Transcript An Overview of South Africa’s Schooling System NicSpaull.com IPSU – Economic and Development Problems in Africa| 25 February 2014

An Overview of South Africa’s
Schooling System
NicSpaull.com
IPSU – Economic and Development Problems in Africa| 25 February 2014
Outline
Recurring themes I want you to notice
•
Access/quantity vs quality
•
Is it an accountability or a capacity
constraint/solution?
•
Status quos are usually equilibria – i.e.
we have what we have (and it stays
what it is) for a reason
Main issues to be covered:
1.
SA performs extremely poorly on local
and international assessments of
educational achievement
2.
In large parts of the schooling system
there is little learning taking place
3.
In SA we have TWO public schooling
systems, not one.
4.
Selected issues – teacher content
knowledge, textbook availability (SMS)
5.
6.
Accountability & Capacity
Binding constraints
2
Social Policy & Education
Firstly, what is social policy?
“Social policy primarily refers to the guidelines, principles, legislation and
activities that affect the living conditions conducive to human welfare”
“Public policy and practice in the areas of health care, human services,
criminal justice, inequality, education, and labour”
“Social Policy is defined as actions that affect the well-being of members
of a society through shaping the distribution of and access to goods and
resources in that society”
Social Policy & Education
• Secondly, how does education fit into it?
– Most areas of social policy influence education (in some way), and are
influenced by education (in some way)
– Bidirectional causality 
– Multiple benefits of education…
Ed
S
Benefits of education
H
E
c
$
Society
Improved human rights
Empowerment of women
Reduced societal violence
Promotion of a national (as
opposed to regional or ethnic)
identity
Increased social cohesion
Health
Lower fertility
Improved child health
Preventative health care
Demographic transition
Economy
Improvements in productivity
Economic growth
Reduction of inter-generational
cycles of poverty
Reductions in inequality
Specific references: lower fertility (Glewwe, 2002), improved child health (Currie, 2009), reduced societal violence (Salmi, 2006), promotion of a national
- as opposed to a regional or ethnic - identity (Glewwe, 2002), improved human rights (Salmi, 2006), increased social cohesion (Heyneman, 2003),
Economic growth – see any decent Macro textbook, specifically for cognitive skills see (Hanushek & Woessman 2008)
Social Policy & Education
• Secondly, how does education fit into it?
– Education itself affects society & the individual in real and meaningful
ways:
• Transforms individual capabilities, values, aspirations and desires (see Sen)
• Allows individuals to think, feel and act in different ways
• Enables new ways of organizing and supporting social action that depend on
numeracy and literacy, technologies of communication and abstract thinking skills
(Lewin, 2007). Democratic participation, knowledge creation etc.
• Education increases peoples ability to add value (productivity)
• “Modernising societies use educational access and attainment as a primary
mechanism to sort and select subsequent generations into different social and
economic roles” (Lewin, 2007: 3) Distribution of income
Theory: Human Capital
Education increases peoples ability to add value (productivity)  HCM
+
Man

=
Skills & health
Incr MP of L

Incr profits
Incr wage
“The failure to treat human resources explicitly as a form of capital, as a produced means of production,
as the product of investment, has fostered the retention of the classical notion of labour as a
capacity to do manual work requiring little knowledge and skill, a capacity with which, according to
this notion, labourers are endowed about equally. This notion of labour was wrong in the classical
period and it is patently wrong now. Counting individuals who can and want to work and treating
such a count as a measure of the quantity of an economic factor is no more meaningful than it
would be to count the number of all manner of machines to determine their economic importance”
(Schultz, 1961, p. 3).
Theory: Sorting & signalling
• Education does not improve productivity or produce HC,
instead acts as a signal of innate productivity/IQ/motivation.
– Those with higher productivity/IQ/motivation will find it easier to get
higher levels of education than those with lower P/IQ/M
• Do we care if it is HCM or Signalling?
– Yes! Implications for public investment.
Elusive equity
• Given the strong links between education and income, educational
inequality is a fundamental determinant of income inequality.
• Clear need to understand SA educational inequality if we are to
understand SA income inequality.
• High inequality + unemployment 2 of the most severe problems facing SA
– Educational quality is intimately intertwined with both of these.
• “Education shall be free, compulsory, universal and equal for all children”
(Freedom Charter)
Elusive equity
Quality of
education
Duration
of
education
Type of
education
SA is one of the
top 3 most
unequal
countries in
the world
Between 78%
and 85% of
total inequality
is explained by
wage
inequality
Wages
• IQ
• Motivation
• Social
networks
• Discrimination
Theory – education in SA
SES at birth
•Type of tertiary education
(quality) - institution and
field of study
•Demand and supply
•Individual motivation
Cognitive
ability in
early
childhood
Labour
market
performance
•Parental IQ (assortative
mating)
•Maternal health
•Nutrition
•Early cognitive
stimulation: preschool
(quantity & quality), home
environment
South
Africa
•Cost of tertiary education
(explicit & implicit costs)
•Parental & personal
aspirations and
perceptions
•Society/culture
Ultimate
educational
attainment
and quality
Educational
performance
in early
school years
•Average school SES
•Language of learning &
teaching (LOLT)
•Teacher quality
•Peer effects
•Subject choice
Educational
achievement
in matric
(See Taylor, 2010)
SES at birth
Cognitive
ability in
early
childhood
Labour
market
performance
South
Africa
Ultimate
educational
attainment
and quality
Educational
performance
in early
school years
70%
Educational
achievement
in matric
60%
50%
40%
Pass Matric
30%
Maths passes
20%
Endorsements
10%
0%
Blacks
Coloureds
Indians
Whites
Total
HG Maths
passes
A-aggregates
For UK
Type
Labour Market
High productivity jobs
and incomes (17%)
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
17%
•
Type of institution
(FET or University)
Quality of institution
Type of qualification
(diploma, degree etc.)
