Transforming The Bahamian Education System: Eliminating The Practice of Social Promotion

This dissertation is based on the assumption that the practice of social promotion can be eliminated in the process of transforming the Bahamas educational system to embrace new and ongoing trends in education. Social promotion is defined as the practice of advancing students to the next level grade despite the fact that they have not successfully met the current academic requirements. As a result of this practice, many challenges are associated with its continuation. Generally, advocates of social promotion focus on problems they associate with grade retention or repetition. Within the scope of this dissertation, concerns of this long-lived practice are discussed through variant strategies with great anticipation to achieve complete transformation. Throughout the development of this dissertation, strategies will include examining the overview of both social promotion and grade retention, integrating transformational leadership styles to assist with eradication process, researching methods and designs in evaluating effects of the practice, and implementing an after school program to successfully achieved termination efforts.

This project focused on two major paradigms for eliminating the practice of social promotion. First, student-empowerment is promoted by encouraging integrated transformational leadership styles of educational leaders and other stakeholders. Second, an afterschool program was established to enhance students’ academic performances. The goal of these paradigm shifts is to cultivate, embrace, mold, and shape holistic development of students and educators. This dissertation concludes by presenting recommendations for a transformed Bahamas Educational System to adequately embrace ongoing trends in education for the twenty-first century.