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This is to certify that the

thesis entitled

EVALUATION OF EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES OF
SELECTED HAITAN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

presented by

Wesley K. Stafford

has been accepted towards fulfillment
of the requirements for

Ph . D. Department of Teacher

 

degree in
Education

  

Major professor

Date I - t 2?; /§g/é

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EVALUATION OF EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES
OF SELECTED HAITIAN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

By

Wesley K. Stafford

A DISSERTATION

Submitted to
Michigan State University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements
for the degree of

DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY

Department of Teacher Education

1986

Copyright by
WESLEY KENNETH STAFFORD
1986

ABSTRACT

EVALUATION OF EDUCATIONAL OUTCOMES
OF SELECTED HAITIAN PRIMARY SCHOOLS

By
Wesley K. Stafford

This research evaluated the educational outcomes of Haitian pri-
mary schools from the perspective of peasant parents, upon whom the
Haitian education system is financially dependent. Enrollment of a
single child absorbs nearly 30 percent of a typical family's annual
income and constitutes a carefully calculated risk to familial survival.
Three value criteria, which articulate parental expectations of
schooling, served as the basis for the comparative/evaluative research:
1) educational survivorship--the extent to which students progress in
a timely manner from one grade to another, culminating in graduation,
2) family education contribution--the extent to which students serve
as family education resources by passing on what they learn in school
to unschooled members of their families, and 3) life-skills competen-
cies--the extent to which students are able to use their schooling
functionally in life.

The data originated from three research instruments-~a student
interview (N=55), a teacher questionnaire (N=70), and a school facili-
ties survey (N=7), which were administered to a stratified sample of
seven case-study primary schools dispersed throughout the five geo-

political districts of Haiti.

Data relating to each of the three value criteria were analyzed
to classify the level of performance of each school. Analysis of
school, teacher, home, and student variables followed to identify
school characteristics associated with performance in each criterion.

Findings indicated that 1) student socio-economic status (SES)
in Haiti is not an accurate predictor of educational survivorship;
2) variances in quality of school facilities have only minimal effect
on a school’s performance on all three criteria; 3) the impact of
teachers is powerful in Haiti, and investment in their training,
equipping, and job satisfaction is a viable strategy for the enhance-
ment of education; 4) parents, regardless of their education, vocation,
or SES, have a strong influence on student academic achievement;
5) the extent to which a student reads or has access to reading
materials is an accurate predictor of his educational survivorship;
6) the phenomenon of youth serving in familial educative roles is
widespread in Haiti, especially among rural families of lower SES and
education levels; 7) the criteria which determine a child's progression
to higher education are more a function of environment, parental
priorities, and SES than of actual school quality.

Findings served as a basis for suggesting guidelines for the en-
hancement of school performance in keeping with those educational

outcomes valued by a school's community.

I dedicate this dissertation
with profound love, admiration and respect
to the children of Haiti,
and to their courageous parents.

"Pitit sé byin pov maléré."

("Children are a oor man's riches.")
P
--Haitian Proverb

iii

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

No one can conduct research of this kind without the assistance
and support of many others. A gracious and loving God blessed me
throughout this process by surrounding me with numerous friends who
offered special assistance and moral support. I cannot, with words,
adequately thank all those involved; but I trust that this research
will result in some benefit to the children of Haiti and their cour-
ageous parents and will, in part, so reward others for their kind-
nesses to me.

I wish to gratefully acknowledge the love and support of my
parents, Kenneth and Marjorie Stafford. From my earliest memory they
have given themselves selflessly to others, quietly and humbly as true
servants of God. Their compassionate respect for the dignity of the
poor shaped the life values of a young boy who today prays that he

might be a worthy baton vieillesse.

 

My admiration and appreciation also go to my wife, Donna
Stafford. She was not only patient and supportive throughout this
research process, but made major contributions to it from its forma-
tion in Michigan, throughout long, hot months of data collection in
Haiti, to typing and editorial assistance in Colorado. Her love and
faith in me have been a valuable source of strength. Also thanks to my

little Jenny, who did without Daddy long enough.

iv

In Haiti, the assistance of the Ministry of Education and the
support of both Compassion International and the Armée du Salut were
crucial to the research. Their commitment to providing quality education
to Haiti's children served as a nmndate for utility to accompany
theoretical demands for wider scholarship. Specifically, I owe a debt
of gratitude to Country Director Dan Cook of Compassion, and Education
Officer Captain Jonas Georges of the Haitian Armée du Salut. My loyal
and talented research assistants, Jean-Claude Cerin, Ruth Mathieu and
Doucet Desronvil, were a constant source of useful cultural information,
humor, and spiritual support. They became not only colleagues but dear
friends :h1 the course of sharing many campfires, crossing swollen
rivers, and enduring hot days in the saddle. I would also like to
express my gratitude to and respect for the school Armée du Salut
directors, teachers, and students who so graciously opened not only
their schools, but their minds and hearts, entrusting me with their
frustrations, joys and aspirations.

This research would not have been possible without the support of
Compassion International. Its commitment to quality child development
in some of the most oppressed areas of the world served as the heart
of and mandate for each inquiry. My special thanks to its president,
Wallace H. Erickson, the Board of Directors, and my fellow colleagues
who supported me through it all with prayer, friendship, and valuable
perspectives from their rich cross-cultural backgrounds.

The interest, guidance and encouragement of my doctoral com-
mittee--Frank Fear, Joseph Levine, Charles Blackman, and committee

chair, Ted Ward--provided throughout the entire course of my Michigan

TABLE OF CONTENTS

List of Tables
List of Figures
CHAPTER ONE: THE PROBLEM

Background of the Problem .

Purpose of the Study

Need for the Research . . . . .

Research Questions: Evaluative Criteria
Educational Survivorship
Family Education Contribution
Life-Skills Competencies

Overview of the Study .

Conceptual Framework.

Definition of Terms

Scope and Delimitations

Overview of the Chapters

CHAPTER TWO: PRECEDENT LITERATURE

Factors Affecting Academic Performance in Primary Schools .

Historic Perspective on the Issue .
Determinants of School Achievement in Developed
Countries.
Determinants of School Achievement in Developing
Countries.
Youth Roles as Learning Resources
Historic Perspective: Perceptions of Youth
Youth Perceptions in Transition. Societal Shifts
Youth as Educator: Familial Context .
The Education of Siblings by Siblings .
The Education of Parents by Youth .
Youth as Educator: School Context .

CHAPTER THREE: DESCRIPTION OF METHODOLOGY .

Instrumentation .
Student Interview
Teacher Questionnaire
School Facilities Survey .
CEP Scores

Special Inquiry .

vii

Page

25

25
25

26

29
34
34
37
40
42
44
45

48

50
51
52
53
54
54

Socio-Economic Status

Self- -Concept
Modernity

Population and Sample . .
Participant Primary Schools

Case
Case
Case
Case
Case
Case
Case

Ruisseaux.

Study #1:
Study #2:
Study #3:
Study #4:
Study #5:
Study #6:
Study #7:

Ecole
Ecole
Ecole
Ecole
Ecole
Ecole
Ecole

Data- -Gathering Procedure
Organizing and Analyzing the Data .
Educational Survivorship

Evaluative Criterion #1:
The CEP Scores

The Repetition Rate
The Dropout Rate

Attitudinal:

Evaluative Criterion #2:

Student Ability
Student Attitude
Student Behavior .
Family Need for Educational Resource

Evaluative Criterion #3:
Concern for Validity/Reliability

Summary .
CHAPTER FOUR:

Value Criterion #1:

Value Criterion #2:

Armée
Armée
Armée
Armée
Armée
Armée

du
du
du
du
du
du

Salut--Aquin.
Salut--Le Blanc .
Salut--Grépin
Salut-~Gardon .

Salut--College Verena .

Salut--La Feronay .

Armée du Salut--Carrefour des

Satisfaction/Determination Factor
Family Education Contribution.

Life- Skills Competencies

FINDINGS OF THE RESEARCH

Educational Survivorship
Student Characteristics
Family and Home .
Socio- Economic Status
Home Responsibilities
Parental Influence
School Experience
Attitudinal Factors
Teacher Characteristics
Family and Home .
Training and School Experience
Attitudinal Factors .
School Characteristics (Program and Facilities)
Family Education Contribution
Student Characteristics
Family and Home .
Socio-Economic Status
Home Responsibilities
Parental Influence
School Experience
Attitudinal Factors
Teacher Characteristics
Family and Home
Socio-Economic Status

viii

54
55
58
60
62
62
64
65
66
68
69

70
72
74
76
76
76
77
77
78
78
79
79
80
80
81
82

84

85
86
86
86
87
89
92
95
96
98
100
102
104
109
111
111
112
112
115
116
118
118
119
120

Training and School Experience
Attitudinal Factors
School Characteristics
Value Criterion #3: Life- Skills Competencies
Student Characteristics
Family and Home
Socio-Economic Status
Home Responsibilties
Parental Influence
School Experience
Attitudinal Factors
Teacher Characteristics
Family and Home
Training and School Experience
Attitudinal Factors
School Characteristics
Summary of Findings . . . . . . . . . . . . .
Value Criterion #1: Educational Survivorship
Value Criterion #2: Family Education Contribution .
Value Criterion #3: Life-Skills Competencies

CHAPTER FIVE: CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUMMARY

Conclusions and Recommendations
Teacher Training and Status
Parental Influence .
Familial Financial Constraints
Students as Family Educators
Quality of Instruction .

School Facility Impact

Value of Literacy Skills

Higher Education/Vocational Training

Validity of School Meal Program

Language of Instruction .
Recommendations for Further Study .

Summary .

APPENDICES
Appendix A-l Student Interview (Creole Version)
Appendix A-2. Student Interview (English Translation)
Appendix B-l: Teacher Questionnaire (French Version)
Appendix B-2: Teacher Questionnaire (English Translation).
Appendix C-l School Facilities Survey (French Version).
Appendix C-2 School Facilities Survey (English

Translation). .
Appendix D-l: Introduction Letter to School Directors
(French Version)
D

Appendix -2: Introduction Letter to School Directors
(English Translation)
Appendix E: Teacher French Ability Test
BIBLIOGRAPHY .

ix

121
123
124
126
129
129
129
130
130
131
132
134
135
136
137
137
139
139
140
142

144

145
145
147
149
151
153
155
156
157
158
160
161
162

166
173
180
185
190

194
198

199
200

202

Table

Table

Table

Table
Table

Table

Table

Table

Table
Table

Table
Table
Table

Table
Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

Table

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.12
.13
.14
.15
.16
.17

.18

LIST OF TABLES

Structure of the Haitian Labor Force by Level
of Instruction and Branch of Activity, 1982.

Haitian Occupational Status With Corresponding
Educational Requirements . .

Percent Enrollment in Haiti' 3 Private Schools
by Department, 1982- 83 .

Modern Possessions: Percentage of Students Re-
porting Family Ownership . .

Responses to Statements Measuring Student Self-
Confidence .

Responses From Four Statements to Determine
Levels of Student Modernity

Educational Survivorship Indicator:
Sample Primary Schools . .
Responsibilities in the Home (Percentage of
Students Responding "Yes"). .
Percentage of Parental Participation in Schooling
Student Selection for Schooling. Parental
Criteria by School . . . . . . . . . . . .
Grade Repetition Rates: Percentages by School .
School Dropout Rates: Percentages by School .
Comparative Socio-Economic Status: Teachers'
Current Vs. Childhood Homes .
Teacher Training Status Across Sample Schools
Student: Teacher Ratio Across Schools (Lowest
and Highest Grades) .
Classroom Density Across Schools (Square Feet
of Space per Student per Grade) .
Family Education Contribution Indicator:
Ranking of Sample Primary Schools .
Youth as Family Scribes (Percentage Across Sample
Schools Responding "Yes")
Youth as Family Teachers (Percentage Across Sample
Schools Responding "Yes")
Parental Education Levels of Primary School
Students .
Indentification of Community Learning Institutions
(Student Responses to "Who Taught You?").
Responses to Six Questions of French Ability:
Percentage Responding Correctly
Life- Skills Competencies Indicator:
Sample Primary Schools .
Student Vocational Aspirations Vs.

Rating of

Ranking of
Expectations

X

Page

16
18

23

56
59
6O

85

88
90

92
93
94

99
101

107
108
110
113
114
115
117
122

128
133

Figure 1.1

Figure 3.1

LIST OF FIGURES
General Flow Model of the Haitian School System:
Cohort of 1,000 Same-Age Children . . . .

Haiti: Traditional Geo-Political Departments .

xi

12

63

Chapter One

THE PROBLEM

The greatest investment of the Haitian peasant family is the

baton vieillesse--the "crutch for old age." This is not a wooden stick

 

to assist the elderly in walking, but refers to the child selected by
the family to be set aside for schooling. On these small shoulders is
placed the responsibility of getting an education which will lead to
a good job, which will allow him to care for his aging parents and
extended family in years to come. The Haitian peasant, a master at
calculating risk factors, will make enormous financial and personal
sacrifices to invest in education as an escape route from poverty.
Rarely does more than one child per family attend school because the
cost consumes 25 to 30 percent of a family's annual income per child.
Because education historically has had a very strong economic and
social value in Haiti and is associated with status, mobility, influence
and social respect, the investment is calculated and justified by parents'
own formation of pragmatic expectations of the outcomes of schooling.
Parents have three major expectations with regard to their children's
primary schooling: 1) educational survivorship--that the child will
progress in a timely manner from one grade to another culminating in
graduation with a primary school certificate (Certificat d'Etudes
Primaires--CEP); 2) family education contribution--that the child
will serve as a family education resource by passing on what he learns

in school to the unschooled members of his family; and 3) life-skills

2
competencies--that the child will be able to use his primary schooling
functionally in life, to progress to higher education and ultimately to
secure work that will ensure adequate financial support for his family.

The enormous task confronting the baton vieillesse is to survive

 

the Haitian educational system, which has historically produced more
dropouts ("wastage") than graduates ("product"). Evidence compiled
during the last decade by Wiesler and published in a 1978 report,
"La Scolarisation en Haiti," sponsored by the Haitian Department of
Finance and Economic Affairs, describes the odds of success. In rural
Haiti, where 80 percent of the population lives, only 14 percent of
the community youth has ever enrolled in school. Of this enrolled
minority, 97 percent failed or dropped out within the first seven
years of primary schooling--50 percent of them in the first year. Of
the 3 percent remnant which eventually graduated from primary school,
only two-thirds were assessed by government exams to be functionally
adequate in literacy and numeracy for further formal schooling or en-
trance into vocational training programs. The successful graduate was
thus 1.9 percent of his schoolmates, and only one of two such children
out of 1,000 of his rural community peers (Wiesler, 1978, p. 49).
Given Haiti's severely limited natural resources and its reluc-
tance historically to commit a substantial portion of its gross domestic
budget to education, the present school system is vulnerable because of
its financial dependence on the educational investment whims of a largely
unschooled, poverty-stricken adult population. The survival of thousands
of primary schools across Haiti and the development of Haiti's greatest
resource, its people, are threatened unless educators and policymakers

include in their strategies an evaluation of the educational outcomes

3
of primary schools from the perspective of its key investors--peasant

parents.

BACKGROUND OF THE PROBLEM

In the developing world, education is perceived as foundational
to national development. Its mandate is unfltirfaceted--economic,
social and political--with diverse emphases assigned to these facets
in different nations. In almost all such nations, education claims a
large portion of resources. The extent of this portion reflects the
priority given by a nation to the development of its people's capacity
to work and advance toward a more elevated social and economic status.
Poor in natural resources, but abounding in human resources, developing
nations typically look to education as an investment in human capital.
Education is undertaken to develop human resources resulting in in-
creased economic productivity and enlarged national product.

Ministries of Education experience constant frustration due to
the severity of fiscal and other economic constraints faced by their
developing nations. Resources for education come at sizable opportunity
costs in terms of optional resource use. Nonetheless, investment in
education consumes a substantial part of most national budgets and has
shown dramatic increase in the last two decades. For example, between
1960 and 1968, public expenditures for education doubled in Africa and
Latin America, and almost tripled in Asia (Simmons, 1980). These
figures do not reflect the private cost of education, consisting of
direct costs to parents as well as income forgone by pupils.

Despite strategic national development objectives and this mag-
nitude of public and private outlay, formal education has often proven

to be a waste of limited resources for the vast majority of the children

and parents in developing nations. All societal rewards, in terms of
jobs and incomes, seem to coincide with the type and level of schooling
obtained; yet for substantial numbers of children, schooling either
remains closed or proves to be an endless treadmill once they are in
the system. Education's promise of upward mobility seems to end only
in failure and disappointment for the lowest classes.

Haiti, the focus of this research, confronts the whole spectrum of
educational struggles which typically afflict developing nations. Al-
though the 1964 Haitian constitution declared that education is to be
mandatory and free, less than 43 percent of the primary school popu-
lation is currently enrolled in school, and nowhere in Haiti is
schooling free. In fact, the cost of primary schooling is beyond the
means of most Haitian peasants. Yet, the demand for education is very
high, and parents accept substantial financial and personal burdens to
enroll at least one of their children in school. Access to education
is thus highly stratified because of costs. The 43 percent primary
school students are the children of less than 30 percent of Haitian
households (Millot and Easton, 1985, p. 2-138).

The traditional school system in Haiti is based, in curriculum
and form, on the French colonial school system which is still prevalent
worldwide throughout the former colonies of France. It consists of
one cycle that is six years in length: Cours Préparatoire I and II,
Cours Elémentaire I and II, and Cours Moyen I and II. The cycle is
preceded by a preparatory class, Enfantine, which although planned to
last one year, often consists of two classes that may be repeated sev-
eral times until the youngster is deemed ready to enter primary school.

There is no automatic progression from grade to grade and numerous

5
repetitions are common. The official language of classroom instruction
is French, but many teachers, weak in French, teach in Creole. At the
conclusion of the sixth year, Moyen II, all students take a state-
administered and graded examination to qualify for graduation. This
examination, which is written in French, is administered simultaneously
across Haiti and fosters a great deal of student and parent anxiety.
The year after this study's data was collected, the Certificat d'Etudes
Primaires (CEP) examination was nationally replaced by a similar
test, but it is now organized, administered and graded on a district,
rather than national, level.

As the 1978 Vfiesler research on "wastage" within the Haitian
school system depicted, becoming enrolled is but the first step. The
odds against a student successfully completing even primary education
are extremely high. It is a gamble, with a very likely lack of profit
in the unlikely hope of receiving very large returns. The chance of
"winning" may be slim, but if you don't "play," you have no chance

at all. The popular Creole name for primary schools, écoles borlette,

 

likens them to a lottery and conveys this meaning precisely.

Although the Haitian peasant has for centuries invested heavily
in education as an escape route from poverty, the level of government
financing in education represents a mere 1 to 1.5 percent of the gross
domestic product (UNESCO Statistical Yearbook, 1983). This figure is
considerably below the average educational commitment in the rest of
the developing world. The bulk of schooling costs is laid squarely on
the shoulders of the students and parents.

An extensive education and human resources assessment conducted

in 1985 by Florida State University on a grant from USAID analyzed

6

Haiti's overall education expenditures, both public and private, and
concluded, "The will and ability of families to pay for schooling seems
to be the mainspring for the future expansion of education" (Millot and
Easton, 1985, p. 2-55). If education is to make a positive impact on
Haitian society in this or the following generation, it can do so only
to the extent that the Haitian people involve themselves, at their own
expense, in education.

The traditional measurements of inputs to education, such indices
as the portion of persons in each age group enrolled in school, class-
room size, expenditure per pupil, and teacher training as operative
criteria for evaluating the educational systems are valid from the
perspective of the government administrators, but virtually meaningless
to peasant investors. The Haitian peasant, who must choose whether to
invest his scant financial resources in schooling for one or more of
his children, is hardly aware of, much less takes into consideration,
the educational philosophy of the Ministry of Education. He asks un-
complicated, pragmatic questions with the outcomes eXpected to be
tangible, profitable returns on his investment. Consequently, the
basis for judging the effectiveness of Haiti's educational system need
not be uniquely on input or process variables, but needs to focus on
output indices that yield a more direct assessment of deficiencies, gaps
and additional requirements. While policymakers tend to be preoccupied
with national statistics and trends, peasant parents are merely con-
cerned about the real outcomes of education in the lives of their own
children.

A great many strategies might be implemented to improve the quality

of the local community school or to reform the entire Haitian primary

7
education system, but if the "improvements" do not enhance the perfor-
mance in accordance with the criteria laid down by those who risk the
most by investing in it--peasant families--those families will cease
to risk their limited resources on schooling. The system at the local,
mission or national level, regardless of its attempts at reform, will

face financial constraints potentially leading to collapse.

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY
This comparative/evaluative research was structured and conducted
to evaluate the educational outcomes of Haitian primary schools as
measured against the three criteria which comprise the peasant's mandate

to the baton vieillesse: 1) educational survivorship, 2) family educa-

 

tion contribution, and 3) life-skills competencies. Comparative analy-
sis of case study data from Haitian primary schools indicates rela-
tionships between school, family and student survivor characteristics,

and the performance or non-performance of these evaluative criteria.

NEED FOR THE RESEARCH

"On the whole, there is a paucity of factual, empirical and rele-
vant studies of grass roots educational problems of youth in less de-
veloped countries" (Gill, 1977, p. 96). The intent of this study is
to address just such serious pragmatic, as well as theoretical, needs in
the Haitian education system. The enormity of the educational task in
Haiti, as in most developing countries, has allowed neither time nor
resources for conducting research on the causes of student failure
and ultimate dropout. Though these dropouts constitute the vast major-
ity of youth, they are termed school "wastage" (Coombs, 1973), and are
silently dropped from the Ministry of Education's statistics, becoming

nobody's primary concern, yet everybody's embarrassment. With such

8
educational outcomes, schools cease to function as "learning systems"
and become simply "rejection systems."

The thrust of this evaluative research is to address such qualita-
tive voids--not necessarily on a national general level, but at the
grass roots specific level--drawing on students themselves as primary
data sources in the context of their own homes, schools and communities.
A foundational concept is the conviction that any Haitian educational
reform cannot overlook the perspectives of the peasant family unless
Haiti is prepared to underwrite the enormous education budget necessary
to provide education--in fact, mandatory and free education as provided
for in the constitution of 1964. Until such a time, peasants will con-
tinue to invest in education only to the extent that it meets their
pragmatic expectations for the provision of a better quality of life.

The purpose of the research is not primarily to pass judgment on
the formal school system, but to analyze its effects on Haitian youth,
and to provide guidelines for the enhancement of schooling experiences
and the encouragement of the dissemination of the benefits of schooling
to the entire family and local community.

Beneficiaries of such a study follow: a) the school child whose
failure in school is a personal tragedy of disappointment and emotional
scars at having failed his family in so great a responsibility; b) the
peasant family, which risks much-needed resources on education, recog-
nizing it to be the only escape route from generation to generation of
poverty; c) school teachers and directors, who commit themselves to a
nearly impossible task under adverse conditions for wages barely above
subsistence level; d) missions and development agencies (who provide
the private sector of schooling, which serves 59 percent of Haiti's

primary school attenders), because they recognize the validity of basic

9
education as an essential element in community and national development;
and e) the Haitian government, which has recently shown a serious commit-
ment to educational reform aimed at improving the quality of its primary

education system.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS: EVALUATIVE CRITERIA

Empirical research into the Haitian school system at a national
level has consisted primarily of quantitative measures. Studies such
as Wiesler's "La Scolarisation en Haiti" (1978) and Petit-Frere's
"L'Education Haitienne en Question" (1980) are excellent exposés of
the quantitative limitations, and descriptively portray an inadequate
system on the verge of collapse. The overall status has been clearly
depicted. What little measurement has been placed against value
criteria has often been based on conjecture, and reflects the urban
and Western orientation of most educational programs. The quantitative
nature of the measurements has restricted the criteria primarily to
statements of varying degrees of "good and bad"--where "big and many"
is good, while "few and small" is bad.

While the available range of relevant value criteria is thus
largely unresearched, it was the intent of this study to delimit the
criteria to three value criteria placed on Haitian primary education
by those who risk the most by investing in it--peasant families. The
three value criteria on which this comparative/evaluative research is
based are the following: 1) educational survivorship, 2) family
education contribution, and 3) life-skills competencies.*

*These expected outcomes of schooling are partially derived from
the researcher's four years of residence in Haiti, relating at the

grass roots level to children and their families in 250 primary schools
as Associate Director of Education for Compassion International.

10

Their expressions of hope and frustration remained alive and in-
creasingly relevant, however, throughout the analysis of literature
and precedent research. From "The Equality of Educational Opportunity"
study (Coleman, et al., 1966), which launched the United States into a
decade of analysis of influences on academic achievement (specifically,
socio-economic status of students) to the massive "International
Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement" study (the
first attempt to predict the effect of schooling and student background
cross-culturally in 22 countries), the academicians, in different term-
inology, were asking the same questions. Specifically, value criterion
number one, educational survivorship, and number three, life-skills
competencies, have their roots in the "internal efficiency" and "aca-
demic achievement" literature cited in the first half of Chapter Two.

The second value criterion, family education contribution, is

rooted in the sociologists' camp. For example, Mead's Culture and

 

Commitment: A Study of the Generation Gap, which set a precedent for

 

describing youth serving as learning resources in the context of tra-
ditional society, categorized societies as prefigurative (experiencing
very slow change), cofigurative (experiencing fairly rapid change) or
postfigurative (experiencing very rapid change). Haitian society is
undergoing sufficiently rapid change that the experiences of the
children, (e.g., schooling), differ markedly from those of their parents
so that elders often must learn from the experiences and abilities of
their children (Mead, 1970). The extent to which students serve as
such learning linkages to peers, siblings and parents encompasses this
second of three value criteria imposed on the school by familial

expectations in Haiti.

11
Further foundations for the family education contribution criterion
are based in the studies of learning institutions in traditional

societies, such as Families and Communities as Educators (Leichter,

 

1979), and the literature on nonformal education, such as New Paths to

 

Learning: For Rural Children and Youth (Coombs, et al., 1973). These

 

and the literature on peer and sibling dynamics are further discussed

in the second half of Chapter Two.

Educational Survivorship

The first of the value criteria to be considered is primary school
survivorship. In many societies, survival to the completion of sixth
grade without repetition of grades or withdrawal from school would be
considered the norm, rather than a quality-based value criteria. In
Haiti, the youth who completes primary school at all is one of a select
minority.

Figure 1.1 depicts a somewhat more optimistic perspective (1985)
of the "wastage" phenomenon described earlier by Wiesler. It shows
the general flow by following a cohort grouping of 1,000 same-age
children. It indicates that of 1,000 school-age community children,
typically 400 will never receive any schooling at all; 268 will survive
only the first grade before dropping out; and 144 will complete only
between two and five grades. Only 52 out of the 1,000 community
children will survive to become primary school graduates--achieving

the mandate of the baton vieillesse.

 

12

 

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Ao.ocfiv Ao.ov A~.ov Aq.cv An.ov Am.w~v Aa.usv
oos.aom.~ e-._~ amfl.efi. asa.o wmn.-~ "ma.~mm a-.~om.fi moauaswuuc -<
Ao.oc~v Au.mV An.~v ma.cv AH.~NV Am.~Nv Ao.amV moow>uom
~o~._m ewe." man." «we «cm.m~ has.mfi «Ho.o~ euaacua-acz
no.cc~v Am.~v Ao.nv Am.uv Ac.mmv As.n~v as.mmv
ess.q- awe.m «Ho.~ o~q.m ~mm.mq «mm.~m sem.mm muua>acm condo
Ao.cc_v Ae.mv Am.ov Ae.~V A«.va A~.s~v A~.aV
omo.q mm“ 9mm mm moH.~ mas Nam meua>uum swauaaaam
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mam.e~ om" an“ em mo~.q nhm.m amm.w aaoauaupoamaaua
Ao.oofiv Am.oV Aq.ov A~.cv Aq.nv As.-V Am.HhV muaauaasmum
w-.mw~ ooh may." mmm moo.mH too.so mmc.mo~ was auauEECQ
Ao.co~v Am.fiv AH.~V A~.cv Aw.~_v Aw.amV mo.esV
ng.- Sam mew 4m mfio.~ cmm.w aaH.oH assauaaswaou
Ao.oosv Ao._v Ao.~v Ao.v n~.m_v As.qu Aw.omv
ooN.m- cam." sax.“ ”ma o~4.- ~s~.~m oam.ms moassummsaaz
Ao.oo~v AN.NV AN.~V Am.sv Am.m~V Ao.m~v ah.amv
oo~.a_ awn ems emm mqm.~ mwm.m «as._fi munch:
Ao.oole Aw.ov Am.ov A_.oV AN.~V A~.qfiv A~.smv
~om.-~.H som.~ mom.~ me~._ -~.s~ wo¢.~al mmo.a~o.~ unsunausuwa
Hooch Hmuwczooh w :owumonvm wcwcfinuh >umvcooom >Lmeflum :ofluusuuwcm nouoom
Homewumoo> mozwwz museums oz
«was

~.~ banmh

>ufl>fiuo< we nucmum can sewuosuumcH we Ho>oq >£
vouch gonna :mwufimz on» «o ousuoauum

13

Schooling does not necessarily equate to education from the peasant
perspective. To complete anything less than all six years of primary
school and secure the coveted Certificat d'Etudes Primaires (CEP) is
to ultimately fail. Social status, career opportunities and promise
of upward mobility afforded the CEP holder are what the familial
education investment seeks to obtain. From an objective point of view,
one hesitates to regard one who has had one year of schooling and
another who has had five as dropouts; nevertheless, from the per-
spective (xf most Haitian parents, both are "failures." Similarly,
numerous grade repetitions spell disaster for the family which must
sacrifice 25 to 30 percent of its annual income for each child in each
academic year so wasted.

Government policymakers can concur with this evaluative criterion,
which they would label "internal efficiency" of the school system. They
would agree that lowering the rate of repetition and dropout is foun-
dational to any other educative quality reforms. Although educators
may view mere survival as a hollow guarantee that adequate learning has
occurred, from the perspective of the Haitian peasant, it is a bare
essential if any other benefits are to be derived from the education
investment. As such, its rate of performance was analyzed along with

community, school, family and student characteristics data.

Family Education Contribution
From a Western sociological perspective, one tends to segregate
the roles and functions of two key community educational institutions--

the school, which presumably educates, but does not socialize; and the

14
home or family, which presumably socializes, but does not educate
(Getzels, 1978). Existing on the brink of survival does not allow the
Haitian peasant the luxury of such a dichotomy. His is a concept of
"limited resources."

Limited resources implies that the gathering of resources, finan-
cial or informational, for personal gain over one's family members or
neighbors is unacceptable social behavior. This value is foundational,
making the act of sharing one of a child's earliest socialization

lessons. The baton vieillesse is the only element of society ensconced

 

in both educational institutions, and as such bears the responsibility
to share what he learns in school with those of his family who are
unschooled. It is perceived as no different than the expectation that
any child with two mangoes would naturally give one to his brother.
The economic strategy of investing educationally in only one or two
children in the family is thus a sound, culturally-derived decision.

The sharing of school-derived resources not only provides a uniquely
long-term financial contribution to elderly parents, but likewise pro-
duces an immediate return on the investment. The youth in school is
expected to serve as the family reader, writer, accountant and basic
teacher to the unschooled siblings, and often, adults.

With the advent of widespread schooling this generation, Haitian

society would be characterized by anthropologist Mead in Culture and

 

Commitment: A Study of the Generation Gap (1970), as "cofigurative"

 

bordering on "postfigurative." In such societies, the rapid rate of
development and social change causes the experiences of children
(e.g., schooling) to differ so markedly from that of the adults that

the normal downward flow of learning, from adult to child, is in some

15

areas reversed, so that the adults often learn from the experiences of
their children. The experiences of a schooled child also differ so
radically from those of the unschooled child that the stage is set
for effective peer instruction. Under such conditions, the schooled
child feels an obligation to serve not only as family scribe, but to
teach basic literacy and numeracy skills to parents and siblings, both
older and younger.

In the current Haitian context, where 57 percent of all school-age
children do not attend school; where 93 percent of the national labor
force does not have as much as a primary school education, 73 percent
of whom have no schooling at all (see Table 1.1), an educational outcome
of a primary school may well be expected to be a response to this peasant
evaluative criterion, by encouraging and even facilitating the use of
its youth as family educational resources.

The extent to which the youth of each primary school share what
they learn in that school with their parents is thus the second value
criterion that was analyzed along with other community, school, family

and student characteristics data.

Life-Skills Competencies

The third value criterion measures the extent to which a student
is able to utilize his schooling functionally in life. The pragmatic
conclusion to the educational investment of the peasant family is that
the youth be equipped through schooling to have the knowledge, compe-
tencies and ultimately the credentials essential for acquiring an
acceptable vocation which will adequately support his parents and
others dependent on him. Beyond his school survival and immediate

benefits to family educational needs, the baton vieillesse has not

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

0 100 Z” 3M! «n 5a) Inc an I” an “$0
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eumw1::::fl 21 g, 52 'W"°' of , Inchmnnouhumnl
cum". 4 «tau ' '

Iuswdna '2 '"m'y
[_- l--52ucpmnryuhuflgnfiuun
Sthuaunuaumndvyutau
Stuns-unduuunaulfloanflbrnil»aahihunquIHEUinn
Slannunuuiw'
Figure 1.1
General Flow Model of the
Haitian School System
Cohort of 1,000 Sane-age Children

Source: Haiti: Education and Human Resources

Sector Assessment.

1985

17
achieved the educational intents until he is employed and actively
supporting his family, both immediate and extended.

Table 1.2 describes the occupational status a Haitian youth can
expect to achieve with various corresponding levels of education. Only
rarely does a peasant family dare to dream, much less plan, beyond the
next immediate goal. Only 67 percent of the primary school graduates
ever enter secondary school, which will in turn produce six rejects
for every graduate (Millot and Easton, 1985, p. 2-86). Any vocational
attainment below low-skilled labor (i.e., primary school graduation)
is a double tragedy for the young student. He is not only deemed a
failure in school, but is often no longer interested in tilling the

land, tending animals or most other village activities.

