The West St. Andrew Technology Initiative

The challenge facing Jamaica’s schools is the empowerment of all children to function effectively in their future, a future marked increasingly with change, information growth, and evolving technologies. Efforts to address this challenge have been plagued however by an education system that has had limited success in providing many of its constituents with basic skills and competencies. Consequently, thousands of Jamaica’s students graduate each year without the requisite skills needed to successfully enter the workforce or to pursue higher education.

The principal goal of the West St. Andrew Technology Initiative (WSAT) is to develop a pilot program that uses technology to engage student and grade level remediation at all stages (Preschool through Grade 11). Current research and best practices continue to confirm the fact that technology can improve literacy rates, expand critical thinking and problem solving skills, and increase retention when strategically integrated into a standards-based curriculum. Raising literacy rates will improve student performance on national standardized tests and consequently produce technology-competent students able to satisfy the needs of Jamaica’s evolving economy and the larger global workforce.

Ten schools in the West St. Andrew-Kingston 11 district ranging from Preschool to High School were visited during this assessment. Site visits included a tour of the complete physical facility, classroom observations, and focus group discussions with Students, Teachers, Principals, and members of the West St. Andrew community. The specific schools visited included:

Maranatha Basic School
Riverton Early Childhood Centre
Marie Atkins Basic School
Balmagie Primary School
Duhaney Park Primary
Seaview Gardens Primary
Seaward Primary and Junior High School
St. Patrick’s Primary
George Headley Primary
Edith Dalton High School

The WSAT initiative also seeks to pilot the development of standards for the use of technology across the curriculum in the targeted schools. In this regard, there is a specific interest in defining:

What students should know about technology and be able to do with technology at each grade level
Professional development and systems support strategies for teachers, essential to sustain the effective use of technology and,
Determining a means for assessing student progress and evaluating the use of technology in teaching and learning

Furthermore, the initiative seeks to make basic training and access to information technology available to the West St. Andrew community. The target schools in this region will serve as after-school community technology centers or “digital hubs” available to the community. This component will allow users in this community to understand and effectively make use of technology in ways that can ultimately reduce the cycle of poverty and crime that plagues this district.

The project team for this initiative includes each Principal from those Schools in the pilot area, and representatives from the West St. Andrew community. The project team will work closely with the Ministry of Education throughout the life of the pilot to relay its successes and findings. Unlike many projects of this nature, this effort is intended to be a collaborative and inclusive process in which school administrators, teachers, and the community are important participants. The knowledge gained from this pilot will create a model capable of being replicated throughout other parts of the country.

BACKGROUND

In 2004, Prime Minister P.J. Patterson appointed a 14-member Task Force on Educational Reform to prepare and present an action plan to address the chronic under achievement of the system. The committee provided recommendations in four key areas: Governance and Management of the Education System, Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Support, Full Stakeholder participation in the Education System, and Finance.

Of these areas, only Curriculum, Teaching and Learning Support articulated a need to embrace the use of technology as a means of improving student performance. These recommendations included:

Training all teachers in the use of information and communications technology
Providing Internet access to all schools using wireless technology if necessary
Determining and procuring resources required for remediation, including specialists, teacher’s aides, curriculum, IT, etc.
Using Information Communication Technology to teach difficult concepts via distance.

Several initiatives are currently taking place in different segments of the government to address the above recommendations as it relates to technology, however the overall coordination and results to date have been inconsistent. When evaluating benchmarks developed to measure progress against these recommendations, it becomes clear that the desired targets will not be achieved by their initial milestones.

A report was developed as a result of the aforementioned visit, and provides an overall assessment of current information technology practices occurring in these schools. The report also provides a strategy for the successful implementation of technology across the curriculum in these schools and guidelines for evaluating measurable outcomes.

OBSERVATIONS

Based on site visits to the schools listed above, the following observations with regards to the availability and use of technology are noted (in no particular order):

*There is a wide disparity in computer access across the target schools ranging from no computers to fully equipped computer labs. The majority however, do not have any type of instructional technology.
* There is virtually no Internet access in those schools that have computers. Those who do have Internet connectivity do so via telephone modem.
* The majority of computers present in this target group are several generations behind current state-of-the art desktop technology (a large base of Intel 286 and 386 based processors). The operating systems and software are likewise several generations behind current versions.
* There is no consistency in the infrastructure across the target group. Hardware is represented by a variety of different vendors including DELL, HP, Gateway, and several less recognizable brand names. There is very little network connectivity in place at schools with functioning computer labs.
* Those schools with computer labs utilize the facility to teach basic computer skills to students.
* The use of computers within the curriculum to enhance teaching is for the most part nonexistent.
* The majority of teachers in the target schools are deficient in basic computer knowledge and computer competencies. The interest in learning to use this tool however is high among teachers.
* Teachers are excited by the potential technology offers and would like help in incorporating its use in the curriculum.
Most teachers feel strongly that technology will make a major impact in student performance.
* Most teachers feel that opportunities for training in the use of instructional technology have been inadequate.
* Developmental reading and writing is the largest challenge facing virtually all schools at all grade levels.
* Student performance on the GSAT, CXC, and SSC are areas that Principals are strongly interested in improving through technology
* Preschool Principals are extremely interested in self-directed software to improve letter and number recognition skills
* A more than expected number of students have computers at home with Internet access. The majority of these students use the computer to either gather research for homework or to play games.
* Virtually all students interviewed have a high interest in using computers.
* Space is a problem at most schools in the target group. Some teachers share a classroom separated only by a blackboard. Class sizes are large with as many as 35-40 students managed by one teacher.
* There is limited power access (electrical) and inadequate ventilation in some classrooms.
* Computers are not being used for administrative functions in any of these schools.
* No electronic recordkeeping exists at any of the schools in the target group.
* With one exception (Duhaney Park), after hours community access to computers in schools is not available.
* Some teachers are utilizing the performing arts to reinforce scientific concepts, specifically biology
* Some students are utilizing creative means to create digital beats

The education system in Jamaica serves approximately 800,000 students in public and private institutions at the early childhood, primary, secondary, and tertiary levels. Despite high enrollment rates, significant curriculum reform, and the provision of considerable financial support, performance at all levels of the system continue to be well below target as measured by student scores on national and regional assessment tests.

In the pilot area of West St. Andrew, results of national and region assessment tests tend to be even lower that the national figures. A wide variety of socio-economic factors contribute to this situation, primarily driven by a population who are predominantly poor and undereducated, and a community overwhelmed by crime.

Your Support

Download a PDF copy of the complete report which was  delivered to Anthony Hylton, the sitting Member of Parliament  for The Peoples National Party, which formed the government for 18 years. We anticipate that  this force  will  have little or no time  to advocate for residents as it  protect itself from the many allegations of corruption leveled against it's members. We  hope you will join this intiatve. Send enquiry.

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