Field of study
(Engineering, Arts etc.)
High
quality
primary
school
Some motivated, lucky or
talented students make the
transition
Vocational training
Affirmative action
Low productivity jobs &
incomes
•
•
Often manual or low skill
jobs
Limited or low quality
education
Minimum wage can exceed
productivity
-
SemiSkilled
(31%)
Quality
•
Mainly professional,
managerial & skilled jobs
Requires graduates, good
quality matric or good
vocational skills
Historically mainly white
High
quality
secondary
school
High SES
background
+ECD
Minority
(20%)
Big demand for good
schools despite fees
Some
scholarships/bursaries
Unequal
society
Majority
(80%)
Low quality
secondary
school
Low SES
background
Unskilled
(19%)
Unemployed
(Broad - 33%)
cf. Servaas van der Berg – QLFS 2011
Low quality
primary
school
Attainment
•
University/
FET
13
Qualifications by age (birth cohort), 2011 (Van der Berg, 2013)
100%
Degree
Some tertiary
90%
80%
Matric
70%
60%
50%
Some secondary
Primary
completed
40%
30%
Some primary
20%
No schooling
10%
20 (1991)
25 (1986)
30 (1981)
35 (1976)
40 (1971)
45 (1966)
50 (1961)
55 (1956)
60 (1951)
65 (1946)
70 (1941)
75 (1936)
80 (1931)
0%
Expenditure on education
2010/11
Total government expenditure
Government exp on education
(31% GDP in 2010/11 – R733.5bn)
(19.5% of Gov exp: R143.1bn)
17%
5%
Other Government spending
80.50%
Education: Other current
19.50%
78%
Education: Capital
Education: Personnel
15
1) South Africa performs
extremely poorly on local and
international assessments of
educational achievement
State of SA education since transition
• “Although 99.7% of South African children are in
school…the outcomes in education are abysmal”
(Manuel, 2011)
• “Without ambiguity or the possibility of
misinterpretation, the pieces together reveal the
predicament of South African primary education”
(Fleisch, 2008: 2)
• “Our researchers found that what students know
and can do is dismal” (Taylor & Vinjevold, 1999)
• “It is not an overstatement to say that South African
education is in crisis.” (Van der Berg & Spaull, 2011)
17
Student performance 2003-2011
TIMSS (2003)  PIRLS (2006)  SACMEQ (2007)  ANA (2011)  TIMSS (2011)  prePIRLS (2011)
TIMSS 2003 (Gr8 Maths & Science)
PIRLS 2006 (Gr 4/5 – Reading)
•
Out of 50 participating countries (including 6
African
countries)
SA came
last SA came
•SACMEQ
Out of III
45
participating
countries
last
2007
(Gr6
– Reading
& Maths)
••
Only
10%
reached
low
international
benchmark
87%
of gr410/15
and 78%
of Gr 5 learners
deemed
to be
•ANA
SA
came
8/15
for2003
maths
2011
(Grrisk
1-6offor
Reading
&and
Maths)
•
No
improvement
from
TIMSS
1999-TIMSS
“at
serious
notreading
learning
to read”
600
560
520
480
440
400
360
320
280
240
200
Middle-income countries
Quintile 1
Quintile 2
Quintile 3
Quintile 4
Quintile 5
Independent
and this is at the improved level of performance
Russian Federation
Lithuania
Kazakhstan
Ukraine
Armenia
Romania
Turkey
Lebanon
Malaysia
Georgia
Thailand
Macedonia, Rep. of
Tunisia
Chile
Iran, Islamic Rep. of
Jordan
Palestinian Nat'l Auth.
