial conferences organized by UNESCO in 2014 and 2015, and the E-9 meeting held in Islamabad in 2014.2 A key mile stone in its development is the Muscat Agreement [ii], which was adopted at the Global EFA Meeting in May 2014 and which informed the global education goal and its associated targets and means of implementation as proposed by the United Nations (UN) General Assembly’s Open Working Group on Sustainable Development Goals (OWG).

This process culminated in the Incheon Declaration, which was adopted on 21 May 2015 at the World Education Forum (WEF 2015) held in Incheon, Republic of Korea. The Incheon Declaration constitutes the commitment of the education community to Education 2030 and the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development, recognizing the important role of education as a main driver of development. The Education 2030 Framework for Action, which provides guidance for implementing Education 2030, was discussed at WEF 2015, and its essential elements were agreed upon in the Incheon Declaration. It was finalized by the Drafting Group for the Education 2030 Framework for Action and adopted by 184 Member States and the education community during a high-level meeting at UNESCO, Paris on 4 November 2015. The Framework for Action outlines how to translate into practice, at country/national,3 regional and global level, the commitment made in Incheon. It aims at mobilizing all countries and partners around the Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) on education and its targets, and proposes ways of implementing, coordinating, financing and monitoring Education 2030 to ensure inclusive and equitable quality education and lifelong learning opportunities for all. It also proposes indicative strategies which countries may wish to draw upon in developing contextualized plans and strategies, taking into account different national realities, capacities and levels of development and respecting national policies and priorities.

The Framework for Action has three sections. Section I outlines the vision, rationale and principles of Education 2030. Section II describes the global education goal and its associated seven targets and three means of implementation, as well as indicative strategies. Section III proposes a structure for coordinating global education efforts, as well as governance, monitoring, follow-up and review mechanisms. It also examines ways of ensuring that Education 2030 is adequately financed and outlines the partnerships needed to realize the agenda at country/national, regional and global level.

 

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FILED UNDER: Education, Reports, UNESCO
Govt. of T&T MINISTRY OF EDUCATION

The development of this medium-term Education Sector Strategic Plan, covering the period October 2011 to September 2015, is a significant step in the transformation of the education sector in Trinidad and Tobago. The Plan reflects the national education development agenda as well as the commitments to regional and international prerogatives in the achievement of the Education For All (EFA) and Millennium Development Goals (MDG). This is significant as it enables the country to align itself with its regional and global neighbours in the pursuit of the common goal of equitable quality education for all.

Anchored in the first of the seven (7) interconnected developmental pillars of the new government, the Ministry has begun to take steps towards re-orientating its strategic initiatives with a stronger focus on the education and development of the children of the nation. In 2010, with the support of an external consultant, it conducted a strategic assessment to determine the extent to which the Ministry’s operations were aligned with the new government’s policy directions. The assessment produced a strategic assessment report and a strategy report which articulated the Ministry’s new transformation approach.

The process also led to the crafting of a new Vision and Mission - embodying the aspirations and goals of education. Another key development in the Ministry is the creation of a set of Value Outcomes for the children of the nation, which establishes the characteristics of the children that the education system is expected to produce. These various statements collectively define the new policy direction of the Ministry. The Plan identifies three (3) major goals that aim at enhancing and consolidating efforts in the on-going pursuit of improved access, equity and quality of education for improved student outcomes.  