OVERVIEW OF THE STUDY

Foundational to this research is the recognition of the importance
of basic education to the national development of Haiti in general, and
to the enhancement of life quality to the peasant family specifically.
In Haiti the vast majority of the financial burden for education is not
borne by the government, but by the people, 80 percent of whom are barely
able to support themselves as subsistence farmers. Peasant investment
is the financial backbone of the education system, and withdrawal of
peasant participation could spell economic disaster not only for the
Ministry of Education, but for the national progress itself. Masters
of risk, peasants will only continue to invest in something if it
produces the return they expect. The research seeks to evaluate the
actual educational outcomes of Haitian primary schools as measured
against peasant expectations.

At tremendous personal sacrifice, the typical peasant family

18

Table 1.2

Haitian Occupational Status With Corresponding

Educational Requirements

 

 

Occupational Status

Educational Requirements

 

Senior Management
(IIVIPII)

Middle Management/
Technical
("Professional")

Administrative
("Semi-Professional")

Skilled Labor

Low-Skilled Labor

Unskilled Labor

(University and 'Grandes Ecoles'). University
--four years or more of post-secondary educa-
tion outside of the university, with diploma

or equivalent.

(Post-secondary vocational education). Any
training received after obtaining the secon-
dary school diploma or equivalent and prior
to the fourth year of post-secondary education.

(Post-secondary general education). General
secondary or teacher training diploma--or
equivalent--plus about three years of post-
secondary education.

(Secondary education). Any training received
after completion of primary school and until
or prior to completion of secondary school,

with technical or administrative qualifications.

(Complete primary education). Any training
received within five or six years of primary
schooling with on-the-job training or appren-
ticeship; or certificate of completion of
primary school.

Incomplete primary school education or mere
literacy.

 

Source:

Ministry of Planning, Directoire de la Programmation

Economique et Sociale - Main d'Oeuvre Emploi et
Ressources Humaines, 1982

19

selects one child, its baton vieillesse, as an investment in education.

 

On this youth's shoulders are placed specific expectations: 1) his
survival to primary school completion, 2) his ability to serve as
a family resource by passing on his school-acquired skills to his
unschooled family members, and 3) his ability to use his schooling
to advance to higher education or to obtain a vocation which will
ultimately fulfill his responsibilities by allowing him to ensure

adequate familial support in years to come.

CONCEPTUAL FRAMEWORK

The study was conducted as a comparative/evaluative research on a
series of seven Haitian primary school case studies, and sought to
accomplish two data collection tasks. The first data collection task
was to obtain measurements of performance or non-performance from each
of the case studies on each of the three value criteria mentioned above:
1) educational survivorship, 2) family education contribution, and 3)
life-skills competencies. The second data collection task was to obtain
quantifiable data on a spectrum of variables which characterize each of
the case-study primary schools. Such environmental variables included
school facilities, teacher characteristics, traits of the school's
chief product (graduating students), and the home/family environments
of these "surviving" Haitian youths.

Data relating to each of the three value criteria were analyzed
to classify each of the case-study primary schools in a range from
"high," to "medium," to "low" for each value criterion. Analysis of
school, teacher, home and student (Moyen II) variables followed to
identify variables that were positively associated with the performance

on each of the three value criteria.

20

A stratified sample of seven primary schools, each with complete
primary school programs (all six primary grades, from Enfantine to
Moyen II), were randomly drawn from the total population of 30 Salvation
Army primary schools dispersed throughout the five geo-political dis-
tricts of Haiti.

The data originated from three research instruments--the student
interview (see Appendix A), the teacher questionnaire (see Appendix B),
and a school facilities survey (see Appendix C). Each was administered
to each sample school during the course of a single school day to ensure
minimal interpersonal contact between research participants.

This study thus looks at the relations between the three value
criteria and four sets of data: 1) school characteristics, 2) teacher
characteristics, 3) home/family environment, and 4) student (Moyen II)
traits. Examination of both positive and negative associations between
performance on each criterion and the four separate sets of data enabled
a combined analysis to be effected. Findings served as a basis for
suggesting guidelines for the enhancement of school performance in

keeping with those educational outcomes valued by the school's community.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

Terms are used in the research report with the following stipulated
meanings.

Yguth Efforts to delineate youth as a category distinct from
child and adult populations indicate that no single definition is
universally acceptable. Criteria utilized include physiological, psy-
chological, medical, social, legal, economic and anthropological descrip-
tions. This research focused exclusively on "age," defining youth in

the Haitian culture as those young people ages 14 through 20 who have

21
actively assumed roles in the work force, but are as yet economically
and socially dependent on adults, and are generally excluded from the
major decision-making process (Herskovits, 1971). The youth in the
research sample were exclusively Moyen II students who ranged in age
from 14 to 19 years.

Rural/Semi-rural/Urban While the term rural is comprehensive

 

and non-specific, differing from country to country, here it refers to
life on the subsistence farm in the country, more than 10 kilometers
from a community of 10,000 people or less. Semi-rural refers to life
situated within a 10-kilometer radius of a town of 10,000 or more (a
bicycle-commuting distance). Urban refers to life located within a
town of 10,000 people or more.

Siblings Webster's Third New International Dictionary (unabridged),

 

1961, refers to the old English meaning of "sib" as "one who is kindred
or related by blood." This definition best incorporates the meaning of
sibling in Haitian society where the extended family is very much a
social entity. Pre-testing showed that to confine a Haitian youth to
a "brother-or-sister-who-has-both-the-same-parents-as-yourse1f" defini-
tion of sibling was akin to introducing a totally new social concept.
This research, therefore, refers to "related children living in one's
home" as the concept for sibling.

3213 Role is "a socially recognized pattern of behavior within
accepted boundaries in determined situations" (O'Gorman, 1976, p. 1).

Curriculum Curriculum is "the concern for decisions about what

 

should be taught, why, to whom, and under what conditions" (Ward, N.D.).
Education From the perspective of the Haitian peasant, education

and schooling are virtually synonymous, although in the community,

22
schooling does not have a monopoly on learning. Education is the life-
long process of developing knowledge, skills and attitudes regardless
of where, when and how. Learning requires a variety of community
agencies in addition to the school, including the family, peers and

church.

SCOPE AND DELIMITATIONS

The approach of the research was to analyze seven case-study
schools to provide reliable guidelines for decisions about school
improvements and the design of nonformal/informal education programs
for unschooled Haitian youths. The primary thrust of the research
was one of heuristic concern, not generalizability. Therefore, it
has limited potential for generalization beyond application in certain
Haitian contexts.

The most limited scope of functional generalization is the popu-
lation of 30 Armée du Salut primary schools geographically dispersed
in urban, semi-rural and rural areas in all five major districts of
Haiti.

However, these schools, supported not by the government but by a
religious organization, are typical of the active and growing private
sector in Haitian education. In 1982-83, 59 percent of Haiti's primary
school students were enrolled in private schools, the enrollment by
geographic departments ranging from 47.0 to 68.8 percent (see Table 1.3).
Much of what the data revealed is considered applicable on a nationwide
basis, since these schools face similar financial and logistical con-
straints. But for all practical purposes, the scope must be delimited

to this private sector.

23
Table 1.3

Percent Enrollment in Haiti's Private
Schools by Department, 1982-83

 

 

 

 

Department Private Percent of Total Total
Ouest 154,459 68.8% 224,622
Nord 45,121 52.9 85,353
Nord-Est 13,303 47.0 28,326
Nord-Ouest 25,870 54.2 47,741
Artibonite 69,823 62.0 112,600
Centre 24,806 61.4 40,383
Sud 38,283 54.2 70,614
Sud-Est 19,929 47.0 42,410
Grand-Anse 38,114 53.7 70,992
Haiti 429,713 59.4% 723,041

 

Source: DEN, Annuaire Statistique, 1982-83 (unpublished)

A second delimitation was due to the nature of the research popu-
lation and sample. Subjectively, the primary schools of the Salvation
Army are fairly representative of the whole spectrum of primary schools
across Haiti. However, the necessity to objectively rate them as "high,"
"medium," or "low" on the basis of the three value criteria was recog-
nized to have been a comparative/evaluative analysis within a selected
subset of Haitian schools. The ranking of the population on the overall
continuum of Haitian primary schools was beyond the intended scope of
the research.

Finally, due to the heuristic nature of the data collection and
the limited precedent Haitian research, the data are, at best, less
than technically elegant. The dynamics of social interaction with

Haitian youth and school teachers of limited formal education made it

24
necessary to use some open-ended questions and impossible to limit
the processes to strictly quantifiable data. Therefore, the
sophistication level of analysis techniques is relatively insigni-
ficant, reporting means and percentages instead of correlation

coefficients or employing regression analysis.

OVERVIEW OF THE CHAPTERS

Chapter One presents the problem with which the research is
concerned: the evaluation of educational outcomes of Haitian primary
schools from the perspective of their chief supporters-~peasant parents.
The specific value criteria and historical background are provided.

In Chapter Two, precedent literature and research are presented
in two major sections: 1) factors affecting academic performance in
primary schools of traditional societies, and 2) youth roles as educa-
tion resources.

In Chapter Three, the research methodology that was employed in
the study is identified, the value criteria and research design are
outlined, and data sources and procedures are described.

In Chapter Four, data from the main sources are analyzed. The
case-study schools are evaluated on their level of performance on each
of the value criteria, and the findings and analyses are summarized.

In Chapter Five, conclusions are drawn and recommendations are

made, based on the findings of the research as analyzed in Chapter Four.

Chapter Two

PRECEDENT LITERATURE

The nature of the research questions of this comparative evalua-
tive study necessitated a blending of two areas of inquiry: 1) factors
affecting academic performance in primary schools of traditional

societies, and 2) youth roles as learning resources.

FACTORS AFFECTING ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN PRIMARY SCHOOLS
Much of the literature generated on the education of young people
in developing countries is repetitive, jargonistic, and not founded on
factual, empirical research (Gill, 1977). This review of pertinent
literature attempts, however, to identify primarily that literature
which is derived from actual research discipline and that which has

contributed to the research design.

Historic Perspective on the Issue

Prior to the 19608, Americans had for generations believed that
education was good, and therefore, that more education must be better.
Such was the commitment to education that the education of the general
public was measured by the average number of years of schooling com-
pleted by the adult population. Education was assumed to take place
almost exclusively in the classroom.

The 19603 brought tumultuous years for formal education as research
began to give evidence that children learn in many ways and in many

places--from each other, from their families, and from the society
25

26
around them. Educators became painfully conscious of the shortcomings
of schools and the limitations they contained as they sought to provide
education equally to all of America's children. The evidence even led
some to seriously question the value of schooling itself.

Research of the era supplied negative evidence to support the
attack on schooling. "A number of research studies found relatively
little relationship between academic achievement and the amount of
time children spent in school--either the number of hours per day or

the number of days per year" (Cass, 1974, p. 59).

Determinants of School Achievement in Developed Countries

A massive federal study was launched in 1966 in response to the
criticism of schooling. It was "The Equality of Educational Oppor-
tunity" study, popularly known as the "Coleman Report," and its
findings quickly put schools and educators on the defensive. Evidence
indicated that the schools and their resources appeared to have little
influence on academic achievement, but that a child's social-class
background was very closely related to his performance in the class-
room (Coleman, et al., 1966).

Meanwhile, in Great Britain, a similar research commissioned by
the Central Advisory Council for England, "Children and Their Primary
Schools," commonly known as the "Plowden Report," reached the same con-
clusions.

While the apparent impotence of school in the Western world was
upsetting, the implications for the Third World were disastrous.
Struggling to develop and raise the socio-economic status of their
unschooled and poverty-stricken masses, developing nations had just

begun to invest heavily in school education as a viable route to national

27
development. Between 1960 and 1968, for example, public expenditures
on education doubled in Africa and Latin America, and nearly tripled
in Asia (Simmons, 1980).

The International Association for the Evaluation of Educational
Achievement (IEA) was organized in 1958, and located within the UNESCO
Institute of Education. The IEA had a two-fold mandate. The first part
was to develop internationally valid evaluation instruments. Critics
claimed that the IEA "conceived of the world as one big educational
laboratory where a great variety of practices in terms of school struc-
ture and curricula were tried out" (Comber and Keeves, 1973, p. 10).

The second part of the mandate was to design a survey of existing edu-
cational facilities and practices, but to go beyond the purely descrip-
tive aspects to identify those particular characteristics in curriculum,
pedagogy, and school physical facilities which might explain why some
students perform better than others (Husen, 1979).

About the time of the release of the Coleman and Plowden reports,
the IEA began a massive international study to identify those factors
that determined student success in the schools of 22 countries, including
the United States. Six subject areas (science, reading comprehension,
literature, English, French and civic education) were surveyed at three
age levels (10, 14 and 18) over a period of nine years.

At the time, there were very few precedent studies from which to
draw. "The IEA was the first attempt to predict the effects of schooling
and student backgrounds across countries" (Heyneman and Loxley, 1982,

p. 14).
The data collection task was ambitious. The amount of data from

which the IEA could draw conclusions was as large as had ever been

28
acquired in the social sciences. Participating in the design, vali-
dation and administration of the instruments were 300 experts represent-
ing 20 countries and 14 languages. By 1973 the IEA had gathered data
on a sample of 10,000 schools, 50,000 teachers, and had test scores in
its six subjects on approximately 260,000 students.

The process of data reduction and analysis of the nearly 500 inde-
pendent variables was widely criticized in a decade of debate and sub-
sequent studies, but the conclusions based on the international sample
roughly paralleled those of the previous single nation studies (Coleman
and Plowden), which had touched off the concern and intensive debate.
The primary conclusion of all three studies was, higher academic per-
formance is commonly found among children from privileged economic
backgrounds (Thorndike, 1975).

The IEA study's strong support of the conclusions of the Coleman
and Plowden reports concerning the powerful influence of home background
on success in the classroom was found to be particularly important at
the earlier age levels (10 and 14 years), and in the areas of reading
comprehension, literature and civic education. Public factors that
were most closely related to student achievement included: 1) the
father’s occupation (economic and social class), 2) the father's and.
mother's levels of education, and 3) the number of books in the home.
These are all clearly "home-oriented" and reflect attitudes and values
of the home environment.

The IEA data added one important element to educators' awareness
of the problem. It was "documentation for the fact that throughout
the world, in many different cultures, children develop the basis for
future verbal capacity for academic success in contemporary schools,

before they ever enter school" (Cass, 1974, p. 59).

29

Three lone factors were found that strongly related schooling to
academic achievement across national systems of education: 1) oppor-
tunity to learn--the degree of student exposure to a given area of
study, 2) teacher competence, both in subject matter and teaching
techniques, and 3) amount of time a student devoted to a subject.

Out of the controversy came the general conclusion that the
greatest value of the Coleman, Plowden and IEA studies was not the
few questions they answered, but the new ones they raised and the fervor
of debate and research they fostered focusing on the differences between
developed and developing nations in terms of true determinants of school

achievement.

Determinants of School Achievement in Developing Countries

The next five years in the research revealed radical divisions
between educators who supported the IEA findings and those who argued
from the perspective of specific developing countries that the IEA
findings were not universally valid.

Supporters of the IEA, like Simmons of the World Bank and Alexander
of the International Monetary Fund, lent quick evidence of support in
1975. "The Determinants of School Achievement in Developing Countries:
A Review of the Research" sought to lend historic creedence to the IEA
stand that "the determinants of student achievement appear to be basi-
cally the same in both developing and developed countries" (Simmons
and Alexander, 1978 p. 341). They further affirmed that "increasing
the quality or quantity of most of the traditional inputs, such as
teacher training or expenditures per student, is not likely to improve
student achievement."

As evidence, Simmons and Alexander cited 19 statistically valid

30
education production function studies conducted in 11 developing coun-
tries analyzing the effect on student achievement of various educational
inputs. The variables included all 500 from the IEA study alone. After
analysis of all the studies, there were but four policy variables which
were found to be significant across most countries in which they were
tested:

1. Gross expenditure variables, such as cost of school
facilities per student or average teacher salary,
are not important predictors of student performance.
Thus, unit costs, particularly at the secondary and
higher levels, could be significantly lowered with-
out affecting performance.

2. Teacher motivation, as indicated by the actions of
teachers--for example, the time spent in lesson pre-
paration--is positively related to performance.

Policy research should, therefore, be directed to-
ward identifying highly motivated teachers.

3. Textbook availability at the primary level may be an
important predictor on performance in developing
countries. An associated variable is the availability
and use of a library at primary and early secondary
grades.

4. The amount of homework performed by students, the phy-
sical conditions of home study, and the amount of read-
ing performed at home are important predictors of stu-
dent school achievement. (Simmons and Alexander, 1978,

p. 354).

Thus, the only variables that Simmons' and Alexander's extensive
research review can recommend to possibly improve the internal effi-
ciency of the educational system in developing countries are the
reduction of unit costs, high teacher motivation, availability of
textbooks and other reading materials, and quality homework experience.

Instead, their review of the research shows that the greatest gains
occur simply because the student is removed from his home environment

into a school environment. Although their data do not include the

effects of nonformal education, from the perspective of formal

31
education they conclude, "Therefore, policies that give a student a
longer exposure to learning at school will, on the average, have a
significant impact on his cognitive achievement" (Simmons and Alexander,
1978, p. 355).

With a preponderance of such research, during the 19703 many
teachers and school administrators became aware that school failure
was primarily a problem that affected the children of the poor. A
general concern arose that they could do little to help the under-
privileged child to learn. It also followed logically that poor
children who were undernourished and often lacked adequate learning
stimulation at home could not hope to survive, much less compete
academically.

Then from the developing nations came a new series of research
studies that shed new light and hope by re-analyzing the IEA data, not
from the broad spectrum of 22 developed and developing nations, but
from the context of their own nations.

In 1976 Heyneman published a study entitled, "Influences on Aca-
demic Achievement: A Comparison of Results from Uganda and More Indus-
trialized Societies." In his re-analysis of IEA data, the general-
izability of Simmons' and Alexander's findings were questioned. "It
was shown that the association between 'pre-school influences' and
academic achievement diminished in linear fashion with the national
per capita income of the countries in the IEA sample-~the poorer the
country, the weaker the association" (Heyneman and Loxley, 1982, p. 15).

In 1982 Heyneman published an article in Sociology of Education entitled,

 

"Influences on Academic Achievement Across High and Low Income Countries:

32

A Re-analysis of IEA Data," in which he concluded:
The fact is that when data on school and teacher
characteristics are allowed to express the full
measure of impact in their country of origin,
these characteristics in low income countries
can explain between two and three times the
amount of achievement variable that they can
in high income countries; and the poorer the
country in economic terms, the more impact on
achievement school quality and teachers seem
to have (Heyneman, 1982, p. 19).

A host of studies followed to explain why determinants of school
achievement in developing countries differed from those in developed
countries.

In India, Shuluka studied "The Achievements of Indian Children in
Mother Tongue (Hindi) and Science." His data on science and reading
comprehension among 10-year-olds showed that the proportion of achieve-
ment variance explained by pre-school influences (socio-economic status,
sex and age) was 90 percent less than the median for other IEA countries,
and that the contribution of the Indian school was from three to four
times more. "As predictors, socio-economic status and other pre-school
influences at age 10 were seven times more powerful in the United States
than they were in India" (Shuluka, 1974, p. 246).

In Papua, New Guinea, Pope and Jones found in their research, "Home
Background as a Determinant of Success in a Papua, New Guinea High School"
that pre-school influences were consistently found to have less impact
in non-industrialized society (Pope and Jones, 1974).

Likewise in Ghana, Peil's "Secondary Education in Ghana: Private
Enterprise and Social Selection," confirmed that the school achievement

in poor countries is less influenced by pre-school influences and more

influenced by characteristics internal to the school (Peil, 1974).

33

Similar studies emerged in Uganda, such as Currie's "Stratification
in Uganda: Schooling and Elite Recruitment" in 1974, and Silvey’s
"Long-Range Prediction of Educability and its Determinants in East Africa"
in 1972. Other research was in Kenya: Olson's 1975 "Social Background
and its Influence on African Secondary School Performance," and a 1973
Ph.D. dissertation from Stanford University, Mwaniki's "Education and
Socioeconomic Development in Kenya: A Study of the Distribution of
Resources in Kenya."

From this international spectrum of studies conducted in developing
countries with conclusions quite contradictory to the Coleman, Plowden
and IEA studies, three basic theories began to emerge concerning why
determinants of school achievement in developing countries differ from
those in developed countries. These basic theories guided the research
on into the mid-1980s (Heyneman, 1980).

1. Language, not economic material resources, is the reason why
"home background" predicts school achievement in industrialized societies.
In less industrialized societies, because the richness of language may
not differ as markedly between a wealthy and a less wealthy child, the
average difference in school achievement may be less. This theory was
researched by Bulcock, Clifton and Beebe on the basis of data collected
in India and England--"A Language Resource Model of Science Achievement:
Comparisons Between 14-year-olds in England and India" (Bulcock, Clifton
and Beebe, 1977).

2. Process variables, which are consistent between the expecta-
tions from the school and the expectations from the home, are more
reliable predictors of academic achievement than home circumstances,

regardless of the parental socio-economic status. An example of such

34
a process variable would be parental demands that students "study hard."
This theory was derived from Kifer's study of dynamics in 18 countries,
"A Cross—Cultural Study of the Impact of Home Environment Variables on
Academic Achievement and Effective Traits" (Kifer, 1977).

3. There is a time factor that explains why language, schooling
value and self-confidence are smaller between poor and privileged
children in some developing nations. It is the span of time it takes
for an economically privileged group within a developing country to

evolve into a distinct social class (Heyneman, 1979).

YOUTH ROLES AS LEARNING RESOURCES

The second area of inquiry, necessitated by the dual nature of
the value criteria upon which this research is based, is the educative
role of youth in society. The second value criterion expressed the
Haitian parental expectation that an outcome of schooling should be
the student's ability to serve as a family resource--not only as scribe,
but also to teach his school-derived skills to his unschooled family
members.

The following sections review the precedent literature and research
to establish a philosophical basis for the concept of youth serving in
such educative roles, and to document the actual historical utilization
of youth in the familial context (siblings and parents), and in the

school context (peer instruction, tutorial functions).

Historic Perspective: Perceptions of Youth
The majority of empirical research on the concept of youth or

adolescence comes from the perspective of Western scholars. In such

35
societies, this stage of life has been analyzed, codified and insti-
tutionalized to the point that few people now question the established
characteristics. The perspective on youths in this phase of life is

that they are victims of mental and emotional stress. In Adolescent

 

Alienation, Schiamberg summarized the general perception. As youths

 

reach most of their adult physical and mental growth, they experience
the dichotomy of wanting independence and being treated as adults,

but clinging to the freedom from responsibility they enjoyed as children
(Schiamberg, 1973). The anxiety level of Western parents who have
children in this stage runs extremely high, with the adolescent viewed
as a limited family resource at best. The term "generation gap" depicts
the family dynamic.

There is evidence in the literature that this perception of youth
has not always been held historically in the West, and is not currently
held in much of the world community.

In the West, this negative concept of youth, indeed even the term
"adolescent," may be a recent phenomenon the origins of which may be
traced to as recently as 1904 as the West began to experience the social
ramifications of the booming industrial age (Schiamberg, 1973). Formerly,
in the society of the agrarian family, the transition from childhood to
adulthood was a steady, consistent, uninterrupted line, with each member
of the family contributing fully to the overall family productive task
to the extent he was physically and mentally capable. Youth were per-
ceived as a family resource.

Kanter, in Work and Family in the United States: A Critical Review

 

and Agenda for Research and Policy (1977), traced the historic causal

 

chain leading to the transition. The central phenomenon was the role

36

of the family in the transition of our society from a rural agrarian
economy to an industrialized economy. In the century prior to World
War I, the family and the factory served each other. The family was
the major recruiter of workers in many industries, channeling especially
children into particular factories, and providing a source of discipline
and of loyalty. With the rise of scientific management and the coming
of child labor laws, the usefulness of the family in support of industry
diminished. This culturally traumatic transition from agrarian to in-
dustrial lifestyle created the conditions that segregated youth as a
segment of the population, who though physically able, were no longer
legally permitted to engage in the family task. A period of limbo
filled with uncertainty, uselessness, self-doubt and boredom was arti-
ficially created as Western youth were ushered into a sort of time
lag between childhood and adulthood status (Hareven, 1975).

This continuity of flow from childhood to adulthood which precluded
a negative concept of youth was a dynamic alive even in the pre-

industrial global society. Aries, in Centuries of Childhood: A Social

 

History of Family Life (1962), drawing not only on traditional literary

 

material, but also on paintings, prints, frescoes and accounts of popular
folklore, argued that even the idea of a distinct childhood is a modern
one, a creation of the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. He contends
that no such stage of life can be discerned in medieval art, where, for
example, youngsters from the age of two or three are portrayed as min-
iature adults. The emergence of childhood, like adolescence, came later,
when during the late Renaissance, society experienced a growing demar-
cation of the household from the larger community.

The social dynamics of medieval Europe and pre-industrial United

37

States remain relevant in many of the traditional societies of the

world today. Middleton, in From Child to Adult: Studies in the

 

Anthropology of Education, describes the current social sphere of adult

 

and child in a typical traditional society, the Tallensi of West Africa.
In brief, it is unitary and undivided.
The child is from the beginning oriented towards the
same reality as its parents and has the same physical
social material upon which to direct its cognitive
and instinctual endowment. The interests, motives
and purposes of children are identical with those of
adults, but at a simpler level of organization. The
so-called negative phase or adolescent instability
which has been alleged to be universal is unknown in
Tali society. The social sphere between adults and
children is differentiated only in terms of relative
capability. All participate in the same culture, the
same round of life, but in varying degrees, corre-
sponding to the stage of physical or mental development
(Middleton, 1970, pp. 18-19).

In other traditional societies, there is no trauma for gradual
independence and self-identity because the passage from child to adult
is culturally ascribed by the passage of initiation rites. The expec-
tations and responsibilties of each life segment are clearly defined
and mutually exclusive.

This dynamic of just such a continuous and orderly social sphere
from child to adult in traditional society is, in part, foundational to

the concept of youth making contributions as resources to the learning

tasks of the family in Haiti.

Youth Perceptions in Transition: Societal Shifts

Throughout history, youth have been instructed in the knowledge,
skills and values held by their respective societies and deemed essen-
tial for active and productive roles as contributing adult members.

The youth learned what the adults knew, and the knowledge flow was

38
unquestionably established one way--from adult to child. In such an
educative model in traditional societies, a child can virtually see
his own future as he observes his grandparents.

Mead, in Culture and Commitment: A Study of the Generation Gap

 

(1970), presented evidence that such a traditional model is becoming
increasingly rare as the instability and change in the broader social
structure of the world community is influencing the way in which one
generation relates to another educationally. The above-mentioned
traditional educative model Mead terms, "prefigurative."

Societies undergoing fairly rapid change tend to shift the learning
flow to a two-way exchange, with a large proportion of children learning
from their peers, who are at the same stage of learning as themselves.
Mead calls these "cofigurative" societies.

Societies like the United States after World War II and many
"rapidly developing" nations are termed "postfigurative." In these,
the experiences of children (e.g., schooling) differ so dramatically
from those of their elders, parents and grandparents, that the elders
become immigrants in a sense to a new world, which has changed drasti-
cally since they themselves grew up, and they must learn from their
children about how to live in that world (Mead, 1970).

Mead's point about temporal migration is supported by McLuhan,
who described children of the so-called television generation, who
have tastes and styles of thought that they present vividly to their
parents (McLuhan, 1964). This is also consistent with historical
research on geographic migration. Hanlin (1973) described the special
roles of youth as linguistic interpreters and more general interpreters
of the new culture to their parents, illustrating the role of youth as

educator.

39

The movement of society from prefigurative to postfigurative need
not be a national shift, but can occur in isolated and even temporary
instances. It tends to occur during times of rapid technological ad-
vancement in which educators do not have direct access to the adult
or decision-making segments of society, and "learning gaps" occur where
practice lags behind available knowledge.

The youth as an educator phenomenon occurred in the early 19003
in the United States. Scientific research in agriculture made signifi-
cant advancement in farming techniques essential for increased produc-
tion of the largely agrarian U.S. society. With limited access to
adult farmers, but with ready access to youth through formal education,
youth clubs such as the 4-H Club involved young people in nonformal
instruction, exposing them to the new techniques in the form of in-
dividualized agricultural projects. Adults observed the projects and
learned from their children informally.

A similar learning gap occurred in Cuba in 1961 with functional
literacy. In response to government appeal, 100,000 Cuban children,

40 percent of them younger than 15, joined in a massive battle against
adult illiteracy among the rural poor. After 10 days of instruction,
they ventured into the least accessible, poverty-stricken regions of
the island in order to live and work in the homes of the campesinos.
In less than one year, adult illiteracy was reduced from 20 percent

to less than 5 percent--several hundred thousand adults were newly
literate (Kozol, 1980).

Such gaps in technology and knowledge are now more the rule than
the exception in the social context of many developing nations, such

as in Haiti, where education systems are virtually unavailable to

40

rural adults and serve but a small percentage of the nation's youth.

Rapid social change is not, however, a requisite for youth roles
as familial educators. Even in "prefigurative" societies, where the
"child-teaching-a-parent" dynamic is not prevalent, youth often serve
as an educational resource in the other direction, as caretakers of
younger children (Leichter, 1974). In 1978, an international program
called "Child-to-Child" was launched in England to utilize this phe-
nomenon of "child as change agent" (Aarons and Hawes, 1979), by teaching
and encouraging older children and especially school children to concern
themselves with the health and general development of younger brothers
and sisters. This was achieved by teaching simple preventive and cura-
tive activities and games to children in school so that they could pass
the ideas on to their own families and community. The concept is based
on a reality common throughout large areas of the world, where it is
often not a parent who looks after the young child, but an older sibling
usually does.

In 1930, Mead reported such a youth resource role in Growing Up In

 

New Guinea, noting that girls and boys alike do a superior job of

 

childcare to even parents. She observed that where parents were the
principal caretakers, the child was likely to receive less exclusive

attention and to be hurried toward self-reliance and efficacy.

Youth as Educator: Familial Context

In traditional societies, prior to the advent of formal schooling,
education was viewed as the development of knowledge, skills and atti-
tudes, and as a continuum on which the learning of children was insepar-
ably linked to the experience of adults. Learning was primarily the

function of the home, along with a variety of social agencies such as

41
the church, peer groups, the market-place and village water source
(UNESCO, 1977). While new information could enter the society in the
context of any single learning institution, it was rarely acted upon
until it had circulated and gained acceptance in each related institu-
tion (Hobbs, 1978).

The advent of schooling altered both the process and the content
of familial education. The school quickly became the single greatest
source of new ideas, yet often operated as a monopoly on learning,
the only institution with the power to accept or reject those who had
access to it. In 1899, Dewey described the ensuing chasm between family

and school in The School and Society. He argued that because of the

 

move away from the agrarian household, where much of the adult world
stood directly revealed before the eyes of the child, the school needed
to recreate versions of the adult world to teach what the child had
formerly learned in the household (Dewey, 1899).

The two clusters of learning activity, the family and the school,
had almost no overlap and few or no connecting lines-~except the youth.
They alone tended to provide the linkage since they constituted the only
segment of society to have active involvement in both learning institu-
tions.

The literature on the family is as rich and diverse as the exper-
iences within it. Like any educational institution, the family orig-
inates some educative efforts, mediates others, and actually insulates
its members from still others.

Educative efforts within the family involve not only

parents teaching children, but children teaching parents,
parents teaching one another and children teaching one
another. And as with all educational institutions, these
efforts within the family are fraught with the uncertainties,

contradictions and ironies that inevitably mark any effort
to teach anyone anything (Cremin, 1974, p. 85).

42

The research ranges from anthropologists' examinations of minute
details of particular facets of the family in specific settings to
sociologists' broader research of connections between family structures
and societal structures. The definitions of the family vary widely as
it is studied in different settings, from clear-cut nuclear family
units to broadly defined extended family kinship groupings. Interaction
between specific dyads within the family unit, such as siblings and
child-parent, are of particular relevance to this research.

The educative dynamics of such dyads in the family unit are de-

scribed by Leichter in The Family as Educator:

 

The family is an arena in which virtually the entire
range of human experience can take place. Warfare,
violence, love, tenderness, honesty, deceit, private
property, communal sharing, power manipulation, in-
formed consent, formal status hierarchies, egali-
tarian decision-making--all can be found within

the setting of the family. And so, also, can a
variety of educational encounters, ranging from
conscious, systematic instruction to repetitive,
moment-to-moment influences at the margins of
awareness (Leichter, 1974, p. 1).

THE EDUCATION OF SIBLINGS BY SIBLINGS

 

There are indications in the literature that siblings may have
direct educational influence on one another. Siblings spend many
hours together and share a wide range of activities. Since contacts
within the nuclear family tend to be intimate and inclusive, sibling
interaction has been shown to be marked by frankness, informality,
cohesiveness, intensity and extensity (Irish, 1970). The way in which
the education proceeds is so much a part of the fabric of daily exis-
tence that parents are sometimes not able to discern it at all.

Sutton-Smith and Rosenburg, in The Sibling, documented evidence

 

that while first-borns tend to model their actions after parents,

43
later-horns model extensively after their elder siblings. Little data
was available about the process by which their behavior may have been
actually conditioned by the elder siblings. This dynamic parallels,
however, the observations of extensive childcare roles of older siblings
in traditional societies such as Haiti.

In "Sibling Interaction: A Neglected Aspect in Family Life
Research" (1970), Irish suggests that siblings may educate one another
in ways quite different from parents. "Sometimes siblings are more
effective teachers than adults, particularly if youthful skills are
involved. Siblings may often understand childhood problems and new
situations better, in some ways, than do the parents" (Irish, 1970,

p. 557). By implication, this suggests that siblings may also engage
in educational functions like the school, in setting examples for one
another with academic work as well as with the many interpersonal
problems of the school community.

