Understanding Education

[Rockman]

Heheh!

[Don1]

I did not pay this study any mind so I don't know the JC position. Don't know what this D or C business is. I looked at the methodology when it came out a few years ago.... Nonsensical. No reason to waste any more time with faux science

As to developments at JC....where we were, the reform plan & execution... I've gone thru that in voluminous detail here. One huge issue was ballooning from ~800 students in my day to ~2K in the early 2000s. We had ZERO systems to deal with the discipline issues ...and also alumni jumped ship. That's a systemic breakdown which had to be rebuilt from scratch.

The recovery is underway but not complete. The life cycle of a bad cohort is ~10 years....the reform process started 9 years ago. Just in the last year or 2 we're attracting mostly good-adequate students @ 1st form level... so outcomes should be on the upswing

JC always had a free-wheeling college type DNA with students self-governing and accustomed to questioning authority....because it was an outgrowth of the Univ of London outpost when it moved to from St Ann to Hope Estate. None of dat Catalik discipline ting fi wi. That worked very well when the school was small & middle/upper middle class up to the 1980s

We discovered that loose & free-wheeling doesn't work well with the masses

[Don1]

You are the MoE whose job it is to dweet?

Dat is the problem right were.
It left up to alumni well wishers to carry the heavy load, so small incremental rather than revolutionary change.

We cannot depend on MOE....JC like unnu (I think) is owned by a trust...not government

Without our Trust & Foundation & Alumni being active in raising funds and boosting the yutes....we would be a Norman Manley High in a few years. In fact that was about to occur

[Willi]

C and D is what you listed above!!!!

Get wid yuh own program! LoL

[Willi]

Good answers though.

One objection is that a bad cohaort washes out on 4-7 years…Dem nuh really guh 6th form too tuff.

[Muadib]

So we back to an 'elite' set...

Sort out di diaspora bond fi education and stap yuh yapping..

[Don1]

So we back to an 'elite' set...

Sort out di diaspora bond fi education and stap yuh yapping..

Diaspora bond???

You ungrateful mendicants looking for yet another bailout????? Why unnu cyaan support unnuself an' unnu juss ah begbeg suh?????

Ah wha dis Faada??????

You slothful idlers dung deh fi tap unnu yappin ova foolishness an get to WORK!!!!!!

[Willi]

Beg?

I thought he was saying the bondees (welshers) who run weh a owe big eddikashun loan need to ne hunted down and made to repay. That is good windfall for the MoE to possible do something constructive with.

[Don1]

Good answers though.

One objection is that a bad cohaort washes out on 4-7 years…Dem nuh really guh 6th form too tuff.

Ok I misspoke re cohort....Didn't want to get into the granular stuff..again. But yuh force mi hand

JC's problem by 2006 was much more PROFOUND than one poor 1st-5th Form cohort.

There was no effective leadership from Alumni or Principals for ~20 years. This allowed Political Termites to DOUBLE the school population in that time...

So by 2006 we had:

No physical infrastructure to accommodate the numbers. the Assembly Hall, the gym and even containers were used as classrooms

Severe discipline problems and no experience or systems to fix them

Plunging academic outcomes

Dispirited & unmotivated faculty...and an inability to attract good teachers

A bad public image.... That takes years and lots of good PR to overturn


What this means is not merely a bad cohort that turns over in 5 years... It means a bad public perception that stops parents from even considering sending high achievers there... starting with alumni.Beginning in the mid 1980s that negative perception steadily worsened for 20 years.

It is the public perception and public expectations of JC that had to be restored...so that parents put us on their list of choice schools again.
That doesn't happen quickly...especially with the legion of BadMinded gloating & yappin at The Mighty falling. Yuh dun know how yuh peeple stay


So led by Danny The Visionary, the alumni raised ~US$4m+ over 7 years or so...

First we bought out the contracts of the doltish principal, vice principal and other backward teachers...and installed a team led by the charismatic & effective Senator Ruel B Reid, OJCPC, CD, JP, MSc, BSc, DipEd

Appropriate management control systems were designed from scratch and implemented...

The entire 120 year old & by then absolutely decrepit campus was renovated. About 16 classrooms had to be built or expanded... because the existing infrastructure could only support 1200 or so

Realizing that JA education was backward...and boys needed 21st century learning models...and that JA needed JC leadership to show the way...

We instituted the region's finest STEM applications programs in Aviation Science, Maritime Science & Robotics. This is now a model showing the region what the beginnings of an appropriate 21st Century school should look like. JA is stuck with a backward 1960s model and doesn't even know it

This is easily the most significant reform in any JA education institution... It's a great case study for Mona Business School teaching the impact of both bad and great leadership

I'd say we're about 70% through the top to bottom reform and just BEGINNING to see the impact ... Stand by for the remaining 30%....

Worries n Weepin n Wailin in store fi di BadMind Crew

Woooiiiieee mi True Blue!!!

[Mosiah]

I hope yuh getting good money for this!

[Karl]

Deconstructing Education Chronicles CCCX111



So D1 has noticed many ites yappin in a vacuum about education. The fact of interest in the subject is great
Unfortunately much of the yappin is uninformed and superficial....and lacking a factual or data-driven framework

There is a lot of chatter about flawed "ranking of schools" when indeed the education system itself is a rank failure. Consequently the conclusions drawn from the flawed and inadequate information which informs the yappin ...are misdirected or downright FALSE.

