Journal of Education and Practice www.iiste.org ISSN 2222-1735 (Paper) ISSN 2222-288X (Online) Vol.5, No.32, 2014 71 Instituting Universal Secondary Education: Caribbean Students' Perceptions of their Schooling Experiences Verna C. Knight * Jennifer Obidah School of Education, Faculty of Humanities and Education, University of the West Indies Cave Hill Campus, P. O. Box 64, Bridgetown, BB 11000, Barbados * E-mail of the corresponding author: verna.knight@cavehill.uwi.edu Abstract As Caribbean governments continue to invest heavily in education as a major strategy for national and economic development, the question of student achievement and the need for increasing the effectiveness of schools in producing maximum student learning remains a dominant feature on the regional educational agenda, especially given recent education reforms which have mandated secondary educational provisions for every student in most Caribbean territories. However, despite this no Caribbean study thus far has examined Universal Secondary Education (USE) from the perspective of the students in the Caribbean who have now been afforded access to secondary education. This study takes an in-depth look at students’ experiences at eight secondary classrooms in the tri-island state of Grenada, Carriacou and Petite Martinique with the inception of Universal Secondary Education (USE). The study sought to examine the experiences of students in the lower performing secondary schools most affected by USE. Data were collected through a mixed method approach which included a survey of fifty (50) students and one (1) student focus group from each of the eight targeted schools. Student responses were grouped according to the following categories derived from data coding and analysis: classroom relationships, classroom teaching and learning, school curriculum, and school infrastructure. The findings present students’ explanations for the causes of poor student-teacher relationships, and inadequacies in teaching and learning, curriculum organization and physical infrastructure at the secondary level. This study therefore adds students’ voices to the persevering debate on educational improvement in the Caribbean in the 21 st century of universal access to education. Keywords: universal secondary education, secondary schooling, caribbean education, access to education, student voice, schooling experience, student-teacher relationship, teaching and learning 1. Introduction As Caribbean governments continue to invest heavily in education as a major strategy for national and economic development, the question of student achievement and the need for increasing the effectiveness of schools in producing maximum student learning remains a dominant feature on the regional educational agenda. The sub- regional education sector strategy for the Organization of Eastern Caribbean States (OECS), known as the OECS Education Sector Strategy (OESS) 2012 – 21, was recently revised to reflect the theme “Every Learner Succeeds,” (OERU, 2013). The theme of this sub-regional education strategy bears testament to its overarching emphasis on maximizing individual student learning, and is consistent with the international agenda on reforming education worldwide (UNESCO, 2010; 2013; 2014a; 2014b; Caillods, 2010; Konstantopoulos, 2006; 2008; Barro & Jong-Wha, 2001; Burnett & Harry, 1997). Efforts to reform education to meet the needs of the student over the years have been supported by research in developing countries, which have found school factors to have a significant impact on student outcomes (Rutter, Maughan, Montrose & Ouston, 1979; Simmons & Alexander, 1980; Heyneman & Loxley, 1983; Evans, 2001; UNESCO, 2010). Simmons & Alexander (1980) in a meta-analysis of student achievement in developing countries concluded that while home background or parental socio-economic status generally had a stronger influence on student performance than policy-controlled school variables, this was more often the case in the primary and early secondary grade levels. Policy-controlled school variables generally had a stronger impact than home or parental background for students at the upper secondary level. The findings of Simmons & Alexander (1980) were later confirmed by Heyneman & Loxley (1983) who concluded that findings which support the effect of home background or parental socio-economic status as having a greater influence on student achievement than schools, were more applicable for schooling at the primary up to the lower levels of the secondary school in developing countries, but diminished as students progressed through the education system. They concluded that in developing countries, school and teacher quality were the pre-dominant influences on student learning. Rutter, et al (1979) also concluded that schools do make a difference to student achievement. They highlighted the following as characteristics of good schools which made a difference in terms of student achievement: work-oriented lessons with time focused on subject matter, rather than behavior or administration; hard-working teachers who planned together and were supported by strong supervision and coordination by senior teachers; formal reward-based systems, public commendation for good performance, and immediate