The major portion of child-rearing and sibling studies, however,
is characterized primarily by a good deal of emphasis on outcomes, much
of that dealing with negative aspects, such as the power tactics siblings
use with one another. The preoccupation with sibling rivalry can be

traced to the influence of Levy's classic research, Studies in Sibling

 

Rivalgy (1937). Sibling studies to date have shown little explicit
concern for education or the process by which siblings influence each
other. Leichert's research review concludes the literature to be
"sparse, generally noncumulative, and narrowly selective in focus"
(Leichert, 1974, p. 18). Irish calls it "the most neglected aspect of

family life research" (Irish, 1970).

44

THE EDUCATION OF PARENTS BY YOUTH

 

The literature on the education of parents by youth, aside from
the cross-cultural research cited earlier, has tended to assume a
one-way influence from child to parent, rather than a two-way inter-
action. The focus has not been primarily one of active educative
process, but rather viewing the youth as a passive influence on parents.
Such topics as childrens' positive or negative effects on marital satis-
faction (Udry, 1966), or parental self-evaluation (Bortner, Bohn and
Hultsch, 1974) have been explored. A notable exception is Brim's

and Wheeler's Socialization After Childhood: Two Essays, which

 

suggested that education is a lifelong process and that parents, al-
though older and more experienced than their children, continue to
learn from their children as they enter new phases of socialization
(Brim and Wheeler, 1966).

Mere contact with the life of a child has been analyzed and shown
to open up new world vistas as the full range of the child's activities
becomes a potential source of education for the parent. The child
does not actively teach, but the adult learns "about" child development,
"about" teaching and learning, and "about" schooling from the child's
activities and associations.

The research on immigration suggests that there is much yet to be
discovered about the conditions under which the parent may be defined
as a learner without losing status or dignity, and about the value of
face-saving procedures for averting potential embarrassment (Thomas
and Znaniecki, 1971).

In summary, the research on parental education by youths is his-

torically uni-directional, assuming general passivity on the part of

45
the child, except in cross-cultural studies of youth roles in societies
that are in social transition. Though "sparse, it can best be described

in terms of the dimensions it suggests for further study" (Leichert,

1974, p. 15).

Youth as Educator: School Context

A final educative role of youth is in the school setting as peer
teacher. This refers to the concept of students teaching other students
in formal, nonformal or informal learning situations which are dele-
gated, planned and directed by a teacher. Related terms include

"mutual instruction,"

meaning simply students teaching students, and
"cross-age teaching/tutoring," an older student teaching a younger
student.

The concept is referred to as early as in ancient Greece when
Aristotle used student assistants (Wise, 1964). It has been traced
from the Middle Ages to the Renaissance to the Reformation, through
England, France and ultimately to the United States and developing
nations (Wagner, 1980).

The issue is relevant in the context of countries like Haiti
because its roots were primarily educative efforts to provide the bene-
fits of schooling to the poor. In nineteenth century England, John
Lancaster established the monitorial school system of "students teaching
students" because the British government did not provide any funds for
education, a large number of children needed schooling, and there was
a scarcity of teachers. The social and economic influences of the era

brought about the widespread support of this ingenious and economical

system of educating the vast numbers of poor children (Gosden, 1969).

46
From the latter part of the nineteenth century until the 19603,
there was scant mention of peer teaching in educational literature.
The only use of peer teaching mentioned during this time was a modi-
fication of the monitor system utilizing students less exclusively,
but in cooperation with the classroom teacher-~the one-room schools
of rural America.
Teachers in one-room rural schools often called upon
their older students to help teach the younger ones.
They did so in the hope that the younger children
would benefit from the extra attention and help they
got from their tutors and that the older ones, proud
to be cast as assistant teachers, would be motivated
to improve their own work (Lippitt and Lippitt, 1968,
p. 24).
Much like the condition of rural Haitian schools today, the one-
room school of early America faced the dilemma of a single teacher
trying to manage alone the educational experiences of too many students

and too many subjects on too many grade levels.

In 1917, Woofter published a handbook, Teachingfiin Rural Schools,

 

in which he advocated using older pupils as teachers' assistants. He
wrote:

Nearly always there will be some older pupils who can

be quickly shown how to assist with the younger ones.

These older pupils should be appointed for this work.

It will be very helpful for them, and will permit the

teacher to give more time to other things. .

This will make the older ones more thorough, and it

will help to organize the school into a wholesome

working community (Woofter, 1917, p. 52).

There was a lull of several decades when peer teaching seemed to
fall from the educational indices. Then in 1956, Wayne, in writing
about a tutorial program conducted at Fresno State College stated, "It
is said that the best way to learn something is to teach it, and that

may well be one of the major benefits to the tutoring students" (Wayne,

1956, p. 330). He listed four groups who benefitted from tutoring:

47
those doing the tutoring, those receiving it, the school, and the
institution which eventually would hire the student tutors as teachers.

In the last decade, renewed interest in peer teaching has led to
wide-spread research. In "A Historical Base and Rationale for Peer
Teaching," Wagner summarizes the research findings:

Some of the theories and rationale which underlie the
idea of peer teaching are that the student learns by
teaching, the student learns effectively by contact
with his peers, peers can provide a source of infor-
mation perhaps more valuable than the teacher himself
because of better empathy and communication with each
other, and cooperation is a better means of learning
than competition. Peer teaching allows for better
individualized instruction than may be possible in a
classroom setting; peer teaching can also build self-
esteem and self-confidence and allow for socializa-
tion and development of social skills (Wagner, 1980,
p. 277).

Such utilization of youth as an educative resource in the classroom
is consistent with the familial education contributions of Haitian youth
in the context of their homes. It has been reviewed as a theoretical
foundation for value criterion number two of this study, and for its

potential application to meeting some of the learning needs within the

Haitian school.

Chapter Three
DESCRIPTION OF METHODOLOGY

The purpose of the research is to analyze the actual educational
outcomes of a spectrum of selected Haitian primary schools as measured
against three evaluative criteria placed on schools by the parents of
Haitian students. The research recognizes the importance of basic
education to national development in Haiti; however, the evaluative
criteria around which the research focuses are from the perspective of
the peasant parent--whose investment in schooling stems less from a
concern for national development than from a pragmatic quest to enhance
his quality of life.

The béton vieillesse, or child selected as the familial investment

 

in education, carries essentially these three criteria as his mandate:
1) educational survivorship--his survival to primary school completion;
2) family education resource--his ability to serve as a family resource
using his school-acquired skills and passing them on to his unschooled
family members; and 3) life-skills competencies--his ability to use his
schooling as a stepping stone to further education, ultimately to
succeed in a career which will lead to the fulfillment of his respon-
sibilities as baton vieillesse by allowing him to ensure adequate
familial support in years to come.

The study was conducted as a comparative/evaluative research on a
selection of seven Haitian primary school case studies, and sought to

accomplish essentially two data collection tasks. The first data

48

49
collection task was to obtain measurements of performance or non-
performance from each of the case studies on each of the three value
criteria mentioned above: 1) educational survivorship, 2) family
education contribution, and 3) life-skills competencies. The second
data collection task was to obtain quantifiable data on a spectrum
of variables which characterize each of the case-study primary schools.
Such characteristic variables included school facilities, teacher
characteristics, traits of the school's chief product (Moyen II
graduates), and the home/family environments of these "surviving"
Haitian students. The unit of analysis is thus the primary school as
depicted by its environmental characteristics.

Data relating to each of the three value criteria were analyzed to
classify each of the case-study primary schools in a range from "high,"
to "medium," to "low" for each value criterion. Analysis of school,
teacher and student (Moyen II) variables followed to identify relation-
ships of variables that are positively or negatively associated with
the performance on each of the three value criteria.

A stratified sample of seven Haitian primary schools, each with
complete primary school programs (all six primary grades, from Enfantine
to Moyen II), were randomly drawn from the total population of 30 such
Armée du Salut-administered primary schools dispersed throughout the
five geo-political districts of Haiti. The stratification of the sample
encompassed two concerns: 1) the geographic dispersement of the case
studies into all regions of Haiti, and 2) a representation of locale
to include urban, semi-rural and rural settings.

The data originated from three research instruments: the student

interview (see Appendix A); the teacher questionnaire (see Appendix B);

50

andaischool facilities survey (see Appendix C). Each instrument was

ammhfistered to each sample school during the course of a single school
day to ensure minimal interpersonal contact among participants.
The research looks at the relationships between the three value

criteria and four sets of data: 1) school characteristics, 2) teacher

characteristics, 3) home/family environment, and 4) student (Moyen II)
traits. Examination of these sets of data as descriptors of the primary
schools that were categorized "high," "medium," or "low" by performance

on the three value criteria, allowed comparative analysis to determine

essentially how schools that performed well on each criterion differed

from those that performed poorly. Findings served as a basis for the

suggestion of guidelines for the enhancement of school performance

in keeping with those educational outcomes valued by the school's

community.

INSTRUMENTATION
A student-structured interview (see Appendix A), a teacher ques-
tionnaire (see Appendix B), and a school facilities survey (see Appendix
C) were developed and pre-tested in Haiti in the spring of 1982--one
year prior to the actual data collection. The entire process of pre-
testing was conducted at Ecole Armée du Salut--Saintard in the spring

of 1982. The Saintard primary school was ommitted from the school

lists when the final random selection was made. The revised instruments

were then fine-tuned in Port-au-Prince, utilizing students and teachers
from missions other than the Armée du Salut, one month prior to the
actual sample selection and data collection.

‘The school directors of the sample case studies were notified of

the intended research visit by letter (see Appendix D), and were

51
informed of the collaboration of Compassion International and the

Armée du Salut in the effort. They were further assured of confiden-

tiality in the process.

Student Interview

A questionnaire was administered orally in each school with a
random sample of eight Moyen II students, those in the last year of
primary school, who were scheduled to take the Certificat d'Etudes
Primaires (CEP) government examination that year. Each student
selected was removed from the school and taken to a quiet setting,
usually under a tree, for the hour-long interview. The language
utilized was the students' mother tongue, Haitian Creole, and the
interviewer was one of three Haitian research assistants who had been
trained in interview techniques for two months in Port-au-Prince just
prior to the school visits.

Each interview was recorded on audio cassette for further analysis
and possible longitudinal follow-up research, as well as to free up
the interviewer from excessive note-taking. Pre-testing the instru-
ment had shown Moyen II-level students to be very credible and know-
ledgeable participants who were not distracted by the presence of a
tape recorder. At the conclusion of each interview, a photograph
was taken of the student for follow-up, and a Polaroid print given
to him as a token of appreciation. Often the students expressed
disappointment when the interview concluded, so positive was the

experience of expressing themselves about multiple facets of their

lives.

The instrument's content included two basic categories: information

about the youth's relationship and experience to each of the three

52
vahuecriteria under evaluation; and then data concerning parental
education and occupation, self-reported state of health, home environ-
ment and daily responsibilities, and school experience, as well as

attitudinal data concerning sense of self-concept, school/teacher per-

spectives, and future aspirations/expectations. Much of the format

consisted of open-ended questions to allow for maximum descriptive

data collection. Open-ended responses were later codified into

categories of response for analysis and comparative purposes. Where

possible, content was structured to allow for cross-cultural analysis

based on precedent research in other settings.

Teacher Questionnaire

At the end of the school day, all the teachers and directors who

were present on the date of the visit were assembled in a classroom

and administered a teacher's questionnaire. The 67-question instrument

was written in French, Haiti's official language and the language of

classroom instruction in Haiti. Even so, pre-testing had indicated a

general lack of French ability among primary school teachers, so the

instrument was facilitated by a Haitian research assistant who trans-

lated each question into Creole for each group. Only the final six

questions, which were designed to test French language ability (see

Appendix E), were left untranslated into Creole. The process allowed

for data collection without the risk of insulting the teachers' dignity.
Anonymity was once again assured; only the identification of the school
itself was noted for later comparison.

The questionnaire gathered data on the parental education and
occupational backgrounds of the teachers, their personal schooling,

professional training, teaching experience and French language ability.

53
Further attitudinal data were collected on self-concept and modernity,

and perspectives on Haiti, schooling, and student performance.

At the conclusion of the hour-and-one-half long questionnaire

session, the teachers inevitably stayed additional hours to further

express their views and concerns. The research team was often

warmly thanked for their concern and willingness to listen.

School Facilities Survey

A survey with each school's director was conducted privately
by the researcher, the only expatriate at each case-study locale.
The survey elicited information on the school's history, enrollment,

tuition levels, teacher salaries, parental involvement, programs

and facilities. The survey continued without the director throughout

the remainder of the school day, with an unobtrusive classroom-by-

classroom visit by the researcher. Observational data were collected

concerning attendance, classroom layout and conditions, supplies,

indicators of density, desk space, student-to-teacher ratios, textbook

availability, instruction techniques and student dynamics.

An additional measurement incorporated into the school facilities
survey was a vocational history review. This involved a 45-minute

session with the entire Moyen II class and its teacher. Each graduating

class of the school was reviewed, student-by-student, from 1978 to 1982.
Information was elicited to determine whether each graduate had continued
in formal schooling into high school, entered a vocational training
institution, or quit school to join the work force at various levels

of vocation. These data were utilized to assess each school's per-

formance on value criterion number three, life-skills competencies.

54

Certificat d'Etudes Primaires (CEP) Scores

Finally the scores were obtained for each Moyen II student in the
case study schools (interviewed or not) who took the June 1982 Certificat

d'EUka Primaires examination three months after the school visit.

SPECIAL INQUIRY
Incorporated into both the student interview and the teachers'
questionnaire are three areas of special inquiry designed to examine
issues that were found in precedent academic achievement research to be
relevant to varying degrees in both "developed" and "developing" nations.

These issues are the following: 1) socio-economic status (SES), 2) self-

concept, and 3) modernity. Discussion and methodology of measurement

for each follows.

Socio-Economic Status (SES)

There is ample evidence from studies focusing on industrialized
societies to lead one to expect that SES has a direct effect on aca-
demic performance. Children of lower socio-economic backgrounds can be
expected to perform less well academically. Jencks' study in America
concluded that a family's economic status correlated .35 with children's

scores on academic tests (Jencks, 1972). And Rossi's summary of related

literature entitled, "Social Factors in Academic Achievement," ranks

SES as second in importance only to intelligence. Coleman suggested,

likewise, that SES, separate from race, is more influential than per-
pupil expenditure or even teacher or school characteristics in predicting
academic achievement (Coleman, et al., 1966).

Among less-industrialized societies, the evidence is less unified.

In Jamaica, Manley found that although children of lower SES performed

55
worse on I.Q. tests and tests of verbal ability, they did not do uni-
formly poorly on the Common Entrance Examination Sections (Manley, 1963).
Murphree in Rhodesia found higher performance from children of illiterate

homes than from children of more privileged homes (Murphree, 1973).

To ascertain the association between the general SES of the students

of a particular school and the school's performance on each of the
evaluative criteria, information was elicited from each student on his

parents' level of education, occupation, land ownership, housing type

and the number of "modern" possessions found in his home. These

possessions came from a select pre-tested list of "modern" consumer

items. They included: box springs bed, camera, motorcycle, radio,

bicycle, car, clock, pressurized lantern, television and tin roof.

Occupational status was measured by asking each individual student

what his father does to earn money. The spectrum of reported vocations

was coded into levels of remuneration ranging from "VIP" to unskilled

laborer (see Table 3.1).

The responses to these five measures were figured and a mean score

was calculated for each of the sample schools.

Self-Concept
To understand why some Haitian students achieve superior academic

performance even within similar socio-economic contexts, a measurement

of personal attitudes was included in the student questionnaire. Pre-

cedent studies have associated a student's higher academic performance
with achievement motivation (Epps, 1969), self-perception of academic

ability (Brookover and Schailer, 1963), self-esteem or self-concept

(Bledsoe and Garrison, N.D.), and level of aspiration (Chaplin, 1968)

56
Table 3.1

Modern Possessions: Percentage of Students
Reporting Family Ownership

 

 

-------------------------- Schools----------------------------
Items Owned
Aquin Le Blanc Grépin Gardon Verena La Feronay Ruisseaux

 

box springs

 

bed 0% 0% 0% 0% 50.0% 0% 14.3%
camera 0 0 0 0 25.0 0 0
motorcycle 0 0 0 0 0 0 0
radio 75.0 62.5 75.0 37.5 85.7 85.7 57.1
bicycle 25.0 0 0 12.5 12.5 0 0
car 0 0 0 0 12.5 0 0
clock 75.0 50.0 37.5 37.5 75.0 57.1 71.4
lamp 12.5 12.5 0 0 25.0 14.3 0
t.v. 0 0 0 0 37.5 0 14.3
tin roof 57.1 37.5 62.5 12.5 100.0 28.6 85.7
(N=55)

.In.'HFhe Equality of Educational Opportunity" study, Coleman uti-
lized two indicators of personal attitude: self-concept efficacy,

and "control of one's environment." Both were found to be highly
correlated with each other and with academic achievement. They yielded
Ligher effects than any other single factor.

()f all the variables measured in the survey, includ-

:ing all measures of family background and all school

\rariables, their attitudes showed the strongest re-

Ilation to achievement at all three grade levels.

The zero-order correlations of these attitudes with
achievement were higher than those of any other

57
variable. . . . Taken alone, these attitude vari-
ables account for more variation in achievement
than any other set of variables (all family back-
ground variables taken together or all school vari-
ables taken together). When added to any other
set of variables, they increase the accounted for
variation more than does any other set of variables
(Coleman, et al., 1966, p. 319).

The measurements of personal attitudes used in "The Equality of
Educational Opportunity" study, and later by Heyneman in 1975 in
"Influences on Academic Achievement in Uganda: A 'Coleman Report'
from a Non-Industrialized Society," were adapted to the Haitian context
and utilized.

Self-concept comprises aspects of both ego-strength and self-
confidence. Ego-strength is the extent to which a person believes in
himself, the validity of his own perspective. Self-confidence is the
extent of one's satisfaction with his own behavior, his ability to
maintain internal control over external circumstances, both positive
and negative.

To determine a student's self-concept, four statements were scat-
tered at random throughout the interview. Each was a phrase stated
negatively. To demonstrate a high self-concept, a student had to reply,

"no." This "double-strength" negative was designed to negate the

"acquiescent set" described by Kahl (1966), whereby a student replies

II II

yes to all questions in an effort to please the interviewer. This
concern was unfounded. Moyen II students were found to be credible
informants, as likely to say "no" as they were to say "yes."

A further self-concept measurement set of questions was included

to determine the extent to which a student feels in control of his

58

immediate environment, or controlled by it. A series of 10 positive
and negative situations was described to the student, asking him to
accept credit or blame for each (see Appendix A, questions 83 through 92).
Fatalism plays such an important, debilitating role in poverty that an
internal assumption of personal responsibility for circumstances indicates
a positive self-concept.

Since the unit of analysis in this evaluative research is each case-
study school, a composite self-concept score was calculated for each
school based on the responses of its students. Table 3.2 illustrates

the spectrum of responses.

Modernity

A related concept to self-concept which also has been demonstrated
in precedent research to be inter-correlated with academic achievement
is "modernity." Modernity is an indication of world awareness, an
understanding of scientific world interpretations (as opposed to
superstition), and an openness to challenging traditional values.

Four statements to elicit an indication of modernity were scattered
at random throughout both the student interview and the teacher ques-
tionnaire. They were drawn from the O-M scale (Smith and Inkeles,
1968) and Heyneman (1975).

The modernity indicators consist of the following:

Political knowledge: "Who is the president of the United States?"

Superstition: "If you go to the end of a rainbow, what will
happen?"
World awareness: "Where does the Pope live?"

Traditional values: "Do you think that young people should always
obey their elders, whether they are right or
wrong?"

Responses to the four modernity statements were tallied for students

and teachers for each school. Table 3.3 shows the comparative levels of

modernity.

59

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m-

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ow"

amm

“Amaze

m4<hOH

 

om

¢~

mm

OOH

he

goo“

unmoumwzm

am

no

on

age

hueouom «A

no

mH

mm

as

flow

enouo>

mm

Mg

mH

on

on

flow

mm

mg

no

~n

awn

accuse mwmwuw

mN

mu

mN

«me

omega

on

mu

m~

om

me

no

me

awsv<

Amocommou :zwme:
mo mwaueoouqu
mucous» you
Houucoo ameuouem

Acmeommou :3oH:
mo owmueoouomv
mogu~:u«wmme you
aouueoo Ameuouem

Aomcommou :ewme:
mo oweueoouoav
«50> one name
noun a voow no:

A:oz= mam
accommou owmuaou
-uomv see on an»

30% mwdwnu Oflu am
Hana nuumo 50> on

A302: ”dwfldomw
Ion owouaoouomv
«counoowuom
nouuo so» ou<

A:Oz= NGMCGOQQQH

owaueoouomv whxozaqa

douwo 50> uu<

 

 

ounuvuudousuuom «Bowman dawns-no:

cumuluuoum o» noncomuom

N.m oases

60
Table 3.3

Responses From Four Statements
to Determine Levels of Student Modernity

 

 

Aquin Le Blanc Grépin Gardon Verena La Feronay Ruisseaux

 

Political 50% 38% 63% 25% 63% 50% 14%
knowledge

(percentage

responding

correctly)

Supersition 50 0 25 62 50 71 57
(percentage

not super-

stitious)

World Awareness 25 38 38 25 50 86 43
(percentage re-

sponding

correctly)

Traditional 25 13 0 O 0 0 0
values (per-

centage re-

sponding "No")

 

TOTALS 100 89 126 112 163 206 114

 

(N=55)
POPULATION AND SAMPLE

The research was a collaborative effort between Compassion
International and the Haitian Armée du Salut Mission. The population
was determined to be the total number of Armée du Salut primary schools
which had the complete range of primary grades, from Enfantine I to
Moyen II. This population totalled 30 schools with an overall enroll-
ment of 8,000 students. Since its founding in 1950, the Haitian Armée
du Salut has grown to a membership of 11,000 in churches dispersed

throughout all five of Haiti's major geo-political districts.

61

Private school systems like the Armée du Salut's represent a major
portion of the overall Haitian primary education context. In 1982-83,
at the time of the data collection, 59.4 percent of the 723,041
primary school students in 3,241 schools were enrolled in such private
institutions. At present, there are more than 350 such foreign and
domestic private voluntary organizations functioning in Haiti (Millot
and Easton, 1985, p. 2-130).

The Armée du Salut school system was selected from among the eight
such missions assisted by Compassion International in Haiti primarily
because it alone offered a complete geographic spread of schools
throughout all of Haiti.

From this population, a stratified sample of seven primary schools
was randomly selected for case-study analysis. Stratification ensured
representation of all of Haiti's geographic districts, as well as
different types of locale: urban, semi-rural and rural.

Within each randomly drawn case-study school, a second population
and sample existed. The population at this level was the entire
Moyen II (final year of primary school) class of that school. From this
population, a random sample of eight students was drawn to participate
in the student interview. The student sample size was determined to be
generalizable to the whole of each school's Moyen II population, yet
manageable for the three interviewers so that the interviews could be
completed in the course of a single school day-~a precaution taken to
attain minimal interaction among the student sample in order to ensure

maximum validity and reliability of data.

62

Participant Primary Schools

The sample of primary schools drawn represented a spectrum encom-
passing all five of Haiti's districts, and included two urban schools--
Port-au-Prince and Aquin, three semi-rural schools--Grépin, La Feronay,
and Ruisseaux, and two rural schools--Le Blanc and Gardon (see Figure
3.1:. All the schools were directed by Haitian Armée du Salut officers,
who were under the unified administration in Port-au-Prince of Education
Officer Captain Jonas Georges.

A brief description of each school selected for case study follows.

CASE STUDY #1: ECOLE ARMEE DU SALUT--AQUIN

 

Aquin Primary School was founded in 1967. At the time of the data
collection, the school was under the direction of Captain Wilner
Derilien. He served as school director over a teaching staff of eight,
and taught fulltime himself.

There were 280 children enrolled at Aquin, a student-to-teacher
overall ratio of 31 to 1. Located in the Département du Sud (south),
this urban school is in the heart of the city of Aquin, approximately a
three-hour drive from the capital, Port-au-Prince. Aquin is located
about half-way out on the southern peninsula in the heart of Haiti's
chief coffee and sugar cane agricultural region.

By Haitian standards, Aquin had a very good facility. Its nine
classrooms provided almost 13 square feet per student, and each child
occupied 14.1 inches of desk or bench space. The school was constructed
of cement block with cement floor and a tin roof. It had a vocational
training section, and high school education was available in the immediate

vicinity.

63

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aaeoauuanoo nauauqaoe.ooe «aeouuau-uh "Luna:

n.» ounuun

 

 

BDOI'IBDJJU

BNIVDININOO

:2::< :m :3

8.3:.
3381
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823333.. .3303.
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3.20254.
HI. 0
W H.) \awaot 8.31.8
X.
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353:; ..>SE<. 83.63:
F\/.
o x o 2
Ba...
0
3.25.3 .

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:3; z I 5;

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houao oxoz ...$8.a=3oa
93553393 mucostdnoo

4 as. .2! naughszig a»;

2.2 8 32 o

 

flHHV E._<I
528383. mac‘szcaLV t<~oo

 

64

The tuition rate averaged $61 per year, and salaries of teachers
ranged from $50 to $100 per month.

The school was largely made up of students of families who
attended the local Armée du Salut church. The parents were very active
in the PTA sessions held each trimester--100 percent attendance was
reported.

Aquin's rating on the three evaluative criteria utilized in this
study is as follows:

Evaluative Criterion #1: Educational Survivorship-~Medium

Evaluative Criterion #2: Family Education Contribution-~Low
Evaluative Criterion #3: Life-Skills Competencies--Medium

CASE STUDY #2: ECOLE ARMEE DU SALUT--LE BLANC

 

Le Blanc was founded in 1972, and at the time of the data collec-
tion was under the direction of Lieutenant Dieudonne Rancy. She served
as school director over a teaching staff of eight, and taught fulltime
herself.

There were 210 children enrolled at Le Blanc, which provided a
student-to-teacher ratio of 27 to 1 overall. In the youngest grades,
however, the ratio was 70 to 1, while the oldest grades enjoyed a 7
to 1 ratio. Like Acquin, Le Blanc is located in Haiti's Département du
Sud (south). Unlike Acquin, Le Blanc is situated in an extremely remote
rural setting, approximately two hours from Port-au-Prince by car, and
then an additional two hours by horseback into the mountains. Although
in a remote setting on Haiti's southern peninsula, Le Blanc, like Aquin,
exists on its production of coffee and sugar cane.

Le Blanc had cement block construction with a tin roof in good
condition. Its six classrooms, however, provided a scant 4 square feet

per student, and its youngest grades had only 8.7 inches of desk or

65
bench space per student. There was no vocational training program, and
high school facilities were located in the village of Fond-de-Negres,
more than two hours away.

The tuition rate at Le Blanc averaged $43 per year, and teachers'
salaries ranged from $30 to $80 per month.

Half (50 percent) of the students' families were members of the
local Armée du Salut church. The level of parental participation in
the PTA session each trimester was very high (99 percent).

Le Blanc's rating on the three evaluative criteria utilized in
this study is as follows:

Evaluative Criterion #1: Educational Survivorship--High

Evaluative Criterion #2: Family Education Contribution--High
Evaluative Criterion #3: Life-Skills Competencies--Low

CASE STUDY #3: ECOLE ARMEE DU SALUT--GREPIN

 

Grepin Primary School was founded in 1964. At the time of the
data collection, the school was under the direction of Major Catherine
Pacquette. She directed a teaching staff of 13, and was herself a
fulltime teacher.

There were 302 children enrolled at Grépin, which resulted in a
student-to-teacher overall ratio of 27 to 1. In the youngest Enfantine
classes, the ratio was 73 to l. The oldest class, Moyen II, had a 12
to 1 ratio. The day of the data collection was a tragic day at Grépin.
Heavy rains in the mountains had caused the usually parched and dry
riverbed beside the school to swell into a raging river. Three of the
children drowned that morning while trying to cross the river to school.

Grépin is located in Haiti's Département du Nord (north) in the
town of Gros-Morne. It is classified as semi-rural. It is reached by

traveling north of Port-au-Prince for three hours on a paved road to

66

the city of Gonaives, then an additional hour further north on dirt
roads. The people of Grépin are primarily subsistence farmers who
struggle to make a living from extremely difficult terrain. Deforested
and desert-like, the northwest is almost perpetually under drought
conditions.

Grépin consisted of 13 classrooms, all of cement block construc-
tion under a tin roof. It was the most spacious of the case-study
schools, allowing 15 square feet per student. Despite the square foot-
age, however, its youngest grades had only 6.5 inches of desk or bench
space per student. Grépin had a vocational training section, and
students could progress to high school right in nearby Gros-Morne.

The tuition rate was $52.20 per year, and teachers' salaries
ranged from $36 to $75 per month.

More than half (66 percent) of the students' families were members
of the local Armée du Salut church. The level of PTA participation
at each trimester's session was 50 percent.

Grépin's rating on the three evaluative criteria utilized in this
study is as follows:

Evaluative Criterion #1: Educational Survivorship--High

Evaluative Criterion #2: Family Education Contribution--Medium
Evaluative Criterion #3: Life-Skills Competencies--High

CASE STUDY #4: ECOLE ARMEE DU SALUT--GARDON

 

Gardon Primary School was founded in 1964. At the time of the
clata collection, the school was under the direction of Captain Ixmail
P-olusca. He directed a teaching staff of eight, and carried a 25
percent teaching load himself. Captain Polusca was also the local

PBSCOI.

67

There were 216 children enrolled at Gardon, with a consequent
student-to-teacher ratio of 27 to 1. The ratio in the lower grades was
42 to l, but the Moyen II students had a 20 to 1 ratio. At the time of
the study, the region of Gardon was in a state of panic due to drought
conditions. No rain had fallen in over nine months. The peasants were
digging their seed corn out of the dry soil to eat final meals as the
research team arrived. That night, to the relief of the community,
the rains came. The team was given considerable credit for the good
fortune.

Gardon is located in Haiti's Département du Nord-Ouest (north-
west)--by far the most economically depressed region in Haiti. It is
classified as rural. Gardon is reached by traveling north of Port-au-
Prince for three hours on paved road to the city of Gonaives, then
another hour further north by Jeep to Gros-Morne, where Grépin is
located. From there, it takes an additional three hours by horse to
reach Gardon. The parents of the students at Gardon are all subsistence
farmers who struggle to grow food in deforested and desert-like terrain,
which is almost perpetually under drought conditions.

Gardon was comprised of eight classrooms, all of cement block
construction under a tin roof. The school was in excellent condition
structurally, and afforded 9 square feet per student. The desk or
‘bench space per student was also quite generous, averaging 15.2 inches.
(}ardon did not have a vocational training program, and students had to
l>oard to attend high school in Gros-Morne, three hours away.

The tuition rate was $49.30 per year, and teachers' salaries

ranged from $25 to $60 per month.

68

Almost all (95 percent) of the students' families were members of
the local Armée du Salut church. The level of PTA participation at
each trimester's session was the lowest in the overall study (5 percent).

Gardon's rating on the three evaluative criteria utilized in this
study is as follows:

Evaluative Criterion #1: Educational Survivorship--Low

Evaluative Criterion #2: Family Education Contribution-~High

Evaluative Criterion #3: Life-Skills Competencies--Low

CASE STUDY #5: ECOLE ARMEE DU SALUT--COLLEGE VERENA

College Verena, a primary school, was founded in 1969. At the
time of the data collection, the school was under the direction of
Major Raymond Ternier. It was the largest school in the sample, with
20 teachers. The school director also taught part-time.

There were 850 children enrolled at Verena with a consequent
student-to-teacher ratio of 42 to 1. The ratio in the Enfantine grade
was 42 to 1, and in the highest grade, Moyen II, the ratio was 35 to 1.

Verena is located in the heart of Port-au-Prince in one of the
poorest sections of the entire capital city. The families of Verena's
students live in the St. Martin area, which can only be described as
slum standards. Many have roots in the countryside of Haiti, but have
migrated to the capital as part of the massive urban migration that
keeps Port-au-Prince growing at 6.1 percent per year (Ahlers, 1977).
There are very few schools available to the children of St. Martin,
and the director said that if he accepted all school applications, he
could fill eight schools the size of Verena within an hour. Clearly
classified as urban, Verena is located in Haiti's Département de l'Ouest

(west).

69

Verena consisted of 20 classrooms, all of cement block construction
with a concrete roof. By Haitian standards, the facilities were tap
rate. Despite the urban density outside the walls, inside the students
had 12 square feet of classroom space per child. The desk space per
student was the highest among the case studies, with an average of 16.5
inches. The Moyen II students had individual desks with 26.3 inches of
space. Verena had an active vocational program, and students had access
to numerous high schools throughout the capital city.

The tuition rate was 500 percent above that of the nearest case-
study school, at $257 per year. Verena, however, enjoyed the benefit
of a funding agency in Switzerland which fully funded the entire cost
for every child enrolled. Teachers' salaries ranged from $100 to $170
per month.

About 75 percent of the families of the students were members of
the local Armée du Salut church. The level of PTA participation was
also quite high with 80 percent of the parents attending the once-
per-trimester sessions.

Verena's rating on the three evaluative criteria utilized in this
study is as follows:

Evaluative Criterion #1: Educational Survivorship--Medium

Evaluative Criterion #2: Family Education Contribution--Low
Evaluative Criterion #3: Life-Skills Competencies--High

CASE STUDY #6: ECOLE ARMEE DU SALUT--LA FERONAY

 

La Feronay Primary School was founded in 1976. At the time of the
data collection, La Feronay was directed by Major Alfred Joseph. He
served as school director over a teaching staff of six, and was himself

a fulltime teacher in the school.

