GoGSAT! News!
USAID-COMET/GOGSAT PROJECT Helped GSAT Students Maximize Their Potential
SAF- GSAT '08, Tuesday June 24, 2008
Twelve year old Kela Williams of New Day Primary and Junior High has her sights set on being an attorney-at-law. Kela feels she has taken an important step on that journey to her life's goal, by achieving excellent passes in the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT). She has outperformed her peers to become the top GSAT student in the innercity community of Grants Pen.
"I am feeling very happy that I have passed. I am looking forward to attending Immaculate Conception High which was my first choice," said Kela, with joy evident in her voice. Kela was involved in the GSAT coaching project run by USAID-Community Empowerment and Transformation (COMET) and the e-learning company, GoGSAT.
Kela is confident that the GSAT Project helped her in her preparations for the exams. "By doing the practice tests in the GSAT programme at the Grants Pen Centre, I got to understand Science and Language Arts much more. They were my weakest subjects, but I got more knowledgeable with those subjects as a result of the online practice," Kela shared. "I like the fact that if I got something wrong I could go back and check the answers and know where I fell down". Her GSAT scores are an impressive 99 for Maths, 96 for Science, 96 for Social Studies, 88 for Language Arts and 10 out of 12 for Communication Tasks.
With GSAT out of the way, Kela is glad that she now has time to watch her favourite cartoon 'Sponge Bob'. Her mother and mentor Stephanie Bailey, cannot contain her joy over Kela's latest achievement: "I always knew she would do well. I am very proud of her. Before Kela started primary school, I used to home school her and I feel good to know she has continued to do very well," said Ms. Bailey. Kela has been on a roll in garnering achievements. She previously won the Award for the best overall performance in the USAID-COMET & GoGSAT Programme for the Grants Pen area, during an Awards Ceremony in Grants Pen, which was held in March this year.
The top male GSAT student from Grants Pen who was involved in the GSAT coaching programme is Junior McKenzie. He also attends New Day Primary and Junior High. Junior has earned a place at Kingston College by racking up scores of 90 for Maths, 90 for Social Studies, 82 for Language Arts, 74 for Science and 8 out of 12 for Communication Tasks.
Nelka Clarke, Administrator of the Grants Pen Cyber Centre, who was responsible for coordinating the GSAT project, believes the programme has been instrumental in empowering students in Grants Pen to do better in GSAT this year than in previous years. Over 80 percent of the students who participated in the entire programme have received excellent grades in the GSAT exams and are off to traditional and non-traditional high schools, according to the coordinators of the programme. "Most of the students who were involved in the programme from the start to the finish did very well. We have not had such good passes in Grants Pen in a long time," Ms. Clarke disclosed.
A similar situation exists in Flanker, which also benefited from the USAIDCOMET/ GoGSAT Programme. "Many of the children did well in GSAT", stated Marilyn Nash, Head of the Flanker Peace and Justice Centre, one of the facilities used by students in the GSAT coaching programme. "We are expecting an even greater performance from the Grade 5 students who are now involved in the programme, since they will have a longer time to prepare."
Ashley Thompson of Flanker Primary and Junior High has achieved a place at Mount Alvernia High. She feels the GSAT coaching programme played a major role in her preparations for the Maths and Science components of the GSAT exams. "I was not up to scratch in Maths and Science, but I know the GSAT project helped me a great deal. After the many weeks of practice tests I went in the exams confident that I would do well," said Ashley whose ambition is to be a physician or teacher.
Grants Pen in St. Andrew, Flanker in St. James and Central Village/White Marl in St. Catherine participated in the first phase of the joint venture initiative between USAID-COMET and GoGSAT, which began in mid-January and ended on March 12. The USAID-COMET Project paid the subscription rates for 45 students in each of the communities, to receive timed on-line practice tests to build their familiarity with the material and the process for GSAT. The second phase of the programme started recently for Grade 5 students in all three communities.
