How can school performance be improved?

Relationship between learning outcomes and enrollment Crouch and Vinjevold, 2006

Access to secondary education: secondary gross enrollment ratios, Crouch & Vinjevold, 2006

What good schools do REGULATORY FUNCTION:  Orderly environment  Intellectual activity valued  Sense of responsibility INSTRUCTIONAL FUNCTION:  Proficiency in LOI  Reading & writing  Proficiency in specific discipline: Maths, History, Literature

SA High Schools FormerOther Prop of total HG M SC 2004 Top380347%66% Mod %19% Poor %15%

SACMEQ mean maths score by quintile vd Berg & Louw, 2006 Quintile12345Total Botswana Kenya Lesotho Malawi Mauritius Mozambique Namibia Seychelles South Africa Swaziland Tanzania Uganda Zambia Zanzibar Total Non-SA

Top Performing Schools  What do they need? – Where African numbers are small:  Incentives to increase African roll – Where African numbers are large:  Subsidies for poor children  All: –Increase level of cognitive demand of curriculum

Moderately Performing Schools: What makes the Difference? FactorsHomeDistrictSchoolClass Language Speak LOI **Policy Develop proficiency Time Sign h/w **MonitorRegulate**Micro-pace** Coverage Assist with h/w * Monitor* Plan, monitor ** Macro- pace **** Reading & Writing Read* Distribute books Manage books *** Read & write * Assessmt Monitor results QAMonitor QA, monitor * Assess, feedback **

Key lever 1: Time on Task Chisholm et al, 2005 Teachers work an average 41 hours (out of 43)/week 41% of this on teaching: 3.4h/day 14% devoted to planning and preparation, 14% on assessment, evaluation, reports and record-keeping

Key lever 2: Curriculum Coverage 3: ¾ or more ASs completed during year 2: Between ½ and ¾ of ASs completed 1: Between ¼ and ½ 0: Less than ¼ covered

Key lever 3: Teacher Knowledge Grade 3 teachers wrote parts of the Grade 6 learner test: Grade 3 teachers wrote parts of the Grade 6 learner test:  Literacy: 55%  Numeracy: 65%

SA High Schools FormerOther Prop of total HG M SC 2004 Top380347%66% Mod %19% Poor %15%

524 QLP schools > Control PassExp E HG M HG M SG Rate

Poorly performing schools Start with Time Management  Part of institutional culture  Leadership  Organisational development ≠ training ≠ training  BUT provinces & districts too weak

Differentiated approach Schools with Threshold Capacity Dysfunctional Schools Eg Dinaledi II Training Resources Incentives Organisational development State authority But weak state Top performing schools Raise level of cognitive demand

Why is our civil service so inefficient?  They went to poorly performing schools  Structural instability  Ideology: threw out authority with authoritarianism  Unions better organised  Lack of focus, eg matric exams