70

There were 214 children at La Feronay, and the student-to-teacher
overall ratio was 31 to 1. Located in Haiti's Département de
l'Artibonite, this semi-rural school is near the town of Croix-de-
Bouquets, 45 minutes northeast of Port-au-Prince. La Feronay is
situated in part of the Artibonite Valley, one of the the most fertile,
irrigated sections of land in all of Haiti. Agricultural products of
this region, where 80 percent of Haiti's crops are grown, include
coffee, sugar cane, rice and vanilla.

The school facilities of La Feronay were a scattering of wooden
shacks and shelters. The upper two grades met in the church building.
The four lowest met under a brush arbor, with cardboard walls dividing
the classrooms. There were 9 square feet of classroom space per student,
and the average bench space per student was 14.4 inches. There was no
vocational training section. Progression on to high school was possible
in Croix-de-Bouquets, about a two-hour walk away.

The tuition rate averaged $48.80 per year, and the salaries of the
teachers ranged from $40 to $100 per month.

The school had only about 25 percent of its families attending the
local Armée du Salut church. The PTA received moderate participation,
with only 45 percent of the parents attending the sessions each trimester.

La Feronay's rating on the three evaluative criteria utilized in
this study is as follows:

Evaluative Criterion #1: Educational Survivorship--Medium

Evaluative Criterion #2: Family Education Contribution--Medium
Evaluative Criterion #3: Life-Skills Competencies--Medium

CASE STUDY #7: ECOLE ARMEE DU SALUT--CARREFOUR DES RUISSEAUX

 

Ruisseaux Primary School was founded in 1980. At the time of the

data collection, the school did not have a fulltime school director.

71
The Moyen II teacher, who carried a full teaching load, served as
acting director. The school had a teaching staff of seven.

There were 242 children enrolled at Ruisseaux, a student-to-teacher
overall ratio of 46 to 1. In the youngest grade, a single teacher was
responsible for 112 Enfantine students.

Located in the Département du Sud (south) near the town of
Miragoane, this semi-rural setting is two hours southwest of the capital
city of Port-au-Prince. Like Aquin and Le Blanc, Ruisseaux shares the
agriculturally-oriented lifestyle of the southern peninsula.

The facilities of Ruisseaux were substandard, even in the Haitian
context. The school had just two classrooms, both of mud wall and
thatched roof construction. The lower six grades met in a brush arbor
that leaked so badly, school had to be dismissed each time it rained.
The crowded conditions allowed only 2 square feet of classroom space
per student. There were no desks, only benches on which the youngest
grades perched with 5.3 inches of space per pupil. Overall, including
the upper grades, the desk space per student averaged 7.1 inches.

There was no vocational training program at Ruisseaux, but high
school facilities were available a half-hour walk away in Miragoane.

The tuition rate averaged the least of any of the case study
schools--$30 per year. Teachers' salaries were similarly low, ranging
from $15 to $30 per month.

About 25 percent of the school families attended the local
Armée du Salut church, but a mere 10 percent participated regularly in
the PTA sessions held each trimester.

Data collection was conducted in April when it was anticipated that

13 students would take the June CEP exam. Ultimately, it was decided

72

that none of the Moyen II students were capable of passing the exam, and
the entire class missed the long-awaited opportunity.

Ruisseaux's rating on the three evaluative criteria utilized in
this study is as follows:

Evaluative Criterion #1: Educational Survivorship--Low

Evaluative Criterion #2: Family Education Contribution--Medium

Evaluative Criterion #3: Life-Skills Competencies (no score)*

DATA-GATHERING PROCEDURE

The procedure for data collection was established one full academic
year prior to actual data collection, which took place February through
April, 1983. With very little precedent academic research in Haiti,
the instruments, facilitators, logistics and actual data collection
process necessitated not merely culturally sensitive planning, but
actual pre-testing of the entire procedure. Following is a brief
historic review of the development of the process.

May 1-9, 1982 Haitian research assistants selected in Port-au-

Prince. Research instruments designed. Single
interviewer trained in interview techniques.

May 10, 1982 Data collection procedure and instrumentation
pre-tested at Ecole Armée du Salut--Saintarde
(semi-rural).

May 11-12, 1982 Debriefing of research assistants and inter-

viewer. Preliminary tabulation of data.
Instruments refined.

February 1-13, Three Haitian interviewers selected in Port-

1983 au-Prince, and trained in interview techniques.
Instruments and interviewers received final
adjustments and underwent final pre-testing
on isolated Moyen II students and teachers
selected from outside the research population.
Selection of sample and schedule of school
visits coordinated with Armée du Salut admin-
istration.

*Since Ruisseaux was only in its second year of existence,
it had not yet produced a graduating class that could be
tracked into either high school or relevant vocations.

73

February 14, 1983 Briefing session in Port-au-Prince with all
school directors of case-study schools.
Finalized schedules and data collection

details.
February 22-23, Data collection--Aquin
1983
February 24-25, Data collection--Le Blanc
1983
March 1-2, 1983 Data collection--Grépin
March 3-4, 1983 Data collection--Gardon

March 15-16, 1983 Data collection--Verena

March 17-18, 1983 Data collection--La Feronay

April 12-13, 1983 Data collection--Ruisseaux

April 14-30, 1983 Debriefing of interview staff. Tabulated data

and wrote preliminary report for Haitian
Armée du Salut and Compassion International.

The data collection task itself was a two-fold effort. The first
task was to obtain measures of performance or non-performance from
each of the case-study schools on each of the three value criteria:

1) educational survivorship, 2) family education contribution, and

3) life-skills competencies. The second data-collection task was to
obtain quantifiable data on a spectrum of variables which characterized
each of the case-study schools. These environmental variables included
school facilities, teacher characteristics, and traits of the Moyen II
students.

These data were collected utilizing three research instruments--
the student interview, the teacher questionnaire, and a school facil-
ities survey, which included a five-year vocational review of graduates.
Each was administered to the sample school during the course of a single

day.

74

The daily schedule for data collection in each school followed a
prescribed pattern developed to accommodate the normal flow of the school
day with minimal disruption from the data collection team. A typical
daily data collection schedule follows:

7:30 a.m. Flag raising ceremony (greeting to school)

7:45-8:30 (Team A) Vocational history session--Moyen II class

8:00-8:30 (Team B) Selection of sample Moyen II students

8:30-9:45 (Team A) Interviews with Moyen II students #1 and #2
(Team B) School facilities survey--school director

9:50-10:30 (Teams Interviews with students #3, #4, #5
A & B) (classrooms survey--Enfantine to Preparatoire)

10:30-10:45 Break (school recess)

10:45-12:00 (Teams Interviews with students #6, #7, #8
A & B) (classrooms survey--Elementaire to Moyen)

12:00-1:00 (Teams Lunch with teaching staff

A & B)

1:00-2:30 (Teams Teacher questionnaire (group session)
A & B)

2:30 Teaching staff photos and discussion

ORGANIZING AND ANALYZING THE DATA

This comparative/evaluative research has as its pivotal focus
three value criteria against which a selected sampling of seven Haitian
primary schools were evaluated individually and comparatively. These
value criteria of educational outcome expectations from the perspec-
tive of Haitian peasant parents included: 1) educational survivorship,
2) family education contribution, and 3) life-skills competencies.
Indicators designed to measure each school's performance or non-
performance on each criterion were incorporated into the three research

instruments. Each school was analyzed on a detailed case-study basis

75
by these criteria and subsequently rated "high," "medium," or "low" in
its performance for each.

To ascertain the characteristics of primary schools that ranked
"high" on each criterion, and to compare those characteristics with
primary schools that ranked "low," a second set of data was incorporated.
This second set consisted of quantifiable data on a spectrum of variables
which characterized each of the case-study primary schools.

As a conceptual framework to classify this second set of data, the
precedent research of Coleman, et al., (1966), "The Equality of Educa-
tional Opportunity" report in industrialized societies, and the 1975
research of Heyneman, "Influences on Academic Achievement in Uganda:

a 'Coleman Report' from a Non-Industrial Society" were referenced.

Both studies divided phenomena influencing academic achievement
into intuitively distinct areas of data: 1) regional environmental
characteristics (rural/urban, northwest/southeast, etc.), 2) school
personnel characteristics (training, attitudes, socio-economic status,
etc.), 3) school physical facilities (classroom space, textbooks),
and 4) student characteristics. These same four diverse areas of data
classification were used to organize the Haiti school characteristics
data around the three evaluative criteria.

This organization of the data was utilized in order to seek answers
to a single basic question: "What characterizes Haitian primary schools
that effectively meet the educational outcome expectations of the Haitian
people who risk their limited resources on schooling for their children?"
Any national-level educational reform that does not include the educa-

tional expectation perspective of its pe0ple will surely falter.

76

Evaluative Criterion #1: Educational Survivorship

Educational survivorship is the criterion that measures the extent
to which a student progresses in a timely manner from one grade to
another, culminating in the passage of the Certificat d'Etudes Primaires
exam and official graduation from primary school. The rating of each
case-study school as "high," "medium," or "low" on this criterion was
accomplished by analysis of essentially four factors: 1) 1983 CEP
scores, 2) repetition rate, 3) dropout rate, and 4) attitudinal:

satisfaction/determination factor.

THE CERTIFICAT d'ETUDES PRIMAIRES (CEP) SCORES

 

A school mean score was calculated from the combined scores of all
the schools' Moyen II students who took the 1983 CEP examination (see
Appendix C, number 20). A score of 5.0 was necessary to pass, out of
a possible 10.0. This first factor is clearly the most vital to the
peasant parent, as it is the ultimate academic hurdle. Regardless of
a school's repetition or even dropout rate, if it has a reputation for
high scores and a high level of CEP exam passage, it is not likely that

it will lack for students or revenue.

THE REPETITION RATE

 

While it can be argued pedagogically that repetition is often
necessary to maintain academic standards and a student's ultimate achieve-
ment, pragmatically speaking, a school known for excessive grade repetition
is a financial nightmare for parents who must invest as much as 25 percent
of their annual income in tuition costs per child enrolled each school
year. Though often a sign of disciplined and quality education, the

repetition rate for each case study was calculated with repetition

77
viewed as a negative factor in its overall educational survivorship

rating (see Appendix A, number 7).

THE DROPOUT RATE

 

Like repetition, dropout is viewed by the peasant parent as finan-
cial "wastage." Consequently, each case study's dropout rate was
calculated and counted negatively against the school's overall educa-

tional survivorship rating (see Appendix A, number 11).

ATTITUDINAL: SATISFACTION/DETERMINATION FACTOR
A final indicator viewed as affecting a school's educational sur-
vivorship rating is the attitudinal condition of its students and
parents. Aside from a school's actual rate of successful graduation,
repetition or dropout, this is an element of student and parent satis-
faction, loyalty or determination that must be considered. It is the
perceived value of the school that maintains its community support,
often quite apart from its actual record of academic achievement. This
factor was calculated from the student's responses to the following
five questions scattered randomly throughout the interview:
Have you ever wanted to quit school? (see Apendix A, number 9)
How much do you like school? (Likert-type degree of
intensity scale of 1-9--see Appendix A, number 62)
How good is your school compared to other schools
you know? (Likert-type degree of intensity scale
of 1-9--see Appendix A, number 63)
How important is schooling to your future? (Likert-type
degree of intensity scale of 1-9--see Appendix A, number 61)
How angry do your parents become when you do poorly
in school? (Likert-type degree of intensity scale
of 1-9--see Appendix A, number 66)
Mean percentages were calculated for each school from the student
responses to these questions, and then entered into the analysis with

the other three educational survivorship factors.

Taking into consideration the results of the four factors described

78

above, the classification of the case-study schools for evaluative cri-
terion number one, educational survivorship, follows in rank order:

Ecole Armée du Salut--Grépin: High

Ecole Armée du Salut--Le Blanc: High

Ecole Armée du Salut--Aquin: Medium

Ecole Armée du Salut--La Feronay: Medium

Ecole Armée du Salut--Verena: Medium

Ecole Armée du Salut--Ruisseaux: Low

Ecole Armée du Salut--Gardon: Low
Evaluative Criterion #2: Family Education Contribution

Family education contribution is the second criterion. It measured

the extent to which a student serves as a family resource, passing on
his school-acquired skills to his unschooled family members. The
rating of each case-study school as "high," "medium," or "low" on this
criterion was accomplished by the analysis of four factors: 1) the
student's ability to serve his family, 2) the student's attitudes
toward the responsibility, 3) the student's actual behavior patterns:

performance or non-performance, and 4) the level of family need for

such a student resource.

STUDENT ABILITY

 

Prior to any other indication of levels of performance by students
as family education resources, it was deemed necessary to calculate,
school by school, the actual ability of students to serve in this
capacity. This was accomplished by analysis of past and present
performance with the following questions:

"Can you sign your father's or mother's name?" (see Appendix A,

numbers 18 & 19)
"Do you read for your family?" (see Appendix A, number 24)
"Do you write for your family?" (see Appendix A, number 25)

"Do you keep track of your family's finances?" (see Appendix A,
number 26)

79
The level of ability of each school's students was subsequently

entered into the family education contribution analysis.

STUDENT ATTITUDE

 

Beyond ability, an indication of the students' attitudes toward the
task or responsibility was thought relevant. Attitude was measured
primarily by two questions at different points in the interview:

"Should a student serve his family by reading, writing, and
accounting for them?" (see Appendix A, number 27)
"Would you be willing to teach out-of-school peers who cannot
read or write?" (see Appendix A, number 55)
Such indicators of a positive or negative attitude toward serving

as a family education resource were calculated, school by school, and

entered into the analysis.

STUDENT BEHAVIOR

 

The strongest measurement of the activity level of students making
family education contributions for any school case study went beyond
ability and attitude to actual behavior. The kinds and levels of
student education contribution to their families were explored throughout
much of the interview, but the actual measurement was derived from these
three indicators:
"Have you actually taught your father to read or write? With
what results?" (see Appendix A, number 28)

"Have you actually taught your mother to read or write? With
what results?" (see Appendix A, number 29)

"Do you read for and teach brothers and sisters in your own home?"
(see Appendix A, number 51)

The mean level of actual student activity in criterion number two,

family education contribution, was calculated for each case-study school

and served as a major factor in its rating.

80

FAMILY NEED FOR EDUCATIONAL RESOURCE

 

To accurately classify any school as "high," "medium," or "low"
on its performance on this criterion, it was necessary to calculate
the level of familial need for such student assistance in the home.

This required gathering information about literacy and education levels
of parents and siblings. The following questions were used:

"Can your father read and write?" (see Appendix A, numbers 20 8 21)

"Did your father attend school?" (see Appendix A, number 30)

"Can your mother read and write?" (see Appendix A, numbers 22 & 23)

"Did your mother attend school?" (see Appendix A, number 31)

"Do you have brothers and sisters in your home who cannot read or

write?" (see Appendix A, number 50)

Taking into consideration the findings on these four factors, the
classification of the case-study schools for evaluative criterion number
two, family education contribution, follows in rank order:

Ecole Armée du Salut--Le Blanc: High

Ecole Armée du Salut--Gardon: High

Ecole Armée du Salut--Grépin: Medium

Ecole Armée du Salut--La Feronay: Medium

Ecole Armée du Salut--Ruisseaux: Medium

Ecole Armée du Salut--Aquin: Low

Ecole Armée du Salut--Verena: Low
Evaluative Criterion #3: Life-Skills Competencies

Life-skills competencies is the third and final criterion. It
measured the extent to which a student is able to use his schooling to
advance to higher education, or obtain a vocation which required his

prior schooling--ultimately allowing him to fulfill his responsibility

as baton vieillesse by securing a respectable vocation that would

 

ensure adequate familial support in years to come.
Calculations to rate each school as "high," "medium," or "low" on
this criterion were accomplished objectively by tracking the graduates

of each school over a period of the previous five years. The percentage

81
of each year's graduates who continued academically to high school was
considered "top achievement." This was followed by: enrollments in
vocational training institutions, acquiring vocations with schooling
prerequisites, obtaining unskilled labor, or, finally, the greatest
disappointment, subsistence farming or unemployment (see Appendix C,
Vocational History Review).

Data for this analysis were derived from discussions with each
school's Moyen II class and teachers in a five-year, year-by-year
"vocational history" review. Only Ecole Armée du Salut--Ruisseaux was
excluded from this analysis since in its two years of existence, it had
not as yet produced a graduating class.

Taking these data and the "priority of accomplishment" perspective
into consideration in the analysis, the classification of the case-
study schools for evaluative criterion number three, life-skills compe-
tencies, follows in rank order:

Ecole Armée du Salut--Grépin: High
Ecole Armée du Salut--Verena: High
Ecole Armée du Salut--Aquin: Medium
Ecole Armée du Salut--La Feronay: Medium

Ecole Armée du Salut--Gardon: Low
Ecole Armée du Salut--Le Blanc: Low

CONCERN FOR VALIDITY/RELIABILITY
A major cause for contamination resulting in invalid data in such
a cross-cultural research is the novelty of an expatriate's involvement
in the community. Consequently, three Haitian research assistants
conducted the interviews and administered the questionnaires, rele-
gating the single expatriate researcher to the role of classroom
observer, in which the variables were primarily the presence or absence

of classroom phenomena not affected by his physical presence.

82

The research assistants were trained by the researcher in Port-au-
Prince, and had worked extensively at the community grass roots level
among the 250 primary schools assisted by Compassion International in
Haiti. Pre-test experiences indicated the high quality of verbal
interaction facilitated by interviewers of this nature. They had no
stake in the outcome, were neutral in the communities, and were speci-
fically trained for the interview task.

The interviewing occurred under controlled conditions during the
course of a single school day to allow minimal interpersonal contact
between interviewees during data collection. Several immediate cross-
checkable questions were incorporated early into the interview to ensure
reliability of responses. Pre-test observations found Moyen II students

to be extremely honest, capable data sources.

SUMMARY

The research utilizes three instruments--a structured student
interview, a teacher questionnaire, and a school facilities survey--
to look at relations between three value criteria and four sets of data.
The evaluative criteria were: 1) educational survivorship, 2) family
education contribution, and 3) life-skills competencies. The four data
sets were: 1) school characteristics, 2) teacher characteristics,

3) home/family environment, and 4) student (Moyen II) traits.

The data were organized and analyzed to classify each of seven
selected primary schools in a range from "high," to "medium," to "low"
for each of the three value criteria.

The focus of the analysis was to determine characteristics of

Haitian primary schools which effectively meet the educational outcome

83
expectations of peasant parents. Findings served as a basis for
suggesting guidelines for the enhancement of school performance in

keeping with those educational outcomes valued by the school's community.

Chapter Four

FINDINGS OF THE RESEARCH

The focus of the research is the evaluation of selected Haitian
primary schools from the perspective of peasant parents' concern who
invest sacrificially in their children's schooling. The educational
outcomes expected of schooling by such Haitian parents have been
articulated in three value criteria statements: 1) educational sur-
vivorship--the student's survival to primary school completion,

2) family education contribution--the student's ability to serve as a
family resource, passing on his school-acquired skills to his un-
schooled family members, and 3) life-skills competencies--the student's
ability Ix: use his primary schooling to gain entrance into higher
education, or to obtain a vocation which will ensure adequate familial
support in years to come.

Data relating to each of these three value criteria were analyzed
in order to classify each of the case-study primary schools in a range
from "high," to "medium," to "low," on the basis of its performance on
each value criterion.

This chapter reports on the research findings resulting from the
analysis of school, teacher, home and student characteristics as they
compare and contrast with the performance of those primary schools

rated "high" and "low" on each of the three value criteria.

84

85
VALUE CRITERION #1: EDUCATIONAL SURVIVORSHIP
This first value criterion refers to the internal efficiency of
the primary school. It indicates the extent to which its students
complete the full range of primary school grades (from Enfantine I
to Moyen II), with a minimum of grade repetition or dropout, and
successfully pass the Certificat d'Etudes Primaires (CEP) examina-
tion. Analysis of these internal efficiency qualifiers rendered the
following rating of the seven case-study primary schools included in

the sample. They are presented in Table 4.1 in rank order.

Table 4.1

Educational Survivorship Indicator:
Rating of Sample Primary Schools

 

 

 

School Rating Mean 1983
CEP Score
Ecole Armée du Salut--Grépin High 6.05
Ecole Armée du Salut--Le Blanc High 5.61
Ecole Armée du Salut--Aquin Medium 5.50
Ecole Armée du Salut--La Feronay Medium 5.43
Ecole Armée du Salut-~Verena Medium 5.15
Ecole Armée du Salut--Gardon Low 4.88
Ecole Armée du Salut--Ruisseaux Low (no score)

 

For the purposes of comparison and contrast, the following dis-

cussion is primarily an analysis of the characteristics of those schools

86
rated at either extreme of the spectrum, "high" or "low." The schools
at the high end of this educational survivorship spectrum are Grépin

and Le Blanc. Those rated at the lower end are Gardon and Ruisseaux.

Student Characteristics
Data describing student traits are divided into three categories:

family and home, school experience, and attitudinal factors.

FAMILY AND HOME

 

The influence of family and home in a traditional society like
Haiti was found consistently to have a more significant impact on the
socialization of children than in more modern societies where the
values and influence of the home are diluted by conflicting messages
from television and other electronic stimuli. The power of Haitian

familial influence was found to be quite evident in several areas of

inquiry.

Socio-Economic Status (SES)

 

The expectation that a student who comes from a SES-advantaged
background (in which his parents have received more formal education,
or in which his father has a better paying, more secure income, or in
which the home contains a greater number of modern possessions), will
perform better in terms of academic achievement was not found to be
true. As in the findings of Heyneman in Uganda, this assumption,
which was so well substantiated in the context of Western research,
did not prove true in Haiti.

In fact, the opposite was found. Those schools which ranked
highest in educational survivorship were found to be among the lowest

in SE8. Grépin and Le Blanc were two of the lowest three case-study

87
schools in terms of SES. However, the lowest-ranking school, Gardon,
also ranked lowest in SES of its students.

The highest-ranking schools reported fewer books in the students'
homes. At Le Blanc, 62.5 percent of the students and at Grépin,
37.5 percent had no books at all, compared to Gardon (50 percent) and
Ruisseaux (only 14.3 percent) that had access to no books at home.
Across the entire sample of 55 students in seven schools, less than
18.2 percent owned any books other than a Bible or hymnbook. Less
than 5.5 percent had more than 10 books in their homes.

The students of the schools which ranked highest academically
were also the least likely to have eaten any breakfast before coming
to school. On the day of data collection, 75 percent of Le Blanc's
students and 87.5 percent of Grépin's students had eaten nothing that
day. Similar but less dramatic nutritional conditions also existed
in the lowest-ranking schools, with 75 percent of Gardon's students
and 42.9 percent of Ruisseaux's students having eaten no breakfast that
day.

The lack of nourishment was particularly noteworthy in that the
students in the highest-ranking schools also had the furthest distance
to walk to get to school. In Le Blanc, 37.5 percent of the students,
and in Grépin, 50 percent, had hiked more than one hour over the moun-
tains to attend school. More than half of the students in the highest-

ranking schools had gotten up prior to 5:00 a.m. in order to do this.

Home Responsibilities

 

Examination of the workload carried by students in the case-study
schools revealed that those students in the highest-ranking schools
carried greater levels of chores and home responsibilities than did

students in lower-ranking schools (see Table 4.2).

88
Table 4.2

Responsibilities in the Home
(Percentage of Students Responding "Yes")

 

 

 

 

Chores Aquin Le Blanc Grépin Gardon Verena La Feronay Ruisseaux
Agriculture/

Gardening 43% 100% 75% 50% 13% 86% 43%
Fetching

Water 88 100 75 100 50 100 100
Childcare 88 85 86 100 100 100 86
Tending

Livestock 63 75 86 75 0 57 71
Sweeping/

Cleaning 88 100 100 100 71 100 86
Laundry 88 100 100 86 57 83 83
Marketing/

Buying and

Selling 100 88 83 100 100 100 100
Cooking 50 83 83 67 67 40 67
Teaching

Siblings 88 75 75 88 75 86 86
TOTALS 696 796 763 766 533 752 722

 

The level of home responsibilities appears to be in direct
correlation with the extent of urbanity of the schools, the urban
student carrying considerably less of a home responsibility burden.
It would appear that across the student sample, children who are
students are treated no differently in the home than children who are

not students. There was little report of preferential treatment; but

89
what difference was reported dealt with the issues of "higher expecta-

tions" and "more severely disciplined."

Parental Influence

 

Parents of students in the highest-ranking schools had the highest
level of illiteracy. Only 25 percent of the fathers in Le Blanc
could read or write, and only 50 percent in Grépin. The mothers'
literacy rate was even lower, with 75 percent illiterate in Le Blanc,
and 100 percent illiterate in Grépin. This compared to an overall
literacy rate across the schools in the sample of 51.9 percent of
fathers literate and 26.5 percent of mothers. It would appear that
the students :hi these schools get very little academic assistance
from their illiterate parents.

The education level paralleled the literacy rate. The two schools
highest in academic achievement had the highest dropout rate of fathers
from primary school. In Le Blanc, 62.5 percent of the fathers, and
in Grépin, 75 percent of the fathers were primary school dropouts.
Overall, 85.5 percent of the sample's fathers and 94.2 percent of
the mothers had not completed as much education as their Moyen II-level
offspring.

The mastery of the French language, Haiti's national language
and the official language of the classroom, is essential to academic
achievement in Haiti, and yet the amount of French spoken in the
homes of the two highest-ranking schools was the lowest among the
case-study schools. In Le Blanc, 62.5 percent and in Grépin, 50 per-
cent of the students' households spoke "no French at all." In 92.7
percent of the overall sample's homes, French was spoken "rarely" or

"not at all."

90

Perhaps it was due to the fact that the majority of fathers and
mothers were dropouts themselves and were determined that their off-
spring should do better, but the parents of students in the highest-
ranking schools were far more involved in their children's schooling.
In Le Blanc, 75 percent of the parents, and in Grépin, 62.5 percent
of the parents were actively involved in the parent-teacher conferences
held each trimester. This compared to 5 percent in Gardon, and 10

percent in Ruisseaux, the two lowest-ranking schools (see Table 4.3).

Table 4.3

Percentage of Parental Participation in Schooling

 

 

 

Schools Percentage of Parents Involved in PTA
Aquin 58.0%

Le Blanc 75.0

Grépin 62.5

Gardon 10.0

Verena 60.0

La Feronay 45.0

Ruisseaux 5.0

 

A further probe into the level of parental support or performance
demands experienced by the students was measured by asking, "How angry
do your parents become when you do poorly in school?" The difference
between high-performance schools and low-performance schools was
notable; 87.5 percent in Le Blanc and 100 percent of the respondents
in Grépin reported a "9" on a Likert-type degree of intensity scale
of 1-9, with 9 being "extremely angry." This compared to only 37.5

percent in Gardon, and 57.1 percent in Ruisseaux. The involvement of

91
parents in their children's schooling played a major role in the level
of their academic performance.

The selection by parents of which child to choose as REESE
vieillesse for the familial education investment said much about the
parents' perception of schooling. Overall in the student sampling,
the characteristic most cited was "obedience"--the child most respect-
ful of elders and least likely to get into mischief resulting in ex-
pulsion. Of the students, 37 percent suggested that obedience was the
most important criterion for their selection for schooling; 29.6 percent
felt they were selected because they were the eldest; and only 5.6 per-
cent felt they were selected because they were the most intelligent or
most able to learn. In only 11.1 percent of the households did all
school-age children attend school regardless of characteristics.

This is significant because the parents in those schools that
ranked highest on educational survivorship tended to choose students
less on the basis of obedience and more on intelligence and eldest in
sibling order. The parents at the two lowest-ranking schools tended
to select children for schooling largely on the basis of acquiescent
or obedient behavior: Gardon with 62.5 percent, and Ruisseaux, 42.9
percent (see Table 4.4).

When schooling is perceived by parents not so much as learning
or education, but as a system to survive in order to derive the social
benefits available only to those who complete the system, the selection
of the quietest, most obedient child makes good sense. Unfortunately,
though such children may get into less mischief, they are also most
likely Ix) be passive, less enthusiastic learners. This selection
process alone could account for much of the grade repetition, failure

and dropout so prevalent in Haitian primary schools.

92
Table 4.4

Student Selection for Schooling:
Parental Criteria by School

 

 

 

 

Criteria Aquin Le Blanc Grépin Gardon Verena La Feronay Ruisseaux
Oldest child 37.5% 37.5% 50.0% 0.0% 50.0% 14.3% 14.3%
Intelligent/

teachable 0 12.5 0 25.0 0 0 0
Obedient 25.0 12.5 37.5 62.5 37.5 42.9 42.9
Other 25.0 25.0 12.5 12.5 12.5 14.3 14.3
(N=55)

SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

 

To further explore school characteristics that distinguished
those schools that ranked "high" on educational survivorship from
those that ranked "low," analysis extended into the actual school ex-
periences of the students.

Students in the high-ranking schools tended to have begun their
schooling at an earlier age. The average starting age at Le Blanc and
Grépin was 6.1 years, while Gardon and Ruisseaux students typically
entered schooling a full two to two-and-a-half years later, at 7.7
and 8.5 years of age.

Students in the high-ranking schools also started at lower
grades :hi their current schools and tended to have done far less
transferring from school to school. In Le Blanc, 75 percent, and in
Grépin, 50 percent of the students started at their schools in

Enfantine I.

93

The fact that grade repetition is perceived by parents as finan-
cial wastage has been discussed. In spite of this financial hardship,
those schools that ranked highest in educational survivorship were
also found to have the highest overall rate of grade repetition.
This was true in early grades as well as later grades. The higher a
school's educational survivorship rating, the higher was found to be
its rate of grade repetition (see Table 4.5). Overall, 83.4 percent
of the student sample had repeated grades in the course of their

schooling; 33 percent had repeated two or more grades.

Table 4.5

Grade Repetition Rates:
Percentages by School

 

 

 

--------- Grades Repeated-------
Schools None One Two+
Aquin 25.0% 38.0% 37.0%
Le Blanc 0.0 87.5 12.5
Grépin 0.0 37.5 62.5
Gardon 50.0 50.0 0.0
Verena 12.0 70.0 18.0
La Feronay 10.0 80.0 10.0
Ruisseaux 28.6 57.1 14.3

 

Schools with the highest repetition rates might well be expected
to also have the highest dropout rates as frustrated students and
parents give up on the system. The opposite was found to be true.
The academically highest schools had not only the highest repetition
rate, but also the lowest dropout rate. Table 4.6 illustrates that

the highest schools academically, in spite of their high repetition

94
rate, did not experience as high a dropout rate. It would appear
that if a school had a reputation for the ultimate academic success
of its students, despite heavy repetition to maintain those standards,
peasant parents would not allow their children to drop out, and would
continue to support the school. High repetition does not equal high
drapout if the promise of academic achievement is evident historically.
Students in academically strong schools consequently tended to hold

their teachers and school in high regard.

Table 4.6

School Dropout Rates:
Percentages by School

 

 

 

Schools Students with Dropouts in Home
Aquin 50.0%
Le Blanc 50.0
Grépin 50.0
Gardon 87.5
Verena 38.0
La Feronay 15.0
Ruisseaux 58.1

 

A final observation of the students' school experience is that
those schools with a higher mean score on the CEP examination also
had fewer students who actually failed the exam, which is more impor-
tant from the parents' perspective. Only 16.7 percent in Le Blanc,
and 12.5 percent in Grépin, scored less than the required 5.0 to
pass. The tragic story in Gardon was that more than half the

Moyen II students (57.2 percent) failed the 1983 CEP examination,

95
while 42.9 percent failed in Ruisseaux. Failure rates of this
magnitude would not nmintain parental support for long, despite a
lower repetition rate and seemingly greater short-term educational

survival gains.

ATTITUDINAL FACTORS

 

Ihi an effort to further understand how students in the case-
study schools that ranked high in educational survivorship (Le Blanc,
Grépin) differed from those students in schools that ranked low
(Gardon, Ruisseaux), it was relevant to inquire into the students'
attitudes. Higher academic achievement has been associated with the
student's level of aspiration (Chaplin, 1968), his self-perception of
academic ability (Brookover and Schailer, 1963), and his self-esteem
or self-concept (Borislow, 1962).

The findings in non-industrial societies have also linked
academic performance to students' attitudes about themselves. "The
Equality of Educational Opportunity" study used two separate measures
of personal attitudes: self-concept and "control of the environment,"
and found both to be highly related to each other and to academic
achievement.

The data from Haiti showed some consistency with precedent re-
search findings, and also some deviations perhaps peculiar to Haiti.
Overall, students of those schools that ranked high in educational
survivorship had the lowest self-concept of the entire sample. Levels
of self-concept ran almost parallel with urban and rural locales.
Urban students rated higher, while rural students, regardless of
academic achievement, rated lower. This seems to reflect the urban

migration mentality so prevalent in Haiti: urban is good, rural is bad.

96

Other attitudinal factors tended to explain this apparent
anomaly. Low self-concept seemed to have little effect in terms of
fatalism or hopelessness. Perhaps because of the lower self-concept,
students :hl the schools ranked highest academically showed strong
evidence of greater determination to survive educationally when asked
what quality they considered most important for academic success
(good memory, hard work, obedience or intelligence). Hard work was
the response of 37.5 percent in Le Blanc and 28.6 percent in Grépin,
compared to 0 percent in Gardon and 14.3 percent in Ruisseaux.

This tendency of academically strong students to be more driven
to succeed was evident in their assessment of the "importance of
schooling for future employment." On a Likert-type degree of inten-
sity scale of 1-9, with "9" being "very important," 100 percent of
Le Blanc's students and 75 percent of Grépin's students rated it 9,
compared to 0 percent in Gardon and 28.6 percent in Ruisseaux.

This perspective of schooling being crucial to future vocational
options was again evident when the students were asked about career
aspirations and actual expectations. Students from the high-ranking
schools academically tended to set higher vocational goals for them-
selves: 62.5 percent in both Le Blanc and Grépin described jobs
classified as "VIP" or professional status, compared to only 25 per-
cent in Gardon and 14 percent in Ruisseaux. They were also the most

likely to want to migrate away from their home locale and even Haiti.

