ABSTRACT
This chapter focuses on efforts to introduce ecological and curriculum-based assessment methods in the context of the University of Manitoba - Trinidad and Tobago Special Education Project. The first step is to assess the magnitude and nature of the problem within the nation. For example, in 1983, in Trinidad and Tobago 169,420 children were enrolled in government and government assisted primary schools. A second step in an ecological approach to national needs assessment involves understanding the socio-political context in which change can be nurtured. These steps in developing a national needs assessment are pre-requisite to the success of teacher training activities. The application of these five principles of empowerment and collaboration involved the recursive use of a variety of assessment techniques to define and then encourage the goals and means for innovation and change. A considerable amount of information bearing on assessment methods at the classroom level was collected throughout the project.