Botswana (Gr9)
Indonesia
Syrian Arab Republic
Morocco
South Africa (Gr9)
Honduras (Gr9)
Ghana
TIMSS 2011 Mathematics score
behind countries such as Swaziland, Kenya and
•TIMSS
Mean
35%
2011literacy
(Gr9 – score
Maths gr3:
& Science)
Tanzania
•
SA has joint
lowest performance
42 countries
•prePIRLS2011
Mean
numeracy
score gr3:of28%
(Gr 4 Reading)
Improvement by 1.5 grade levels (2003-2011)
••• Mean
literacy
score
gr6:completely
28%
29%
SA Gr4
learners
•
76% ofofgrade
nine students
in 2011 still had not
• illiterate
numeracy
score
gr6:
30%
acquired
a (cannot
basic understanding
decode
about
text
in
whole
any
• Mean
NSES
2007/8/9
numbers, decimals, operations or basic graphs,
langauge)
South Africa (Gr9)
•
Systemic Evaluations 2007
•
Matric exams
18
Quantifying learning deficits in Gr3
Figure 1: Kernel density of mean Grade 3 performance on Grade 3 level
items by quintiles of student socioeconomic status (Systemic Evaluation
2007)
.01
.015
.02
16%
51%
.005
Only the top 16% of grade 3 students are
10
30
40
performing at 0a Grade
320 level
11%
0
Kernel density of Grade 3-level scores
.025
(Grade-3-appropriate level)
50
60
70
80
90
Systemic 2007 Grade 3 mean score (%) on Grade 3 level items
Quintile 5
•
Quintile 1-4
Following Muralidharan & Zieleniak (2013) we
classify students as performing at the gradeappropriate level if they obtain a mean score of
50% or higher on the full set of Grade 3 level
questions.
19
NSES question 42
NSES followed about 15000 students (266 schools) and tested them in Grade 3 (2007), Grade 4 (2008) and
Grade 5 (2009).
Grade 3 maths curriculum:
“Can perform calculations
using appropriate symbols to
solve problems involving:
division of at least 2-digit by
1-digit numbers”
100%
Even at the end of Grade 5
most (55%+) quintile 1-4
students cannot answer
this simple Grade-3-level
problem.
90%
35%
80%
70%
59%
57%
57%
55%
60%
50%
40%
13%
14%
14%
15%
20%
13%
10%
12%
12%
10%
16%
19%
17%
17%
Q1
Q2
Q3
Q4
30%
13%
Still wrong in Gr5
14%
Correct in Gr5
Correct in Gr4
Correct in Gr3
39%
0%
“The powerful notions of ratio, rate
and proportion are built upon the
simpler concepts of whole number,
multiplication and division, fraction
and rational number, and are
themselves the precursors to the
development of yet more complex
concepts such as triangle similarity,
trigonometry, gradient and calculus”
(Taylor & Reddi, 2013: 194)
Q5
Question 42
(Spaull & Viljoen, forthcoming)
20
By Gr 3 all children should be able to read, Gr 4 children should be
transitioning from “learning to read” to “reading to learn”
47
Xitsonga
53
53
Tshivenda
47
24
siSwati
0
0
76
0.25
Setswana
34
66
0.1
Sesotho
36
64
0.1
57
Sepedi
43
29
isiZulu
0.8
0.4
62
31
isiNdebele
0
71
38
isiXhosa
Red sections here show the
proportion of children that are
completely illiterate in Grade 4
, i.e. they cannot read in any
language
69
0.2
English
10
90
19
Afrikaans
12
88
15
South Africa
29
Did not reach
High International Benchmark
71
6
Low International benchmark
Advanced International benchmark
http://web.up.ac.za/sitefiles/File/publications/2013/PIRLS_2011_Report_12_Dec.PDF
Intemediate International Benchmark
SACMEQ 2007 – Grade 6
South Africa
2%
27%
25%
46%
By this definition of functional illiteracy,
if students are functionally illiterate
they cannot read a short and simple
text and extract meaning  i.e. they
cannot read for meaning
22
Grade 6 Literacy
2%
SA Gr 6 Literacy
25%
5%
Kenya Gr 6 Literacy
7%
49%
46%
Public current expenditure
27%
per pupil: $1225
Additional resources is
not the answer
39%
Public current expenditure
per pupil: $258
23
2) In large parts of the
schooling system there is little
learning taking place
Rationale
• Learning is a cumulative process that builds on itself i.e. it
follows a hierarchical structure (see Gagne, 1962; Aubrey, Dahl, & Godfrey, 2006;
Aubrey & Godfrey, 2003; Aunio & Niemivirta, 2010).
• Mathematics, in particular, follows a coherent, explicit and
systematically principled structure (vertically integrated subject – Bernstein,
1999)
• With respect to South Africa, Taylor et al. (2003, p. 129):
“At the end of the Foundation Phase, learners have only a rudimentary grasp of
the principles of reading and writing... it is very hard for learners to make up this
cumulative deficit in later years...particularly in those subjects that...[have]
vertical demarcation requirements (especially mathematics and science), the
sequence, pacing, progression and coverage requirements of the high school
curriculum make it virtually impossible for learners who have been disadvantaged
by their early schooling to ‘catch-up’ later sufficiently to do themselves justice at
the high school exit level.” (see also Schollar, 2008)
25
Insurmountable learning deficits: 0.3 SD
South African Learning Trajectories by National Socioeconomic Quintiles
Based on NSES (2007/8/9) for grades 3, 4 and 5, SACMEQ (2007) for grade 6 and TIMSS (2011) for grade 9)
13
12
11
10
Effective grade
9
8
Quintile 1
7
Quintile 2
6
Quintile 3
5
Quintile 4
4
Quintile 5
Q1-4 Trajectory
3
Q5 Trajectory
2
1
0
Gr3
Gr4
(NSES 2007/8/9)
Gr5
Gr6
(SACMEQ
2007)
Gr7
Gr8
Projections
Gr9
(TIMSS 2011)
Gr10
Gr11
Gr12
Projections
Actual grade (and data source)
(Spaull & Viljoen, Forthcoming)
26
What are the implications for matric
and then the labour market?