Teacher Characteristics
The research which actually explores the impact of teachers on
academic achievement stems primarily from the Western world and

generally depicts a minimal influence. Although when students in a

97
region experience widespread academic difficulty, the teaching staffs
are the first to be attacked, there is little empirical evidence to
link the characteristics of teachers with performance of children.
"The Equality of Educational Opportunity" report of 1966, for example,
found that the influence of teachers was slight (Coleman, et al., 1966).

Rossi, in his review of all the achievement literature covering

the era most concerned with achievement issues, reported that:
Perhaps the strongest impression these researchers
make is that the teacher's contribution to his stu-
dents' achievement, in the short run, is minimal.
Thus we find that indexes of teaching experience
correlated with student achievement around +.2 at
the maximum and are often zero or slightly negative.
Similar small correlations are obtained with the
measures of the quality and the amount of teacher
training. In sum, no clear pattern of findings
emerges from the research on this topic. We may
conclude that the teacher's contributions to his
students' achievement do not arise directly out of
his background, training, sex, or marital status
(Rossi, 1961, p. 270).

Heyneman in Uganda came to similar conclusions in 1975 after
analyzing £1 broad spectrum of teacher variables. His findings by
running correlations between teacher characteristics and school
achievement found only one teacher measure which was significantly
associated with achievement: the quality of Ugandan teachers' English,
the language of classroom instruction. The amount of training teachers
received, teaching experience, parental schooling, and frequency of
English spoken in their childhood home had no significant impact upon
mean achievement in their primary schools. Heyneman concluded, "If
teachers make any difference to a school's academic achievement, it

is most likely expressed through the quality of their English language

ability" (Heyneman, 1975, p. 48).

98

Recognizing these findings of non-relationships in both industrial
and non-industrial societies, this comparative/evaluative study of
Haiti has sought to explore similar teacher variables, but also to
place emphasis on characteristics beyond training, teaching experience
or salary. From the less confining methodology of the case-study
approach, inquiry into teachers' attitudes, values, self-concepts
and motivations were added. This additional perspective shed some in-
teresting light on particular teacher characteristics not often re-
searched. Given the broad mandate imposed on teachers by unschooled
Haitian parents, including that they serve as personal examples of
moral conduct, portray positive attitudes toward government and
church, and provide community leadership, as well as instill academic
knowledge, such attitudinal indicators may considerably intensify the
weight of school influence on students' development academically and
in character.

Data describing teacher characteristics were consequently divided
into three categories: family and home, training and school ex-

perience, and attitudinal factors.

FAMILY AND HOME

 

Schools that ranked "high" on value criterion number one, educa-
tional survivorship, had teaching staffs of generally higher socio-
economic status than those schools that ranked "low." They not only
received higher salaries, but came originally from childhood homes of
higher socio-economic status.

By measuring the number of "modern" possessions in their current
homes compared to those in their childhood homes, it was also possible

to determine that they had made greater socio-economic advances during

99

their lifetimes than had their counterparts in schools that ranked low
in educational survivorship. Table 4.7 shows the variances in socio-
economic advancement and indicates that teachers in the schools that
ranked high had achieved advancements of 16 percent in Le Blanc and
38 percent in Grépin, compared to only 1 percent in Gardon, while the
teachers of Ruisseaux actually decreased 15 percent from the conditions
they knew as children. It should be no surprise that the attitudes of
these groups toward the teaching profession paralleled their socio-

economic historic experiences.

Table 4.7

Comparative Socio-Economic Status:
Teachers' Current Vs. Childhood Homes

 

 

Aquin Le Blanc Grépin Gardon Verena La Feronay Ruisseaux

 

Current SES 331 158 148 71 470 120 100
Indicator
Childhood Home 250 133 91.6 63 307 259 117

SES Indicator

Variance in SES +24% +16% +38% +1% +35% -12% -15%

 

The higher SES played itself out also in their self-reported
general health status. Teachers in schools with high academic achieve-
ment also enjoyed better health and missed schooling less often due to
health problems.

Although the variances in SES of teachers' childhood homes would
apparently speak of more privileged background, this must be recognized

to be strictly relatively speaking. For example, none of the teachers

100

in schools that ranked either high or low had mothers who had completed

even a primary school education.

TRAINING AND SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

 

The teachers in Le Blanc and Grépin could be characterized as
generally older, more mature teachers, the average age being 26,
compared to 21 at Gardon and Ruisseaux. They had a higher percentage
of women teachers. Gardon's teaching staff was 75 percent male, and
83.3 percent of Ruisseaux's teachers were male.

The teachers at schools with high academic achievement also
tended to be more experienced generally, and to have served longer
at their current teaching posts. At the lower-ranking schools,
Gardon and Ruisseaux, better than half of the teaching staffs were in
their first two years of teaching, and as high as 67 percent were in
their first year at their current posts.

Across the seven case-study schools, fewer than 32.8 percent of
the teachers had received as much as a year of teacher training;
24.3 percent without any training at all were merely mimicking the
teaching they had received as students without the benefit of any
pedagogic formation. Such untrained teachers made up 75 percent of
Gardon's staff, and 33.3 percent of Ruisseaux's. Table 4.8 shows
the overall teacher training status.

Teachers in schools that ranked high in academic achievement
tended to be generally more cosmopolitan. Nearly half (41.6 percent)
of these teachers had travelled at least 200 kilometers from their
place of birth, while only 16.6 percent in the lower-ranking schools

had ventured that far from their village.

101
Table 4.8

Teacher Training Status
Across Sample Schools

 

 

Aquin Le Blanc Grépin Gardon Verena La Feronay Ruisseaux

 

No training 0.0% 33.3% 25.0% 75.0% 14.3% 14.3% 33.3%

 

Less than

one year 60.0 66.7 75.0 12.5 4.8 85.7 50.0
One to

five years 40.0 0 0 12.5 81.0 0 16.7
(N=70)

Consistent with Heyneman's Ugandan data on English usage in the
home, the findings in Haiti gave evidence that teachers in academically
strong schools were more likely to use French, the language of class-
room instruction, in the casual context of their own homes. One-third
of the teachers in Le Blanc and Grépin used French in their homes,
while less than half that many (14.6 percent) used French in Gardon
and Ruisseaux. Overall, 54.4 percent of the teachers in the seven
case-study schools claimed to use French "rarely" or "never." Only
8.8 percent said they used it "often." It would appear that usage of
French, although Haiti's national language and the official language
required for classroom instruction, is nearly as foreign to teachers
as it is to students in Haiti. Such linguistic blockages to learning
are a national hurdle Haiti must seriously confront in any national-level

educational reform.

102

ATTITUDINAL FACTORS

 

A teacher's contentment with his status in life, and particularly
his vocation, may be more significant in the lives of Haitian students
than in the lives of students in much of the Western world. Teachers,
especially in rural or semi-rural settings, are often the community
leaders, called upon to model many of the values the community holds
sacred. They heavily influence opinion formation because they hold
superior educational status in a society where education is the
guarantee of social status. They live a highly visible existence in
the village, carrying that role of responsibility day and night.

This influential role that extends beyond traditional teacher re-
sponsibilities is pertinent to the discussion of academic achievement
in that the happiest teachers tended to be found in the most academically
strong schools. In Le Blanc and Grépin, 41.7 percent of the teachers
claimed to be in the teaching profession because they genuinely liked
being teachers. This compared to only 22.9 percent of the teachers in
Gardon and Ruisseaux who said they were happy at their work.

A major part of job satisfaction is the sense that what one is
doing is important and makes a needed contribution to society. Teachers
in schools that ranked "high" expressed a far higher valuation of
school as zui important prerequisite to establishing a career. In
Le Blanc, 100 percent of the teachers and in Grépin, 91.7 percent,
ranked the importance of school as an investment with a "9" on a
Likert-type degree of intensity scale of 1-9, while only 75 percent
of Gardon's teachers and 83.3 percent of Ruisseaux's equally endorsed
schooling as an investment.

Their higher level of training and school experience was re-

flected as well in their understanding of the "learning" aspect of

103
schooling. Teachers in schools that ranked "high" tended to downplay
the importance of "obedience" as essential to school success, and
cited "intelligence" as the most vital student criterion. In the
lowest-scoring school for educational survivorship, more than half
(57.1 percent) of the teachers singled out "obedience" as most
essential. This perspective was consistent with that of the parents
and students in those schools.

Perhaps it is a reflection of their own educational achievement
and higher SES, but teachers in schools that ranked high academically,
like Grépin and Le Blanc, were not as likely to cite poverty con-
ditions as the root problem to academic failure. When asked for a
rationale for the high dropout rate in schools throughout Haiti,
100 percent of Gardon's and Ruisseaux's teachers blamed it on financial
constraints. Le Blanc's and Grépin's teachers, however, put the blame
squarely on "lack of parental understanding of the importance of
schooling." A parallel response was obtained when asked to explain
why less than half of Haiti's school-age children attend school.

Teachers in those schools ranking high academically also tended
to place the blame for the high CEP examination failure rate on
the schools themselves and the scholastic system in Haiti, rather
than on the students for failure to learn. In schools ranking lower
academically, only 14.6 percent placed the focus of blame on them-
selves, the schools or the system.

A final attitudinal observation was very revealing when one con-
siders that all the teachers in both "low" and "high" schools
academically live in poverty conditions. When asked to explain what

constitutes "success," only 16.7 percent of the teachers in the

104
schools ranking high in academic achievement described a concept of
acquiring riches and possessions. This compared to 62.5 percent in
Gardon, and 50 percent in Ruisseaux, who held that "success" meant
the acquiring of material possessions. Even in poverty, the teachers
in Le Blanc and Grépin consistently described personal qualities
such as integrity, generosity, determination and servanthood as
characteristics of successful people. Such world views surely have
a heavy impact on the formation of Haitian students under their

instruction.

School Characteristics (Program and Facilities)

The schools in the sample were categorized as urban, semi-rural,
and rural. Precedents in the literature and research from a Western
perspective have consistently found positive correlations existing be-
tween population density and school quality (Swanson, 1961; Pierce, 1947).
Research from developing nations, however, has often found the opposite
to be true. In Uganda, Heyneman found the mean academic achievement
of rural schools to be the highest, the semi-rural next highest, and
the urban schools averaging the lowest scores (Heyneman, 1975, p. 18).

The two urban schools in this Haiti research were rated "medium,"
neither highest nor lowest. The highest schools, consistent with the
findings of developing world research, were rural (Le Blanc) and
semi-rural (Grépin). However, the lowest schools likewise were rural
(Gardon) and semi-rural (Ruisseaux). (Unlike Uganda, where teachers
of all qualities are government-assigned to their teaching posts,
thus placing excellent teachers even in remote schools, the teachers

in Haiti are free to seek posts wherever they choose.) Though less

105
dramatic, Haiti seems consistent with developing country research
findings that quality schooling is not to be found exclusively in
large urban centers.

In this section of analysis, a final aspect of the schools is
examined for any evidence of bearing on educational survival--that of
the schools' programs and facilities. When the "Coleman Report" (1966)
spoke of "equality" of educational opportunity, it was making reference
to equivalence in distribution of teachers and facilities. Later,

Wise, in Rich Schools, Poor Schools: The Promise of Equal Educational

 

Opportunity referred to the amount of money each school spends on each

 

child (Wise, 1967).

There is no national standard established by the Haitian Ministry
of Education for school facility construction or maintenance. The
range of school buildings among the seven case-study schools went from
thatched roof with dirt floor and mud or cardboard walls, to spacious
double-decker concrete block with tin roof. Furnishings ranged from
individual desks with storage to a single log on the ground. Although
all classrooms had blackboards, they too ranged from green concrete
"built-into-the-wall" style to a plain piece of brown cardboard nailed
to the wall.

Other facility data were collected on availability of posters,
maps and instructional aids, textbooks, school supplies, lighting,
ventilation, classroom layout, library, playground, latrines, dining
facilities, square footage of classroom space per student, desk space,
teacher-to-student ratio, etc., on the "School Facilities Survey" (see
Appendix C).

The broad spectrum of school facilities and environments in the

Haitian case-study schools seemed certain to yield a variation of impact

106
on the quality of learning occurring, with certain ramifications on
educational survivorship. The findings, however, did not show that
variance in educational facilities related clearly with student
achievement. This finding is consistent with the United States
findings of "The Equal Educational Opportunity" report, and research
more parallel to the Haiti situation in non-industrialized nations
(Heyneman, 1975). In the quest for school improvement, particularly
in poverty-stricken locales where the limitations in equipment and
facilities seem obvious, the decision to spend limited financial re-
sources to put on a new roof, purchase new desks, or put in electric
lights may, in fact, have very little impact on the actual quality of
learning.

Some findings in the facilities, however, and especially in school
program, were notably different between schools that ranked high
versus those that ranked low on the educational survivorship criterion.

Those schools that ranked "high" on the basis of 1983 data
collection were not only outstanding for that year, but had a history
of high performance academically. Grépin, for example, had a 1983
CEP examination mean score of 6.05, but also had a 95 percent passage
of the exam the previous three years. Likewise, Le Blanc, with a
1983 CEP mean score of 5.61, successfully passed 91 percent of its
students the previous three years. The school scoring lowest, Gardon,
not only had a 1983 CEP mean score of 4.88 (below the passing level),
but had a low passage rate historically. In 1982, none of the students
at Gardon passed.

An indication of the amount of money a school spends on each
student is the student-to-teacher ratio of the school. Haitian schools

that showed academic strength were found to have lower student-to-teacher

107

ratios, especially in the higher grades where final preparation for
the CEP examination occurs. As illustrated in Table 4.9, at
Le Blanc and Grépin, at the Moyen II level, the ratio averaged 9.5
students per teacher. At Gardon and Ruisseaux, the student-to-teacher
ratio for Moyen II was 16.5 to one. Perhaps more revealing was the
ratio at the school entry level, Enfantine I, where the student-to-teacher
ratio at Ruisseaux was 112 to 1, and at Gardon, 73 to 1, compared to
an average of 56 to 1 in the two highest-ranking case-study schools.

This discrepancy in expenditure for teachers is revealing when
it is noted that the tuition level among these four schools differs
very little. The "high" schools averaged $47.60 per year, compared

to $39.65 averaged by the "low" schools.

Table 4.9

Student:Teacher Ratio Across Schools
(Lowest and Highest Grades)

 

 

Aquin Le Blanc Grépin Gardon Verena La Feronay Ruisseaux

 

Enfantine I 25:1 70:1 42:1 73:1 41:1 46:1 112:]
Moyen II 18:1 7:1 12:1 20:1 35:1 19:1 13:1
Overall Average 31:1 26:1 24:1 30:1 43:1 31:1 46:1

 

A slight difference was noted in the amount of classroom space
or classroom density between high- and low-ranking schools in educa-

tional survivorship. The average amount of classroom space per child

108

at Le Blanc was merely 4 square feet, and 15 square feet at Grépin.
This compared to 9 square feet per child at Gardon, and a cramped 2
square feet per child at Ruisseaux. However, when one merely com-
pares the extremes, the cramped conditions at Le Blanc nearly paralleled
those at Ruisseaux. But this similarity in conditions had no bearing
on their academic differences. Across the seven case-study schools,

it cannot be reasoned that the more spacious the school, the better
its academic performance. Table 4.10 shows the range of classroom

density across schools.

Table 4.10

Classroom Density Across Schools
(Square Feet of Space per Student per Grade)

 

 

Aquin Le Blanc Grépin Gardon Verena La Feronay Ruisseaux

 

Enfantine I 20 3 9 5 10 6 1
Enfantine II 13 3 14 5 10 6 1
Préparatoire I 7 3 22 11 7 3 2
Préparatoire II 9 3 24 10 11 10 2
Elémentaire I 13 7 12 11 12 4 7
Elémentaire II 20 8 21 11 10 11 7
Moyen I 24 5 15 17 11 14 12
Moyen II 24 20 15 17 24 21 12

 

SCHOOL MEAN 13 4 15 9 12 9 2

 

109
.A final school program observation seems relevant considering

the fact noted earlier that students in schools ranking "high" also
tended to have greater home responsibilities, got up earlier in the
morning and walked farther to school. Both Le Blanc and Grépin had
a free daily hot lunch program for the students provided by the school.
In Gardon, the lowest socio-economic region in the sample, the lunch
was provided only when food was available, averaging two to three
times per week. In Ruisseaux, the children received no food at any
time. The Institute for International Research, Inc., which in 1985
did the most complete sector assessment of education and human re-
sources in Haiti for USAID concluded that:

The continued and expanded availability of food in

primary schools is necessary and has educational as

well as health outcomes. School feeding programs are

not just a free lunch. They make an important con-

tribution to the learning achievements of children,

and thus to the health and welfare of the nation

(Pigozzi, 1985, p. 5-112).

The USAID study noted further that parents view very positively

a school that participates in.:1 feeding program, observing that,
". . parents would rather send a child to a private school where
there is food than to a less expensive public school where there is
no food" (Pigozzi, 1985, p. 5-84). The availability of a quality

school lunch program was consistently linked to high educational

survivorship.

VALUE CRITERION #2: FAMILY EDUCATION CONTRIBUTION
This second value criterion refers to the extent to which the
students of a: school serve as family resources, passing on their

school-acquired skills to their unschooled family members. In the

110

current Haitian context, where 57 percent of all school-age children
do not attend school, and 93 percent of the national labor force
does not have even a primary school education, the youth in school
is often expected In) serve as the primary family reader, writer,
accountant and basic teacher to unschooled siblings, and often,
parents. This is :n1 educational outcome expected by the parents
which not only provides a uniquely long-term financial contribution
to elderly parents, but also produces an immediate return on the
educational investment.

An analysis of these family education contributions and the

extent of such activity in each of the seven Haitian case-study pri-

mary schools rendered the following rating of schools on the value

 

 

 

criterion. They are presented in Table 4.11 in rank order.
Table 4.11
Family Education Contribution Indicator:
Ranking of Sample Primary Schools

School Rating
Ecole Armée du Salut--Le Blanc High 1,144
Ecole Armée du Salut--Gardon High 1,125
Ecole Armée du Salut--Grepin Medium 1,113
Ecole Armée du Salut--La Feronay Medium 1,022
Ecole Armée du Salut--Ruisseaux Medium 978
Ecole Armée du Salut--Aquin Low 911
Ecole Armée du Salut-~Verena Low 784

 

111
For the purposes of comparison and contrast, the following dis-
cussion is primarily an analysis of the characteristics of those
schools rated at either extreme of the family education contribution
spectrum. Those schools at the "high" end are Le Blanc and Gardon.

Those rated at the lower end are Aquin and Verena.

Student Characteristics
The data describing the student characteristics were divided into
three categories: family and home, school experience, and attitudinal

factors.

FAMILY AND HOME

 

The context of the family and home is deemed relevant to this
youth as a family education resource concept in that, like societies
at the macro level, the social dynamic of the family unit at the micro
level dictates both the climate and the need for such a contribution.
In Culture and Commitment: A Study of the Generation Cap (1970), Mead
describes societies undergoing such a rapid rate of development and
social change that the experiences of the children (e.g., schooling)
differ markedly from those of the adults so that the normal downward
flow of learning, from adult to child, is in some areas reversed, with
the adults often learning from the experiences of their children.

While this dynamic is clearly descriptive of what is happening
across Haiti this generation, the findings of the research analyzed
the phenomenon within the context of the individual home. Generally
speaking, the characteristics of the home paralleled those of Mead's
societies, causing the levels of such youth resource activities to

vary dramatically even from locale to locale. The more rural, less

112
schooled, socio-economically deprived the family, the greater the

role of the youth in family education contributions.

Socio-Economic Status (SES)

 

Families in those primary schools found to have the greatest youth
activity as educational resources tended to be of considerably lower
SES. Utilizing the SES assessment tool of "modern possessions in
the home" (see Table 3.1), such homes scored only half the possessions
level of homes with minimal such youth contribution. The SES levels
of Le Blanc at 164, and Gardon at 102, contrast dramatically with
Aquin's 238 and Verena's 425.

Other indicators support the same observation. Families in such
low socio-economic locales tended to be larger, averaging 6.3 people
per family, as opposed to 5. They enrolled fewer of their school-age
children in school (37.5 percent, compared to 67.5 percent), and had
less money available to spend on tuition costs. More than half the
homes (56.2 percent) had no books in them at all, compared to only
31.2 percent. Less than 12.5 percent had lamps--none had electricity.
Finally, 100 percent of the parents in such low SES homes were found
to be unskilled laborers or subsistence-level peasant farmers.

Logically, it would follow that families of such limited SES
would look to any resource they had as being responsible to contribute
to the family's overall status. There is minimal duplication or

wastage; education of selected children must benefit all.

Home Responsibilities

 

The "limited resources" mentality carries over into more than

educational concerns. The children of such low SES but high youth

113
education contributions tended to also have heavier work respon-
sibilities, including major childcare roles in the home. Table 4.2
shows the levels of home responsibilties across the case-study
schools--Le Blanc and Gardon with a mean of 781, compared to Aquin
and Verena with 614.5.

The contrast continued in the actual performance of educational
contributions. The level was very high across the entire spectrum of
case-study schools: 94.3 percent served as readers; 77.5 percent as
writers; and 90.8 percent as accountants. The rural schools of Le Blanc
and Gardon excelled at having youth as prolific family scribes. Table

4.12 shows the spectrum across all schools.

Table 4.12

Youth as Family Scribes
(Percentage Across Sample Schools Responding "Yes")

 

 

 

 

Tasks Aquin Le Blanc Grépin Gardon Verena La Feronay Ruisseaux
Primary 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 100.0% 75.0% 100.0% 85.7%
Family
Reader
Primary 62.5 100.0 87.5 100.0 50.0 71.4 71.4
Family
Writer
Primary 87.5 100.0 87.5 87.5 87.5 100.0 85.7
Family
Accountant
TOTALS 250.0 300.0 275.0 287.5 212.5 271.4 242.8

 

(N=55)

114
An indicator of the family education contribution which measures
the extent of the phenomenon more critically was the level of actual

teaching by students taking place in the home (see Table 4.13).

Table 4.13

Youth as Family Teachers
(Percentage Across Sample Schools Responding "Yes")

 

 

Literacy Aquin Le Blanc Grépin Gardon Verena La Feronay Ruisseaux

 

Student 50% 88% 38% 50% 25% 57% 71%
taught
father

Student 25 63 75 63 63 57 71
taught
mother

Student 100 100 100 100 100 100 100
taught
siblings

 

TOTALS 175 251 213 213 188 214 242

 

(N=55)

There appeared to be no social stigma attached to a youth teaching
adults, provided it was done for one's immediate family in the context
of the home. The greatest rationale offered by students for their roles
as family scribes and teachers was "to protect the family's honor."
The rationales of those who did not serve in those capacities were:
"parents already literate" (33 percent), "parents too busy" (11 per-
cent), "parents never asked" (3.7 percent), and "don't feel it would be

respectful" (5.6 percent).

115

Parental Influence

 

The characteristics of the parents and their influence in homes
where significant family education contributions were being made by
students is relevant to understanding and potentially utilizing this
phenomenon. They tended to hold more traditional values, and were
less influenced by the modernity of their urban contemporaries.

The education level of the parents in Le Blanc and Gardon was
generally lower than in Aquin and Verena. Table 4.14 shows that no
parents in Le Blanc, and only 12.5 percent of the fathers in Gardon,
completed as much as primary school. In the urban centers of Aquin
and Verena, 37.5 percent of the fathers and 16.2 percent of the

mothers were primary school graduates.

Table 4.14

Parental Education Levels
of Primary School Students

 

 

 

Schooling Level Aquin Le Blanc Grépin Gardon Verena La Feronay Ruisseaux
Father:
Attended No
Schooling 25.0% 37.5% 25.0% 50.0% 12.5% 28.6% 42.9%
Dropped Out of
Primary School 50.0 62.5 75.0 37.5 37.5 71.4 57.1
Graduated Primary
School 25.0 0 0 12.5 50.0 0 0
Mother:
Attended No
Schooling 25.0 37.5 75.0 87.5 40.0 71.4 57.1

Dropped Out of
Primary School 62.5 62.5 25.0 12.5 40.0 28.6 42.9

Graduated Primary
School 12.5 0 0 0 20.0 0 0

 

116

The parental literacy rate, on even the most basic of measure-
ments (ability to sign one's name) was also lower--25 percent in
Le Blanc and 31.3 percent in Gardon, compared to 43.8 percent in
Aquin and 62.5 percent in Verena. Such parental educational limita-
tions in the rural regions of Haiti would offer ample rationale for
the widespread familial education contributions of their youth. The
students are filling a literary vacuum in homes that can no longer
afford to ignore the written messages in the rapidly changing world
around them.

Consistent with such educational and literacy limitations, it
follows logically that there was also less French, the language of
the classroom, spoken in such homes. No French at all was utilized
by 56.2 percent in Le Blanc and Gardon, compared to 31.2 percent in

the urban homes in the sample schools.

SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

 

Students most active as family education resources tended to be
older and to have started their schooling at an older age. This is
consistent with rural enrollment patterns in numerous precedent re-
search efforts (Heyneman, 1975). This is partially due to the re-
luctance of parents to send a five-year-old on a daily hour-or-more
hike to school in the most isolated, sparsely populated and under-
developed areas. Maturity and sibling order (more oldest siblings)
could account for some of their home responsibilities as teachers
and scribes.

The school as an institution did not have a monopoly on learning
in communities where there was a high level of students making family

education contributions. The students were more likely to credit

117
parents, siblings, relatives or the church for the teaching of sub-
jects normally reserved for classroom instruction. When asked in an
open-ended question to indicate the person most responsible for teaching
them a particular subject (reading, colors, writing, singing, counting
and the alphabet), students across the spectrum of Haitian case-study

schools credited those listed in Table 4.15.

Table 4.15

Identification of Community Learning Institutions
(Student Responses to "Who Taught You?")

 

 

 

 

 

Subject School Parents Siblings Relatives Church
Reading 47% 18% 25% 10% 0%
Colors 50 34 13 0 0
Writing 49 19 32 0 0
Singing 46 25 11 0 15
Counting 33 45 14 8 0
Alphabet 52 21 27 0 0
MEAN TOTALS 46.1 27.5 20.3 3 2.5
(N=55)

The formal school institution was cited only 46.1 percent of the
time by the 55 students in the sample as the primary institution re-
sponsible for the teaching of even specifically school-oriented
curricula. Parents received 27.5 percent of the credit, and siblings,

20.3 percent. The combined parent and sibling rates would indicate

118
that the home as a learning institution (48 percent) was often per-
ceived as even more viable than the school (46.1 percent). Pertinent
to the discussion of students making educational contributions to the
home is the fact that siblings were cited as primary educators of

school-oriented learning 20 percent of the time.

ATTITUDINAL FACTORS

 

Students from schools ranking high in family education contribu-
tion tended to come from families of relatively low SES, low parental
education and generally remote rural settings. It would seem con-
sistent in Haiti that they would therefore have a relatively low
self-concept. Self-concept indicators in this study ran almost
directly along urban/rural lines. Le Blanc and Gardon ranked lowest,
while Aquin and Verena were two of the three highest.

These students tended to set lower vocational goals for them-
selves, with only 6.2 percent targeting "VIP"-rated vocations (see
Table 1.2), compared to 50 percent of their counterparts in the
cities doing 30. With relatively low vocational goals, they also
tended to perceive and value schooling less as an essential route to
their chosen vocations. This sense of vocational futility, coupled
with the financial constraints of their parents, left these students
more vulnerable to dropout, especially when triggered by financial

disasters caused by crop failure, or health problems.

Teacher Characteristics
The fact that the schools scoring high on family education con-
tribution were generally rural by nature, compared to the urban nature

of low-scoring schools, suggested a potential difference in the level

119

of teacher impact on students. Urban students have a wide variety of
role models, including those imported via the electronic media. In
the rural setting, however, the teacher, who is often the most edu-
cated, cosmopolitan member of the community, holds a more significant
role in the value formation of students. This is pertinent to the
discussion of youth making educational contributions to their families
because although the phenomenon of student "teachers" seems quite
prevalent.:h1 Haiti, teachers can either encourage and utilize the
resource, or ignore it. For example, instead of merely teaching
students to read, a supportive teacher could simultaneously teach his
students how to teach another to read, thus multiplying the community
impact of the school significantly.

Data describing teacher characteristics around this second value
criterion, family education contribution, were divided into three
categories: family and home, training and school experience, and

attitudinal factors.

FAMILY AND HOME

 

Schools that ranked high on the value criterion of family
education contribution were rural in nature, and the characteristics
of their teachers followed consistently. Compared to teachers in the
urban settings who had geographic mobility, the "typical" teacher was
very much a "local" boy or girl who grew up in the community and knew
it with the intimacy of one born and raised there. None of the
teachers in Le Blanc and Gardon were working as much as 50 kilometers
from their place of birth. This compared to 47.6 percent in Verena

alone who were born and raised more than 100 kilometers from where

120

they now lived. None had ever been outside Haiti, and less than 25
percent had travelled as far as 200 kilometers from their villages.

This familiarity with their school's environment apparently was
a positive strength for them, as 83.3 percent felt good about their
profession and believed that teachers did get proper respect from the
community. Only 41.4 percent of their urban counterparts felt that
teachers got adequate respect. Some teachers reported that teaching
close to one's birthplace sometimes caused status problems, for it
was difficult to take command of parents or to mobilize community

leaders who had known the teachers as children.

Socio-Economic Status (SES)

 

The SES of rural teachers was found to be considerably lower than
that of their urban colleagues. They grew up in poverty conditions,
and were able to improve their lot in life, although minimally. The
SES indicators of Le Blanc (158) and Gardon (71) were less than half
those of Aquin (331) and Verena (470). This reflected an improved
SES over their childhood homes of only 16 percent and 1 percent re-
spectively, whereas the urban teachers enjoyed a 30 percent SES
increase.

Their salary levels reflected their SES precisely with mean
school monthly salaries of $60 in Le Blanc and $42 in Gardon, com-
pared to $75 in Aquin and $135 in Verena. Further, 77 percent
of the rural teachers found it necessary to moonlight with two or
three jobs. Only 37.1 percent of urban teachers were so financially
constrained. Also, the rural teachers experienced more than twice

the health problems.

121
Of the rural teachers, 83.3 percent came from homes where
subsistence agriculture was the family vocation. Only 6.2 percent
of their fathers had completed primary school, and 91.6 percent of
their mothers had never attended school at all. It follows logically

that 68.7 percent never heard French spoken in their childhood homes.

TRAINING AND SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

 

The teaching credentials of rural schools, which ranked high in
terms of their students actively serving as family education re-
sources, were, like their SES, considerably lower. There were no
high school graduates on their teaching staffs, compared to 20 percent
at Aquin and 57.1 percent at Verena. The teachers tended to be
younger in rural schools, and there was a higher proportion of male
teachers--70.8 percent, compared to 38.8 percent in the cities.

Half of the teachers in both Le Blanc and Gardon were in their
first or second year of teaching, compared to only 7.4 percent in
Aquin and Verena. More than half (54.1 percent) had never received
any kind of teacher training at all. This lack of training and new-
ness to the teaching task were reflected in their perspective of what
schooling is all about. At Le Blanc, 83.3 percent of the teachers, and
at Gardon, 62.5 percent, selected "a good memory" as the top priority
for achieving success in school. This was chosen over "intelligence,"
"obedience," and "hard work."

Rural teachers also tended to use less French in the context of
their own homes. In 68.7 percent of the teachers' homes in Le Blanc
and Gardon, French was never used at all. This was reflected on their

six French ability questions, where every rural teacher missed at least

122
half. Of the urban teachers, fewer than 34.5 percent performed as
poorly. Table 4.16 shows the French performance level across the spec-

trum of case-study schools.

Table 4.16

Responses to Six Questions of French Ability:
Percentage Responding Correctly

 

 

Aquin Le Blanc Grépin Gardon Verena La Feronay Ruisseaux

 

 

 

 

Question 97 90.0% 66.7% 25.0% 50.0% 85.7% 57.1% 33.3%
Question 98 11.1 16.7 16.7 37.5 47.6 42.9 33.3
Question 99 40.0 16.7 50.0 12.5 66.7 57.1 16.7
Question 100 70.0 33.3 50.0 50.0 76.2 100.0 50.0
Question 101 20.0 16.7 8.3 12.5 33.3 28.6 0.0
Question 102 90.0 100.0 75.0 37.5 85.7 71.4 33.3
OVERALL

SCORE 321.1 250.0 225.0 200.0 395.2 357.1 166.6
PERCENTAGE 54% 42% 38% 33% 66% 60% 28%
CORRECT

(N=70)

Unless or until the Ministry of Education in Haiti officially re-
places French with Creole as the approved language of classroom in-
struction, a teacher's proficiency in French will have a bearing on
his students' academic achievement, especially on the CEP examina-
tion, which is written exclusively in French. This is particularly

relevant for the teachers of the upper grades--Moyen I and Moyen II.

123

ATTITUDINAL FACTORS

 

A word which characterizes the attitudes of Haiti's rural school
teachers might well be "pragmatic." Asked to identify the ultimate
task of the school, 88 percent responded not in the classic educa-
tional perspective of problem solving or broadened world view, but
very simply, "to prepare students for entry into vocations." Asked
to describe what constitutes "success," the majority (62.5 percent)
described the acquiring of riches and possessions. Only 7.1 percent
of their urban counterparts shared their perspective of success; most
described admirable human traits such as integrity, respect or
kindness.

This preoccupation with pragmatism carried over into their own
self-concept. Much like their students, rural teachers in case-study
schools that scored high in family education contribution held them-
selves in lower esteem than urban teachers. Asked to rank themselves
as the "worst," "average," or the "best" teacher in their school, only
29.1 percent responded "the best." This contrasts with 70.9 percent
of urban teachers who, in confidentiality also, ranked themselves so
highly. The rural teachers tended to feel more persecuted (58.3 per-
cent), and that they more often failed (44.1 percent). They held more
traditional values and were less inclined toward modernity.

