Charity: more data needed to confirm reading-strength claims
A recent claim by the Government that Bermuda’s public school students have a solid reading foundation needs to be backed up by more data, the founder of an education charity has said.
Becky Ausenda, the former executive director of the Bermuda Education Network, was speaking after the tabling in Parliament of a report on lower-than-average results in public school exams.
It was prepared by Cambridge International Education, the body that sets the exams.
Ms Ausenda said that while the report, which was dated April 2026 and released publicly last Friday, included some data on Cambridge Checkpoint and IGCSE results, absent was data related to other reading programmes.
It is widely agreed that reading is the foundation for academic success in all subjects at school level.
Ms Ausenda said that the report reflected patterns of academic underperformance but did not answer the central question of why performance is so far below the CIE international benchmark.
Meanwhile, the Opposition claimed that the report does not tell parents or teachers anything not already known.
The Government announced in March that it would request the review soon after The Royal Gazette reported that public school exam results fell below international averages in almost all areas in the 2024-25 academic year.
A widening gap between high and low-performing students in primary and middle schools from 2023 to 2025 was documented in the findings, as well as a general long-term decline in academic performance between 2013 and 2022.
Ms Ausenda told the Gazette: “Before concluding that students have solid reading foundations, the public needs to see the more detailed Gates-MacGinitie data and the ministry needs to evaluate school readiness, University of Florida Literacy Institute implementation, and the effectiveness of the Creative Curriculum in P1.”
Gates-MacGinitie reading tests are designed to assess students’ reading levels throughout their education while UFLI is a structured literacy programme that was adopted by public schools in 2024.
Ms Ausenda added: “The report tells us where performance is stronger or weaker but it does not examine the instructional, curricular or early-years factors that may be contributing to the results.
“This is important because the ministry indicated that the review would help evaluate the impact of instructional practices.
“Cambridge includes a reading strand within its English assessment, but this is not the public school system’s principal assessment of reading proficiency.
“A fuller picture requires analysis of the Gates-MacGinitie results.
“Without this we cannot determine how many students are reading proficiently, where difficulties begin or whether outcomes are improving.”
The Gates-MacGinitie results are not publicly available.
Ms Ausenda said the report should prompt examination of instruction before and during the first years of primary school.
“Bermuda needs more school-readiness provision, including expanded opportunities for three-year-olds and equitable access to high-quality preschool education,” she added.
“At primary level, the introduction of the UFLI phonics programme was an important step.
“Its success, however, depends upon consistent daily delivery, teacher training and appropriate student supports.”
She highlighted that the position of reading officer, who would be responsible for monitoring UFLI implementation, has been vacant for two years.
Ms Ausenda also reiterated earlier comments about the need to evaluate the continued use in P1 of the Creative Curriculum, which teachers are expected to integrate with Cambridge English Language Arts standards.
“The consensus among most of the BPS primary teachers is that this has not improved school readiness and literacy outcomes,” she added.
She also emphasised the importance of strong interventions available for students with social or emotional needs, behavioural challenges and learning differences.
The Gazette expects to soon speak in depth with Diallo Rabain, the recently reinstated Minister of Education, who said he has been taking time to get back into the role after a period leading a different ministry.
Mr Rabain gave a ministerial statement last Friday on the report, when he said a number of interventions were planned to address academic shortfalls.
They included strengthening mathematics instruction, expanding writing across the curriculum, and enhancing science teaching and learning.
The minister did not detail how the interventions were arrived at and said he would report back to the House of Assembly within 12 months.
Ben Smith, the shadow education minister, said this week: “The Cambridge report doesn’t tell parents and teachers anything they haven’t seen in our classrooms.
“Teachers have been working hard under increasingly difficult circumstances. Families know that too many students continue to struggle with mathematics, writing and science.
“The report simply provides independent evidence confirming what Bermuda has been experiencing for years.”
Mr Smith acknowledged the importance of parental support at home but stressed that not every child has the same level of support outside the classroom.
He said: “That is precisely why our public education system must be equipped to identify struggling students early, provide additional support and help close those gaps rather than allow them to widen.”
Mr Smith praised Mr Rabain for releasing the report and acknowledging the challenges, saying “transparency is always the right approach”.
He added: “However, parents and teachers have lived through years of education reform, new strategies and repeated announcements. What they want now is confidence that this time will be different.
“Before asking the public to believe this plan will succeed, the ministry should explain how previous initiatives were measured, what evidence showed they were working or not working, and how progress will now be assessed in a way that parents, teachers and the wider public can clearly see.”
In March, the Ministry of Education attributed below-average outcomes in 2024-25 to the non-selective nature of Bermuda’s public school system, small cohort sizes that can create “statistical volatility”, and disruptions caused by the Covid-19 pandemic.
It also referred to a prolonged period of “leadership turnover and structural reform impacting the consistency of instructional delivery”.
The Ministry of Education did not respond to questions by the time of publication.
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