Keys to GSAT Success
SAF- GSAT '08, Tuesday June 24, 2008
In Jamaica, the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) enables comparisons of the performance of students in different schools. The test is administered by the Ministry of Education in the final term of the sixth grade, and covers Mathematics, English Language, Social Studies, Science and Communication Task. The scores obtained by each student are used to determine the quality of high school in which they will be placed. Therefore, it is very important that students do well in this test.
To this end, students must prepare properly in order to perform at their best on the GSAT. Too often, lack of preparation for the GSAT, (not lack of intelligence or knowledge) can make the difference between success and poor performance. This preparation should commence months before the examination as students will need to remember topics taught in grades four through six, and this is simply too much to cover satisfactorily in a short period.
While parents can insist that their child spends a certain amount of time preparing for the GSAT they cannot make them study. The child needs to do this for himself/herself, and should be made to understand that it takes an effort to succeed in life. Parents are therefore encouraged to take the time to talk to their children about personal responsibility from an early age.
Nevertheless, parents should be made aware that students take in and process information in different ways. Therefore, for students to succeed, teaching must be stimulating to them. To this end, parents and teachers should look at alternative methods of learning especially for those students who are not motivated to study using traditional means such as textbook. Teachers using these new approaches are perceived more favourably by students as evidenced by both student self-report and objective outcome testing which indicates that the use of multimedia materials offers an attractive environment to students especially if the Internet is the framework used to support it.
About the Author Shalette East is the Vice President of GoGSAT Ltd operators of www.gogsat.com and www.caribbeanexams.com. She has performed duties as the CEO of Computer Training and More, Facilitator Consultant, Management Institute for National Development (MIND), and IT Lecturer at the University College of the Caribbean, INFOSERV Institute of Technology and the University Hospital of the West Indies. Ms. East is currently pursuing a PhD in Computing Technology in Education in the United States.
USAID-COMET & GoGSAT Teams Up For Youth Development in Flanker
Kingston, Jamaica, June 3, 2008
The educational prospects of preteens in the innercity Montego Bay community of Flanker, have received a boost with the strengthening of a new programme for them. USAID-COMET in collaboration with the e-learning company, GoGSAT, launched the second phase of the online Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) coaching programme on Tuesday (May 27), for Grade 5 students who attend the Flanker Primary and Junior High School.
This phase will allow the students to have almost a year of free online coaching in GSAT practice tests, in preparations for GSAT exams in March next year. GoGSAT allows children of primary school age to have access to nearly 6,000 English, Maths, Science and Social Studies practice tests. The first phase of the joint venture programme began in mid-January, and served 270 youth from Grants Pen in St. Andrew, Flanker in St. James and White Marl/Central Village in St. Catherine.
The USAID-COMET Project pays the subscription rates of the students, and all the youth have to do is go online for at least 2 hours and 40 minutes each week, to do the practice tests.
Hugh Miller, Principal of Flanker Primary and Junior High is hailing the second phase of the GoGSAT Project as a "welcome programme, which couldn't have come at a better time." Referring to the programme as a "Godsend", Mr. Miller points out that some months ago; the student population had seen a marked decline, owing to an eruption of violence in the area. The Principal noted that during the turmoil, the school lost some of its brighter students to other educational institutions. He adds that with the calm returning, students have begun to return to the school and "the GoGSAT programme is a motivating factor for students and parents."
The Flanker Peace and Justice Centre as well as the Flanker Primary School serve as hubs for the GSAT e-learning programme. Students use the computer lab at the school from Mondays to Fridays, while the Peace and Justice Centre accommodate them from Mondays to Sundays.
Under the first phase of the programme USAID-COMET provided sponsorship of 45 Grade Six students who reside in Flanker. "We saw a noticeable improvement in many of the students," Mr. Miller says in an interview. Under the second phase of the programme another 45 students who are now Grade 5 students (who will move to Grade 6 in September), are participating in the programme.
Commending the programme for providing students with a wider scope of exam material than they were accustomed to, Mr. Miller says because of the interactive nature of the programme, teachers can leave the students to do the tests and concentrate on assisting students who are slower learners.
