Classroom Experiences of Students Preparing for a High-Stakes National Public Examination in Trinidad and Tobago

• In Event: Poster Session 6
  In Poster Session: Studies of Assessment Comparability, Teacher Perceptions and Use of Data, and Student Preparation for Testing

Abstract

Countries in the Anglophone Caribbean, such as Trinidad and Tobago, have chosen to retain a high-stakes national placement examination for entrance into secondary school. This study documents and analyses the experiences of 10-12 year old test takers preparing for this high-stakes examination. The theoretical framework for the evaluation study is built on washback theory and the consequential basis of validity. The study employs multiple qualitative methods to capture the experience from the test-taker’s perspective. The methods are diaries, focus groups, drawings, photovoice and photo elicitation. These approaches privilege test taker agency along with personal and social consciousness, with the child therefore considered as meaning maker in test preparation and test taking.

Authors

• Jerome De Lisle, University of the West Indies

• Sabrina McMillan-Solomon

• Hazel Edwards, University of the West Indies

• Rhoda Misty Mohammed, Ministry of Education, Trinidad and Tobago