Part of this response is being given from the context of that portion of the Englishspeaking Caribbean served by the regional University of the West Indies. The other part of the response addresses some more general issues.
Lunetta and van den Berg do not include the Caribbean in their classification of countries, but the assumption is made that these islands would be classified as lowincome countries (LCs). This classification scheme is problematic for the Caribbean context, as indeed it must be for other parts of the world as well. While the Caribbean islands would be classified as low-income countries, they are by no means a homogeneous group with respect to the quality of educational provision and the quality and quantity of graduates that are produced at the various levels of the education system. The three islands in which the campuses of the University of the West Indies are situated have a distinct advantage over the other islands with respect to access to university-level education. This has a ripple effect throughout the entire education system. It would, therefore, not be accurate to generalize about the deficiencies of students coming from the Caribbean.
Graduate science education programs are offered in the English-speaking Caribbean at the three campuses of the University of the West Indies. Yet, Caribbean students do attend American universities to pursue graduate courses in science education (and other graduate courses as well). Students continue their studies abroad for several reasons. Some of them have failed to secure places at the local university for graduate work because they have been classified as not having a strong enough background in science, as indicated by their mediocre performance at the bachelor of science level and the lack of evidence that they have improved their academic standing since obtaining a bachelor's degree. Such students make use of the more flexible entry requirements for graduate work that exist in some American universities. Others