Stephen VasciannieVARIOUS PEOPLE have responded to the ranking of the Top 20 schools on the basis of performance in English Language and Mathematics which I presented in last week's column. Today, I wish to extend the ranking to the next 20 schools, so that the Top 40 on the basis of performance in English Language and Mathematics will have been presented. First, though, I should respond to some of the comments on last week's ranking.
The comment made most frequently to me concerned the matter of inputs and outputs -- the point being that some schools get the strongest students and that, therefore, they should have the strongest results. This is true, and perhaps with the right statistical tools and all the relevant data about inputs, we can calculate an index of the "value added" by schools to student performance.
Some years ago, in about 1994 or 1995, Dr Dennis Minott, of AQuest fame, made calculations as to value added, and concluded that Meadowbrook was the top school in this regard. If memory serves me right, though, these calculations are quite complex, are not readily done on a year-to-year basis, and require statistical assumptions that could have a subjective component -- one has to assume a certain standard correlation between GSAT and CXC performance, which is not necessarily correct in all cases. With these considerations in mind, I have used performance in last year's CXC results as a snapshot of final performance. Readers are encouraged not to assume that this is a measure of the value added by each school to each student's performance; it is only an indicator of how students perform at the end of five years of schooling, it does not pick up differentials in student ability at the start of the five years.
MEADOWBROOK
Second, some corrections to last week's tables. The figure given by the National Council on Education for Meadowbrook's eligible cohort is incorrect Mrs. Lowe, the Principal at Meadowbrook, has indicated that 238 students were eligible for the examination, and not 283, as stated in the publication <B>Performance of Jamaican Students in the Caribbean Examinations Council (CXC) 2002<P>, my source document. When the necessary corrections are made, Meadowbrook has a pass rate of 71.85% for English Language, and 44.12% for Mathematics. This places Meadowbrook in 19th place for English Language, just ahead of St. Hilda's in last week's Table 1; and for Mathematics, Meadowbrook is in 17th place, just ahead of Cornwall in last week's Table 2. I apologise to Meadowbrook, and thank Mrs. Lowe for pointing out the error. It should also be noted that Calabar was incorrectly placed at 17th for Mathematics in last week's table. Calabar's ranking is not in the top 20; Calabar should be removed from last week's Table 2, and St. Jago should be inserted at position number 20 (with a pass rate of 41.25% in Mathematics).
I am also grateful to those who pointed out to me that there is no such school as St. Andrew's in Jamaica; the proper title being St. Andrew High School for Girls. We all used to say "Andrew's", but I stand corrected -- and I thank the St. Andrew ladies -- both at home and abroad -- for this correction.
In last week's column, I mentioned that, with respect to English Language, several of the top schools were religious schools: at least 17 of the top 20 have direct links to the church. This was just an observation which I considered worthy of note: there may be an explanation for the correlation, and the correlation may actually be more related to the time of formulation of the schools, historical traditions, or other factors, than to religion. English Language On the basis of performance in the English Language for 2002, the schools ranked 21st to 40th are as set out in Table 1:
TABLE 1
Rankings 21 to 40,
English Language, CXC, June 2002
SCHOOL% PASSES
21. Manning's 71%
22. Munro 70%
23. Morant Bay 69%
24. Queen's 68%
25. DeCarteret 68%
26. Merl Grove 65%
27. Manchester 65%
28. Cornwall 64%
29. Knox 59%
30. St. George's 57%
31. Charlemont 56%
32. St. Mary High 56%
33. St. Catherine 54%
34. William Knibb 54%
35. Herbert Morrison 54%
36. Black River 52%
37. Gaynstead 51%
38. Ferncourt 50%
39. Camperdown 48%
40. St. Mary's Coll. 45%
Clarendon College (42%), Jamaica College (42%), and Calabar (40%) follow immediately after St. Mary's College on Table 1.
Mathematics
On the basis of performance in Mathematics for 2002, the schools ranked 21st to 40th are as set out in Table 2.
TABLE 2
Rankings 21 to 40,
Mathematics, CXC, June 2002
SCHOOL% PASSES
21. Mount Alvernia 41%
22. St. Hugh's 41%
23. St. Jago 41%
24. Knox 41%
25. Manchester 41%
26. Knockalva 41%
27. Herbert Morrison 40%
28. York Castle 35%
29. Manning's 35%
30. Marymount 34%
31. St. George's 34%
32. Camperdown 33%
33. Queen's 33%
34. Excelsior 30%
35. St. Hilda's 29%
36. Charlemont 27%
37. Calabar 27%
38. Merl Grove 25%
39. Titchfield 24%
40. St. Mary High 23%
Jamaica College (22%), Black River High (20%) and Vere Technical (18%) follow immediately after St. Mary High on Table 2. I hope these figures stimulate (further) action on the part of those who are in a position to influence results. Remember the schools in Tables 1 and 2 reflect the upper end of the scale concerning academic performance, and consider that only 23% of the students in the school with the 40th best performance in Mathematics were successful at the CXC.
Stephen Vasciannie is Professor of International Law and Head of the Department of Government at the University of the West Indies, Mona, and consultant in the Attorney-General's chambers.