These are:

(1) Design and develop a quality education system

(2) Transform the Ministry into a modern high-performing organization

(3) Engage stakeholders in the change and transformation process

In support of these goals, the Ministry has further identified sixteen (16) priorities that must be addressed through to 2015 (see Table 1). These have been incorporated into the overall plan of the Ministry. The Plan also embodies strategies that will ensure collaboration of the Ministry with its stakeholders in the transformation of the education system. They include, inter alia:

1. Creating or setting the legislative framework to support the education and development of children

2. Designing a quality education and development system that includes,

a. Strengthening school supervision and support systems

b. Achieving Universal ECCE

c. Institutionalising School-Based Management (SBM)

3. Developing and sustaining institutional capability and capacity at every level of the system to support the Ministry’s transformation strategy;

4. Institutionalising corporate and business planning, including the establishing of monitoring and evaluation strategies to measure and report on performance;

5. Researching children’s needs and interests (understanding) to (i) enhance service delivery and (ii) create information systems

6. Developing a management framework that supports people engagement and change management.

In fulfilment of the new education development agenda, this Plan provides a detailed implementation framework presenting the planned approaches for the execution of the strategies, programmes and initiatives, and includes implementation structure, monitoring, reporting and evaluation. Recognising that the transformation initiatives identified will extend beyond 2015, the Ministry will take a two-pronged approach to implementing the Plan. This will see the simultaneous identification and implementation of both transformation strategies, whilst remaining responsive to emerging issues. These two (2) types of interventions have been integrated into one implementation framework, to ensure greater coherence and the identification of internal linkages and synergies. Critical to the implementation of this plan is development and implementation of a comprehensive change and transition programme, led by the senior executives of the Ministry.

 

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Gaston J. Franklyn

The Government of the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, in keeping with its national development agenda, has initiated a process to build a seamless and sustainable education system. As referenced by (Ashton and Pujadas 2004), Seamlessness refers to the openness and responsiveness of various levels of education and training. Developing a pre-school to tertiary level seamless system necessitates the development of a long term perspective on human resource development and a radically new view of knowledge throughout our society.

The ECCE Division, operating within the administrative structure of the Ministry of Education, is charged with the leadership responsibility for achieving the seamless vision from ECCE to Primary. On the one hand, the ECCE Division is guided by the core Vision of Excellence in Education, The Ministry of Education Corporate Plan ( 2008-2012), The Education White Paper (1993-2003),the White Paper on the National Policy on ECCE – Standards for Regulatory Early Childhood Services and National Early Childhood Care and Education Curriculum Guide. Within the context of the core vision, the Corporate Plan has identified three Strategic Priorities:

a) Focus on Schools.

b) Change the Ministry.

c) Involve the Community.

On the other hand, building on the directional themes and the three Strategic Priorities of the Corporate Plan, the ECCE Division has developed a compatible Vision and Mission. The ECCE Vision is that quality education in a centre and community focused programme of early childhood development is to be achieved with improved access and equity to engage all children in the educational endeavour. In translating that Vision to Action, The Mission has incorporated these fundamental tenets:

a) Child-centred and quality curriculum.

b) Alliances and partnerships with the community.

c) Continuous professional development.

d) Involvement of parents.

From a practical perspective, this institutional strengthening initiative is significant and has far reaching consequences for the ECCE Division as it provides leadership to the integration of this economic, social and educational policy. The effective implementation of this initiative will, most likely, place added pressure on the potential Division's expanded role, as a coordinating and network centre. At the outset, it must be emphasized that the building of a team leadership culture within the ECCE Division is critical to the success of this initiative. As a result, serious consideration must be given to the implementation of the recommendations within the (Moore Report, 2010), particularly those that deal with leadership development and strategic thinking. 

The complexity of the relationship between care, early learning and primary education is a critical public education challenge. Moving forward will require ongoing collaboration, sustained financial and political support to ensure that trained staff, appropriate standards and facilities are developed and monitored. In a nutshell, collaboration, effective partnerships, political will and commitment become the hallmark of its successful implementation.

The words “collaboration”, “co-operation” and “partnership” appear frequently within the Report. They give direction to the fundamental principle of co-determination. The concept of co-determination suggests that, through effective collaboration among key stakeholders, ensuing plans will be based on mutual agreement and therefore more likely to be implemented. In this operational climate, dysfunctional relationships are replaced by effective leadership, transparency and compromise. To that end, it is hypothesized that the successful implementation of plans to achieve the goal of a smooth and seamless transition from ECCE to Primary will require the resolving of perceived differences on child readiness, within the context of a philosophy of child-centred pedagogy and a continuum of learning.

