South Africa Presentation Dakar 2008, APEIE Jennifer Joshua Faith Kumalo Morongwa Masemula Justice Libago

Purpose Share preliminary findings of second systemic evaluation conducted in 2007 –Grade 3 –Numeracy and Literacy

Constraints Preliminary findings Do not have all the data Cannot, at present, attribute impact to the interventions implemented However, positive gains observed

Background 2001 –grade 3 learners assessed through standardised written exercises to measure levels of achievement with respect to Literacy and Numeracy –The results showed an average mean of 30% in both

Interventions Implemented Literacy and Numeracy strategies (national and provincial) NGO support Teacher guides with exemplars provided Introduction of a streamlined and strengthened National Curriculum Statement

Systemic Evaluation: 2007 Second cycle of Systemic Evaluation at Grade 3 level conducted

Methodology Tests based on the National Curriculum Statement Focus on skills and competencies that can be assessed through paper-and-pencil exercises To ensure the comparability of the results for tracking progress over time, the essential design, instruments and general methodology used in the baseline study of 2001 were retained in the 2007 survey Where necessary, careful modifications were made with due consideration to retaining the integrity of both the process and the instruments

Sample Design The “desired target population” were all learners at grade 3 level during September/October 2007 who were attending registered mainstream public schools. The “excluded population” were learners in independent schools, special schools and public mainstream schools with grade 3 enrolments less than 15 learners. The difference between the “desired” and the “excluded” populations then formed the “defined target population” from which the sample was drawn.

Participation learners from schools participated in the survey Participation rate 96% for schools and 89% for learners

Findings Overall Achievement for Each Province and National (%)

Findings cont….. –a wide range of performance levels across provinces, ranging from 24% to 49%; –girls tended to do better than boys in both literacy and numeracy; –a spread of schools and learners functioning at outstanding levels of performance (70% and above).

Number of Schools and Learners Who Achieved Outstanding Performance

FLC Goal for 2011 The Foundations for Learning Campaign launched by the Minister of Education in March 2008 By 2011 no learner in the primary school sector should function below the minimum achievement level, set as 50% in standardized national assessments.

Number of Schools and Learners Achieving the “50% Benchmark”

Future Plans Further analysis of data and interpretation Report writing and dissemination Continued Support and Interventions

Plans for continued support…. Strengthen school-based assessments Provide schools with quality assured assessment items Schools to produce school and learner profiles Schools to develop improvement plans with targets

Plans for continued support…. Conduct district-driven assessments Provide districts with piloted assessments to administer annually to verify/monitor school-based assessments, and Districts produce district profiles and improvement plans

Plans for continued support…. Strengthen national assessments Conduct periodic sample-based national assessments on a regular basis for benchmarking and monitoring national achievement

Plans for continued support…. Focus on early-grade reading Help schools assess development of early-grade core reading skills which, research shows, are powerful predictors of later reading and general scholastic performance, viz.:- Letter recognition Word recognition Fluency (measured in w/min read correctly) Comprehension (measured in no. of correct responses to a read passage)

Thank You Dieredief Siyabonga