At Tuesday's launch of Phase Two of the GoGSAT Programme, all students who participated in Phase 1 of the programme were presented with certificates. Marilyn Nash, Executive Director of the Flankers Peace and Justice Centre who is also a resident of Flanker expressed gratitude to USAID and GoGSAT, for creating a brighter future for the children of Flanker. Commenting on the programme, she continued, "It is a wonderful thing. It is a challenge for a large number of them to afford extra lessons, so GoGSAT is certainly a great help for them in their preparations for exams."
Mrs. Nash added, "I was really happy when informed that they (USAID-COMET) want to work with the Grade Five students now".
Addressing participants at the Launch of GoGSAT Phase 2 in Flanker, Sharene McKenzie Civil Society Specialist, USAID-COMET, challenged private and public sector entities to match the efforts of the Project in committing support for GSAT students in other areas of the island. She declares that the communities stand to reap rich benefits when the children are educated.
The USAID-COMET Project was launched in Grants Pen in March 2006, and was extended to Flanker and Central Village/White Marl during 2007. USAID-COMET Project is supporting the rollout of Community Policing by the Jamaica Constabulary Force (JCF) in 19 JCF divisions. The Project is also partnering with the Social Development Commission in community empowerment and transformation across the island.
Students rewarded for role in online coaching project
Career & Education, Sunday, March 23, 2008
FORTY-FIVE grade six students from Grants Pen in St Andrew have been rewarded for their participation in an online coaching service, which prepared them for the recent Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT).
The students - drawn from the New Day, Shortwood and Constant Spring primary and junior high schools - were awarded certificates and trophies at the Grants Pen community policing station. They were hosted by the e-learning company GoGSAT, the Grants Pen Community Consultative Committee, and the USAID-Community Empowerment and Transformation (COMET) Project.
The programme, which started in January, prepared the students by exposing them to online courses geared at familiarising them with questions from the GSAT syllabus.
"It is an excellent programme. I have seen improvement in most of the students," project coordinator Nelka Clarke told Career & Education. "Some of them came into the programme getting grades in the 20s and now they are scoring 70s and 80s."
She noted that the programme had offered the students of the impoverished and volatile community the opportunity to receive individual help with their studies.
"Some of these students will never get the help from parents nor the individual attention from teachers at school, so when they get that opportunity here they are extremely interested," Clarke said, adding that students had attended classes regularly.
The students were on March 12 presented with their rewards as their proud parents looked on. They also received words of encouragement from Miss Kingston and festival queen Khalia Tyrell and have expressed their own appreciation at having benefited from the programme. "I am really glad to be a part of the programme. It helped me to understand a lot of things that I did not get a chance to fully understand in class at school," said Shadene Williams of Constant Spring Primary and Junior High School. Williams received the award for the most improved student in the group.
Inner-city youths get help with GSAT!
Career & Education, Sunday, February 10, 2008
SCORES of inner-city students are finding it easier to prepare for their Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), thanks to the United States Agency for International Development (USAID)-Community Empowerment and Transformation (COMET) project and the e-learning company, GoGSAT.
"The project offers an opportunity for youth to extend their reach and build a better future for themselves," said Bertrand Laurent, director of USAID-COMET.
Their partnership with GoGSAT began in mid-January and is benefiting 270 youths from Grants Pen, St Andrew; Flanker, St James; and White Marl/Central Village, St Catherine. They are getting free access to the online exam-coaching services of GoGSAT for a one-year period.
The USAID-COMET project pays the subscription rates of the students, and all they have to do is go to the cyber centres for at least two hours and 40 minutes each week. Each time they log on at the centres, they receive timed practice tests to build their familiarity with the material and the process for GSAT exams.
"We are preparing 45 grade-six students from each of the three communities for the upcoming GSAT exams, and when they are finished with that exam, we will begin to train another 135 students (that is 45 from each of the communities) who are now in Grade five," said Shalette East, GoGSAT's vice president of operations.
East added that GoGSAT had trained the teachers and/or centre managers who will administer the programme.
"Students have a Help Desk, at which they can seek answers to questions online, and get those answers in 24 hours. They also have a Chatroom, on which they can log on and speak with a tutor live, between 5pm and 7pm," she said in a release to the media.