Fortunately D1 is here to provide an appropriate framework for more intelligent discussion on this, my #1 concern...education

Let's begin in the middle... the secondary school system and the critical transition from the primary level

The following data are from the latest MOE report (2013) on GSAT outcomes
For those most interested go to Page 145

GSAT EXAM PROFILE - OVERALL MEDIOCRITY BUT AN ABSOLUTE CRISIS WITH BOYS

A. ~43K students sat GSAT IN 2013
~ 20 K Boys and ~23 K Girls ...

So ~15% MORE Girls than Boys even sat GSAT!

B. Girls OUTSCORE boys in ALL subjects (except some fluff subject called Communication Arts where they're equal):

...The differences range from ~7% in Science to a whopping 20+% in Language Arts!


C. The overall scoring scoring for Girls is MEDIOCRE and POOR for boys


D. Stats indicate the GSAT cohort with very good to acceptable results..which show good prep for HS work:

~20 of the Girls (~4500) and ~16% of the Boys (~3200)...

If this is correct... Almost 50% MORE Girls are properly prepared for HS work than Boys!

E. Boys' schools have a MUCH SMALLER pool of quality 1st formers to attract as opposed to Girls' and Co-Ed schools. This issue is particularly acute for large boys' schools with ~2K students...

The 1st form intake of large boys' schools is 250+ ... or 8% - 10% of the ENTIRE cohort of academically acceptable boys!

E. Clearly unless the basic & primary systems are fixed... Most High Schools will continue to be remediation centers managing social problems moreso than preparing kids for a modern economy. This is particularly true for BOYS!



FLIGHT TO QUALITY ISSUES

It's a well known fact that the biggest influence on HS academic performance is the quality of intake. There is a fierce battle among schools for the best quality GSAT performers since this is such a big factor in success. So called traditional schools manage the "intake academic quality" issue in various ways....a few:

A. Establish a fee-paying Prep School as a feeder to increase chances of a quality intake.

B. Admit girls who are generally higher performers than boys

C. Boarding on campus for large fees...

D. Spend substantially on the best teachers, enrichment programs and best infrastructure available to them to create an appealing environment for parents and kids

E. Remain small or moderately sized


The schools most successful at this "quality intake game" practice most if not all of these above... then compete for a colonial era "good school" title as if they exist in the 1960s.

Most of the nation's schools do not have the resources to compete at this elitist game and are permanently excluded from the "good school club".
The above is why it is RIDICULOUS for the unthinking to state that poor performing schools should just buckle down and "be like" the higher performing traditional schools This is a structural IMPOSSIBILITY!

Considering all the yappin about this education subject, virtually none of the yappers know the real issues nor realize this education model is broken and CANNOT MOVE JAMAICA FORWARD


Time unnu get real wid THE REAL ISSUES and support an agenda of comprehensive REFORM

Absolutley on point!
Again I ask: Are you a teacher?
I know I asked before but I do not remember if you answered.

Once question:

this education model is broken and CANNOT MOVE JAMAICA FORWARD

Exactly what is meant? ...and the continuum - ...and the fix?

btw - You do realize that if you breakdown what you so admirably identified it would apply to each discipline...inclusive of 'football'?

Hint: The fix for the system and for each individual discipline is SIMILAR!!!

Forward, boss!
Are you a teacher?

[Don1]

Karl;508408]Absolutley on point!
Again I ask: Are you a teacher?
I know I asked before but I do not remember if you answered.

I'm a disciple of Marcus...not a teacha

Yuh tink mi wudda ave patience fi deal wid nuh whole heap ah pikney??

Once question:

Exactly what is meant? ...and the continuum - ...and the fix?

The fix starts with visionary leadership. We have to understand the requirements of education to drive a functional 21st Century economy. Then reform the system to produce outcomes matching those requirements. What we have now is designed (poorly too) for the mid 20th century... So even if we perfect the current system we're still backward...
Rote learning/extreme class disparities with schools/emphasis on ill conceived standardized tests/Zero focus on modern STEM applications

That's a prescription for persistent backwardness

btw - You do realize that if you breakdown what you so admirably identified it would apply to each discipline...inclusive of 'football'?
Hint: The fix for the system and for each individual discipline is SIMILAR!!!

Football and other sports are integral parts of schooling... but are subsidiary to academic work. I believe ALL parts of schooling should strive for excellence. I've even designed a simple plan that would improve school ball WITHOUT much or any additional cost.

However with the resource constraints academic pursuits must be the primary focus

Forward, boss!
Are you a teacher?

Nope...I just have a strong interest in education reform

[Willi]

How unno people stay?

Hahahahaha

we dont study JC, we have no idea what unno a gwaan wid. Is just the overhype PR that keeps putting every minor move pon di front page of Gleaner and newsletter, why mi even know seh unno did drop dung so far.

We dont watch people, cuz we too busy trying to tek care of our Bizniz.

AMDG.

[Mosiah]

Is just the overhype PR that keeps putting every minor move pon di front page of Gleaner and newsletter...

KMT

[Muadib]

Do you know what a bond is claffy ?