27
Of 100 students that started school in 2002
16%
Do not reach matric
Fail matric 2013
49%
Pass matric 2013
24%
Pass with university
endorsement 2013
11%
• 550,000 students drop out before matric
• 99% do not get a non-matric qualification (Gustafsson, 2011: p11)
• What happens to them? 50% youth unemployment.
28
Dropout between Gr8 and Gr12
2013 Matric passes by quintile
Matric pass rate by quintile
Matric passes as % of Grade 8 (2009)
Bachelor passes as % of Grade 8 (2009)
100%
90%
80%
70%
60%
50%
92%
40%
75%
73%
70%
82%
68%
30%
49%
20%
42%
37%
36%
10%
10%
15%
12%
39%
17%
0%
Quintile 1
•
•
•
Quintile 2
Quintile 3
Quintile 4
Quintile 5
Of 100 Gr8 quintile 1 students in 2009, 36 passed matric and 10 qualified for university
Of 100 Gr8 quintile 5 students in 2009, 68 passed matric and 39 qualified for university
“Contrary to what some would like the nation and the public to believe that our results hide
inequalities, the facts and evidence show that the two top provinces (Free State and North West)
are rural and poor.” (Motshekga, 2014)
29
Matric pass rate
Media sees only this
What are the root
causes of low and
unequal achievement?
MATRIC
Pre-MATRIC
HUGE learning deficits…
30
31
South African teacher
content knowledge
CAPACITY
Importance of basic content knowledge
•
Mathematics teachers
need “a
thorough mastery of the mathematics
in several grades beyond that which
they expect to teach, as well as of the
mathematics in earlier grades”
(Conference Board of the Mathematical
Sciences, 2001, ch.2).
• Carnoy & Chisholm’s (2008: p. 22)
conceptual model distinguishes
between basic content knowledge
and
higher
level
content
knowledge.
33
Maths teacher CK critically low
Which content areas do
South African teachers
struggle with?
Maths teacher CK critically low
35
What do South African
teachers know relative to
other teachers in Africa?
SACMEQ III (2007) Mathematics-teacher mathematics test-scores for SACMEQ
countries and South African quintiles of school wealth (95% confidence interval incl.)
Mean
Lower bound confidence interval (95%)
Upper bound confidence interval (95%)
950
900
Maths-teacher mathematics score
KEN
850
Q5-SOU
ZIM
800
SWA
750
MAL
LES
700
650
ZAM
SOU
NAM
SEY
TAN UGA
BOT
Q4-SOU
MOZ
Q3-SOU
Q2-SOU
Q1-SOU
ZAN
600
37
Conclusions
Ball et al (2008, p. 409): “Teachers who do not
themselves know the subject well are not likely
to have the knowledge they need to help
students learn this content. At the same time
just knowing a subject may well not be sufficient
for teaching.”
38
3) In South Africa we have
TWO public schooling
systems not one
Bimodality
.015
.01
0
.005
Density
.02
.025
NSES Grade 4 (2008)
0
20
40
60
Numeracy score 2008
Ex-DET/Homelands schools
80
100
Historically white schools
40
.005
Kernel Density of Literacy Score by Race (KZN)
.006
.004
Density
.003
.002
.002
0
20
40
60
Literacy score (%)
Black
Indian
80
0
0
0
.001
.005
.01
.015
kdensity reading test score
.004
.02
U-ANA 2011
100
0
0
200
White
Asian
400
reading test score
600
200
800
Poorest 25%
Second wealthiest 25%
English/Afrikaans schools
African language schools
400
600
Learner Reading Score
800
1000
Second poorest 25%
Wealthiest 25%
.025
PIRLS / TIMSS / SACMEQ / NSES / ANA / Matric… by Wealth / Language / Location / Dept…
Kernel Density of School Literacy by Quintile
.01
.02
Density
.015
.01
0
0
0
Density
.03
.02
.04
U-ANA 2011
.005
Density
.008
Bimodality – indisputable fact
0
20
40
60
Numeracy score 2008
Ex-DET/Homelands schools
80
Historically white schools
100
20
40
60
Average school literacy score
Quintile 1
Quintile 3
Quintile 5
80
100
Quintile 2
Quintile 4
41

In most government
reports outcomes and
inputs are not usually
reported by quintile,
only national averages

42
Implications for reporting and modeling??
43
2 education systems
Dysfunctional Schools (75% of schools)
Functional Schools (25% of schools)
Weak accountability
Strong accountability
Incompetent school management
Good school management
Lack of culture of learning, discipline and order
Culture of learning, discipline and order
Inadequate LTSM
Adequate LTSM
Weak teacher content knowledge
Adequate teacher content knowledge
High teacher absenteeism (1 month/yr)
Low teacher absenteeism (2 week/yr)
Slow curriculum coverage, little homework or testing
Covers the curriculum, weekly homework, frequent
testing
High repetition & dropout (Gr10-12)
Low repetition & dropout (Gr10-12)
Extremely weak learning: most students fail
standardised tests
Adequate learner performance (primary and matric)
44
SOLUTION?