Teachers/centre managers, meanwhile, can also keep track of their grades and progress in preparing for GSAT, through a special facility called a 'grade-book' system.
Schools in the targeted communities assist in the selection of the students - 20 per cent of those selected were performing above average, 60 per cent were average and 20 per cent were performing below average prior to the GoGSAT venture. "We will also be administering a survey for teachers so they can indicate what level of improvement they have noticed in the students, during the programme," East said.
Students from the Grants Pen area who attend New Day Primary and Junior High, Shortwood Practising, and Constant Spring Primary Schools are involved in the programme which operates out of the community's cyber centre at the Grants Pen community policing station.
Nelka Clarke, administrator for the centre, is pleased with the enthusiasm of the children.
"Over the years, the performance by the Grants Pen students in GSAT Exams, has not been satisfactory and so the GoGSAT programme will be of tremendous help. We want a 100 per cent improvement in the performance of the children," Clarke said. In Montego Bay, the Flanker Peace and Justice Centre as well as the Flanker Primary School and Junior High School serve as the hub for the programme.
Marilyn Nash, director of the Flanker Peace & Justice Centre, said the USAID-COMET/GOGSAT project gave students who were unable to pay for extra lessons at school "a boost in their academics".
Scotiabank Goes – GoGSAT
Scotiabank is partnering with GoGSAT.com to extend this programme to an additional 25 schools at the primary level.
The bank marked its support of the programme with a special demonstration for students and teachers at the Iris Gelly Primary School in Kingston earlier this week. The GoGSAT programme will give students access to a database of more than 6,000 practice questions covering all the focal areas of the Grade Six Achievement Test. The programme also offers a simulated test environment, inclusive of timed testing and automatic grading and enables parents and teachers to keep track of student performance. According to Joylene Griffiths Irving, director, public, corporate and government affairs at Scotiabank, the GoGSAT programme offers another opportunity to enhance Scotiabank's support to primary education.
"We have selected schools based on their inability to afford the programme as well as to enhance our ongoing relationship with the institutions," she said. "For example, some of these schools are beneficiaries of scholarships, computer equipment, or are participants in our Breakfast Feeding Programme or our HIV and AIDS awareness programme."
Shalette East, who heads the GoGSAT programme, said Scotiabank's support brings the number of schools using the programme to 70. "With this programme, students have access to comprehensive information in one place. After taking tests, there is a live marker that scores the tests almost immediately, and gives the results. In cases of incorrect answers, students can view the correct response."
Jamaica Gleaner: GoGSAT now at Sangster's Book Stores
Thursday, November 8, 2007, Latoya Grindley, Features Writer
For additional ways to help your child to prepare for the Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), there is now the GoGSAT Access Card. When you buy this card, all you have to do is scratch the back, as you would a phone card, to reveal a username and password which will grant access to the GoGSAT preparation website. These cards are now available at Sangster's Book Stores Ltd. for $7,521. They expire after six months. Another card can then be purchased. This is the latest initiative by GoGSAT Limited to increase its market and accessibility. Other ways of gaining access to the preparation website is via registration on its site, or by payment at any Scotiabank branch.
Shalette East, administrator of GoGSAT, says among the many benefits of using this online programme is that it sensitises students to embrace and get familiar with technology. "With this programme, students have access to comprehensive information in one place. After taking tests, there is a live marker which scores the tests almost immediately, giving the results. In cases of incorrect answers, students can view the correct response," she said. Currently, there are 60 schools island wide that are using this subscription-based system.
It is not only designed for students sitting the GSAT examination, but it also has features for parents to monitor their children's performance. Parents can access the results of tests done by their children and also view the dates they were taken. Based on the results of students, emails are sent by the administrator of the site indicating the strengths and weaknesses of the student. On the site, there are more than 6,000 questions, a grading system, grade book which keeps a track on the performances as well as online help from experts where students can submit questions or use a chatroom.