Typically, in keeping with their own insecurity, the rural
teachers in the sample were quick to blame the students themselves,
not the school or the educational system, for the high CEP examina-
tion failure rate across Haiti.

The high dropout rate was similarly explained by external

factors, such as the financial constraints of the students' parents,

124
not the school's performance or parents' lack of understanding or
commitment to schooling.

The rural teachers further expressed frustration that peasant
parents tended to choose not the most "intelligent" of their children
for their educational investment, but the most "obedient" child.
This left them with the most passive, uninspired students to work with
(Mi 3 daily basis while the brightest, most avid learners were out
working in their fathers' fields.

Finally, and most pertinent to the discussion of youth making
family education contributions, the rural teachers were consistently
more supportive to the idea of students teaching adults--even those
outside the students' immediate homes. Of rural teachers, 27.1 per-
cent, and only 7.4 percent of urban teachers, felt that students
would experience "no problems" teaching adults. Those who viewed the
process more skeptically did not doubt the students' ability to teach,

but rather, the adults' ability to learn.

School Characteristics
The ranking of the seven Haitian case-study schools for the value

criterion of family education contribution fell exactly along the
lines of the rural/urban dimension. The smaller, more remote, less
densely populated the school setting, the higher it scored on this
second value criterion. In larger urban centers like Verena in the
capital city of Port-au-Prince, the dynamic of students serving as
family scribes or family teachers of school-derived knowledge and
skills, while definitely a common home dynamic, did not appear to be

as widespread as in rural areas of Haiti.

125

Schools which scored high on the family education contribution
criterion tended to score lower on both of the other two value
criteria: educational survivorship and life-skills competencies.
This discrepancy was particularly notable in the life-skills competen-
cies criterion. The mean school score for Le Blanc and Gardon was 32,
compared to eight times that score (257.5) for Aquin and Verena.
Rural schools had a much lower rate of high school entry or the
obtaining of skilled vocations requiring school preparation.

Although the tuition levels in rural schools like Le Blanc and
Gardon were generally lower, as were, correspondingly, teacher salaries,
no real difference in the quality or frequency of the school lunch
program was found. It apparently was recognized to be a vital part
of the school program and received its fair share of the overall
school budget.

The ratio of students to teachers at Le Blanc and Gardon was
found to be generally lower, especially in the upper grades (overall,
26 to 1, compared to 37 to 1 in the urban schools). In the first two
grades of schooling, Enfantine I and II, however, the 56 to 1 ratio
of rural schools compared to only 33 to 1 in the cities. This high
student-to-teacher ratio at these earliest, most crucial entry years
of schooling may suggest the desirability of utilizing older students,
not only as teachers in their own homes, but as peer instructors for
the lower grades within the school itself.

The rural schools were also found to be twice as crowded as their
urban counterparts. Table 4.10 shows that the amount of classroom
space per student in Le Blanc and Gardon was 4 and 9 square feet,

respectively, compared to an average of 12.5 square feet at Aquin

126
and Verena. This observation, while somewhat cold and calculated on
paper, has quite an impact when one actually steps into an over-
crowded classroom and sees row upon row of little children sitting

shoulder to shoulder like so many chickens on a roost.

VALUE CRITERION #3: LIFE-SKILLS COMPETENCIES

This third and final value criterion refers to the extent to
which a student is able to utilize his schooling functionally in life.
The pragmatic conclusion to the educational investment of the peasant
family is that the youth be equipped through his primary schooling to
have knowledge, competencies, and ultimately the credentials essential
to qualify for further education (high school or vocational training),
leading to the acquisition of an acceptable vocation which will ade-
quately allow him to support his parents and others dependent on him.

Graduation from primary school alone is an accomplishment that
puts him ahead of 93 percent of Haiti's labor force, of which 73 per-
cent has received no instruction at all, and less than 20 percent has
a primary education (Millot and Easton, 1985, p. 2-65). Table 1.2
depicts that the highest proportion of educated persons is in the
finance and service branches. Only 40 percent of people in manu-
facturing, Haiti's most promising economic sector, have finished
primary school.

Graduation from primary school alone does not guarantee entrance
into high school. The current rate of admission to secondary school is
just over half (62 percent) of all primary school graduates. Con-
sequently, nearly 20,000 Haitian children annually leave the education

system with no more than a primary school certificate. Figure 1.1

127
illustrates the low internal efficiency confronting the aspiring

baton vieillesse. The system currently produces as much "wastage" as

 

"product." "The present primary school system cannot be considered
a strong resource for the labor market. Moreover, from an individual
perspective, experiencing dropout or rejection from school is a poor
way to start a productive career" (Millot and Easton, 1985, p. 2-86).

Although beyond the scope of this researcher's evaluation of
primary schooling, it can be noted that high school has its own
negative selection process, which pushes out six "rejects" for
every graduate.

Graduates and dropouts alike ultimately fail at the task of
securing work in the turmoil of Haiti's poverty and underdevelopment.
According to the 1982 census, open unemployment reaches 12.2 percent
of the labor force, with underemployment estimated at 40 percent.
"Adding open unemployment and underemployment yields an 'equivalent
unemployment' of 50 percent of the total labor force" (Millot and
Easton, 1985, p. 2-67).

Such pessimistic forecasts of vocational options for the péggp

vieillesse do not seem to deter the Haitian peasant in his educational

 

investment. All aspects of his life--hea1th, environment, income,
possessions, etc.--are similarly shrouded in negative circumstances
beyond his power to control. To acquiesce to the multiple risks in
his life is to give way to fatalism or the sense of hopeless futility
that characterizes those completely overwhelmed by poverty. The

parent of a baton vieillesse may be ensnared by poverty conditions,

 

but as long as the child is progressing in school, there is hope, and

he is therefore not defeated by poverty.

128
What, then, characterizes the Haitian primary school which is
successfully preparing and placing its students in further educational
and vocational opportunities? Analysis of the historic performances
of the seven primary school case studies rendered the following
rating (Hi this life-skills competencies criterion. They are pre-

sented in Table 4.17 in rank order.

Table 4.17

Life-Skills Competencies Indicator:
Ranking of Sample Primary Schools

 

 

 

School Rating Score
Ecole Armée du Salut--Grépin High 349
Ecole Armée du Salut--Verena High 270
Ecole Armée du Salut--Aquin Medium 245
Ecole Armée du Salut--La Feronay Medium 171
Ecole Armée du Salut--Gardon Low 39
Ecole Armée du Salut--Le Blanc Low 25
Ecole Armée du Salut--Ruisseaux (No Score) (No Score)

 

To facilitate comparison and contrast, the following discussion
is primarily an analysis of those case-study schools rated at either
extreme of the life-skills competencies spectrum. Those schools at
the "high" end are Grépin and Verena. Those rated at the "low" end
are Gardon and Le Blanc. Since Ruisseaux was only in its second year
of existence, it had not yet produced a graduating class that could

be tracked into either high school or relevant vocations.

129
Student Characteristics
The data describing the student characteristics were divided into
three categories: family and home, school experience, and attitudinal

factors.

FAMILY AND HOME

 

The students of Grépin and Verena, in the actual historic accom-
plishment of acquiring entrance into high school or vocations suitable
for adequate familial support, were the closest to fulfilling the man-

date of the baton vieillesse. The characteristics of their family and

 

home environment played a major role in their achievement.

Socio-Economic Status (SES)

 

The families of students in those case-study schools which ranked
"high" 111 life-skills competencies differed from those that ranked
"low" in that they were generally of a higher SES. They had more of
their school-age children enrolled in school (71 percent), compared
to only 37.5 percent at Le Blanc and Gardon. Once enrolled, fewer
were forced to eventually drop out due to financial constraints.
Their health status reflected their SES--they were generally healthier.

The parents tended to have marketable skills, working at voca-
tions more reliable than subsistence farming. Fewer than 30 percent
of the fathers were peasant agriculturalists, compared to 93.7 percent
in the low-ranking schools. The parents were generally more cosmopol-
itan and modern in their thinking, reflecting their typical "urban"
surroundings. Two of the three highest-ranking schools were urban
(Aquin and Verena), but the highest ranked was Grépin, which is
semi-rural. The lowest-ranking schools, Le Blanc and Gardon, are

thoroughly rural.

130

Home Responsibilities

 

Students in these "high" life-skills competencies schools did not
carry the same level of home chores and responsibilities that their
"low" counterparts did. This was reflected in lesser routine chores,
like tending animals, fetching water and house cleaning, but also in
fewer childcare responsibilities.

Pertinent to this research, they also were somewhat less involved
in teaching school-acquired skills in the home. This reflected a
lessened need for such a resource due to a higher percentage of
school-age children enrolled in school and fewer parents who had not

had the benefit of schooling.

Parental Influence

 

The parents appeared to be very influential in the level of per-
formance of students in such schools. Being better educated them-
selves and possessing more marketable skills, they seemed to instill
in their children higher aspirations and expectations. They were
actively involved in PTA sessions each trimester at their schools,
with 81.2 percent attendance, compared to half that (40 percent) at
schools which ranked "low."

Parental support extended even into daily academic performance
levels. When asked to rate on a Likert-type degree of intensity scale
of 1-9, "How angry do your parents become when you do poorly in school?",
100 percent of Grépin's and Verena's students responded with "9",
which is "very angry." This contrasted to only 62.5 percent in
Le Blanc and Gardon. When asked about the high dropout rates through-
out Haiti, and why they themselves did not drop out, more than half

the students at Grépin and Verena cited "parental encouragement and

131
support," compared to only 12.5 percent in the low-ranking schools.

Although the gender mix in primary schools throughout Haiti is
split nearly equally, 53.5 percent boys and 46.5 percent girls (Pigozzi,
1985), in all the case-study schools the concensus of opinion (75.9
percent) among students was that schooling was more important for boys.
This was true even though only 45 percent of the student respondents
were male. At Grépin, the highest-rated school in life-skills com-
petencies, the male students outnumbered the females by 3 to 1. It
is possible that the spectrum of vocational options is broader for males
in Haiti, but the finding at Grépin was not consistent enough throughout
the other schools to be considered a general trend.

Parents at schools that had high life-skills competencies ratings
were, however, consistently more likely to send to school their oldest,
firstborn child, regardless of gender. Half of the students at Grépin
and Verena felt they were selected for schooling because they were the

eldest, compared to only 18.7 percent in Le Blanc and Gardon.

SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

 

Schools that adequately prepared their students to enter a re-
warding vocation or progress to higher education were also schools
that were academically strong. The relationship between schools that
scored high on the educational survivorship criterion and the life-
skills competencies criterion is quite evident. Grépin is the strongest
school in both criteria.

Schools that rated high on life-skills competencies had not only
high mean school scores on the 1983 CEP examination, but had more

students with very high scores. They had a higher rate of students

132
transferring in from other schools because of their superior academic
reputation. The standards were higher; 50 percent of the Moyen II
students had repeated two or more grades. Only 6.2 percent of the
schools which were rated "low" in life-skills competencies had similar
repetitions.

Though the high-ranking schools were more demanding academically,
the students and their families tended to rise to the standard with
fewer students contemplating dropping out. In fact, not one of the
student respondents at Grépin or Verena expressed having had a desire
to quit, while 12.5 percent at Le Blanc and 25 percent at Gardon sur-
vived despite wanting to quit. Even if they were to fail the 1983
CEP examination they were to take two months after the data
collection, less than 6.2 percent of Grépin's and Verena's students

would quit school rather than repeat Moyen II the following year.

ATTITUDINAL FACTORS

 

Students in schools that ranked "high" in life-skills competen-
cies had not only the support and determination of their parents behind
them, they also had a considerably higher self-concept and resulting
confidence than students in schools that ranked "low." A higher per-
centage of them planned to continue their schooling into high school
rather than enter the work force. When they do enter the work force,
they expect to attain higher vocational positions. When asked in an
open-ended format to name their first choice in vocation, 56.2 percent
of the students identified a profession of high "VIP" status (see
Table 1.2). Only 6.2 percent of students in schools that ranked "low"
in life-skills competencies sought "VIP"-status jobs. In describing

their second vocational choice if the first was not possible, 18.7

133
percent again chose "VIP"-level vocations. None of the students
at Le Blanc or Gardon chose a "VIP"-status vocation if the first
choice was not possible. Later in the interview, after SES of their
families, school difficulties and self-concepts had been discussed,
the students were again asked about vocation, but this time the
question was not about "aspirations," but realistic "expectations."
The anticipated gap between "aspiration" and "expectation" did not
materialize with the students from Grépin and Verena; 25 percent
persisted in naming "VIP"-level vocations as their expected

careers (see Table 4.18).

Table 4.18

Student Vocational Aspirations Vs. Expectations

 

 

Aquin Le Blanc Grépin Gardon Verena La Feronay Ruisseaux

 

Career First
Choice ("VIP") 37.5% 12.5% 50.0% 0.0% 62.5% 14.3% 0.0%

Career Second
Choice ("VIP") 0 0 25.0 0 12.5 14.3 14.3

Realistic Expecta-
tion ("VIP") 25.0 0 12.5 0 37.5 14.3 0

 

With career goals and expectations set this high, it would follow
logically in Haiti that nearly half (43.7 percent) wanted to train
for those vocations abroad, and one in five wanted to leave Haiti to
actually perform their various professions.

Although students at Grépin and Verena tended to hold their own
school and teachers in higher esteem, the prospect of a teaching

career for themselves was less attractive than it was to students at

134

Le Blanc and Gardon, where nearly 9 out of 10 students (87.5 percent)
said they would be happy to enter the teaching profession.

The difference in levels of career aspirations and expectations
is somewhat substantiated by the students' responses to "How important
is schooling to your future career plans?" On a Likert-type degree of
intensity scale of 1-9, with "9" being "extremely important," 37.5 per-
cent of the students at the high-ranking life-skills competencies schools
so responded, compared to only 12.5 percent among the schools that

ranked "low."

Teacher Characteristics

The observation that the high-ranking schools in "life-skills
competencies" were generally also high ranking in "educational sur-
vivorship" is consistent with many of the comonalities found in
teacher traits. More significant than their SES, education level or
amount of teacher training were their attitudes--toward life in general,
their work, and specifically, their students. With a generally high
level of confidence and self-concept, such teachers viewed themselves
as superior instructors (100 percent of the teachers in Grépin and
Verena rated themselves as the "best" teachers in their schools), but
they were often dissatisfied, feeling that the teaching profession did
not get the respect it deserves. They were less likely to encourage
their students to become teachers. An indication of their influence
has already been seen in the high career aspirations of their students.

Data describing teacher characteristics of schools scoring high
versus those scoring low on this third value criterion, life-skills
competencies, were divided into three categories: family and home,

training and school experience, and attitudinal factors.

135

FAMILY AND HOME

 

Like the teachers in schools strong in educational survivorship,
the teachers in schools that ranked "high" in the life-skills competen-
cies criterion tended to be of generally higher overall SES. This
could be seen in their salaries, which were nearly double the pay
rate of low-scoring schools, but also in their "modern possessions,"
cosmopolitan world view, better general health status and the extent
of their travels in Haiti and abroad. Only one-third of these teachers
felt enough financial strain to find moonlighting at second jobs
necessary; more than half (54.8 percent) of their counterparts in
Le Blanc and Gardon worked two or more jobs.

Not only were they themselves of higher SES, but teachers at
Grépin and Verena also came from childhood homes of higher SES.

Their fathers and mothers were less likely to be subsistence farmers
or unskilled laborers, generally possessing marketable skills. The
French language was occasionally spoken in 51.1 percent of their
childhood homes, reflecting the generally higher education level of
their parents. In the childhood homes of the teachers at Le Blanc
and Gardon, however, 100 percent reported that French was "never"
spoken, and only 16.6 percent of the parents had marketable skills;
30 percent of their fathers and 91.6 percent of their mothers had
never had any schooling at all.

Even though starting life with a higher SES, the teachers at
schools with a strong performance in life-skills competencies had
achieved greater percentages of SES improvement over the conditions
of their childhood homes. The teachers at Grépin enjoyed a 30 percent

increase, and in Verena, 35 percent. Meanwhile, Le Blanc teachers

136
had raised their SES 16 percent, and at Gardon, the teachers' SES

was at a stagnant 1 percent increase.

TRAINING AND SCHOOL EXPERIENCE

 

The teachers at schools that ranked high on the life-skills com-
petencies criterion tended to be more educated, better trained, more
experienced teachers than their counterparts in schools that ranked
low. Only 10.7 percent were inexperienced teachers who were in their
first or second year of teaching, compared to fully half of the
teachers at Le Blanc and Gardon. Less than one in five (19.6 percent)
at Grépin and verena were teaching without the benefit of formal
teacher training, contrasted with every other teacher (54.1 percent)
at schools that ranked low.

A marked difference was found in the teachers' proficiency and
use of French, their official classroom language. Although very few
of the childhood households of teachers across the spectrum used any
French (9.6 percent), nearly half (49.3 percent) of the teachers at
Grépin and Verena currently used French at least occasionally in the
context of their homes. This was the case for only 31.2 percent at
Le Blanc and Gardon. The use of French was apparently more natural
for them, and their level of French mastery became apparent on the
French usage portion of the questionnaire. While the teachers at
Grépin and Verena answered correctly 52 percent of the time, the re-
sponses for Le Blanc and Gardon were correct only 37.5 percent of the
time. A further indication of language proficiency was that 40 percent
of the Grépin and Verena teachers claimed to speak a third language,
usually English or Spanish, while none of the Le Blanc or Gardon

teachers claimed ability in another language.

137

ATTITUDINAL FACTORS

 

The generally stronger SES of both the teachers and students of
schools that ranked high in life-skills competencies was reflected
rather consistently throughout the attitudinal measurements.

They viewed the overall task of schooling in more classic educa-
tional terms rather than the pragmatic "preparation for a vocation"
perspective. Only 15 percent of teachers at Le Blanc and Gardon
shared their "classic education" view of schooling. Even their
expressed definition of "success" was guided by life qualities more
elevated than escaping poverty through riches or possessions; 58.9
percent of them defined success in terms of personal qualities. Only
one in five (20.8 percent) of Le Blanc's and Gardon's teachers viewed
"success" from a similar "lofty" perspective.

Teachers at Grépin and Verena were quick to blame parental lack
of appreciation for schooling rather than financial constraints for
the high dropout rate in primary schools in their region. The rationale
for why some students survive to complete primary schooling was also
a non-monetary response, which credited the students themselves for

"hard work" and determination.

School Characteristics

Schools which performed best (Hi the life-skills competencies
criterion tended to be more urban than rural. The two urban schools
in the sample were among the top three in this criterion, while the
two lowest were the two rural schools, Le Blanc and Gardon. Since
life-skills competencies measured the historic record of a school's
placement of students into high school or relevant vocations, the

facility of access to higher education and vocational options in the

138
urban settings may ultimately have had more effect on this criterion
than the actual performance of individual schools. For example,
Le Blanc was one of the two highest-ranking schools in the educational
survivorship criterion, but the lowest-ranking in life-skills com-
petencies. This would seem to indicate more a function of locale
than school performance.

Schools that ranked high, like Grépin and Verena, did also per-
form well academically. They tended to be larger schools, and were
less densely crowded. In fact, the square footage of classroom space
per student was double that of schools that ranked low--13.5 square
feet versus 6.5 square feet per student.

Schools that ranked high on life-skills competencies could clearly
be distinguished from those that ranked low by the absence or presence
of a very relevant program--vocational training. The top three schools
with strong records of job placement for their students had active
vocational programs as part of their curriculum, while none of the
lower half of the seven case-study schools did. Such programs, while
not offering training in specific job skills, offered their students
exposure to vocational options relevant to their setting and locale.

Perhaps pertinent to the analysis of what relationships were
found in school facilities and performance on this life-skills com-
petencies criterion is that the relationships one might have expected,
were run: found. Other than the relationships mentioned above, no
relevant factors to explain differences in school facilities could

be determined.

139
SUMMARY OF FINDINGS
Analysis of the relations between the three value criteria and
the four sets of data--1) school characteristics, 2) teacher
characteristics, 3) home/family environment, and 4) student (Moyen II)
traits--yielded the preceding findings. Following is a summary of

the major findings.

Value Criterion #1: Educational Survivorship

This criterion evaluated the outcomes of the Haitian primary
schools in terms of the parental expectation that a student should
progress in a timely manner from one grade to another, culminating in
a primary school certificate (Certificat d'Etudes Primaires).

1. The socio-economic status (SES) of a student in Haiti is not
an accurate predictor of academic achievement or educational
survivorship. The expectation that students who come from
relatively advantaged SES backgrounds would perform better
was not found to be true. In fact, the opposite was found.
Those schools which ranked highest in educational survivor-
ship were among the lowest in SES.

2. High grade repetition does not necessarily lead to a high
dropout rate. Those schools that ranked highest in educa-
tional survivorship were found to have the highest overall
rate of grade repetition, but the lowest dropout rate. If
a school has earned a reputation for the ultimate academic
success of its students, despite heavy repetition of grades
to maintain those standards, parents will not allow their
children to drop out. In spite of the increased financial
hardship, peasant parents will continue to support the school.

3. The parents of students in the schools ranking highest in
educational survivorship had the lowest education level,
literacy rate, and ability in French. The expectation that
parents of higher education levels would foster students of
higher rates of academic achievement and educational survi-
vorship was not found to be true.

4. Parents of students in the schools ranking highest in educa-
tional survivorship, despite their own low level of academic
achievement, were the most actively involved in their chil-
dren's schooling. They were the most supportive, but also
placed the highest demands on performance. They held schooling
in high esteem for success in life.

140

5. Students in schools that ranked high in educational survivor-
ship were treated no differently from non-schooled siblings in
their homes. They carried greater home workloads in terms of
chores and responsibilities than did their fellow students in
low-ranking schools.

6. Students in the highest ranking schools also did not have the
highest level of self-concept--they had the lowest. This low
self-concept was countered by evidence of a greater level of
sheer determination to succeed.

7. Students in schools that ranked high in educational survivor-
ship, despite lower self-concepts, had greater faith in the
rewards of schooling, and perceived schooling as essential
for success in life. Their vocational aspirations and ex-
pectations were consequently higher than those of students
in lower-ranking schools.

8. The teachers in schools that ranked high in educational sur-
vivorship were found to be generally older, more experienced
in teaching, and stable, having served longer at current posts.
Although little difference was found in levels of formal edu-
cation or amount of teacher training, their ability in and use
of French were considerably stronger. They received higher pay
and had higher SES, but also grew up in homes of relatively
higher SES. They were happier in their teaching profession,
and held schooling in higher esteem than did teachers in
schools that ranked low in educational survivorship.

9. The findings showed very little evidence that variance in
school facilities was related to educational survivorship.
This despite :1 wide range of school facility quality and
provisions among the case-study schools. Schools ranking
higher, however, were found to have generally lower student-
to-teacher ratios.

10. There was evidence that schools which ranked higher on educa-
tional survivorship also provided more regular and better
quality lunch programs. This apparently had ramifications
in nutrition, health, learning and regularity of attendance.

Value Criterion #2: Family Education Contribution
This criterion evaluated the outcomes of the Haitian primary
schools in terms of the parental expectation that the student will

serve as a family education resource by passing on what he learns in

school to the unschooled members of his family.

141

The phenomenon of youth serving as family educational re-
sources was fOund to be prevalent throughout the spectrum
of Haitian primary schools. However, the more rural, less
schooled, socio-economically deprived the family, the

greater was found to be the educative role of the student.

The families of students in schools which ranked high on the
family education contribution criterion tended to be of lower
SES. They had larger families, lower income, fewer marketable
skills, and enrolled fewer of their school-aged children in
school.

Parents of children in schools that ranked high in family
education contribution were considerably less educated, had
lower literacy rates, and used the national language, French,
less frequently in their homes. The educative role of the
student appeared to be filling a literary vacuum in their
homes.

Consistent with the concept poor people have of utilizing all
of a family's limited resources is the students' high level
of home workload and responsibilities. The students performed
the same level of chores, including major childcare roles, as
did their unschooled siblings. They had the added task of
teaching their school-acquired skills.

The students in schools most active in family education con-
tributions tended to be older, having started schooling later
in childhood. They had generally lower self-concepts, set
lower vocational goals for themselves, and tended to perceive
schooling as less essential to the acquisition of their tar-
geted vocations. They were, consequently, more prone to
becoming victims of dropout due to attitude and financial
constraints.

The teachers in schools which ranked high on the family edu-
cation contribution criterion tended to be of lower SES, grew
up in homes of lower SES, received less salary, and had
achieved a narrower margin of SES improvement over the status
of their childhood homes. They were generally younger, had
less education, teacher training and teaching experience.
Their ability in and use of French were weaker, and they had
generally lower levels of self-concept. Regardless of their
limited preparation or ability as teachers, they were con-
siderably happier in their profession.

The teachers in schools where high numbers of students were
serving as family education resources were, however, more

supportive of their students' abilities and educative roles.
There was, however, little evidence that such teachers en-

couraged or facilitated the process, or utilized their stu-
dents' abilities in the classroom context.

142

No relationship could be found between school facilities in-
dicators and the level of student activity making family edu-
cation contributions. Reflecting the generally lower SES of
their environments, however, such high-ranking schools tended
to be more densely crowded and had higher student-to-teacher
ratios, especially in the lowest grade levels.

Value Criterion #3: Life-Skills Competencies

This final criterion evaluated the outcomes of Haitian primary

schools in terms of the parental expectation that the student should

be able to use his primary schooling functionally in life, to progress

to higher education and ultimately to secure work that will ensure

adequate familial support for his family.

1.

The schools which ranked highest on the life-skills competen-
cies criterion tended to be more urban than rural, reflecting,
perhaps, more ready access to higher education and vocational
options.

Families of students in such high-ranking schools tended to be
of relatively higher SES. They had marketable skills beyond
unskilled labor or susbsistence farming. They enrolled a
higher percentage of their school-age children in school, and
fewer ultimately dropped out due to financial constraints.

The parents of students in schools which ranked high in life-
skills competencies were better educated, more cosmopolitan
and modern, reflecting their generally urban contexts. They
seemed to instill in their children higher standards, aspira-
tions and expectations.

The students of such high-ranking schools in life-skills com-
petencies tended to perform fewer household chores, including
having less responsibility for childcare of younger siblings.
They were involved less as family education resources as
well, reflecting the higher educational levels of their
urban homes.

Students in schools which ranked high in life-skills com-
petencies had considerably higher levels of self-concept.
They had high expectations of being able to continue their
education into high school and sought vocations of higher
status. They held schooling in higher regard, viewing it
as essential for acquisition of their vocations.

143

The teachers in these high-ranking schools were also of
higher SES and had achieved greater percentages of SES im-
provement over that of their childhood homes. They tended
to be better educated, and had more teacher training and
experience. They had better ability in French and it was
used more regularly in their homes.

Schools which ranked high on life-skills competencies also
tended to be strong in academic achievement and educational
survivorship. They were larger schools with less student
density. Few additional relationships between actual school
facilities and the acquisition of life-skills competencies
could be determined. However, the presence of a vocational
training program as part of the school curriculum was a
notable difference. The top three schools with strong records
of life-skills competencies indicators had vocational programs.
None of the lower half of the seven case-study schools had
such programs.

Chapter Five

CONCLUSIONS, RECOMMENDATIONS AND SUMMARY

The research evaluated the outcomes of Haitian primary schools
from the perspective of Haitian parents, upon whom the schools are
dependent for financial support. Three value criteria, which articu-
late parents' expectations of schooling for their children, served as
the basis for this comparative/evaluative research. The case-study
schools were each rated "high," "medium," or "low" on the basis of
their performances in 1) educational survivorship--the extent to which
students progress in a timely manner from one grade to another, cul-
minating in primary school graduation, 2) family education contribu-
tion--the extent to which students serve as family education resources
by passing on what they learn in school to the unschooled members of
their family, and 3) life-skills competencies--the extent to which
students are able In) use their primary schooling functionally in
life, progressing to higher education and ultimately securing work
that will ensure adequate financial support for their family.

Relations between levels of performance on these three criteria
and four sets of school-related data (school characteristics, teacher
characteristics, home/family environment, and student (Moyen II)
traits) were analyzed. Examination of both positive and negative
associations between criteria and data sets enabled a combined analysis
to be effected. The findings of these relationships were presented

and summarized in Chapter Four.
144

145
CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
The purpose of this concluding chapter is to build testable
hypotheses from the research findings and to provide practical
suggestions for the enhancement of the Haitian primary school's per-
formance in keeping with those educational outcomes valued by the
school's community. These are presented in the form of the following

10 conclusions and recommendations.

Conclusion #1: Teacher Training and Status
The single greatest input a mission can have to im-
prove the performance of its primary schools is to
invest in the quality of the teachers.

The extent of teachers' education and specifically, teacher
training, were not found to be significantly related to academic
achievement in most precedent research in both "developed" and
"developing" nations. Those studies, however, invariably were
analyzing degrees of teacher training. In Haiti, the issue concerns
not various levels of training, but often just the absence or presence
of minimal teacher training. By even the minimal stated Haitian re-
quirement for teaching primary school, 10 years of basic education,
fewer than 28.6 percent of the case-study teachers were qualified to
be teaching. One-fourth of the teachers had no teacher training what-
soever, while 72.1 percent had less than a single year. This left a
very low percentage of adequately trained teachers in the case-study
schools, but still considerably higher than the national average of
5 percent in private schools (Pigozzi, 1985). The need for pedagogic
training is a recognized need among the teachers, as was evidenced

by the fact that more than half (54.4 percent) cited teacher training

as their school's greatest need for improvement.

146

More than half of the teachers felt that they did not get the
kind of respect from the community that they deserved. The status
of teachers in Haiti is not high; 81.4 percent of the teachers felt
that, despite their education and responsibility in the community,
their lack of status was due to the fact that nominal salaries forced
them to live in the same poverty conditions as the peasant families
they tried to influence. Nearly half (49.6 percent) were forced to
take (n1 second jobs to make ends meet, and 38 percent lived at a
socio-economic level lower than that of their childhood homes.

The turnover rate among teachers is quite high, and teacher
retention is a serious problem. More than half (60 percent) of the
teachers questioned were in their first or second year at their
current schools; 25.7 percent were in their very first year of
teaching. More than 10 percent of Haiti's primary school teachers
abandon the profession each year. Financial constraints and the
meager supply of qualified teachers create a difficult contradiction:
an inadequate supply of good, experienced teachers, but unqualified
and experienced "teachers" readily available for as little as $25
a month.

Sample schools that ranked high in both educational survivorship
and life-skills competencies were characterized by more mature,
stable, better-schooled and pedagogically trained teachers. To
compromise on teacher quality is ultimately to allow the school to
collapse financially.

Recommendations: Networks of private schools, such as the

 

Haitian Armée du Salut, must commit themselves to the development of
their own cadre of qualified teachers. This entails a strategy that

will make teaching a long-term viable career.

147

A standardized salary and promotion scale should be implemented
for all teachers. Equity should be targeted by compensating teachers
in accordance with their level of education, participation in on-going
teacher training, teaching experience, and longevity of service.
Teachers should have contracts delineating their responsibilities,
receive regular upgrades in their pay scale, and be challenged to
attain the next scale level.

Teacher salaries should be supplemented with a modest monthly
rental allowance or a revolving fund established to assist them in
obtaining adequate living quarters. Medical insurance and a pension
plan should be offered, as well as a bonus for quality teachers who
accept assignment to remote areas.

Although such a commitment to teacher quality will require
additional funding up front, the evidence indicates that such an in-
vestment will eventually result in self-supporting schools as their
increased performance attracts and maintains parental support across

Haiti.

Conclusion #2: Parental Influence
Parents, regardless of their educational, vocational
or socio-economic status, have a strong influence on
student academic achievement and overall school
performance.

The dichotomous relationship that often exists between school
and home as major community educational institutions is detrimental
to both. The evidence showed that a school's achievement in all three
value criteria of this research was due, in large part, to the deter-

mination, support, and reinforcement of schooling by Haitian parents

in the home.

148

The influence of parents is very strong in Haiti, regardless of their
own limitations in education, literacy, vocation or socio-economic status.
Only 12.9 percent of the fathers and 5.8 percent of the mothers had
received as much schooling as their Moyen II offspring, yet 94.4 percent
of their children regarded them with traditional reverence, feeling that
a youth should always obey his elders, whether they are right or wrong.
Parents, a powerful home dynamic, give evidence of a deep commitment to
the education of their children. If nurtured, they can be a school's
greatest allies; or if neglected, they can be formidable foes.

A consistent predictor of a school's performance on all three
criteria was the extent to which parents were actively involved in the
school's parent-teacher sessions each trimester. Where attendance was
high, so was evidence that parents closely monitored their children's
school performance and made strong demands for academic achievement.
There was also clear evidence of continued parental financial support,
even despite high rates of grade repetition within the school.

Unschooled themselves, however, the evidence showed that many
parents perceived schooling more as a system that must be survived in
order to derive social benefits than as an institution for learning.

As a result, nearly half (42 percent) selected their most obedient or

respectful child to be the baton vieillesse, while only 5.6 percent

 

chose their most intelligent child. The result was that often the
student in school, while the least likely to get into mischief, was
the most docile, passive, uninspired learner. Meanwhile, the most
avid learners and potential scholars were confined to manual labor in

the cornfields. This misconception of schooling exacts a heavy

149
financial toll, too often ending in failure and wastage for peasant
families who can ill afford such financial 1033.

Recommendations: School directors and teachers must make con-

 

certed efforts to engage the parents of their students as powerful
allies in the educative process.

PTA sessions should be fkequent and regular attendance man-
dated. Parents should be commended for their reinforcement of
schooling efforts in the home, and taught a variety of positive rein-
forcement techniques. Adult education in literacy and vocations, or
nonformal education in relevant subjects, should be offered in the
school building during the evenings to foster linkages between the
school and the home.

