During the 2014-15 academic year, the Ministry of Education commissioned baseline school inspections of all government schools, in order to ascertain the state of affairs in our education system as it pertains to the quality of provision, teaching and learning, student progress and achievement, and leadership and management by engaging an independent third party team of inspectors lead by a local coordinating Lead Inspector.
The Independent Schools Inspectorate (ISI) Consultancy was chosen by a local Lead Inspector to conduct the baseline inspections because of its record of having conducted inspections in a number of countries, and for a proposal that outlined a very thorough inspections process. ISI Consultancy represents the largest independent schools inspectorate in the world. ISI Consultancy sent a team of inspectors between November 2014 and March 2015 to visit and evaluate all 15 government schools. ISI Consultancy has now completed and returned its final reports.
The overall finding of the inspections is that most schools have had improvement in terms of student performance across the board, however, these results are still significantly below the expected minimum when compared to international standards. Generally, the findings are that in English, mathematics and the practical aspects of science, overall achievement is significantly lower than UK norms by at least one year.
In addition to carrying out the baseline inspections of public sector schools the Ministry contracted KPMG to carry out a governance review of the Public Education System and to recommend a new governance model that would better facilitate private and service sector involvement in schools while increasing accountability and student achievement.
There has been some overlap in the findings from the inspection report and the education review and importantly the findings have been consistent.
Since taking office in May 2013, and prior to the start of the inspections, the Minister developed six Strategic Priorities as a result of consultation with stakeholders, internal analysis of the education system and process of closing gaps in the Strategic Plan for Education.
During the 2014-2015 school year and whilst inspections were being carried out, these focus areas provided a guide for the Education Team to develop a number of strategies and initiatives designed to provide the education system with the necessary support and guidance to start the process of raising standards. These improvement initiatives are outlined in an Education Progress Report which will be published by the Ministry on its web-site.
An Education Plan of Action 2015-2016 has now been developed by representatives from the Ministry of Education, the Department of Education Services (DES) and the Education Quality Assurance Unit from the baseline inspections to address the issues raised from the Baseline School Inspections and the Independent Review of the Cayman Islands’ Public Education System. The Plan has been shared with Principals for review and implementation for the 2015-2016 school year.
The Plan, though detailed, outlines actions/initiatives that would be evident in any successful school and are not beyond realistic expectations for the Cayman Islands Education system. Some of the focus areas include, but are not limited:
 Development of a role and responsibilities outline for principals and senior managers that is directly linked to the performance management process;
 Identifying area(s) of improvement for principals and providing mentoring/ coaching/training;
 Redefining education leadership meetings to focus on training and development for principals;
 Working with principals to develop Post Inspection Action Plans to raise standards in each school and to address the specific issues identified for individual schools through the inspection process;
 Supporting both formal and informal professional development for leaders and aspiring leaders within education through Ontario Principals Council (OPC);
 Conducting an audit of under-performing staff, identifying area(s) of improvement for those staff and provide mentoring/ coaching/training to improve practice;
 Reviewing behaviour policies to ensure that they provide appropriate consequences as well as positive reinforcement;
 Standardising a system for recording behaviour incidents and remedial actions developed using Student Information Management System (SIMS) for primary schools and high schools; and
 Developing a plan for and implementing restorative approaches system wide for students displaying serious behaviour issues.
The Education Plan of Action is an accountability framework which identifies one Lead Person for each action/initiative of the Plan and introduces a reporting structure to document implementation and effectiveness of the outcomes. Support structures have also been put in place but accountability rests with the Lead Person.
Termly reporting, which includes an analysis of individual school data, is due from Senior School Improvement Officers to the Chief Education Officer who in turn will submit a report to the Ministry of Education. The reports will include an analysis of data related to staff performance, student academic progress and achievement, professional development, and behaviour incidents.
In addition to the Plan of Action, we will be considering in greater detail the recommendations of the Education System Review as it relates to introducing school governors as we have experienced the benefits of public-private partnerships and we want to build upon this work with the community to improve the education system.
The Baseline School Inspection Reports and the Independent Review of the Cayman Islands’ Public Education System will be published on the Ministry of Education website today (www.education.gov.ky).
A detailed Education Plan of Action will be posted on the Ministry of Education web-site on 30th September, 2015 to allow for consultation with educations prior to release.

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