GoGSAT was launched in Jamaica in 2005 and is the brainchild of a group of doctoral students. For more information on GoGSAT, you can visit www.GoGSAT.com. Members of the public are invited to view live demonstrations at Sangster's Book Stores, Sovereign Centre from 10 a.m. this Saturday.
GoGSAT.com subscribers win five scholarships including top GSAT boy award!
GSAT Young Scholars, Tuesday, July 11, 2006
"GoGSAT gave me the necessary practice to help with my GSAT preparation…"
Kevin Robinson of Mt. Alvernia Preparatory School, St. James, outperformed his peers in this year's Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT), winning the Scotia Bank award for the Top Boy. "GoGSAT gave me the necessary practice to help with my GSAT preparation. I was able to perform very well in the GSAT and won the 2006 Scotia Bank Top Boy Award. I will be attending Cornwall College. Thanks to my parents, my teachers and GoGSAT." Kevin
Robert Henriques of Hillel Academy & Preparatory won a Government scholarship to Campion College. "My son Robert Adam Henriques got a Government Scholarship to Campion College! Thanks GoGSAT. Also, special recognition MUST go to his Grade 6 teacher, Ms. Desmarie Hines and Mrs. Sheila Purdom, the Director of Hillel Academy, who both did a SUPERB job preparing the children for the exam." Deborah Lanigan (Mom)
Yasheka Mangaroo of Boundbrook Primary, won the Horlicks Region 2 scholarship and will be attending Titchfield High School. "GoGSAT assisted greatly with my GSAT preparation. I passed my examination for Titchfield High and was able to win the Horlicks Region 2 scholarship. Thanks GoGSAT." Yasheka
Joshua Ardito of Mar Jam Preparatory, won a Government Scholarship to Campion College. "My son used GoGSAT often during his preparation, we are sure it helped him, to do better." Ricardo Ardito (Dad)
Blair Henry of Santa Cruz Preparatory, won the Blue Cross Commercial Scholarship and will be attending Immaculate Conception High. "GoGSAT assisted by being an excellent study tool to assist in the timing for my exams and preparing for the type of questions that would be presented." Blair
FREE online homework help for Jamaican primary and high school students at gogsat.com and caribbeanexams.com
Students – stumped by your latest assignments?
Teachers – need to recommend free, one-on-one tutoring to your students?
Parents – having trouble offering homework help?
GoGSAT etutor provides FREE online homework help in math, science, social studies, english and communication tasks. Students in grades four to six can log on from any computer and get real assistance from trained, certified teachers and graduate students, eight hours a day, seven days a week.
Caribbeanexams.com etutor provides free online homework help in math, information technology (including programming and pseudocode/algorithm development), literature, english, principles of business and principles of accounts. Students from grades seven to eleven can log on from any computer and get real assistance from trained, certified teachers and graduate students, eight hours a day, seven days a week.
This one-on-one homework help is provided to Jamaican students through the company's private online help desk and chat centre. Students can access the service at home, school or from any computer seven days a week from 2 to 10 p.m. The service is available to gogsat. com and caribbeanexam.com subscribers.
Students can register for this service at www.gogsat.com and www.caribbeanexams.com.
GOGSAT.com students get into high schools of first choice
Gsat Young Scholars, Tuesday, July 11, 2006
A groundbreaking online educational initiative to enhance the GSAT preparation and promote fun learning has taken Jamaica by storm and has yielded excellent results. The learning system found at www.gogsat.com has yielded success beyond the developers' imagination in its first year.
To date, the company has been bombarded by emails from subscribers (schools, parents and students) advising of their success in the GSAT examination and their placement in the school of their first choice.
"I think GoGSAT is quite good! I find that my child enjoys working on the site. GOGSAT is definitely an excellent addition to what is available," says Dr. Leachim Semaj.
"The experience has been wonderful and no doubt has contributed to my daughter's excellent performance in the GSAT Exams," says Yvonne L. Barrett-Rochester, Billing & Receivables Supervisor at the MBJ Airports Limited Sangster International Airport. "I am sure that GoGSAT played an integral part in my son's success," reported Debra Parson, whose son secured a place at Calabar High School. "GoGSAT provided great practice in a different setting with immediate results."
