Teachers and pupils are to receive financial rewards for results under a sweeping review of the public education system.

The monetary awards will be presented to those teachers and students at the end of each school year in order to "celebrate" their progress. They will be funded by public companies on the Island.

Education Minister Randy Horton said yesterday: "The Chairman (of the Interim Executive Board), Minister and Premier have had meetings with the CEOs of major companies in Bermuda to dialogue.

"I am pleased to say that these companies are interested in supporting our schools and assisting with the Recognition and Rewards ceremony which will be held at the end of each school year."

Among the other measures to improve standards in the nation's schools are: corporate training in leadership for school principals; a separate Ministry headquarters; curriculum-based tests in reading, writing, mathematics and social studies; a review of legislation relating to parental responsibilities and special needs children; and a survey of teachers' views on reform.

The raft of measures was announced by Mr. Horton, accompanied by Permanent Secretary Ellen Kate-Horton, Interim Executive Board Chairman Philip Butterfield, Board advisors and project leaders.

The Minister said: "As the public will be aware, the Government of Bermuda commissioned a comprehensive review of the country's public education system earlier this year.

"This review, conducted by Professor David Hopkins, mandated a complete overhaul of our current system and outlined ten recommendations aimed at substantially improving our current education system."

Mr. Horton said the Interim Executive Board, chaired by Bank of Bermuda CEO Mr. Butterfield — a former chairman of the Board of Education, has established priorities for reform as part of the Education Review.

Six working groups have been established with Board Advisors and Project Leaders.

They are: Principal Leadership; Teaching and Learning; Ministry Reform; Accountability, Performance Management and Use of Data; Parent/Business Partnerships; and Medium Term Developments.

Dr. Henry Johnson, a former US Assistant Secretary of Education, has been appointed Consultant Executive Officer to coordinate the reform process over the next two years.

Mr. Horton however, anticipates the measures to be in place by the end of this school year.

He said yesterday: "We are looking at early January for some but I would hope as we move through this school year and through July that we will be close to bringing into play most of the recommendations."

He told the press conference: "Today, I am pleased to provide the public with a progress report on the tasks undertaken by each of the working groups thus far.

"Principal Leadership: the Education Review revealed that School Principals are generally efficient in administering their schools. However, they were less effective in ensuring the quality of teaching and learning."

He said: "This working group proposes to address these issues by putting into place a model which combines corporate training with individual development.

"Training programmes in instructional leadership will be provided to all Principals so that we speak with a common language when we talk about matters related to public education."

In terms of Teaching and Learning, Mr. Horton said priorities include professional development for teachers with mentoring, workshops and conferences.

Measures include instructional and behaviour management strategies in lessons, plus a reward system for students, teachers, principals and schools "to promote excellence".

Teachers will be surveyed in the New Year on their views on the reform process. Mr. Horton said: "We are establishing a survey to ask them on their views."

He added the group aims to meet with the Bermuda Union of Teachers (BUT) Executive later this week "to engender support and input". Dr. Johnson has also met with the Association of School Principals "to involve them in the process".

Mr. Horton then spoke on Ministry Reform. He said the Working Group recommends a separate Ministry headquarters, to include the office of the Minister, Permanent Secretary, Policy Analyst and administrative support.

In terms of Accountability, Performance Management and Use of Data, a 'Balanced Scorecard' approach aims to ensure "full and fair accountability" for all tasks and results, in order to "encourage transparency".

"Curriculum-based criterion-referenced tests are being developed in reading, writing, mathematics and social studies. These tests will serve as the basis for our accountability system," said Mr. Horton.

He added: "We want to tighten up the accountability process, and certainly we will know what every student and teacher in every school is doing, with everyone working under one system."

Interim Executive Board Chairman Mr. Butterfield described the 'Balanced Scorecard' as a means of producing "complete alignment for any organisational structure".

"Our goal is to have teachers, pupils and Ministry personnel operating from the same page and sharing the same objectives.

"In the past we haven't had all stakeholders operating from the same page. This will give us the same direction to operate from in a structured way."

In the area of Parent/Business Partnerships, the Minister announced a review of legislation affecting parents with special needs children, plus a study of the role of parents in the public education system, and the possible re-establishment of the National Parent Teacher Association.

Mr. Horton said: "We're looking at support roles already in place to see whether we need to upgrade them."

He added the group was also developing "a parent survey to assess the level of involvement in schools that parents wish to have".

In the area of Medium Term Developments, the advisors recommend a 'school group or family' system to bring schools together "to deliberate as professional communities".

"This means that the five existing families of schools, each of which includes 800 — 1,000 students from preschools, primary schools and middle schools, would work even more closely together to share instructional methods based on best practice," said Mr. Horton.

"The two senior schools will work closer together in this model."

The Minister concluded: "It is clear that the Interim Executive Board is doing important and substantive work. All of its working groups are well advanced with their mandates with most nearing completion.

"The Board has also established its credibility on the Island and not just among educators.

"As such, we are pleased to provide you with this update regarding the significant progress that has been made to ensure Bermuda's children receive a world class education."

Consultant Executive Officer Dr. Johnson added that the review aimed to bring "alignment" into the public education system.

"The research (the Hopkins Report) is pretty clear about curriculum instruction, assessment and support mechanisms all being in alignment," he said.

"There's misalignment in some places in the system and one of the things we're working on is making sure all those points of alignment are tightened up, and that there's measurements in place to compare pupil performance at one point in time with another."