In the final analysis, the successful implementation of plans to achieve a seamless transition from ECCE to Primary will depend on the extent to which there is tangible commitment and support to the ECCE Division, so that it can provide effective and strategic leadership and management to these major challenges:

•Maintaining learning and care quality, building human resource capabilities and 

capacities and improving the learning, technological and facilities infrastructures;

•Developing synergistic and strategic partnership relationships with the Primary sector;

•Providing collaborative leadership to the development of a shared vision. Both the qualitative and quantitative evidence suggest that there are two options for addressing the concept of a seamless transition from ECCE to Primary: (i) continue to perpetuate the current system which, by design, is incongruent with the concept of seamlessness, or (ii) redesign the current system grounded in an early learning framework that is based on a continuum of learning competencies supported by a seamless curriculum.

Clearly, the economic, social and educational priorities are interdependent. We cannot have seamless access without reviewing the educational philosophy. We cannot have an inclusive society without “leveling the playing field” for all early learners; therefore, the status quo is not the answer. In addition, there is conclusive research evidence that suggests that the smooth and effective transition from ECCE to Primary is a fundamental requirement for the start of a successful educational experience. As Logie (1997) so aptly states, placing early childhood at the forefront of the seamless reform ensures that children will start primary school with more advantages and more equal opportunities.

 

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Susan Peters

TThe Trinidad and Tobago Ministry of Education (MOE) and the Student Support Services Divison (SSSD) of the Ministry seek to develop a Seamless Education System that provides inclusive education for all students of the nation. To assist the MOE and the SSSD in these efforts, Miske Witt and Associates conducted research on inclusive education in Trinidad and Tobago from January 2007 to January 2008. This Final Report provides a summary of the data analysis and offers recommendations for strategies to support activities that will enable the MOE to succeed in its inclusive education efforts.

The recommendations are based on a comprehensive analysis of data collected for this report and are presented according to the six major components of the study:

1. Assessment and early intervention

2. System transformation: Development of model schools

3. Profession development and curriculum differentiation

4. Monitoring and evaluation

5. Socialisation and outreach and

6. Cost effectiveness analysis and facilities upgrades

Outcomes of the study related to these components include: (1) a demographic profile of student needs; (2) recommendations and a plan of action for systemic change; (3) training plans for pre-service and in-service special and general education personnel; (4) recommendations and a plan of action to build capacity and to provide an effective monitoring and evaluation system; (5) development of a social communication and outreach plan; (6) recommended funding strategies and a plan of action for upgrading schools. For each component, phased steps that the executing unit or ministry will need to take to implement the recommendations are provided over a ten-year period.

Throughout this study, strategies for inclusive education (IE) encompass all students with special education needs (SEN). Specifically, these students include ?dropouts, students with learning or other disabilities, students who are gifted and talented, students infected or affected with HIV, students with social, emotional, or behavioural difficulties, and ESL students (English for speakers of other languages).? (Ministry of Education Student Support Services Division. Understanding Inclusive Education in Trinidad and Tobago. December 27, 2007.)

To carry out this study, Miske Witt and Associates trained and collaborated with several teams of Trinidad and Tobago (T&T) education professionals to achieve the goal of building local capacity, enhancing sustainability, and ensuring collaboration of key stakeholders. Headed by Miske Witt researchers, these teams collected data from 42 school site-visits in primary and secondary schools across all seven districts of Trinidad and also Tobago. In addition, Miske Witt developed, disseminated, collected and analysed data from a national survey disseminated to 460 primary schools, 150 secondary schools, and 29 special schools. Miske Witt researchers also conducted numerous interviews with heads of agencies, community members, and staff of several ministries.

 

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June George (Principal Investigator)

There is growing concern worldwide about the level of achievement of boys. There is such research published on the gender gap in educational achievement in which girls seem to be outperforming boys. It was against this backdrop that this consultancy was conducted.