Finally, parents should In: assisted to understand the value,
purpose and demands of schooling in order to facilitate a more viable
selection of children for schooling. Since only 43 percent of
school-age Haitian children attend school, representing only 30
percent of Haitian families, radio might be employed nationally to
promote the importance of schooling, elevate the social status of
teachers, and encourage the acquistion of education (e.g., literacy)

formally, nonformally or informally.

Conclusion #3: Familial Financial Constraints
The financial burden of enrolling even one child in
school is prohibitive for the majority of Haitian
families.
The urban and rural poor spend between 50 and 70 percent of their
revenue on food, leaving relatively little for other basic needs. Edu-

cational costs can be regarded as prohibitive when they exceed 10 per-

cent of income for such groups whose yearly income is below $500

150

(Millot and Easton, 1985). By this criterion, for the 80 percent of
Haitians who constitute this income level group, the cost of primary
education for even one child is a major problem. For this reason,
although 43 percent of Haitian primary school-age children are en-
rolled, they represent only one in three (30 percent) of Haitian
families. Even in paying such high proportions of their income, the
poor of Haiti often have access only to schools of low quality.

This financial scenario will undoubtedly worsen in the future
as recent economic trends indicate that per capita incomes among rural
peasants are actually declining, while costs of schooling are es-
calating. Without financial intervention, this increased burden will
result in higher dropout rates and lower enrollment, and could even-
tually contribute to the collapse of the school system. Such inter-
vention is not likely to come from the government. There is evidence
that the Haitian government, which historically has been unwilling to
commit an adequate portion of its budget to education, might even de-
crease its commitment to the sector (Pigozzi, 1985). The "mandatory
and free" primary education guaranteed to the Haitian people by their
1964 national constitution is not likely to become a reality in the
foreseeable future, so alternative financial support must be found
for the Haitian primary school system.

Recommendations: The private sector must devise financial incen-

 

tive programs to encourage parents to enroll their children by assuring

them of the financial assistance necessary for keeping them in school.
Assistance such as Compassion International's child sponsorship

and scholarship programs, or similar assistance from the 350 private

voluntary organizations working in Haiti, must be continued and

151

expanded to benefit many others. Such programs should be culturally
sensitive, offering help without costing the poor their dignity or
responsibility for their own families. Scholarships, administered
through local schools on the basis of need, merit, and participation,
should offer opportunites for schooling and related services, not
cash directly to needy families.

The basic educational needs of the unschooled should be addressed
by nonformal education programs and the facilitation of the familial
educational efforts currently being conducted by schooled youth in the

context of their own homes.

Conclusion #4: Students as Family Educators
The current educative functions of Haitian youth in
the context of their homes need to be encouraged,
facilitated and utilized in the classroom.

The youth educative roles described by both teachers and stu-
dents suggest that the societal dynamics described by Mead as "post-
figurative" are applicable to this generation in Haiti (Mead, 1970).
The experiences of the children, notably the advent of schooling,
are so markedly different from the experiences of their parents that
the normal parent-to-child flow of learning is often altered, with
parents learning from their children.

A vast majority (94.4 percent) of the students reported serving
as their family's primary reader; 77.8 percent as the family writer;
and 90.7 percent as the family accountant. More than half (56.3 per-
cent) had taught school-acquired skills to their parents, and 84

percent were currently teaching their siblings in the home.

152

While the level of such a family education contribution phenomenon
is thus widespread across Haiti, it is particularly dynamic in the
rural locations where parental education, literacy, vocational status,
and socio-economic levels are lower. This resource is most prevalent
where the educative need is greatest.

Although this dynamic of school and home linkage was common knowl-
edge among teachers, it was seldom acknowledged, encouraged or
facilitated by them. This reflected the traditionally perceived
monopoly the school has on education, with teachers having an exclusive
right to all community educational functions. This constitutes a missed
opportunity for schools to foster supportive relations with the community
by helping the youth to meet recognized familial learning needs. Viewed
as teachers as well as learners, Haiti's youth could also make a contri-
bution to the classroom learning dynamic.

Recommendations: In Haiti, where less than half (43 percent) of

 

school-age children are enrolled in school, and only one in five
adults (23 percent) are functionally literate, it is the duty of the
school to extend beyond the confines of the classroom to meet the
learning needs of the community.

To address these basic learning needs of the unschooled, a school
does not have to pay out excessive funds for expanding its facilities
or hiring additional teaching staff. The need can be addressed by
simply recognizing, encouraging and facilitating the already existing
dynamic of youth serving as family educators. For example, in the
process of teaching students in the classroom to read and write,

teachers need to be encouraged to also teach students how to teach

153
another person to read and write. This process could be practiced in
the school setting through cross-age tutorial programs of older stu-

dents teaching younger students under a teacher's supervision.

Conclusion #5: Quality of Instruction
Lack of innovative pedagogical methods in Haiti’s
primary schools results in under-utilized resources,
a preponderance of reliance on rote memorization,
and unproductive use of class time.

Observation of the dynamics in dozens of classrooms across the
case-study primary schools revealed a generally poor quality of in-
struction, regardless of their level of performance on the study's
three value criteria. The majority of the teachers (72.4 percent) had
not received adequate training, and their lack of pedagogical formation
was evidenced by the rigid French colonial model of schooling they
simply mimicked from their own schooling a generation ago. It was
characterized by extensive reliance on rote memory, structured drills,
and generally unstimulating and unproductive class time. That is the
antithesis of the learning methodology by which the Haitian people
learn everything else in their lives.

High student-to-teacher ratios were exacerbated by unimaginative
techniques. A typical example of classroom activity observed was a
single child standing beside the teacher's desk, reading from a book
to the teacher, slowly and almost inaudibly, for 15 minutes, while the
remaining 55 students sat motionless on their benches, not participa-
ting in the lesson at all. Dozing off or excessive squirming by the
students was quickly punished with the teacher's ever-present rawhide

switch, or by being forced to stand up on the bench, balancing for

long periods of time.

154

The lack of supplies, such as individual slates, writing imple-
ments and paper, necessitated that each child go to the front black-
board for his single instance of lesson involvement, if any, per
class. Without such basic materials, poor quality of instruction is
even less likely to be effective.

Teachers tended to maintain a strict, authoritarian social dis-
tance from the children, resulting in a classroom atmosphere of
austerity and fear. In the earliest, most impressionable grades, the
use of French as the language of classroom instruction further dis-
tanced the teacher from the student.

Recommendations: The dynamics and conditions of the Haitian

 

classroom are similar to those of nineteenth century England and the
one-room schoolhouse of rural America. The use of student aides and
cross-age tutors in America was effective in breaking down unmanageable
student-to-teacher ratios, adding variety to the drill and practice
pedagogical style, disarming the social distance that existed between
students and teachers, and resulting in enhanced learning for both the
tutee and the tutor.

In Haiti, where students have familial expectations placed on
them t1) teach their school-acquired knowledge and skills to their
unschooled parents and siblings, the potential of using older students
to help teach younger students could improve not only the quality of
classroom instruction, but enhance the quality of teaching in the
home as well.

It is not likely that the Haitian school system will abandon the

rote memory emphasis of colonial France in this generation.

155
Innovative variations of the system, however, such as cross-age
tutoring, could give positive teaching experiences to students,
which could stimulate interest in a teaching career--a viable voca-

tional option for this generation of Haitian primary school students.

Conclusion #6: School Facility Impact
The quality of school facilities in Haiti is not
an important predictor of student performance on
any of the three value criteria.

Consistent with precedent research findings in both "developed"
and "developing" nations, none of the school facility indicators used
to compare and contrast the school's performance indicated any trend
or pattern. It would appear that a good teacher holding class under
a tree with no facilities would do as well as a lesser teacher in a
fully equipped school facility.

This conclusion was reached despite the fact that there was a
wide variance in facilities across the case-study schools. They
ranged from dark, thatched-roof shacks with dirt floors and mud or
cardboard walls to well-lit, spacious, two-story concrete structures.
The furnishings also ranged from individual modern desks with built-
in storage compartments, to crude benches which doubled as church
pews, to mere logs for seats. Minimal relations were identified from
the spectrum of facilities and furnishings examined: visual aids,
textbooks, supplies, light, ventilation, classroom layout and space,
desk space, playground, mimeograph, sports equipment, and arts and
crafts supplies (see Appendix C).

In the quest for improved school performance, particularly in

poverty-stricken locales where the limitations in school facilities

156
and equipment seem obvious, the "natural" inclination to invest funds
in facility improvements (e.g., add a tin roof, purchase better
quality desks or install electricity) may improve a school’s
appearance, but there is universally little evidence that it will
positively impact the actual quality of school outcomes.

Recommendations: A standard for school facilities needs to be

 

defined by the local community's expectations of what constitutes an
acceptable school. This will inevitably be determined by local stan-
dards and resources.

A mission, such as the Armée du Salut, could guide and facilitate
the process by providing a central education office that offered con-
sultative assistance, blueprints of school facility configurations,
construction assistance, and contracts for furnishings, as well as
centralized purchasing for its network of schools. However, it must
be recognized that the true quality of a school stems not from the
appearance of its classrooms, but from the learning dynamic that

occurs within them.

Conclusion #7: Value of Literacy Skills
The extent to which a student reads and has access to
reading materials is directly related to his level of
academic performance and ultimately to his educational
survivorship.

All of the Haitian students interviewed expressed a real love
for reading, and 94.4 percent of them served as the primary reader
for their families. None of the case-study schools, however, con-
tained libraries from which students could borrow books. No books

at all were found in the homes of 37 percent of the students, and

only 18.5 percent had any books besides the Bible or a hymnbook.

157

Recommendations: Collections of books in both French and

 

Creole should be established in each primary school. The books should
include a wide variety of subjects and be readily available for check-
out. Homework assignments should include the reading of stories to
parents and siblings in the home. The availability of literature and
a nationwide effort to promote literacy should spread from youth in

schools to the nation at large.

Conclusion #8: Higher Education/Vocational Training
The criteria which determine a child's ability to
have access to higher education are more a function
of locale, parental priorities and socio-economic
status than of primary school quality.

Schools with high academic achievement ratings did not auto-
matically have high performances on life-skills competencies, but
fell into both the highest and the lowest rankings when evaluated
against this criterion.

A major determining factor was the actual locale of a school.
The more urban the setting, the greater the school's rate of graduate
placement into high schools, vocational schools, and acceptable voca-
tions. Likewise, the higher the family's SES, the higher the likeli-
hood of similar success. The more education or marketable skills the
parents had, the higher was found to be their offsprings' life-skills
competencies indicator.

This trend is not to say that a primary school has no influence
on or responsibility for its students' performance on this criterion,
but it is recognized to be a shared responsibility, with the effects

of the school balanced by home and community circumstances. The role

of the primary school, though viewed as uniquely responsible by

158
parents, is realistically limited to two main contributions toward
the task: the provision of a sound academic preparation, and voca-
tional exposures that allow a student to explore and discover his
interests and abilities in a variety of vocational options. These
combined develop the necessary background and sense of self-worth
and confidence that enable a student to set his own goals in life.

Recommendations: Every primary school should establish a voca-

 

tional program in its curriculum. This need not be intensive in-
struction in any single vocation, but rather an introduction for
students to a variety of viable vocational options. In Haiti, the
spectrum should include agricultural training. Those schools which
ranked highest in life-skills competencies were distinguishable by
their inclusion of a vocational program. None of the schools that
ranked "medium" or "low" had such programs.

Primary school directors should foster relationships and
structural linkages with the high schools their students are most
likely to attend, to better prepare and facilitate student tran-
sitions. Higher education, however, is not advisable for all
Haitian students, despite parental aspirations, and scholastic and
vocational assessment should take place during the Moyen II year in

order to counsel students and parents on the most advisable route.

Conclusion #9: Validity of School Meal Program

One of the most significant investments a Haitian
primary school can make to maintain parental support
and also impact the quality of its performances on
all three value criteria is in the provision of a
school meal program.

The provision of a meal program has widespread documented ramifi-

cations for health, quality of learning and regularity of attendance.

159
The nutritional need is evident everywhere. "Approximately three-
fourths of Haiti's children suffer some degree of malnutrition. It is
estimated that rural Haitians consume only 60 percent of the calories
and 50 percent of the grams of protein required daily to maintain health
and moderate energy levels" (Pigozzi, 1985, p. 5-84).

Of the 55 students interviewed in the research, 70 percent had
eaten nothing the day of the school visit. More than half (56 per-
cent) had been doing chores since 5:OO a.m., and one-third (35.2 per-
cent) had hiked more than one hour to school. For most, the school
lunch would be their only hot meal of the day.

The students indicated that their parents would rather send them
to a school where there is food than to a less expensive school where
food is not served. A school meal program thus makes an important
contribution to not only the learning and health of the individual
student, but to a certain extent, to the financial support and thus
the survival of the school itself.

Recommendations: School lunch programs should be continued and

 

expanded in all primary schools. Where possible, supporting agencies
should provide funds for the local purchase of food, rather than risk
undermining the local economy by importing large amounts from inter-
national or urban sources.

Precedent research strongly supports that the majority of stu-
dents were not likely to have eaten breakfast and were hungry enough
in class to impair their ability to remain alert and active in their
learning tasks. Consideration should be given to advancing the meal
from lunch to breakfast, provided immediately upon arrival at school.

This would enhance classroom learning throughout the school day and

160
surely impact tardiness in the morning. A snack offered after school

would ensure that students remained throughout the entire school day.

Conclusion #10: Language of Instruction
The quality of the teachers' French and their
ability to teach it have a direct impact on the
level of a school's educational survivorship and
a student's qualifications for higher education
or vocational status.

Those primary schools which ranked high on the educational sur-
vivorship and life-skills competencies criteria, those most directly
indicating academic achievement, were distinguishable from those that
ranked low in part by the quality and usage of French among teachers.
Although there is widespread debate in Haiti as to the validity of
French as the national language, as opposed to Creole, Spanish or
even English, it is not likely that French will lose its dominant
position in the Haitian education system this generation.

This stress on the need for French ability among teachers is con-
sistent with the findings of Heyneman in Uganda. After analysis of a
multitude of teacher characteristics, the only teacher measure which
he found to be significantly associated with school achievement was
the quality of a teacher's English, the language of Ugandan class-
room instruction. Heyneman concluded, "If teachers make any
difference to a: school's academic achievement, it is most likely
expressed through the quality of their English language ability"
(Heyneman, 1975, p. 48). In Haiti, the dynamic equivalent is the

teacher's ability in French.

Recommendations: Along with pedagogical methodology, an effective

 

teacher training program must address the issue of improving the quality

161

of Haitian teachers' ability in French. The need for such training
among all seven case-study schools was readily evident. The basic
French Ability Test (see Appendix E), which was administered to all

the teachers, revealed that in only three of the seven schools did the
teachers answer even half of the six questions correctly. Since language
acquisition is a life-long endeavor, not accomplished in short teacher
training sessions, one of the criteria for establishing various pay-scale

levels might be an annual French ability evaluation.

RECOMMENDATIONS FOR FURTHER STUDY
There is little precedent empirical research that assesses the
status of the Haitian school system. Educational planning and
decision-making, from the level of the Ministry of Education to the
individual school director, are severely limited by a lack of adequate
information, statistics, and analysis of trends. Several kinds of
studies could provide useful data for improving the internal and

external efficiency of Haitian primary schools:

1. Longitudinal Study of Cohort Group. Without having to rely on

 

scattered data sources collected inconsistently over time, a selected
cohort grouping should be analyzed for student flow trends. This
could determine the proportions of students who repeat, drop out,
or transfer, as well as discover what becomes of them as adults and

how they make use of the learning they acquired.

2. Analysis of Youth as Family Educators. The research has documented

 

the extent of this phenomenon and attitudes concerning it in Haiti.

162
Now, the actual process, content, pedagogical techniques and effective-
ness need to be analyzed. Such research should address curricular con-
cerns such as ". . .what is taught, why, to whom, and under what circum-

stances" (Ward, N.D.).

3. Comparative Analysis of School Meals Programs. A study of

 

academic performance variances is needed to compare outcomes of pri-
mary schools which have no meal program, those that serve a noon meal,
and those that serve breakfast. Such nutritional programs consume
vast resources and are a major service of 60 percent of Haitian
schools, yet they are rarely monitored or coordinated with other

health services.

4. Cross-Age Tutorial Roles of Youth in Classrooms. Many conditions
appear to be ideal in Haitian schools for the utilization of older
children as assistants in the teaching task of younger children in
the classroom context. Analysis of attitudes, ability, receptivity
and effectiveness is required as a rational basis for youth serving

as classroom, as well as familial, resources.

SUMMARY
The focus of the research was to evaluate the educational outcomes
of seven selected Haitian primary schools from the perspective of the
peasant parents who invest sacrificially in their children's schooling,
and on whom schooling in Haiti is financially dependent. Although only
13 percent of the fathers and 5.9 percent of the mothers had actually
completed primary school themselves, parental expectations of school

outcomes were fairly consistent with the internal and external academic

163
efficiency issues of school evaluation which have concerned academicians
for centuries. Though approached from a purely pragmatic perspective,
the three peasant-generated value criteria of the study were found to
be realistic and theoretically sound.

The school, though held responsible by peasant parents for such
educative outcomes, is not the sole influence on the value criteria.

In the Haitian social structure, the family is a very powerful influence
on a student's school performance. The extent of that influence is,

in part, predicted by the socio-economic status of the family, the
level of the parents' schooling and possession of marketable skills,
and the extent to which the home itself is an environment conducive

to learning (e.g., availability of books).

The locale, whether urban, semi-rural or rural, also plays a major
role. Access to quality primary schools, higher education and vocational
options are often dictated by locale. An urban setting was found to
be a powerful psychological influence positively affecting a student's
self-concept, modernity, aspirations and world view. This may, in part,
be the result of these children achieving the Haitian social ideal--
urbanization.

The extent to which students made educational contributions to
their families (value criterion number two) was found to be widespread
throughout Haiti, but also influenced by locale. It was most actively
pursued in homes where the literacy vacuum is most prevalent. These
tended to be homes that were more rural, had less schooling among family
members, fewer marketable skills, and generally lower socio-economic
status. Youth as family educators is a phenomenon that is not readily

acknowledged, encouraged or facilitated by the school. An untapped

164
resource, youth are not utilized as an extension of the school primarily
because of the school's historic perspective of viewing itself as the
exclusive learning institution of society, having a monopoly on all
aspects of community learning.

The first and third value criteria, educational survivorship and
life-skills competencies, were often found to be related. Both are
basically issues of improving academic achievement within the school.
No efforts to merely accommodate the pressures on and expectations of
parents (i.e., lessening the failure, repetition, or even the tuition,
rates) will succeed unless the academic standards of the school which
lead to the ultimate success, CEP exam passage, are maintained. Parents
will tolerate making tremendous financial sacrifices as long as ultimate
success is likely. Both criteria, however, were positively or negatively
affected by environmental circumstances beyond the boundaries or control
of the school.

Foundational to any improvement of Haitian primary school perfor-
mance is the quality of the teaching staff. Primary concerns are im-
proving pedagogical methodology, enhancing French ability, elevating
social status, and guaranteeing career security. Investments aimed at
improving the schools' physical facilities were found to have minimal,
if any, impact on academic achievement.

Parental support must be solicited to reinforce school content
and demands in the home. Informed and involved, parents are valuable
school allies. Neglected or denigrated, they become liabilities to a
school's success, and thus, its survival. Financial assistance in the
form of scholarships, loans or employment must be provided to ease the

heavy burden of schooling costs on Haitian families. The government

165
must be challenged to allocate additional budget funds to this develop-
ment of its human resources.

Programs such as vocational and literacy training are needed in
the basic school curriculum. Health care and nutrition education are
essential, not peripheral, to improved learning among the poverty
stricken, which comprise the majority of Haitian students.

Finally, students must be recognized, in the Haitian context, not
uniquely as learners, the sole beneficiaries of schooling, but as viable
educative linkages to the unschooled in their homes. They are also
potential classroom resources for peers and younger students.

The research concludes that attempts at primary school improvement
that make the parents' expectations of school outcomes a priority will
not only enhance the school's performance and financial viability, but

will make important contributions to the success of the baton vieillesse

 

and his family in life circumstances beyond the school.

APPENDICES

APPENDIX A

STUDENT INTERVIEW

APPENDIX A-l

STUDENT INTERVIEW
(Creole Version)

ID Ankété-a

 

ID Lékol la

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ID Elev la
1. Ou sé you ti gason? ti fi?

2. Ki laj ou?

3. A ki laj ou té antré lékol?

4. Nan ki klas ou té antré nan lékol sa-a?

5. Ki lot lékol ou té pasé? 1) 2) 3)

6. Poukisa ou té vi-n nan lékol sa-a?

7. Eské-ou doublé klas déja? oui non
Si oui, ki klas?
Sak fe ou té doublé?

8. Eské ou pédi you ané lékol ou plis déja? oui non Si oui,
konbyin ané? Sak té fe sa?

9. Eské ou janm anvi kité lékol? oui non Poukisa ou ta
rinmin kité lékol?

10. Konbyin ti moun ki gin la kay?
Konbyin ladan yo ki bon pou al lékol?

ll. Konbyin ladan yo ki al lékol tout bon?
Konbyin ki kité lékol?

12. Sak fé yo té kité lékol?

13. Gin ti moun lakay ou ki bon pou yal lékol min yo pa alé.
Sak fe sa?

14. Eské ou konnin poukisa sé ou min-m paran on yo chouazi pou yo voyé
lékol? oui non Poukisa yo chouazi-cu?

15. Lékol pi inpotan pou fi ou byin pou gason?

 

Pou ki sa?

 

166

l6.

17.

18.
19.
20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

167

Ki jan yo rélé prézidan péyi Etazini-an?

 

Kilés ki réskonsab ou lakay ou? papa manman tant
tonton grann granpé gran fré gran sé
lot moun

 

Ekri non papa-ou (oubyin gason ki réskonsab ou-a).

 

Ekri non manman-on (oubyin fanm ki réskonsab ou-a).

 

Eské papa-cu (ou gason ki réskonsab ou-an) konn 1i? oui non

Eské papa-cu (ou gason ki réskonsab ou-an) konn siyin non-l?
oui non

Eské manman-cu (ou fanm ki réskonsab ou-a) konn li? oui non

Eské manman-cu (ou fanm ki réskonsab ou-a) konn siyin non-l?
oui non

 

Eské ou konn li let ak papyé pou moun lakay ou? oui non
(Poukisa ou pa fe-l piské ou konn 1i?)

 

 

Eské-cu konn ékri let pou moun lakay ou? oui non
(Poukisa ou pa fe-l piské ou konn ékri?)

 

 

Eské-ou konn konté lajan (chif) pou moun lakay ou? oui non
(Poukisa ou pa fé-l piské ou konn fe kalkil?)

 

Si you ti moun kapab, éské-l fet pou-l 1i, ékri, konté lajan (chif)
pou paran-l yo? oui non
Poukisa?

 

 

Eské ou janm éséyé montré papa-ou (ou gason ki réskonsab ou-an) ki

 

 

 

jan pou-l siyin non-1? (Si ou ékri) oui non
Eské-l té dako pou-l aprann nan min-ou? oui non
Poukisa?

 

Eské ou janm éséyé montré manman-cu (ou fanm ki réskonsab ou-an)

 

 

 

ki jan pou-l siyin non-l? (Si ou ékri) oui non

Eské-l té dako pou-l aprann nan min-ou? oui non
Poukisa?

Eské papa-ou (ou gason ki réskonsab ou-a) té pasé lékol? oui

non Si oui, ki klas li té rivé?

 

Eské manman-on (ou fanm ki réskonsab ou-a) té pasé lékol? oui
non Si oui, ki klas 1i té rivé?

 

Ki sa ou pra-l fé lé ou fi-n fé sétifika?

 

Ki sa papa-ou (ou gason ki réskonsab ou-an) fe pou-l viv?

34.
35.

36.

37.

38.

39.
40.

41.
42.

43.

44.

45.

46.
47.

48.

168

Ki sa manman-cu (ou fanm ki réskonsab ou-an) fé pou-l viv?

Eské moun lakay ou gin té? oui non
A ki sa kay lakay ou kouvri? pay tol béton boua
lot

 

Konbyin chan-m kayou ginyin?

 

Nan bagay sa yo mouin pral sité la-a, kiles ladan yo ou gin lakay-ou?
(Di-m selman sila yo ou ginyin lakay ou.)

 

 

 

you matla boks you machi-n

you kodak you révéy (mont)
you motosiklét you lanp kolmann
you radio you télévizion

 

you bisiklét

Konbyin tan ou pran nan rout pou ou vi-n lékol?

 

Ki jan ou vi-n lékol chak jou, sot lakayou?

a pyé nan vwati
sou bet nan taksi
sou bisiklEt lot

 

A ki lé ou lévé matin lé-ou pral lékol?

 

Si ou jouinn bout lakansiél, sak ap rivé?

 

Kilés nan travay sa yo ou konn fé lakay ou anvan-ou vi-n lékol ou
byin lé-ou soti lékol?

travay nan jadin balé

al nan dlo lavé (véso, rad)
okipé ti bébé fé komision
okipé bet lot

 

 

 

Eské ou sé you ti moun ki an dévinn anpil? (ki pa gin chans)

 

 

 

 

 

oui non

Eské ou rinmin 1i? oui non

Eské ou gin lot liv lakay ou san konté liv lékol? oui non
Konbyin?

Eské ou té manjé matin-an avan ou vi-n lékol? oui non

 

Ki sa ou té manjé?

 

Di-m si yo palé fransé lakay ou? jame raman tanzantan
souvan

Eské ou sé: premié pitit nan fanmi-ou?
dénié pitit?
nan mitan?

49.

50.

51.

52.

53.

54.

55.

169

Eské pigran ti moun yo lakay ou konn édé-ou ak lékol ou? (Ou sil
pigran, éské ou konn édé pi piti ti moun yo ak lékol yo?) oui
non Ki jan?

 

Si ou konn fé bagay sa yo, di-m kilés ki té montre ou fé yo.
LESON YO KI MOUN KI TE MONTRE OU?

Li

Koulé yo
Ekri

Chanté

Konté

Fe jadin

Fe komes
A.B.C.

Okipé ti moun

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Eské ou gin ti moun lakay ou ki pa konn li ou ékri? oui non
Eské ou konn li ou ékri pou yo? oui non

Eské ou konn éseyé montre yo? oui non

Eské yo konn dako? oui non

Poukisa?

 

 

 

Ti moun lakay ou ki lékol yo, éské yo trété yo diféran ké ti moun
ki pa al lékol yo? oui non
Ki jan? (travay, manjé, rad, pinision, kalé)

 

 

 

Eské ou reskonsab pou-ou okipé pi piti ti moun lakay ou? oui
non Si oui, kisa ou konn fé pou yo?

 

 

bay manjé binyin abiyé
pini (kalé) protéjé lot ___
pran souin 1e yo malad fé dodo

joué (bay istoua) montré maché/palé

 

Eské ou janm montré you moun you-n nan bagay sa yo?
LESON KI MOUN OU MONTRE YO?

Li

Koule

Ekri

Chanté

Konté

Fe jadin

Fe komés
A.B.C.

Okipé ti moun

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Gin anpil ti moun bo lakay ou ki pa lékol. Eské ou koue yo ta
doué aprann 1i, é ékri? oui non
Kilés ki ta doué reskonsab pou montré yo?
Eské ou ta montré yo si on té kapab? oui non

 

 

56.

57.

58.

59.

60.

61.

62.

63.

64.

65.

66.

67.

170

Ki koté ou étidié (lé ou pa lékol la)?

 

Poukisa sé la-a ou étidié?

 

Ki lé ou étidié?

 

Poukisa sé lé sa?

 

 

Ba Ro
Non Oui
Mové Bon

Ra Souvan
1 2 3 4 5 8

 

Nan ki mézi ou té fo lékol dépi
Préparatoua jiska Mouayin II?

 

Kisa ou pansé dé profése ou yo?

 

Eské lékol vo tout kob yo dépansé
pou li-a?

 

Nan ki mézi lékol ap édé ou fe
lajan lé ou fini?

 

Nan ki mézi ou rinmin lékol?

 

Sa ou pansé de lékol ou-a lé ou
konparé-l a lot lékol yo?

 

Ki vale lakilti ak gadinay yo ta
doué montré nan lékol prime?

 

Paran ou uo konn palé ak profése
ou? (jamé - souvan - raman)

 

Le ou pa pasé non lékol ki vale
faché paran ou yo faché?

 

Ki sa ou pral fé si ou pa pasé nan égzamin sétifika?

 

 

68.

69.

70.

71.

72.

73.

74.

75.

76.

77.

78.

79.
80.
81.

82.

83.

171

Le ou té antré nan Préparatoua I, té gin plis élév nan klas 1a anpil.
Poukisa tout ti moun sa yo kité lékol?
Poukisa ou pat kité ou min-m tankou lot yo?

 

 

Kiss you ti moun pi bézouin pou-l ka you bon élev?

you bon mémoua intélijans
etidié anpil lot
obéyi nan lékol

 

Ki koté Pap la rété?

 

Eské ou ta rinmin vi-n you profésé lé ou gran? oui non
Poukisa?

 

Eské ou pansé ti moun yo doué toujou obéyi gran moun yo minm si yo
anto minm si yo gin rézon? oui non

Konbyin foua ou konn santi ou malad?

(1) chak jou (3) you foua pa moua (5) you foua pa ané
(2) you foua pa séminn (4) you foua chak 6 moua (6) jamé

Eské ou manm al lopital paské ou malad? oui non
Si oui, konbyin jou ou té pasé?

 

(1) pat intené (3) inténé pou plis ké you sémen
(2) intené pou kék jou (4) inténé pou plis ké you moua

Ki lés nan maladi 83 yo ou pasé déja?

 

 

 

malaria tétanos malnitrision
tifoyid tibekiloz lot
Eské lénmi ou yo ap éséyé pesékité ou? oui non

 

Ki métié ou ta pi rinmin fé lé ou fini lékol?
Ki déziém ou ta pi rinmin?

 

 

Ki koté ou ta rinmin étudié pou ou dévni (répons 77) la?
Ki koté ou ta rinmin travay kom ( 77 (1) )

 

Ki métié oui pansé ouap ka fe tout bon vré?

 

Eské ou échoué souvan nan préské tout bagay ouap fé? oui non

You moun ki rivé nan lavi-a, ki jan-l yé?

 

Eské ou résévoua ed Compassion? oui non
Si oui, dépi konbyin ané?

 

Le ouap fe problem aritmétik, épi ou trouvé yo difisil, éské sé:

a) Paské ou pat étidié byin lé ou tap préparé yo?
'b) Ou byin paské profésé-a bay problem ki tro difisil?

84.

85.

86.

87.

88.

89.

90.

91.

92.

172
Si paran on yo di ou intélijan, éské sé:

a) Paské ké yo kontan?
b) Ou byin paské ou fé you bon bagay vré?

Si profésé-a di ou "fe éfo pou ou ka trvay pi byin," eské sé:

a) Paské li di tout ti moun yo sa pou-l ankourajé yo?
b) Ou byin paské travay ou té fé-a pat bon minm jan ak lot
jou yo?

Lé ou ginyin lé ouap joué (domino, foutbol), éské sé:

a) Paské ou joué byin tout bon?
b) Ou byin paské neg kap joué ave-ou la pa joué byin?

Le ou pa pasé nan you égzamin nan lékol, éské sé:

a) Paské egzamin an tro difisil?
b) Ou byin paské ou pat étidyé asé byin?

Le ou bliyé you bagay profése-a di nan klas la, éské sé:

a) Paské profésé-a pat montré-l byin?
b) Ou byin paské ou pat fé asé éfo pou ou sonjé?

Si ouap montré you zanmi ou joué , épi 1i gin problem
pou-l aprann jouét la, éské sé:

a) Paské 1i pat ka konprann jouét la?
b) Ou byin paské ou pat ka éspliké-l byin?

Si profése-ou pasé-ou soti nan you klas al nan you lot, éské sé:

a) Paské 1i rinmin ou?

b) Ou byin akoz travay ou té travay byin?
Si ou jouin you dévinét tré vit, eské sé:

a) Paské li pa difisil?
b) Ou byin paské ou konprann 1i tre byin?

Le ou aprann you bagay vi nan lékol, nomalman eské sé:

a) Paské ou té suiv avék atansion?
b) On byin paské profése-a té ekspliké-l klé?

APPENDIX A-2

STUDENT INTERVIEW
(English Translation)

Interviewer ID

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

School ID
Student ID
1. Are you a boy? girl?
2. What is your age?
3. At what age did you start school?
4. In what grade did you enter this school?
5. What other schools have you attended?
6. Why did you transfer to this school?
7. Have you ever repeated a grade? yes no
If yes, which grade?
What was the reason you had to repeat?
8. Have you ever missed a year or more of schooling? yes no
If yes, how many years? For what reason?
9. Have you ever wanted to quit school? yes no
Why did you want to quit?
10. How many children are there in your household?
How many are of school age?
11. How many of those children actually attend school?
How many have dropped out?
12. What was the reason for the school dropouts?
13. Are there school-age children in your household who do not attend
school? Why do they not attend?
14. Do you know why your parents have chosen you to attend school?
yes no Why were you selected?
15. Is schooling more important for girls or for boys?
Why?
16. What is the name of the president of the United States?

173

17.

18.
19.
20.

21.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.
33.
34.

35.

174

Who is your guardian? father mother aunt uncle
grandmother grandfather older brother older sister
other

 

Please write the name of your father (or male guardian).

Please write the name of your mother (or female guardian).

 

Is your father (or male guardian) able to read? yes no

Is your father (or male guardian) able to sign his name? yes
no

Is your mother (or female guardian) able to read? yes no

Is your mother (or female guardian) able to sign her name?
yes no

 

 

Are you the primary reader for your family? yes no
(If not, why not, since you are able to read?

