Lessons on using the EGRS in early grade assessment Nompumelelo Mohohlwane 24 October 2018

Outline Part 1:What does schooling in SA look like? Language in South Africa Literature and research on reading in SA Part 2: Assessing reading Why does assessing reading matter? Status of assessment in classroom Assessing components of reading Part 3: Evaluating reading at scale Importance of evaluating reading at scale Measurement examples Recommendations

Complex language dynamics in SA ANA 2013 Language of Assessment Only 23% of South Africans speak English or Afrikaans as their Home Language (Statistics South Africa 2012). 68%, are African language speakers and learn in an African language in the FP This is similarly reflected in schooling. LoLT switch in Grade - Increases drastically from 23% in the Foundation Phase to 90%

Language Inequality in SA Only 58% of Africans reported being able to read and write in Home Language. This is 95% for Whites Direct relationship between English proficiency and earning in SA Study showed men reading and writing in English earn 55% more Those with English proficiency & post-schooling qualification earn 97% more Apartheid-era policies - inequalities can be seen along a number of correlated dimensions, including Language, Geographical location, Socioeconomic status, Race Former department The mastery of English is therefore far more significant and meaningful for the majority of South African’s than mastery of Home Language.

Language Inequality in SA International literature: Benefit of initial learning in Home Lang Taylor and von Fintel (2016) learners with home language instruction in the Foundation Phase performed better in English in Grade 4, 5 and 6. Spaull (2016) Learners tested in both HL & then English in Grade 3 Average for HL test was 33%, worse in English The mastery of English is therefore far more significant and meaningful for the majority of South African’s than mastery of Home Language. These findings provide empirical evidence for the efficacy of the current language policy in education. Question is better than who? What is the threshold of performance Spaull (2016) poor quality of learner performance in Grade 3, prior to any language switch. (1 month apart) Low quality of learning in South African schools in the Foundation Phase – not just the switch in Grade 4 .

Why does assessing reading matter? Specific ways to assess reading – important for classroom practice Schreiner (2003) suggests that automaticity in cognitive function frees up 90% of working memory for higher-order skills NCS (CAPS) requires assessment but: Lack of reading & writing opportunities in class Chorusing rather than individual reading Weak assessment of reading Little systematic instruction of phonics The lack of reading homework Minimal reading of extended texts in the early grades Low expectations about reading Assessing components of reading & timing these Automaticity and fluency develop through practice If learners perform slowly on these tasks, this suggests that their decoding skills are not yet well developed Children in primary school who can hardly read and write Children who struggle with higher order thinking Passive, dependent learners An education system producing mainly semi-literate and semi-numerate children; about 30% of children in Grade 4 are illiterate

Components of reading

Measurement of Reading Curriculum provides requirements for assessing but no specific standardised tool EGRA – most widely used tool Letter sound recognition Word recognition Non-word recognition Oral Reading Fluency & comprehension Significance of standardizing learner assessments classroom At scale Part 3: Evaluating reading at scale Importance of evaluating reading at scale Measurement examples Recommendations

Measurement of Reading EGRS Test Design Letter knowledge: Word and non-word reading Oral reading fluency Oral reading fluency questions

Measurement of Reading

Measurement of Reading Benchmarks for reading in English are known – based on evidence Learners at the 50th percentile should read 107 words correct a minute (Hasbrouck & Tindal, 2006) But these do not exist for African language Insufficient understanding of African lang typology Gaps in current tools to measure reading in African languages Expertise required for testing is vested in different sections/departments Education expertise not working specifically in testing African language specialists working outside education Linguistics often not specializing in African languages (important for EGRS) Fieldwork expertise: testing at scale has specific implications While English has The complexity of the consonant systems in the three African languages is shown in Table 1 below.

Measurement of Reading Test design English has a complex vowel system African languages only have 5-7 vowels English has 21 single consonants & 6 digraphs, African languages have a combination of single consonants, and many digraphs, trigraphs and 4-5 letter phonemes. E.g hl, tl, ty, mb, nk, ndl,hlw, tsh, kgw), ntlh, ntšhw, mpfh Timeframes for testing Breadth versus depth Fieldworker expertise

Recommendations Reading in African languages is under-researched and under-theorized. This has implications for measuring literacy Need for empirical language-specific norms and benchmarks for indigenous African languages Need for dedicated academic attention to theory & tools for measurement (both educational & social factors) Need for careful collaboration in design and lessons learnt (ceiling and floor effects) Need for developing/improving standardized tools Need to share evaluation data for further analysis and

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