Dr. Karine Clay

The Social Change Award is presented annually to a graduating Walden University student whose program of study or research has made an important impact on an organization or a community.

This year, the award was given to Karine Clay, a Ph.D. in Education graduate who used her dissertation to evaluate the effectiveness of an educational initiative in the Republic of Trinidad and Tobago, which has high rates in both illiteracy and secondary school dropouts. The Trinidadian government has undertaken various reforms to address this problem. The most recent initiative is Vision 2020.

“Vision 2020 was created to meet the educational needs of the youth and replace previous global advancement projects; it was designed to provide holistic, challenging stimuli to all learners so they are equipped with the necessary knowledge, skills and aptitudes to enter the labor market,” Clay explains.

Researching an Educational Initiative
The research questions that guided Clay’s study focused on the extent to which some of Vision 2020’s goals are being met.

Study participants were administrators, teachers and parents of children in Trinidad and Tobago primary and secondary schools who completed Clay’s Quality Education Survey and agreed to participate in one-to-one and group interviews.

Clay, an educator and educational consultant in Georgia, says that the data she collected showed, in the short run at least, the achievement of Vision 2020 in Trinidad and Tobago is minimal.

“It identified that the quality, access and educational equity among all students were not addressed,” she says. “The study also revealed a lack of technological integration, an increased alienation of parents since the changes have been implemented, and the perception among parents that teachers are focusing more on policy than on personal interactions.”

But Clay’s findings were not universally negative and showed some progress and the potential for more. “The findings did reveal an increase in access at the primary and secondary levels for economically disadvantaged students,” she says.

Clay believes the vision and goals of Vision 2020 could be realized in Trinidad and Tobago if educators and leaders take the right steps—such as increasing the use of technology and developing more collaborative programs with parents.

“The few attempts of bridging the gap between the learning organizations and the community that have been implemented have presented areas of concern between parents, teachers and administrators,” she says.

However, Clay says that with assistance from local and international organizations, more collaboration with parental groups, and sufficient resources—combined with the logistics noted in her study—“the task is surmountable for this developing country.”

Forming Her Own Organization
In fact, Clay is forming a nonprofit organization to help administrators, particularly in developing nations, achieve their educational reform goals.

Her organization, The Higher Potential Foundation, will assist policy- and decision-makers in developed and developing countries in achieving positive social change.

“It will do so by increasing their productive capacity through access to technology and training with a better-educated population,” she says.

Clay’s organization will be based in the United States, but its first project will be in Trinidad and Tobago.

“My goal is addressing the special education and preschool education deficiency in the underprivileged community,” she says. “I am seeking funding with the hope of opening my own school.”

Clay’s dissertation committee consisted of Dr. Marilyn K. Simon (chair), Dr. Bernice Folz and Dr. Darragh Callahan.

About the Award
Read more about the Social Change Award and the 2006 recipient.

August Ponder front page