Accountability
AND
Capacity
Important distinctions
Increased
allocation of
resources
Increased
resources
“on-theground”
Improved
student
outcomes
Often these 3 are spoken
about interchangeably
46
Important distinctions
Increased
allocation of
resources
Increased
resources
“on-theground”
Improved
student
outcomes
47
Important distinctions
Increased
allocation of
resources
Increased
resources
“on-theground”
Improved
student
outcomes
48
Important distinctions
Increased
allocation of
resources
Increased
resources
“on-theground”
Improved
student
outcomes
49
Accountability & Capacity
50
Accountability without capacity
• “Accountability systems and incentive structures, no matter how well
designed, are only as effective as the capacity of the organization to
respond. The purpose of an accountability system is to focus the resources
and capacities of an organization towards a particular end.
Accountability systems can’t mobilize resources that schools
don’t have...the capacity to improve precedes and shapes schools’
responses to the external demands of accountability systems (Elmore,
2004b, p. 117).
•
“If policy-makers rely on incentives for improving either a school or a
student, then the question arises, incentives to do what? What exactly
should educators in failing schools do tomorrow - that they
do not do today - to produce more learning? What should a
failing student do tomorrow that he or she is not doing
today?” (Loveless, 2005, pp. 16, 26).
51
Capacity without accountability
•
“In the absence of accountability sub-systems, support measures are very
much a hit and miss affair. Accountability measures provide motivation for
and direction to support measures, by identifying capacity shortcomings,
establishing outcome targets, and setting in place incentives and
sanctions which motivate and constrain teachers and managers
throughout the system to apply the lessons learned on training courses
in their daily work practices. Without these, support measures are like
trying to push a piece of string: with the best will in the world, it has
nowhere to go. Conversely, the performance gains achieved by accountability
measures, however efficiently implemented, will reach a ceiling when the lack
of leadership and technical skills on the part of managers, and curricular
knowledge on the part of teachers, places a limit on improved performance.
Thus, the third step in improving the quality of schooling is to provide targeted
training programs to managers and teachers. To achieve optimal effects, these
will need to connect up with and be steered by accountability measures”
(Taylor, 2002, p. 17).
52
53
54
55
56
57
58
“Only when schools have both the incentive
to respond to an accountability system as well
as the capacity to do so will there be an
improvement in student outcomes.” (p22)
59
Binding
constraints
approach
The binding constraints approach
• It is “based on the idea that not all constraints
bind equally, and that a sensible and practical
strategy consists of identifying the most
serious constraint(s) at work” (Rodrik, 2009: 6)
• Hypothetical example…
61
62
63
64
“The left hand barrel has horizontal wooden slabs, while the right hand side barrel
has vertical slabs. The volume in the first barrel depends on the sum of the width of
all slabs. Increasing the width of any slab will increase the volume of the barrel. So a
strategy on improving anything you can, when you can, while you can, would be
effective. The volume in the second barrel is determined by the length of the
shortest slab. Two implications of the second barrel are that the impact of a change
in a slab on the volume of the barrel depends on whether it is the binding constraint
or not. If not, the impact is zero. If it is the binding constraint, the impact will depend
on the distance between the shortest slab and the next shortest slab” (Hausmann,
Klinger, & Wagner, 2008, p. 17).
65
3 biggest challenges - SA
1.Failure to get the basics right
•
•
Children who cannot read, write and compute properly (Functionally
illiterate/innumerate) after 6 years of formal full-time schooling
Often teachers lack even the most basic knowledge
2.Equity in education
•
•
2 education systems – dysfunctional system operates at bottom of African
countries, functional system operates at bottom of developed countries.
More resources is NOT the silver bullet – we are not using existing resources
3.Lack of accountability
•
•
•
Little accountability to parents in majority of school system
Little accountability between teachers and Department
Teacher unions abusing power and acting unprofessionally
66
Way forward?
1. Acknowledge the extent of the problem
•
Low quality education is one of the three largest crises facing our country (along with
HIV/AIDS and unemployment). Need the political will and public support for widespread
reform.
2. Focus on the basics
•
•
•
•
•
Every child MUST master the basics of foundational numeracy and literacy these are the
building blocks of further education – weak foundations = recipe for disaster
Teachers need to be in school teaching (re-introduce inspectorate?)
Every teacher needs a minimum competency (basic) in the subjects they teach
Every child (teacher) needs access to adequate learning (teaching) materials
Use every school day and every school period – maximise instructional time
3. Increase information, accountability & transparency
•
•
•
At ALL levels – DBE, district, school, classroom, learner
Strengthen ANA
Set realistic goals for improvement and hold people accountable
67
When faced with an exceedingly low and
unequal quality of education do we….
A) Increase accountability {US model}
• Create a fool-proof highly specified, sequenced curriculum (CAPS/workbooks)
• Measure learning better and more frequently (ANA)
• Increase choice/information in a variety of ways
B) Improve the quality of teachers {Finnish model}
• Attract better candidates into teaching degrees  draw candidates from the
top (rather than the bottom) of the matric distribution
• Increase the competence of existing teachers (Capacitation)
• Long term endeavor which requires sustained, committed, strategic,
thoughtful leadership (something we don’t have)
C) All of the above {Utopian model}
•
Perhaps A while we set out on the costly and difficult journey of B??