 

 

Are you the primary writer for your family? yes no
(If not, why not, since you are able to write?)

 

 

 

Are you the primary accountant for your family? yes no
(If not, why not, since you can do mathematics?)

 

If a young person is able, should he read, write and do accounting
for his parents? yes no
Why?

 

 

Have you ever tried to teach your father (or male guardian) to sign
his name? yes no

Was your father willing and able to learn from you? yes no
Why?

 

 

 

Have you ever tried to teach your mother (or female guardian) to sign
her name? yes no

 

 

 

Was your mother willing and able to learn from you? yes no
Why?
Has your father (or male guardian) attended school? yes no

 

If yes, what grade did he complete?

 

Has your mother (or female guardian) attended school? yes no
If yes, what grade did she complete?

 

What do you plan to do when you finish primary school?

 

What is the vocation of your father (or male guardian)?
What is the vocation of your mother (or female guardian)?

Does your family own land? yes no

 

36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

41.
42.

43.

44.

45.

46.

47.

48.

49.

175

What kind of roof does your house have? straw tin
cement wood other

 

How many rooms are there in your house?

Which of the following items do you have in your home? (Indicate
only those things actually in your house.)

a box springs bed a car

a camera an alarm clock

a motorcycle a pressurized lantern
a radio a television

a bicycle

 

How long does it take you to get to school?

 

How do you get to school each day from your house?

by foot by car
by donkey by taxi
by bicycle other

 

What time do you get up on school-day mornings?

 

If you go to the end of a rainbow, what will happen?

 

What kind of work do you do in your home before and after school?

 

 

 

 

 

 

gardening sweeping
fetching water washing clothes
childcare buying and selling
animal care other

Are you often unlucky? yes no

Do you like to read? yes no

Do you have books in your house other than textbooks? ___yes no

How many?

Did you eat anything this morning prior to coming to school?

 

 

 

yes no What did you eat?

How often is French spoken in your home? never rarely
occasionally often

Are you the: eldest child in your family?

youngest child?
middle child?

 

Do older children in your home help you with your schooling? (Or,
if you are the oldest, do you help younger children in your home
with their schooling?) yes no

How do you help them?

 

50.

51.

52.

53.

54.

55.

176

If you are able to do the following, who taught you to do them?

LESSONS

Reading
Colors
Writing
Singing
Counting
Gardening
Marketing
Alphabet
Childcare

PERSON WHO TAUGHT YOU

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Are there children in your home who are unable to read or write?

 

 

 

yes no Do you read or write for them? yes no
Do you try to teach them? yes no
Are they able to learn from you? yes no

Why?

 

Are children in your home who attend school treated differently

from children who do not?

yes no

How are they treated differently? (work, food, clothing, punish-

ment)

 

Are you responsible to take care of younger children in your home?

 

yes no

feed them
punish them
take care of
them when they
are sick

play with them

If yes, what do you do for them?

clothe them

other

bathe them
protect them
make them take

a nap

teach them how to
walk/talk

 

Have you ever taught anyone to do any of the following things?

LESSONS

Reading
Colors
Writing
Singing
Counting
Gardening
Marketing
Alphabet
Childcare

PERSON YOU HAVE TAUGHT

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

There are many children in your community who do not attend school.
Do you think they should learn to read and write? yes no
Who should be responsible to teach them?

Would you teach them if you were able? yes no

 

 

56.

57.

58.

59.

60.

61.

62.

63.

64.

65.

66.

67.

68.

177

Where do you do your homework?

 

Why do you do it there?

 

When do you do your homework?

 

Why at that time?

 

 

Low High
No Yes
Bad Good
Never Often
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9

 

How good a student are you?

 

How good a teacher is your
teacher?

 

How valuable is schooling as an in-
vestment?

 

How important is schooling in getting
the vocation of your choice?

 

How much do you like school?

 

How good is your school compared to
other schools you know?

 

How important is it to learn agricul-
ture in primary school?

 

How often do your parents speak with
your teacher?

 

How angry do your parents become when
you do poorly in school?

 

What will you do if you do not pass the CEP examination?

 

When you entered school, there were lots of children in your class.

Why have many of them quit school?

 

Why didn't you quit school like the others?

 

69.

70.

71.

72.

73.

74.

75.

76.

77.

78.

79.
80.
81.

82.

83.

178
What does a child need to be a successful student?

a good memory intelligence

hard work (effort) other
obedience in school

 

Where does the Pope live?

 

Would you like to become a teacher when you grow up? yes no
Why?

 

Do you think that young people should always obey their elders,
whether they are right or wrong? yes no

 

How often are you sick?

(1) every day (3) once a month (5) once a year
(2) once a week (4) once every 6 months (6) never
Have you ever been hospitalized? yes no

If yes, for how long?

(1) not admitted (3) more than one week
(2) several days (4) more than one month

Which of the following illnesses have you had?

malaria tetanus malnutrition
typhoid tuberculosis other
Are you often persecuted? yes no

 

When you have finished your schooling, what vocation would you most
like to have?
What is your second choice?

 

 

Where would you like to train for your vocation?
Where would you like to work in that vocation?

 

 

What vocation do you really expect you will have?

 

Do you often fail in the things that you try to do? yes no

 

Describe a person who is successful.

 

Are you sponsored by Compassion? yes no
If yes, since what year?

When you do an arithmetic problem, and you find it difficult, is it:

a) Because you didn't study hard enough to prepare for it?
b) Or because the teacher gave you too difficult a problem?

84.

85.

86.

87.

88.

89.

90.

91.

92.

179
If your parents tell you that you are intelligent, is it:

3) Because they are in a good mood?

b) Or because you have really done well in school?
If your teacher tells you to work harder in school, is it:

a) Because he says that to all the students to encourage them?
b) Or because the work you have done is not as good as usual?

 

When you win in a game (dominoes, soccer), is it:

3) Because you played well?
b) Or because your opponent did not play well?

When you fail an examination in school, is it:

3) Because the examination was too difficult?
b) Or because you didn't study hard enough?

 

When you forget something that the teacher has taught in class, is
a) Because the teacher didn't teach it well?
b) Or because you didn't try hard enough to learn it?

If you are trying to teach a friend to play a game of ,
and he has trouble learning it, is it:

 

a) Because he cannot understand the game?
b) Or because you cannot explain it well?

If a teacher passes you from one grade to the next, is it:

a) Because he likes you?
b) Or because you have done good work?

If you solve a riddle quickly, is it:

a) Because it was not difficult?
b) Or because you understood it well?

 

When you learn something quickly in school, normally is it:

a) Because you paid close attention?
b) Or because the teacher clearly explained it?

 

APPENDIX B

TEACHER QUESTIONNAIRE

APPENDIX B-l

TEACHER QUESTIONNAIRE
(French Version)

Chér(e) Instituteur)trice,

Nous, a la Compassion, essayons daapprendre autant que possible sur
les écoles, les éleves et les professeurs en Haiti. Nous aimerons
avoir v6tre aide. Nous vous prions de répondre 5 questions avec nous;
les réponses resteront confidentielles. Les seules personnes qui liron
vos réponses seront: mes collegues de recherches engagés dans le projet
et moi-meme. Personne du Minstere de l'Education, ni de Compassion,

ni de v6tre mission, ni de v6tre école ne verra vos réponses.

Ce n'est pas un examen. Nous allons parcourir ensemble cette feuille
question aprés question. Si vous ne comprenez pas une question,
demandez-nous de vous aider, s'il vous plait.

Vous nous aidez a améliorer la qualité de léenseignement primaire en
répondant le mieux possible.

Merci de v6tre coopération.
Sincérement votre,
Wesley K. Stafford

Directeur-Associé en Education
Compassion Internationale

 

Nom de l'Ecole

1. Dans quelle(s) classe(s) enseignez-vous cette année?

 

 

 

Maternelle Préparatoire I Elémentaire II
Enfantine I Préparatoire II Moyen I
Enfantine II Elémentaire I Moyen II

 

Directeur seulement

2. Etes-vous un(e) homme? femme?

3. Quel age avez-vous?

 

180

4.

5.

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

181

Quel est votre lieu de naissance?

 

Oh avez-vous fait la plus grande partie de vos études primaires?

 

. Avez-vous jamais étudié dans cette école? oui non Quelles

classes?

 

Combien d'années avez-vous passé dans l'enseignement?

 

Combien de ces années avez-vous passé dans cette école?

 

. Dans combien d'autres écoles avez-vous déja enseigné?

 

Avez-vous suivi des cours pour devenir professeur? oui non
Si oui, combien d'années? A quelle école?

 

 

 

 

Combien d'années avez-vous passé sur les bancs de l'école?
Dans quelle classe avez-vous quitté l'école?

 

Avez-vous une autre occupation maintenant a c6té de l'enseignement?
oui non Laquelle?

 

 

Aimez-vous laenseignement? oui non

 

Avez-vous jamais souhaité abandonner laenseignement pour prendre une
autre occupation? oui non
Laquelle choisirez-vous?

 

Pensez-vous que la plupart de vos éléves aimeraient devenir des pro-

 

 

fesseurs apres leurs études? oui non

Pourquoi?

Auriez-vous encouragé un éleve a devenir professeur? oui non
Pourquoi?

 

Avez-vous d'autres freres et soeurs qui sont dans l'enseignement?
oui non

 

 

Quel est le plus grand probleme d'un professeur?

 

Est-ce que vous utilesez le francais chez vous? jamais rare-
ment de temps en temps souvent

Est-ce qu'on parlait 1e francais dans la maison oh vous avez été
élevé? jamais rarement de temps en temps souvent

Est-ce que votre pere parle (ou parlait) le frangais?

a) ll ne parle (parlait) pas le frangais.

b) 11 parle (parlait) trés peu le francais.

c) 11 parle (parlait) assez bien le francais.

d) 11 parle (parlait) 1e francais comme un francais.

22.

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

H

182

Votre pére avait-il été a l'école? oui non Si oui, en quelle
classe était-il arrivé?

 

Quelle est (a été) l'occu ation de votre ere?
P P

 

Est-ce que votre mere parle (parlait) le francais?

a) Elle ne parle (parlait) pas le francais.
b) Elle parle (parlait) trés peu 1e francais.
c) Elle parle (parlait) assez bien le francais.
d) Elle parle (parlait) 1e francais comme une francaise.

 

Votre mere avait-elle été a l'école? oui non Si oui, en
quelle classe était-elle arrivée?

 

Quelle est (a été) l'occupation de votre mere?

 

Avez-vous jamais visité d'autres régions d'Haiti? oui non
Quelle est la plus éloignée de chez vous?

 

 

Avez-vous déja voyagé en dehors du pays? oui non
Oh?

 

 

Parmi les objets suivants, indiquez daabord ce que vous avez chez
vous ensuite indiquez ce que vos parents avaient chez eux dans la
maison quand vous étiez enfant

OBJET CHEZ VOUS MAINTENANT CHEZ VOS PARENTS

Un matelas box (Simmons)
Un kodak

Une motocyclette

Un appareil de radio
Une bicyclette

Une voiture

Un réveil

Une lampe coleman

Une télévision

Une toiture en t61e

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

OOQNO‘ML‘WNH

 

 

30. Est-ce qu vous vous sentez malade:

31.

chaque jour une fois par mois
une fois par an une fois tous les 6 mois
une fois par semaine jamais

Lesquelles de ces maladies avez-vous déja eues?

 

 

malaria tétanos anémie (faiblesse)
typhoide tuberculose malnutrition
autres

 

32. Est-ce que vos ennemis essaient de vous persécuter? oui non

 

33.

34.

35.

36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

41.

42.

43.

44.

183

Les statistiques révelent que beaucoup daenfants abandonnent l'école
dans les premiéres années de classe; pourquoi, d'aprés vous, cela
arrive-t-il?

 

11 y a une petite quantite déenfants qui arrive jusqu'a 1a classe
Moyen II. Quaest-ce qui leur permet de le faire d'aprés vous?

 

Quelle est la qualité la plus importante dont un éléve a besoin pour
réussir a l'école?

obéissance/respect

une bonne mémoire

intelligence
beaucoup daeffort

 

Quel est le plus grand probleme daun éléve?

 

Beaucoup d'enfants dans cette localité qui ont l'fige d'aller a
l'école n'y sont jamais allés. Pourquoi tous ces enfants ne vont-
ils pas a l'école?

 

Si une famille peut envoyer un seul de ses enfants a l'école, sur
quels critéres pensez-vous qu'elle se basera pour choisir qui doit
étre envoyé on non?

 

Si un jeune sait lire et écrire, pensez-vous qu'il devrait essayer
l'enseigner a ses fréres et soeurs qui ne sont pas a l'école?

oui non Pensez-vous qu'un jeune soit capable de leur
enseigner? oui non

 

Pensez-vous quaun jeune qui sait lire et écrire devrait essayer
d' enseigner a son pere et a sa mere 8 'ils ne peuvent pas lire et
écrire? oui non Pensez-vous qu' un jeune soit capable
de leur enseigner? oui non

 

 

 

Pensez-vous qu'un jeune recontrerait des difficultés s'il avait
essayé d'enseigner aux autres adultes de sa localité? oui
non Si oui, quelles difficultes?

 

Est-ce que vous échouez souvent dans presque tout ce que vous essayez
de faire? oui non

 

Oh vit 1e pape?

 

Dans quel rang auriez-vous placé votre école en comparaison aux
autres écoles que vous connaissez en Haiti?

a) parmi les pires

b) parmi les mauvaises

c) parmi celles qui ont la moyenne
d) parmi les meilleurs écoles

45.

46.

47.
48.

49.

50.

51.

52.

53.

54.

55.

56.
57.

58.

59.
60.

61.

184
Parmi les professeurs de votre l'école, vous considérez-vous comme:

a) le pire

b) parmi les pires
c) parmi les meilleurs
d) le meilleur
Pensez-vous que les professeurs sont respectés comme ils devraient
l'étre dans la communauté? oui non Pourquoi?

 

Quel est le plus grand probléme des parents de vos éléves?

Avez-vous beaucoup de malchance? oui non

Lesquelles de ces langues parlez-vous?

Creole Francais Anglais Espagnol
Autres

 

 

Pensez-vous que les jeunes doivent toujours obéir a leurs ainés,
que ceux-ci aient raison ou non? oui non

Est-ce que vous parlez souvent aux parents de vos éleves? oui
non Combien de fois par trimestre?

 

Combien daenfants avez-vous? Combien de vos enfants sont a
l'age d'aller a l'école? Ou vont-ils a l'école?
Pourquoi avez-vous choisi cette école-la pour eux?

 

 

 

Pensez-vous qu'on devrait enseigner l'agriculture dans les écoles
primaires? oui non Pourquoi?

 

D'aprés vous, quelle était la principale cause des nombreux échecs
des éléves au Certificat d'Etudes Primaires?

 

Quaest-ce que l'école doit avoir accompli pour un étudiant au moment
oh il finit ses études?

 

Pourquoi avez vous choisi laenseignement comme profession?

Quelles sont les caractéristiques daun bon professeur?

 

Si vous pouviez faire quelque chose pour améliorer la qualité de
votre école, qu'est ce que vous auriez fait?

 

Qui est le président des Etats-Unis?

 

D'apres vous, quelles sont les principales caractéristiques d'une
personne qui est "arrivée" dans la vie?

 

Pensez-vous que l'école vaut tout l'argent que les familles
dépensent pour elle? oui non

 

APPENDIX B-2

TEACHER QUESTIONNAIRE
(English Translation)

Dear Instructor,

We, at Compassion, are trying to learn as much as possible about the
schools, students and teachers in Haiti. We would like to have your
assistance. Would you please respond to the following questions; the
responses will remain confidential. The only people who will read

your responses are my research colleagues engaged in this project and
myself. Nobody from the Ministry of Education, Compassion, your mission,
or your school will see your responses.

This is not an examination. We are going to go through this question-
naire together, question by question. If you do not understand a ques-
tion, please ask us to help you.

You will be helping us to improve the quality of primary instruction by
responding to the best of your ability.

Thank you for your cooperation.

Sincerely yours,

Wesley K. Stafford
Associate Director of Education
Compassion International

 

Name of School

1. What class(es) are you teaching this year?

 

 

 

Maternelle Préparatoire I Elémentaire II
Enfantine I Préparatoire II Moyen I
Enfantine II Elémentaire I Moyen II

 

Director only

 

2. Are you a man? woman?
3. What is your age?

4. Where is your place of birth?

 

185

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

15.

l6.

17.
18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

186
Where did you do the majority of your primary schooling?

Have you ever been a student in this school? yes no
In what grades?

 

 

How many years have you been a teacher?
How many of those years have you taught in this school?
In how many other schools have you taught?

Have you received formal teacher training? yes no
If yes, how many years? In what school?

 

 

How many years of formal education have you had?
What is the highest grade you completed?

 

Do you currently have another occupation besides teaching? yes
no What occupation?

 

Do you like teaching? yes no

 

Have you ever wanted to quit teaching in favor of another occupa-
tion? yes no What occupation would you choose?

 

Do you think that the majority of your students would like to be-

 

 

 

come teachers after their schooling? yes no

Why?

Would you encourage a student to become a teacher? yes no
Why?

Do you have brothers and sisters who are also teachers? yes no

What is the biggest difficulty teachers face?

 

How often do you use French in your home? never rarely
occasionally often

How often was French spoken in your childhood home? never
rarely occasionally often

Does (or did) your father speak French?

a) He speaks (or spoke) no French.

b) He speaks (or spoke) very little French.

c) He speaks (or spoke) French fairly well.

d) He speaks (or spoke) French like a Frenchman.

I l

 

Did your father receive any schooling? yes no If yes,
what was the highest grade he completed?

 

 

What is (or was) your father's occupation?

 

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

H

187
Does (or did) your mother speak French?

a) She speaks (or spoke) no French.

b) She speaks (or spoke) very little French.

c) She speaks (or spoke) French fairly well.

d) She speaks (or spoke) French like a French woman.

 

Did your mother receive any schooling? yes no If yes,
what was the highest grade she completed?

 

 

What is (or was) your mother's occupation?

 

Have you ever travelled to other regions of Haiti? yes no
What is the furthest region you have visited?

 

 

Have you ever travelled outside of Haiti? yes no
Where?

 

Among the following items, indicate first of all those which you
have currently in your home; then indicate those items your parents
had in their home during your childhood.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

ITEM IN YOUR CURRENT HOME IN YOUR CHILDHOOD HOME
1. Box-springs bed
2. Camera
3. Motorcycle
4. Radio
5. Bicycle
6. Car
7. Alarm clock
8. Pressurized lantern
9. Television
0. Tin roof

 

 

How often are you sick?

daily once a month once a year

once a week once every 6 months never

Which of the following illnesses have you had?

 

 

malaria tetanus anemia
typhoid tuberculosis malnutrition
other

Do you often feel persecuted? yes no

 

The statistics show that many children drop out of school in the
first few years. Why, in your opinion, does this happen?

 

There is a minority of students who survive to the Moyen II level.
What, in your opinion, allows them to accomplish this?

 

35.

36.

37.

38.

39.

40.

41.

42.

43.

44.

45.

46.

188

What is the most important quality that a student needs to succeed
in school?

obedience/respect
a good memory
intelligence
hard work/effort

___—_-

What is the biggest difficulty that students face?

 

Many school-age children in this community do not attend school.
Why do these children not attend school?

 

If a family is only able to send one of its children to school, on
what criteria do you think they base their choice?

 

If a youth is able to read and write, do you think that he should
try to teach his brothers and sisters who are not enrolled in

school? yes no
Do you think that a youth would be able to teach them?
yes no

 

 

Do you think that a youth who can reaad and write should try to
teach his father and mother if they are not 1iterate?___yes ___no
Do you think that a youth would be able to teach them?___yes ___no
Do you think that a youth would encounter difficulties if he tried
to teach other adults in the community? yes no If yes,
what difficulties?

 

Do you often fail in the things that you try to do? yes no

Where does the Pope live?

 

How would you rate your school in comparison to other schools you
know in Haiti?

a) one of the worst
b) below average

c) average

d) one of the best

 

How would you rate yourself as a teacher in comparison to the
other teachers in your school?

a) the worst

b) below average
c) average

d) the best

Ill

Do you think that teachers get the respect that they deserve in
the community? yes no Why?

 

47.

48.

49.

50.

51.

52.

53.

54.

55.
56.
57.

58.

59.
60.

61.

189

What is the greatest difficulty your students' parents face?

 

Are you often unlucky? yes no

 

Which of the following languages do you speak?

Creole French English Spanish
Other

 

Do you think that young people should always obey their elders,
whether they are right or wrong? yes no

Do you often speak with the parents of your students? yes no
How many times per trimester?

How many children do you have? How many of your children
are of school age? Where do they attend school?
Why did you choose that school for them?

 

 

 

Do you think that agriculture should be taught in primary school?
yes no Why?

 

 

 

In your opinion, why do so many students fail the C.E.P. examina-
tion?

 

What is the primary task of the school for its students?

Why did you choose teaching as a profession?

 

What characterizes a good teacher?

 

If you could do anything to improve the quality of your school,
what would you do?

 

Who is the president of the United States?

 

What characterizes a successful person?

 

Do you think that school is worth the money that families invest in
it? yes no

 

 

 

APPENDIX C

SCHOOL FACILITIES SURVEY

APPENDIX C-l

SCHOOL FACILITIES SURVEY
(French Version)

 

 

10.

11.

12.

13.

14.

(Nom de l'école) (Date de la visite)

Date de la fondation de l'école: (Age ans)

 

Nombre d'années depuis que l'école a le Moyen II:

 

Emplacement: zone urbaine village zone rurale
Distance vers la route asphaltée la plus proche: kms
Section secondaire? oui non

 

Plus grande classe du cours secondaire?

 

Section de formation professionnelle? oui non
Quels choix de profession?

 

 

Liste d'attente pour rentrer a l'école primaire? oui non
Choix des critéres d'admission

 

 

L'école a: t-elle son propre édifice? oui non Quel
édifice(s) est utilisé actuellement comme école?

 

Nombre d'édifices scolaires: Nombre de salles de
classe:
Nombre de professeurs a plein temps: aides:

cuisiniéres:

Liste du niveau éducatif des professeurs (du plus élevé au plus
bas). De 5

 

 

Liste des salaires (mensuels: du plus eleve au plus bas) des
professeurs. De 5

 

 

 

Le directeur de l'école enseigne t-il? oui non
Quel pourcentage de fois? %
Le directeur de l'école est-i1 aussi un pasteur? oui non

190

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

191

Ecolage annuel:

 

Moyen II Moyen I Elémentaire II Elémentaire I

 

Préparatoire II Préparatoire I Enfantine II Enfantine I Maternelle

Pourcentage d'éléves qui fréquentent physiquement l'église de

 

 

-- A

Réunion pour professeurs et parents? oui non Combien
de fois (par trimestre) . Pourcentage de parents qui
y assistent? %

Education des adultes (école du soir)? oui non Cours
offerts?

L'école a une bibliotheque? oui non Nombre de

livres? Peut-on les consulter? oui non

 

Taux de succés aux examens du Certificat d'Etudes Primaires
(C.E.P.)

NOMBRE d'ELEVES NOMBRE AYANT REUSSI

1982-83
1981-82
1980-81
1979-80
1978-79
1977-78

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Dossiers des inscriptions:

 

MOYII MOYI ELII ELI PREII PREI ENFII ENFI MAT TOTAL

 

1982-83

 

1981-82

 

1980-81

 

1979-80

 

1978-79

 

1977-78

 

L'école fournit-elle les textes des professeurs? oui non
L'école fournit-elle les textes des éléves? oui non

 

 

 

23.

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

192

Y a t-il un reglement au sujet des uniformes a l'école?

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

oui non
Est-ce une école assistée par Compassion? oui non
Nombre d'éléves assistés?
Date du début de l'assistance ( ans)
Matériaux de construction de l'école: blocs de ciment
argile/boue bois pierre autre
Matériel du plafond de l'école: t61e chaume
ciment bois autre
Parquet de ldécole: terre battue ciment bois
brique autre
Etat général de l'édifice: en construction excellent
bon passable pauvre
(expliquer)
Latrine? oui non Nombre de compartiments:
Etat: excellent bon passable pauvre
(expliquer)
Cours de récréation? oui non Dimension: pieds
carrés
Origine de l'eau de l'école: riviere/ruisseau puits
privé puits public fontaine publique recueillement
d'eau de pluie conduite privée
autre
Diner fourni? oui non Combien de jours par semaine? L M
Mer J Ven Diner fourni a tous les éléves sans paiement?
oui non
Combustible utilisé pour la cuisson: charbon bois
kérosine gaz électricité animal
autre
Salle a manger? oui non

Equipement varié:

 

 

 

 

 

 

jardin machine a taper
machine a polycopier corde a sauter
terrain de football radio

salle de détente des professeurs magnétophone

 

matériel artisanal

 

 

 

 

193
Salle de classe:
1. Eléves: (Garcons: _____ Filles: _____)
2. Absents: Professeurs: Aides:
3. Longueur: Largeur: Pieds carrés:
4. Portes: Fenétres (grillagées):
5. Tableaux noirs: Carte géographique:
graphiques/photos:
6. Bancs/bureaux (dimension): (description):
Nombre de pouces/éleves:
7. Bureau (hi professeur: Coffre/cabinet:
8. Texte par éleve: Sujet:

9. Matériel a écrire utilisé:

10. Croquis de la salle de classe:

 

 

 

Nom de l'Ecole Année Scolaire

 

ELEVES DU MOYEN II M/F CEP RESIDENCE ACTUELLE ED. PROFESSION CHOMEUR?

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX C-2

SCHOOL FACILITIES SURVEY
(English Translation)

 

10.

ll.

12.

13.

14.

 

(Name of School) (Date of Visit)
Date the school was founded: (Years in existence: )
Number of years the school has had a complete primary program:

Locale: urban semi-rural rural
Distance to the nearest paved road: kms
High school? yes no

 

 

The highest grade available:

 

Vocational training program? yes no
Vocational options taught:

 

 

Is there a waiting list to enroll in the primary school? yes
no What are the criteria for admission?

 

 

Does the school have its own building? yes no
What building(s) does it use for classrooms?

 

 

Number of school buildings: Number of classrooms:
Number of fulltime teachers: teachers' aides:
cooks:

Levels of teachers' education (from highest to lowest).
From to

 

 

Teachers' salaries (monthly: from highest to lowest):
From to

 

 

 

Does the school director teach? yes no What percentage
of his time? %
Is the school director also the local pastor? yes no

 

194

15.

16.

17.

18.

19.

20.

21.

22.

23.

195

Annual tuition:
Moyen II Moyen I Elémentaire II Elémentaire I

 

 

Préparatoire II Préparatoire I Enfantine II Enfantine I Maternelle
Percentage of students who attend the local church: %

School has PTA meetings? yes no How many times per
trimester? Percentage of parents who attend: %

Adult education? yes no Courses offered:

 

Library? yes no Number of books:
Can be checked out? yes no

 

 

CEP examination record of success:
NUMBER OF STUDENTS NUMBER WHO PASSED

1982-83
1981-82
1980-81
1979-80
1978-79
1977-78

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Enrollment records:

 

MOYII MOYI ELII ELI PREII PREI ENFII ENFI MAT TOTAL

 

1982-83

 

1981-82

 

1980-81

 

1979-80

 

1978-79

 

1977-78

 

Does the school provide textbooks for the teachers? yes no
Does the school provide textbooks for the students? yes no

 

Are school uniforms required? yes no

 

24.

25.

26.

27.

28.

29.

30.

31.

32.

33.

34.

196

Does the school receive assistance from Compassion? yes no
Number of students sponsored:
Date assistance began:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Building material: cement block mud wood
stone other

Roofing material: tin thatch cement wood
other '“”

School floor: earth cement wood brick
other

General condition of buildings: under construction
excellent good fair poor

(explain)

Latrines? yes no Number of compartments:

Condition: excellent good fair poor

(explain)

Playground? yes no Dimensions: square feet

Water source for the school: river/stream private well
public well public fountain rainwater catchment
other

Lunch program? yes no How many times per week?

(Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday) Is it provided to

all students free of charge? yes no

Fuel used for cooking: charcoal wood kerosene
gas electricity other

Dining room? yes no

 

Miscellaneous equipment:

 

 

 

 

 

 

school garden typewriter
mimeograph jump ropes
soccer field radio
teachers' lounge tape recorder

—_

arts and crafts materials

 

Classroom Identification:

1.

2.

 

Number of students: (Boys: Girls: )

Absentees: Teachers: Aides:

197

3. Length: _____ Width: _____ Square footage:

4. Doors: _____ Windows (grillwork):

5. Blackboards: _____ Maps: _____ Visual aids: _____
6. Desks/benches (dimensions): Description:

 

 

Number of inches per student:
7. Teacher's desk: Locker/cabinet:
8. Number of texts per student: Subject being taught:

9. Writing utensils used:

 

10. Sketch of classroom layout:

 

VOCATIONAL HISTORY REVIEW

 

 

Name of School School Year

 

MOYEN II STUDENTS M/F CEP RESIDENCE EDUCATION PROFESSION EMPLOYED?

 

1) Pierre Antoine M Passed Aquin 8eme (HS) No ---

 

2) Gislaine Belbrun F Failed Le Blanc --- Tailor Yes

 

3)

 

APPENDIX D

INTRODUCTION LETTER TO SCHOOL DIRECTORS

APPENDIX D-l

INTRODUCTION LETTER TO SCHOOL DIRECTORS
(French Version)

mardi 29 mars 1983

Major Raymond Ternier
College Verena
Port-au-Prince

Cher Major Ternier:

L'Armée du Salut et Compasion Internationale collaborent actuellement
dans le but de réaliser une étude permettant de recueillir le plus
d'informations possibles au sujet des écoles primaires, des éléves et
des professeurs en Haiti. Le C011Ege Verena de Port-au-Prince (Armée
du Salut) a été choisi comme 1'une des écoles que nous aimerons visiter.
Nous serons dans la zone de v6tre école et
aimerions visiter v6tre établissement au début de la matinée.

 

Si ceci convient a v6tre personnel et vous, nous aimerons avoir une
conversation courte et simple avec vous d'abord, en tant que directeur,
au sujet de v6tre école. Nous voudrions passer environ une heure de
temps avec tous vous professeurs réunis en un seul groupe et leur
demander (he remplir un questionnaire. Nous aimerions aussi parler
individuellement a plusieurs de vos éleves du Moyen 11 au cours de

la journée.

Comprenez bien ceci et veuillez l'expliquer aussi aux professeurs et
aux éléves, les questions que nous poserons ne sont pas un examen et
leurs réponses seront gardées trés confidentiellement. En collaborant
avec nous, vous aiderez l'Armée du Salut et Compassion Internationale
a améliorer qualité de l'éducation primaire en Haiti.

Merci de v6tre aide.

Sincerement v6tre,

 

 

Capitaine Jonas Georges Wesley K. Stafford
Coordonnateur des Ecoles Directeur-Associé en Education
Armée du Salut Compassion Internationale

P.S. Il est trés important pour vous d'avoir la feuille de
renseignements cijointe remplie au moment de notre
visite
Veuillez y écrire 1e nombre d'éleves présents dans chaque
classe pour les années académiques indiquées (soyez aussi
précis que possible).

 

198

APPENDIX D-2

INTRODUCTION LETTER TO SCHOOL DIRECTORS
(English Translation)

Tuesday, March 29, 1983

Major Raymond Ternier
College Verena
Port-au-Prince

Dear Major Ternier:

The Salvation Army and Compassion International are cooperating in a
study with the goal of obtaining as much information as possible about
primary schools, students, and teachers in Haiti. College Verena of
Port-au-Prince (Salvation Army) was selected as one of the schools we
would like to visit. We will be in the area of your school on

, and would like to visit your establishment at

the start of the school day.

 

If this is convenient for you and your personnel, we would like to have
a brief interview first of all with you, as director, about your school.
We would like to spend at least an hour with all of your teachers in a
group in order to complete a questionnaire. We would also like to speak
individually with several of your Moyen 11 students in the course of

the day.

Be assured yourself, and explain to your teachers and students, that
the questions we will ask are not an examination, and that responses
will be kept in confidence. In cooperation with us, you are helping
the Salvation Army and Compassion International to improve the quality
of primary education in Haiti.

Thank you for your help.

Sincerely yours,

 

 

Captain Jonas Georges Wesley K. Stafford
School Coordinator Associate Director of Education
Salvation Army Compassion International

P.S. It is very important that you have the enclosed form completed
at the time of our visit on . Please fill
in the number of students present in each class for the school
years indicated (be as precise as possible).

 

199

APPENDIX E

TEACHER FRENCH ABILITY TEST

 

 

 

 

 

APPENDIX E

TEACHER FRENCH ABILITY TEST

pas assez d'argent pour acheter de nouveaux souliers.

Appréter 20 dollars
Empréter 20 dollars
Préter 20 dollars

Emprunter 20 dollars

De temps en temps j'emploie accidentellement la bicyclette de
Pierre parce qu'elle est:

a)
b)
C)
d)
e)

 

Paul est

___a)
b)
___C)
d)

 

 

De la fenétre de sa chambre,
terrible.

a)
b)
C)
d)
6)

 

Je dois

3)
b)
C)
d)

Méme a la mienne

Différente a la mienne
Semblable a la mienne
Originale a la mienne

Aucune réponse n'est correcte

le premier de sa classe. Il est:

Le plus bon éléve

Le meilleur éleve

Le plus meilleur éléve

Aucune réponse n'est correcte

Jean a vu un accident de voiture
11 en est:

La victime

Le témoin

L'auditeur

L'admirateur

Aucune réponse n'est correcte

parler 5 Marie:

Je
Je
Je
Je

la téléphone
téléphone avec elle
lui téléphone
1e téléphone

200

 

 

201
6. Pendant les repas le chat est toujours 5 nos pieds:

a) En bas la table

b) Sous la table

c) Sur la table

d) Aucune réponse n'est correct

 

 

 

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