Tobago Class-October 24th, 2016

Hey Tobago Folks, please stay at home and finish your assignment. Here is a review of the Trinidad Class, October 17th, 2016 adapted for your needs.  The readings focus on benchmarking from Asian countries.  Please review the video on Shanghai on the High Performing Systems page.

Benchmarking

Definition-an educational policy strategy that involves comparison of systems, processes, and performance of different countries/ education systems in varying social and economic contexts[1].



1. Benchmarking is a systematic process.  That means that it follows a standard protocol that may be replicated by others.
2. Most commonly, eight steps may be identified in benchmarking used in industrial management: (1) identifying the strategic intent or process to be benchmarked; (2) identifying performance variables or criteria; (3) selecting comparator countries; (4) collecting data on policies and practices; (5) making explicit comparison and identifying gaps; (6) specifying actions to meet and surpass; (7) implementation and monitoring; and (8) recalibration.



1. The process of benchmarking is valuable in itself because it can lead to competitive intelligence[1] in an organization. This is insight gathered from defining, gathering, and analyzing system documentation, expert opinions and reviews.
2. The information obtained in competitive intelligence is useful for identifying key questions, critical processes, and performance measures from published sources.
3. The outcome of benchmarking may also be valuable to policymakers in nation states, especially country systems in which forced transfer of policies and processes was common.
4. Tan (2010)[2] described a trajectory of policy transfer for post-colonial states, arguing for an evolution of practice from telling, rebelling, and selling to gelling.



Questions for Review

1. Why is the benchmarking process useful for policymakers in Trinidad and Tobago?
2. How can benchmarking be included in your assignment?
   

Readings

Benchmarking East Asian Education Systems from an African Perspective

SABER Benchmarking-Asian-Pacific

How Shanghai Does it

Tobago Class-October 10th, 2016

Please review the following videos below and discuss the questions that follow

1. South African Education System
2. Transforming the South African Eduation System
3. Elaine Foster-Alleyne on education Change in Jamaica
4. CAPRI-Research for Reform in Jamaica
5. Didacus Jules on Education Performance and Change in the Caribbean (start half way)

• After 1 and 2-What is needed to transform the education system of South Africa? What is similar and dissimilar to the situation with Trinidad and Tobago?  What can Tobago in particular learn from the case?

• After 3 and 4- What should be the role of evidence and research in transformation? How would you retool the research unit in Tobago to fill the needs for transformation? List the areas that require greater attention for system reform in Tobago.  List the types/areas of evidence that must be generated to support reform.

• After 5-Discuss pros and cons of Dr Jules argument. As secretary of education, propose an agenda for system reform in Tobago.

Trinidad Class -October 10th, 2016

Present sections 1 and 2 of assignment

Reflect on characteristics of a high performing, equitable school system.

Systems to Review

Shanghai

Ontario

As of September 24th, 2016 we are at week 5

• The upcoming topic is Education Reform in the global South
• We will begin paying some attention to the Caribbean and its unique education structures
• We should begin discussing our assignment and we should have finalized our decisions to attend/not attend ICSEI 2007

Things to Read

Case Studies in Secondary School Education Reform

SEMP FINAL COMPLETION REPORT

SEMP Pre-qualification for Leadership Training

SEMP & Nalis

Explaining whole system reform-De Lisle