68
4 “Take-Home” points
Many things we have not discussed – Grade-R/ECD, teacher unions, LOLT,
teacher training (in- and pre-), RCTs etc.
1. South Africa performs extremely poorly on local and international
assessments of educational achievement.
2. In large parts of the schooling system there is very little learning
taking place.
3. In SA we have two public schooling systems not one.
4. Strategies for improvement need to focus on 1) accountability, 2)
capacity, 3) alignment.
69
References and further reading
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
•
Spaull, N. 2014. Accountability in South African Education. Ch4 in “Transformation Audit 2013: Confronting Exclusion” Institute for Justice and
Reconciliation. Cape Town.
Spaull, N. 2013. South Africa’s Education Crisis: The Quality of Education in South Africa 1995-2011. Centre for Development and Enterprise.
Spaull, N. 2012. SACMEQ at a Glance for 10 African countries. 2 page research note per country.
Spaull, N. 2013. Poverty & Privilege: Primary School Inequality in South Africa. International Journal of Educational Development. 33 (2013) pp. 436447 (WP here)
Carnoy, M., Chisholm, L., & Chilisa, B. (2012). The Low Achievement Trap: Comparing Schooling in Botswana and South Africa. Cape Town: HSRC
Press.
Donalson, A. (1992). Content, Quality and Flexibility: The Economics of Education System Change. Spotlight 5/92. Johannesburg: South African
Institute of Race Relations.
Elmore, R. (2004a). Agency, Reciprocity, and Accountability in Democratic Education. Cambridge, MA: Consortium for Policy Research in Education.
Elmore, R. (2008). Leadership as the practice of improvement. In OECD, Improving School Leadership. Volume 2: Case Studies on System
Leadership (pp. 37-67). Paris: OECD Publishing.
Fiske, E., & Ladd, H. (2004). Elusive Equity: Education Reform in Post-apartheid South Africa. Washington: Brookings Institution Press / HSRC Press.
Fleisch, B. (2008). Primary Education in Crisis: Why South African schoolchildren underachieve in reading and mathematics. Cape Town. : Juta & Co.
Hoadley, U. (2010). What doe we know about teaching and learning in primary schools in South Africa? A review of the classroom-based research
literature. Report for the Grade 3 Improvement project of the University of Stellenbosch. Western Cape Education Department.
Taylor, N., Muller, J., & Vinjevold, P. (2003). Getting Schools Working. Cape Town: Pearson Education.
Van der Berg, S. (2007). Apartheid’s Enduring Legacy: Inequalities in Education. Journal of African Economies, 16(5), 849-880.
Van der Berg, S. (2008). How effective are poor schools? Poverty and educational outcomes in South Africa. Centre for European, Governance and
Economic Development Research (CEGE) Discussion Papers 69.
Van der Berg, S., Burger, C., Burger, R., de Vos, M., du Rand, G., Gustafsson, M., Shepherd, D., Spaull, N., Taylor, S., van Broekhuizen, H., and von
Fintel, D. (2011). Low quality education as a poverty trap. Stellenbosch: University of Stellenbosch, Department of Economics. Research report for the
PSPPD project for Presidency.
Shalem, Y. (2003). Do we have a theory of change? Calling change models to account. Perspectives in Education, 21(1), 29-49.
Background to SACMEQ:
Hungi, N., Makuwa, D., Ross, K., Saito, M., Dolata, S., van Capelle, F., et al. (2011). SACMEQ III Project Results: Levels and Trends in School Resources
among SACMEQ School Systems. Paris: Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality.
Ross, K., Saito, M., Dolata, S., Ikeda, M., Zuze, L., Murimba, S., et al. (2005). The Conduct of the SACMEQ III Project. In E. Onsomu, J. Nzomo, & C.
Obiero, The SACMEQ II Project in Kenya: A Study of the Conditions of Schooling and the Quality of Education. Harare: SACMEQ.
Murimba, S. (2005) SACMEQ Mission, Approach and Projects. Prospects, vol. XXXV, no. 1, March 2005
70
Thank you
Comments & Questions?
