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Evolving data use policy in Trinidad and Tobago: the search for actionable knowledge on educational improvement in a small island developing state

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Abstract

This paper presents a single-country case study of the use of large scale assessment (LSA) data to generate actionable knowledge at school and system levels. Actionable knowledge is data-informed insight into school and system processes that can be used to direct corrective action. The analysis is framed from the perspective of the country’s evolving national policy on data use for educational improvement between 1990 and 2013. Trinidad and Tobago first participated in international large scale assessments (ILSAs) in 1991 but also developed a centralized system of national large scale assessments (NLSAs) in 2004. Analyses of both datasets consistently pointed to low quality and high inequality as the main actionable issues in the education system. NLSA data also hinted at notable variation in performance across schools and education districts. Analyses for and of policy point to the need for multiple school performance measures to better inform site-based, formative action. Over the period, actionable knowledge appears to have had greater impact at school level, with evidence being used by some low-performing schools to improve. However, at the system level, the frequent non-use and misuse of actionable knowledge suggest the need to promote and strengthen structures and processes related to evidence-informed policy-making.

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Notes

  1. The Global Relative Risk was 2.7 described as a moderate risk of low reading achievement ( Trong 2009, p. 127).

  2. The API was developed in 2007 and used internally from 2007 to 2010; however, it was only formally adopted by the TTMoE in 2010.

  3. In rural areas additional lunches are provided, and in Tobago, all students participate in the programme.

  4. The TTMoE used the 30 % score criteria, but then made some adjustments based on other data sources, including the numbers of students sitting the 11+.

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  1. School of Education, The University of the West Indies, St. Augustine, Trinidad and Tobago

    Jerome De Lisle

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De Lisle, J. Evolving data use policy in Trinidad and Tobago: the search for actionable knowledge on educational improvement in a small island developing state. Educ Asse Eval Acc 28, 35–60 (2016). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11092-015-9232-7

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