Following my article last week on “Managing change in schools,” I was asked to appear on a TV programme. While preparing for the programme, I could not help but think of some of the major challenges we face in T&T today.

If we want to become a knowledge-based society by 2020, we must take urgent action to address the deficiencies in the education system and build on its strengths.

Each school should be able to answer these questions: “How well are we doing?” “How do we know?” Sadly, we do not have any external inspection procedures or any national self-evaluation procedures that will assist schools in answering these and other questions.

About 3.5 per cent of our children are not in school and about one per cent of students drop out of school each year. There are about 280,000 students in our primary and secondary schools. Do our schools know the value they are adding to the learning of each student in their care? McPherson (1992) defines “value added” as the “calculation of the contribution schools make to pupils’ progress.”

The term was adopted by educationalists (see Saunders) from economists who use the term “value added” to describe the difference in value between the materials “bought in” and the finished product, that is, it measures the value added by the process of production.

Value-added assessment—a statistical system—provides a fair way to measure the impact of teaching on student learning. Value-added evidence can be seen as one performance indicator among many and is only part of the story of school effectiveness.

However, as a “tool,” I believe that value-added evidence of school effectiveness is essential if we are to make schools accountable to the communities that they serve. Such an approach can show progress with all groups of students, eg those with special educational needs, gifted students, those with learning difficulties etc.

There are various forms of value-added measures in use around the world. This form of assessment helps a school to separate the contributions of the teacher and school from those of the student and family. Such assessment looks at all levels of student performance over time to see whether he/she is making progress.

For an individual pupil the determination of the “value added” involves measuring the progress he/she has made during a phase of schooling, which could be a single year, several school years, or the whole of a student’s primary or secondary education experience.

The assessment should take into account students’ prior attainment; information about each student’s background (gender, ethnic group, socio-economic status), based on data collected at the individual student (not aggregate) level.

The analyses should be based on valid and reliable data which has been analysed in such a way to be useful and appropriate to the task of raising achievement. Value-added measures may provide a means whereby schools can assess whether the performance being made by an individual student at any stage is as good as it should be.

Such measures can help schools make important decisions about the best ways to help children achieve at higher levels; assist schools in setting appropriate targets for their schools; support the management of continuing professional development for staff; improve information that is given to parents about their children; support and improve the quality of teaching and learning, and raise our expectations about the levels of attainment which can be reached in our schools.

Today, education in the UK is subject to relatively high levels of public monitoring. Since 1992 that Government has been publishing performance tables/league tables for secondary schools based on two key indicators: absences (authorised and unauthorised) and pass rates at GCSE. On their own, such tables do not paint a fair picture.

So since 2002 the performance tables in the UK have included a measure/performance indicator of the educational “value added” by each school to its students; a measure of the relative change in performance of pupils between Key Stage 3 and GCSE (exams sat by all pupils at ages 14 and 16 respectively).

Not only does this performance indicator help to construct fairer league tables/a truer picture of a school’s achievements, but when understood and used well it also provides diagnostic assistance for school managers and staff to determine the strengths and weaknesses of their individual school. It is a solid foundation for data-driven decision-making and instructional improvement.

The challenge for staff is to develop their awareness of the implications of value added measures for the curriculum, staff development and instructional modifications.

In the UK this performance indicator is viewed within a wider context of school inspections and school self-evaluation. Under the Office for Standards in Education, all schools are required to complete self-evaluation forms which focus on: characteristics of the school; views of learners, parents and other stakeholders; achievement and standards; learners’ personal development and well-being; the quality of provision; the quality of leadership and management; overall effectiveness and efficiency.

We in T&T cannot even think of introducing value-added measures until we address certain issues. For example, for schools to analyse reliable data there must be consistent data collection/record-keeping. Do we know what records our schools keep? Do they have the resources to collect adequate/reliable data?

Value-added assessment is based in part on data collected in different subject areas. In T&T, through the Secondary Education Modernisation Programme (Semp), the Education Ministry has produced documents in about eight subject areas and these have been sent to schools.

Has there been a systematic programme for introducing them in schools? Are there teachers‚ aides/ guidelines for their use in schools? Have we addressed the concerns that have been expressed by some about the errors contained in some of these documents, eg in the technology document?

There is also the issue of subject-matter proficiency among teachers. Are training programmes that are being planned (if any) to facilitate Semp focusing on the content of what teachers are expected to teach? Teachers can make a greater difference to students’ learning if they have a good knowledge of the subjects they teach.

I urge teachers to “resurrect”/ form professional associations that will assist you in keeping abreast of developments in your subject area(s); provide fora to share good practice/discuss concerns etc.

Our children deserve the best. Let’s improve our education system to secure our future.

Leela Ramdeen is a lawyer and education consultant