This presentation & others are available online at:
www.nicspaull.com/research
[email protected]
71
Insurmountable learning deficits: 0.3 SD
South African Learning Trajectories by National Socioeconomic Quintiles
Based on NSES (2007/8/9) for grades 3, 4 and 5, SACMEQ (2007) for grade 6 and TIMSS (2011) for grade 9)
13
12
11
10
Effective grade
9
8
Quintile 1
7
Quintile 2
6
Quintile 3
5
Quintile 4
4
Quintile 5
Q1-4 Trajectory
3
Q5 Trajectory
2
1
0
Gr3
Gr4
(NSES 2007/8/9)
Gr5
Gr6
(SACMEQ
2007)
Gr7
Gr8
Projections
Gr9
(TIMSS 2011)
Gr10
Gr11
Gr12
Projections
Actual grade (and data source)
72
Decreasing proportion of matrics
taking mathematics
Grade 12
Pass matric with maths
1200000
60%
1000000
50%
800000
40%
600000
30%
400000
20%
200000
10%
0
Proportion of matrics (%)
Number of students
Grade 10 (2 years earlier)
Those who pass matric
Proportion of matrics taking mathematics
0%
Matric 2008 (Gr 10 2006) Matric 2009 (Gr 10 2007) Matric 2010 (Gr 10 2008) Matric 2011 (Gr 10 2009)
2008
2009
2010
2011
Numbers wrote
maths
298 821
290 407
263 034
224 635
Numbers passed
maths
136 503
133 505
124 749
104 033
Maths pass rate
45,7%
46,0%
47,4%
46,3%
Table 4: Mathematics outputs since 2008 (Source: Taylor, 2012, p. 4)
Proportion taking
maths
56,1%
52,6%
48,8%
45,3%
Proportion
passing maths
25,6%
24,2%
23,2%
21,0%
73
Teacher Content Knowledge
• Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (2001, ch.2) recommends
that mathematics teachers need:
– “A thorough mastery of the mathematics in several grades beyond
that which they expect to teach, as well as of the mathematics in
earlier grades” (2001 report ‘The Mathematical Education of
Teachers’)
• Ball et al (2008, p. 409)
– “Teachers who do not themselves know the subject well are not likely
to have the knowledge they need to help students learn this content. At
the same time just knowing a subject may well not be sufficient for
teaching.”
• Shulman (1986, p. 9)
– “We expect that the subject matter content understanding of the
teacher be at least equal to that of his or her lay colleague, the mere
subject matter major”
74
South Africa specifically…
• Taylor & Vinjevold’s (1999, p. 230) conclusion in
their book “Getting Learning Right” is particularly
explicit:
• “The most definite point of convergence across the
[President’s Education Initiative] studies is the
conclusion that teachers’ poor conceptual knowledge
of the subjects they are teaching is a fundamental
constraint on the quality of teaching and learning
activities, and consequently on the quality of learning
outcomes.”
75
Carnoy & Chisholm (2008: p. 22) conceptual framework
76
Teacher knowledge
Teachers cannot teach
what they do not know.
CK – How
Demonizing teachers is
popular, but unhelpful
to do
fractions
PCK –
“For every increment of performance I demand
from you, I have an equal responsibility to
provide you with the capacity to meet that
expectation. Likewise, for every investment you
make in my skill and knowledge, I have a
reciprocal responsibility to demonstrate some
new increment in performance”
(Elmore, 2004b, p. 93).
how to
teach
fractions
Student
understands &
can calculate
fractions
Distribution of mathematics teacher CK by
geographical location
Rural lower bound confidence interval (95%)
Rural upper bound confidence interval (95%)
Urban lower bound confidence interval (95%)
Urban upper bound confidence interval (95%)
1000
Maths-teacher mathematics score
950
900
KEN
850
ZIM
800
SWA
750
700
650
SOU
LES
ZAM
MOZ
MAL
NAM
TAN
SEY
UGA
BOT
ZAN
600
South Africa is the only country (amongst SACMEQ countries) where rural
mathematics teachers know statistically significantly less than urban teachers.
78
Distribution of mathematics teacher CK by
school SES quintile
Mean
Lower bound confidence interval (95%)
Upper bound confidence interval (95%)
950
Maths-teacher mathematics score
900
KEN
850
Q5-SOU
ZIM
800
SWA
750
LES ZAM MOZ
700
650
NAM
MAL SOU
SEY
TAN UGA
BOT
Q4-SOU
Q3-SOU
Q2-SOU
Q1-SOU
ZAN
600
79
NSES question 37
NSES followed about 15000 students (266 schools) and tested them in Grade 3 (2007), Grade 4 (2008) and
Grade 5 (2009).
Grade 3 maths curriculum:
“Can perform calculations
using approp symbols to
solve problems involving:
MULTIPLICATION of at least
2-digit by 1-digit numbers”
100%
18%
90%
80%
38%
37%
17%
17%
37%
33%
11%
70%
60%
50%
17%
22%
18%
20%
19%
Correct in Gr4
54%
20%
10%
Still wrong in Gr5
Correct in Gr5
40%
30%
18%
18%
23%
29%
25%
29%
Q2
Q3
Q4
Correct in Gr3
At the end of Grade
5 more than a third
of quintile 1-4
students cannot
answer this simple
Grade-3-level
problem.
0%
Q1
Q5
Question 37
80
Solutions?
Possible solution…
• The DBE cannot afford to be idealistic in its implementation of
teacher training and testing
– Aspirational planning approach: All primary school mathematics teachers
should be able to pass the matric mathematics exam
(benchmark = desirable teacher CK)
– Realistic approach: (e.g.) minimum proficiency benchmark where teachers
have to achieve at least 90% in the ANA of the grades in which they teach, and
70% in Grade 9 ANA
(benchmark = basic teacher CK)
• First we need to figure out what works!
• Pilot the system with one district. Imperative to evaluate which teacher
training option (of hundreds) works best in urban/rural for example.
Rigorous impact evaluations are needed before selecting a program and
then rolling it out
• Tests are primarily for diagnostic purposes not punitive purposes
82
Accountability stages...