Parents are not the only ones singing the praises of GoGSAT. Student Rashana Anderson wrote: "In the GSAT Examinations, the GoGSAT system has helped me in different ways that I can't explain. When the results were being called out I was astonished to hear that I got my first choice which is Montego Bay High School. The GoGSAT system increased my confidence and academic skills. It has increased my knowledge … Thanks for everything. My mom says thanks and hopes your program helps more children like me."
Principal of Rollington Town Primary, Mrs. Margaret Bailey also took the time to write to GoGSAT to express her appreciation for the system which was used to enhance the preparation of students for the examination at that school. "Thank God for GoGSAT. The children love it, the teachers love it. It has helped us to achieve our goal. I am definitely on it for next year!"
"I am ecstatic that we achieved these results in our first year," said Shalette Ashman-East of GoGSAT, "we are here to stay and will only get better. We are adding more fun GSAT learning activities to our system and will ensure that students are adequately prepared for their GSAT examination."
The company vows that developing the skills, knowledge and awareness to live, work and play successfully in an increasingly technologically driven society will be only a mouse-click away. And they are predicting that Jamaicans will see improved results in the CXC examinations in 2007 as more Jamaicans are logging on and preparing for CXC using the sister site at www.caribbeanexams.com.
Development of the infrastructure is provided by the Institute of Mathematics and Computer Science, a Florida-based educational research company, while the website is sponsored by Scotia Jamaica Life Insurance Company Limited.
GoGSAT a new solution
Education Options, Tuesday, January 31, 2006
Today's school children have grown up immersed in a world of computers and other information technologies. Our children live in a world that is increasingly interactive, communications intensive, and knowledge based. They are standard bearers in the technological revolution, having never known anything else. Our children play video games, listen to music on personal digital music players, and help us program our cellular telephones. These experiences have given children a different way of interacting with information compared with previous generations.
It is this change that gave a group of graduate students the vision to create a dynamic website which they predict will transform the way Jamaican children prepare for the GSAT examinations. The website found at www.gogsat.com provides practice questions for grades 5 and 6 students. Currently all five areas of the GSAT Examination including Mathematics, English, Science, Social studies and Communication Tasks are covered. In addition, the website includes a comprehensive Language Arts review which covers pertinent areas of the [English] curriculum.
Students practise questions in a simulated test environment, with each GoGSAT practice test displaying a timer that counts down the time remaining. Students may pause the timer and take a break, or even wait until another day to complete a timed test. Once time expires the test is automatically graded and the results made available. Or, if the student finishes the test early, they can stop the timer and have their test graded immediately. "We want to make sure that test taking is as convenient as possible while giving the student the experience necessary to succeed in the GSAT. It is our hope that after completing several GoGSAT practice tests, students will become comfortable with timed tests, and will be better able to pace their work in order to maximise the final score," says Ashman-East of GoGSAT.
Grad students launch GSAT practice website
Career & Education, Observer Reporter, Sunday, October 30, 2005
A group of Jamaican graduate students have launched an online Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT) website, that will give schoolchildren access to more than 4,000 English, Mathematics, Science, and Social Studies practice questions.
The student training system at www.GoGSAT.com, features timed practice tests to build students familiarity with the material and the test-taking process.
The site also features a real-time online grade book that identifies the students' weaknesses and strengths, allowing them to focus on the areas that most need improvement. And for the crucial English exam, it provides a detailed review of the essential knowledge areas, including punctuation, word prefixes, and synonyms.
In addition, tips are provided to enable students to develop skills to answer the various question types, and detailed test strategies are provided for both parents and students.
"We are very excited to provide Jamaican students with this opportunity to improve their chances on such an important test," said Shalette Ashman-East, who spearheaded the project.
There is no limit to the number of times a student can attempt each of the many practice tests in each subject area. In addition, tips are provided to enable students to develop skills to answer the various question types, and detailed test strategies are provided for both parents and students.
In a statement to the press, the team at GoGSAT explained that all the questions were contributed by a team of authors, whose textbooks are currently in use in primary, all-age and prep schools in Jamaica.