The overall purpose of the consultancy was interpreted to be the generation of strategies to correct the perceived underperformance of boys in the school system in Trinidad and Tobago, particularly at the primary level. Such strategies were to be arrived at after certain preliminary work had been undertaken, viz:

• A review of pertinent literature and pertinent government policy documents

• A statistical analysis of the performance of boys throughout the primary, secondary and tertiary levels, with information on the early childhood sector provided where available

• An analysis of steps that are being taken in some schools to deal with the issue

• An analysis of Ministry of Education curricula and testing materials for gender bias with respect to boys‘/girls‘ achievement

• An analysis of the level of implementation in schools of relevant strategies as outlined in government documents

• Consultation with significant stakeholders

Further, the terms of the consultancy stipulated that recommendations were to be made for appropriate library resources and appropriate teacher professional development programmes that could assist in achieving the goal of enhanced performance levels by boys.

 

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Jerome DeLisle

This final report describes a theory-driven evaluation of the Trinidad and Tobago Continuous Assessment Programme (CAP) implemented in the primary school system. Evidence was collected using a multiphase mixed methods research design, with information gathered on the fidelity and strength (intensity) of the programme in a sample of 60 schools in the seamless project and 40 schools in the original CAP pilot project. 

Phase I was an exploratory qualitative study of eleven sites, Phase II was a quantitative modelling study based on a multi-instrument survey of 378 teachers in 35 schools, and Phase III was an explanatory qualitative study of two schools with different levels of implementation and two principals at relatively high implementation sites. 

The evidence collected suggests that programme strength was variable across sites. In schools reporting high programme strength, most of the original CAP activities were still being done. These schools usually had strong leadership by principals who were originally trained under the CAP Pilot programme. However, in schools with low programme strength, some teachers were not even aware of the CAP. 

Overall, the concerns based profiles suggest that the system was dominated by nonusers of CAP, although there might be lower resistance in schools that reported high implementation. 

The most frequently implemented activity was the CAP project, but this activity was not conducted in a way that provided the full benefits of formative assessment. Neither was there efficient use of the data collected even at high implementation sites. Thus, programme fidelity was judged to be universally low, with inadequate formative assessment, a lack of feedback to students, and poor or inappropriate data use. The quantitative modelling study confirmed that fidelity outcomes, such as providing feedback and using multimodal assessment, were very different to ?doing? CAP and, as such, the independent variables in the model were much less predictive of fidelity measures. 

The integrated meta-inferences confirmed that several contextual, organizational, and teacher variables were important, with user variables more important in fidelity. 

Most students in schools had very positive views of assessment, but tended to see classroom assessment as a mechanical recording of grades or used as an accounting procedure, rather than as a tool for improving learning in the classroom. 

The key recommendations focused on the need to develop a coherent and balanced comprehensive assessment policy and a simplified, targeted and restructured CAP, with an emphasis on formative assessment.

Caution should be exercised when developing new policy that seeks to integrate classroom assessment with the placement function currently held by the SEA. The wide variation in practice, universal absence of training, and general lack of support at building sites suggested that teacher measurements and judgements would lack validity and integrity within a high stakes context. 

 

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Michael Midling
February 15, 2013

Jamaica’s Ministry of Education has taken important measures to build and transform its education system. Although the country has achieved near-universal primary and secondary education enrolment, its schools still face challenges of poor quality of instruction, inadequate teacher training and retention, underperformance, gender imbalances, lack of physical and human resources, and the influence of crime and violence.