•
SA is a few decades behind many OECD
countries. Predictable outcomes as we
move from stage to stage. Loveless (2005:
7) explains the historical sequence of
accountability movements for students –
similar movements for teachers?
–
Stages in accountability movements:
1) Setting
standards
Stage 1 – Setting standards
(defining what students should learn),
– CAPS
–
Stage 2 - Measuring achievement
(testing to see what students have
learned),
2) Measuring
achievement
– ANA
–
Stage 3 - Holding educators & students
accountable
(making results count).
3) Holding
accountable
– Western Cape performance
agreements?
“For every increment of performance I demand from you, I have an equal responsibility to provide
you with the capacity to meet that expectation. Likewise, for every investment you make in my
skill and knowledge, I have a reciprocal responsibility to demonstrate some new increment in
performance” (Elmore, 2004b, p. 93).
83
When faced with an exceedingly low and
unequal quality of education do we….
A) Increase accountability {US model}
• Create a fool-proof highly specified, sequenced curriculum (CAPS/workbooks)
• Measure learning better and more frequently (ANA)
• Increase choice/information in a variety of ways
B) Improve the quality of teachers {Finnish model}
• Attract better candidates into teaching degrees  draw candidates from the
top (rather than the bottom) of the matric distribution
• Increase the competence of existing teachers (Capacitation)
• Long term endeavor which requires sustained, committed, strategic,
thoughtful leadership (something we don’t have)
C) All of the above {Utopian model}
•
Perhaps A while we set out on the costly and difficult journey of B??
84
Way forward?
1. Acknowledge the extent of the problem
•
Low quality education is one of the three largest crises facing our country (along with
HIV/AIDS and unemployment). Need the political will and public support for widespread
reform.
2. Focus on the basics
•
•
•
•
•
Every child MUST master the basics of foundational numeracy and literacy these are the
building blocks of further education – weak foundations = recipe for disaster
Teachers need to be in school teaching (re-introduce inspectorate?)
Every teacher needs a minimum competency (basic) in the subjects they teach
Every child (teacher) needs access to adequate learning (teaching) materials
Use every school day and every school period – maximise instructional time
3. Increase information, accountability & transparency
•
•
•
At ALL levels – DBE, district, school, classroom, learner
Strengthen ANA
Set realistic goals for improvement and hold people accountable
85
3 biggest challenges - SA
1.Failure to get the basics right
•
•
Children who cannot read, write and compute properly (Functionally
illiterate/innumerate) after 6 years of formal full-time schooling
Often teachers lack even the most basic knowledge
2.Equity in education
•
•
2 education systems – dysfunctional system operates at bottom of African
countries, functional system operates at bottom of developed countries.
More resources is NOT the silver bullet – we are not using existing resources
3.Lack of accountability
•
•
•
Little accountability to parents in majority of school system
Little accountability between teachers and Department
Teacher unions abusing power and acting unprofessionally
86
Conclusion
1. Ensuring that public funding is
actually pro-poor and also that it
actually reaches the poor.
2. Understanding whether the
motivation is for human dignity
reasons or improving learning
outcomes.
3. Ensuring that additional resources are
allocated based on evidence rather
than anecdote.
4. The need for BOTH accountability
AND capacity.
87
Binding constraints approach
88
89
90
91
“The left hand barrel has horizontal wooden slabs, while the right hand side barrel
has vertical slabs. The volume in the first barrel depends on the sum of the width of
all slabs. Increasing the width of any slab will increase the volume of the barrel. So a
strategy on improving anything you can, when you can, while you can, would be
effective. The volume in the second barrel is determined by the length of the
shortest slab. Two implications of the second barrel are that the impact of a change
in a slab on the volume of the barrel depends on whether it is the binding constraint
or not. If not, the impact is zero. If it is the binding constraint, the impact will depend
on the distance between the shortest slab and the next shortest slab” (Hausmann,
Klinger, & Wagner, 2008, p. 17).
92
NSES question 37
NSES followed about 15000 students (266 schools) and tested them in Grade 3 (2007), Grade 4 (2008) and
Grade 5 (2009).
Grade 3 maths curriculum:
“Can perform calculations
using approp symbols to
solve problems involving:
MULTIPLICATION of at least
2-digit by 1-digit numbers”
Even at the end of Grade 5
more than a third of
quintile 1-4 students
cannot answer this simple
Grade-3-level problem.
100%
18%
90%
80%
38%
37%
17%
17%
37%
33%
11%
70%
60%
50%
17%
22%
18%
20%
19%
Correct in Gr4
54%
20%
10%
Still wrong in Gr5
Correct in Gr5
40%
30%
18%
18%
23%
29%
25%
29%
Q2
Q3
Q4
Correct in Gr3
“The powerful notions of ratio, rate
and proportion are built upon the
simpler concepts of whole number,
multiplication and division, fraction
and rational number, and are
themselves the precursors to the
development of yet more complex
concepts such as triangle similarity,
trigonometry, gradient and calculus”
(Taylor & Reddi, 2013: 194)
0%
Q1
Q5
Question 37
(Spaull & Viljoen, forthcoming)
93