Bermuda's headteachers have for years been sounding the same warnings as an expert team brought in tackle the failing education system, according to the president of the Association of School Principals.

Freddie Evans told The Royal Gazette that the findings of the team — revealed last Thursday in a television and radio broadcast — articulated concerns that public school principals had been voicing for some time.

"We weren't surprised by the results," he said. "We have got to a point where within our community education is at a crisis level and this review has helped to bring it to the forefront.

"I would say that there are factors that inhibit us from doing our job."

The review team — led by UK professor David Hopkins — found that school principals were generally efficient in administering their schools but less effective at ensuring the quality of teaching and learning.

"There is a culture of low expectations and lacklustre teaching that only principals can address," they claimed.

"To do so would have an immediate impact on pupils' progress and behaviour."

The experts said principals needed more autonomy, coaching from overseas headteachers and "360 degree appraisal".

Mr. Evans said the recommendations were valuable — but argued that improving and aligning the curriculum across all public schools first would solve many problems.

"If that is put in place it will allow principals to do their job," he said.

"They are the tools that need to be in place to make sure we can do our jobs more successfully.

"By the end of the first quarter in middle school, we want students to have accomplished certain things. Right now it's not aligned. I can't do a benchmark and end of quarter test to see where we are because we have done different things.

"We all have to be on the same track. After we get that alignment, we could do benchmark testing. Right now our data is woeful."

Mr. Evans, principal of Whitney Institute Middle School, said work on improving and delivering the curriculum consistently and assessing students' understanding of it needed to be implemented immediately, though the experts viewed that as a longer-term goal.

He believes Bermuda's public school pupils need "criterion testing".

"That way we can ensure we are measuring what we are teaching," he said. "The Terra Nova tests used now are norm reference tests used to measure what our system is doing compared to North America. It doesn't give us a reference point to measure what is happening in our classrooms."

The Hopkins report concluded — after the experts visited every one of the Island's 25 public schools and observed more than 100 lessons — that principals needed to become stronger instructional leaders. "Our association accepts that criticism as valid," said Mr. Evans.

"I'm actually optimistic," he said, adding that he believed the team's ten recommendations could be implemented. "I would expect we would see changes. We are pleased to be part of the conversation. The whole idea of the review is moving us all to a better level of accountability."