I am an alternative pathways to secondary education (APSE) coach working within Jamaica’s education system for over six years with direct exposure to special education practices both before and after formal training and qualification. My role requires me to support students with diverse learning needs while working closely with teachers, guidance counsellors, and school administrators. Through this work, I have repeatedly encountered the continued use of the Individual Diagnostic Reading Inventory (IDRI) as a primary tool for measuring reading ability.

This reality prompts an important national question: Is the IDRI still a relevant and effective assessment tool for Jamaican students in today’s classrooms?

Assessment tools are meant to guide intervention, inform instruction, and support equitable educational outcomes. In special education especially, assessment data carry significant weight. The information influences referrals, accommodations, and long-term academic planning. When an assessment tool becomes outdated it risks misrepresenting students’ true abilities and undermining the very support it is meant to provide.

One clear concern lies in the content of the IDRI itself. For example, a comprehension question in the assessment asks: “How do you think Usain Bolt will perform in athletics in the future?” —
Informal Diagnostic Reading Inventory (2010), p. 55.

In the Jamaican context, Usain Bolt is a national icon. However, he has long since retired from competitive sprinting. A student responding today may reasonably be confused by the premise of the question. Any hesitation or uncertainty in their response would not indicate a reading or comprehension deficit, but rather an issue with outdated contextual assumptions embedded in the test.

This distinction is critical. When assessment items rely on obsolete or misleading contexts, they risk measuring background knowledge rather than literacy skills. For students with learning disabilities, attention challenges, language processing difficulties, or limited exposure to certain reference points, this creates an unfair barrier and compromises the validity of the results.

International best practices in assessment emphasise that diagnostic tools must be:

• Periodically updated

• Culturally and temporally relevant

• Aligned with current curriculum and literacy research

• Sensitive to students’ lived experiences.

When these standards are not met the data produced becomes questionable. Yet APSE coaches are expected to rely on this data to justify interventions, write reports, and support decision-making within schools.

The challenges facing APSE coaches in Jamaica

The continued use of outdated tools like the IDRI also highlights broader challenges that directly oppose or complicate the work of APSE coaches in Jamaica.

APSE coaches often face:

•Limited access to updated assessment resources, despite increasing demands for data-driven decision-making

•Expanding responsibilities — including screening, intervention support, documentation, and teacher consultation — often without proportional increases in time or staffing

•Pressure to defend assessment results, even when the tools used are clearly misaligned with modern learners

•Inconsistencies between assessment tools and classroom realities, especially as classrooms become more digitally oriented and student populations more diverse

•Equity concerns, as students from different socio-economic and cultural backgrounds may be disproportionately affected by outdated or narrowly framed assessment content.

Despite these challenges, APSE coaches are still held accountable for student progress and outcomes. We are expected to individualise instruction, support inclusive practices, and advocate for students, yet one of the primary tools used to identify reading needs has not kept pace with the realities of today’s Jamaican classrooms.

A call to action for the Jamaican education system

For these reasons, I am calling on the Ministry of Education to critically review the continued use of the IDRI and to invest in modern, research-based diagnostic reading assessments that reflect current knowledge, culture, and educational practice.

Such action should include:

•A formal evaluation of the IDRI’s validity and relevance

•Investment in updated literacy assessment tools

•Ongoing review cycles to prevent future obsolescence

•Meaningful consultation with APSE coaches and front-line educators.

This is not a rejection of assessment. Rather, it is a call to strengthen assessment practices so that they accurately reflect student ability and support effective intervention.

If Jamaica is serious about inclusive education and equitable outcomes then we must ensure that the tools guiding our decisions are fit for purpose. Our students deserve assessments that reflect the world they live in today, and APSE coaches deserve resources that support — not hinder — their work.

Outdated tools do not simply belong to the past; they actively shape the present. It is time for our assessment practices to move forward with our students.

GARCIA RATTRAY-ARANSEVIA .