"In developing the site, the designers adhered carefully to the GSAT curriculum developed by the Ministry of Education Youth and Culture," the group said.
Technological infrastructure for the system is provided by the Institute for Mathematics and Computer Science, an educational research institute based in South Florida.
"We've undergone many weeks of pilot testing, and we're delighted with the response now that it is widely available," Ashman-East said. Ashman-East knows the importance of encouraging young students to succeed. One of five brothers and sisters, she grew up in the inner city. Her parents, however, made sure she stayed focused on school work. After attending Merl Grove High School she enrolled at the University of Technology where she obtained a diploma in computing. Since then she has been operating a computer school for adults and children, and is currently pursuing a PhD in Technology in Education. "My mission now is to help the next generation of Jamaican students maximise their potential," she remarked. In developing an online training resource for the GSAT exam, she believes she has found a way to make a difference. "We will be taking online learning to the next level for Jamaican kids," she stated. Registration is available online and requires a one-time fee of *US$149 for one year of access. Approximately 50,000 students will sit the GSAT on Thursday, March 30 and Friday, March 31, 2006.
Ashman-East can be reached by email at admin@gogsat.com. *adjusted subscription fee in release on 9/1/06
Helping your child prepare for GSAT
October 19th, 2005
I read with interest the comments made by Elaine Foster-Allen, Principal of Shortwood Teachers College as reported in the September 11, 2005 issue of the Jamaica Observer. In this article, Mrs. Foster-Allen called for parents to become more actively involved in helping their children learn, suggesting that they both curtail television time and introduce homework policies. She insisted that parents need to help children think more critically, implying that families should more frequently discuss current events and their implications. I totally agree with Mrs. Foster-Allen. I believe that Jamaica will indeed become a better place if we provide our children with a solid educational foundation during their formative years. Unfortunately, todays reality calls for both parents to seek employment in order to adequately support their family, resulting in children left unsupervised at home for many hours. Wouldnt it be fabulous if every child could benefit from a supervised examination preparation system, where their activity, progress and weaknesses are monitored and the results made available to their parents?
Absolutely! This was my obsession during the pursuit of my Masters Degree. This obsession became my major project and led to my study of the technological infrastructure and software design of the most popular e-universities and online examination preparation websites resulting in the creation of GoGSAT, the most exclusive online resource for GSAT preparation. GoGSAT allows students to use unlimited, timed practice tests to build their familiarity with the material and the process. Students will develop skills to answer the various question types, using strategies to maximize his or her scores. The online real-time grade book will identify their weaknesses and strengths, allowing him or her to focus on those areas that need improvement. For the crucial English exam, GoGSAT provides a detailed review of the essential knowledge areas tested including punctuation, word prefixes and synonyms. I take great pride in inviting my friends to visit my website at www.gogsat.com. I sincerely hope this website will be a tremendous blessing to the people of Jamaica.
As I continue my educational journey with the pursuit of my Ph.D. in Technology in Education, rest assured that this website will be monitored and periodically reviewed to ensure that our children get what they deserve the best.
Parents, are you interested in an additional source to assist your children in preparing for their Grade Six Achievement Test (GSAT)?
Well log on to GoGSAT.COM, an e-learning tool geared towards students sitting GSAT.
GoGSAT.COM gives students more than 4,000 language arts, mathematics, science, social studies, comprehension and communication tasks practice questions.
The student training system found at www.GoGSAT.com features timed practice tests geared towards making students familiar with the GSAT material and the test-taking process.
The site also features a real-time online grade book that identifies students' weaknesses and strengths, allowing them to focus on the areas that most need improvement.
Additionally, the system features a language arts and communication task study guide. Students are able to communicate via a message board and have access to a 24/7 help desk.
A section of the website is dedicated to parents, and valuable information regarding the GSAT examination and general examination preparation techniques. *The subscription fee for GoGSAT is US$89 (six month), US$109 (nine month) or US$129 (one year). The fee can be paid at any branch of the Bank of Nova Scotia or online by using a credit card. *adjusted subscription fee in release on 9/1/06