Persistent illiteracy plagues the nation, particularly in low-income communities. Since testing began in the 2008-09 school year, on average only 71 percent of Grade 4 students have been certified as literate. As a result, there is an increased emphasis on improving education outcomes by improving children’s ability to read. The United States Government’s (USG) Jamaica country assistance strategy priority supports this goal by contributing to improved early grade reading instruction and reading delivery systems and greater engagement, accountability, and transparency by the educational system

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PREAL
January 1, 1999

Everyone agrees that education is crucial to the progress of Central America and its people. Yet current
efforts to improve education fall far short of what is needed. Educational development in Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic is behind that of South America, which itself trails world indices. More than a third of the population has no access to minimum levels of instruction, and most of those who do enjoy access receive very low quality education.


Reversing this situation will require exceptional effort and commitment. The future depends on our actions: we can either allow our countries to reap the benefits of the new century by opening the door to development, or we can face societies and economies that are increasingly fragile, unjust, and unstable. The Task Force on Education Reform in Central America seeks to contribute to the reform effort by offering parents, governments, educators, business leaders, political leaders, international donor agencies, and civil society four key recommendations for improving education in the sub-region:

RECOMMENDATION #1
Transfer to parents, teachers, and communities a greater share of responsibility for managing educational systems and administering schools. Changing and improving education in the region will require drastically different management strategies to ensure school effectiveness, efficiency, and development. Turning schools into autonomous organizations imbued with their own culture, vision, and sense of mission is essential for the successful management of resources and the improvement of academic achievement. Central America, Panama, and the Dominican Republic are teeming with promising innovations in school autonomy. Their achievements need to be consolidated and replicated. Recent experience demonstrates that educational communities are
capable of substantial progress if the management of human and material resources is transferred to the schools themselves.

RECOMMENDATION #2
Increase public investment in education to a minimum of five percent of GDP and allocate the new funds to primary and secondary education. In order to improve education significantly, most countries should dramatically increase their investments at the primary and secondary levels. In at least five countries—Guatemala, El Salvador, Nicaragua, the Dominican Republic, and Honduras—current levels of public investment are grossly inadequate and fall well below those of other parts of Latin America. Leaders in government, politics, and the private sector need to explore and adopt realistic but bold means of increasing funding.

RECOMMENDATION #3
Revitalize the teaching profession by linking to job performance, improving pre-service training, and promoting more and better in-service training programs. Current salary and incentive structures value seniority and academic credentials over performance, making it difficult for schools to retain and reward good teachers as well as to replace those who perform poorly. Wage increases are important, but they must be accompanied by legal
reforms that link them to job performance and student achievement.

RECOMMENDATION #4
Establish a common system of educational standards and performance assessment, and disseminate findings widely. Countries should establish well-defined, broadly discussed educational standards. They should implement systematic tests of academic achievement and establish benchmarks to evaluate the impact of reforms. Standards and test results should be disseminated to parents and society in a simple, transparent manner. Governments should establish a regional, independently administered system of academic achievement tests that allows comparisons across countries. All countries should participate in global testing programs, such as the Third International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) or the Latin American Laboratory for the
Evaluation of Education Quality sponsored by the UNESCO Regional Office for Latin America and the Caribbean (OREALC).

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FILED UNDER: PDF, Reports, PREAL, PREAL
Didacus Jules

This policy paper seeks to address issues in BASIC EDUCATION defined as the continuum of education provision from early childhood to primary to secondary education (incorporating also technical and vocational education). Too often studies of this nature have focused on primary and secondary education and ignored the vital importance of pre-primary or early childhood education in laying the foundation for achievement in later years. Additionally, the pace of globalisation and the impact of the technological revolution have made higher education a developmental imperative and have made it necessary to redefine basic education as inclusive of secondary education. The paper therefore treats basic education as the new minimum but holistic educational standard that the region is expected to deliver to its citizens.

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Peter-John Gordon
January 1, 2012

This exercise will not seek to address the issue of financing the central administrative cost of the education system, i.e. the cost of running the Ministry of Education. We make no attempt to cost the transition from where we are to where we want to be. What we do is to construct what we perceive to be a reasonable school system and ask ourselves what it would cost to maintain such a system; we therefore jump immediately to the desired configuration.

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