2011 Annual National Assessment
Basic Education Portfolio Committee
16 August 2011
PRESENTATION OUTLINE
• Introduction
• Purpose of ANA
• Limitations
• Learner performance results (verification and universal ANA)
• Trends in learner performance.
• Qualitative Analysis
• Next Steps
• Conclusion
Introduction
ANA is an assessment tool supporting, Action Plan to 2014,
Towards the Realisation of Schooling 2025.
A key problem in the past has been the absence of a
standardised measurement of the quality of teaching and
learning below Grade 12 except in samples of schools and
learners.
ANA is a large-scale adaptation of the sample-based
Systemic Evaluation programme, which was run in 2001,
2004 and 2007.
Introduction
First Three Goals of Action Plan to 2014:• Increase the number of learners in Grade 3 who by the end of
the year have mastered the minimum Language and Numeracy
competencies for Grade 3.
• Increase the number of learners in Grade 6 who by the end of
the year have mastered the minimum Language and
Mathematics competencies for Grade 6
• Increase number of learners in Grd 9 who, by end of year, have
mastered the minimum Language and Maths competencies.
Introduction
Baseline and targets are calculated as “percentage of learners
achieving a specific level of performance” in each case.
Baseline (2009)
Grd. 3 Lit.
Grd. 3 Num
Grd. 6 Lang
Grd. 6 Math
Grd. 9
48
43
37
19
Establish in 2012
Target (2014)
60
60
60
60
60
Introduction
•
•
•
Envisaged that ANA will become a cornerstone of quality
improvements in South African schools, providing important
information on learning and its context.
Experience in other countries have shown that it takes up to
5 years for a programme of this nature to build up sufficient
credibility and to reach the required level of impact on
school practices.
The credibility is determined by:
- The assessment instrument
- The administration of the assessment
- The marking and moderation of assessment
- The analysis
Purpose of ANA
To provide credible and reliable information for monitoring
progress in learner performance towards achieving the
national goals of “improving the quality of basic education”.
• Key expected effects: Serve as a diagnostic tool identifying areas of strength
and weakness in teaching and learning
 Expose teachers to better assessment practices.
 Provide districts with information to target schools in need
of assistance.
 Encourage schools to celebrate outstanding performance.
 Empower parents by providing them information about the
education of their children.
•
Limitations
•
•
•
•
This was the first time an assessment was administered on this
scale.
Comparability with previous assessments, in particular the
2004 and 2007 Systemic Evaluation, is not perfect with respect
to the tests as a whole.
Problems with the formulation and translation of certain
questions have been noted and underline the importance of
strengthening the test design processes in future years.
Although all teachers were expected to follow specific
procedures in administering the tests, it would appear that in
some instances procedures were not followed as strictly as
they were supposed to be and that could have affected learner
scores either way.
Limitations
•
Marking may not have been consistent across schools.
•
Systems for collecting the data from schools, capturing and
cleaning, proved to be inadequate for the magnitude of this
study and disparate where they existed, resulting in some
data not being available on time for analysis.
Analysis of verification ANA results
• The data cover 19 470 Grade 3 learners and 19 397 Grade 6
learners in 827 and 840 schools respectively.
• Test scores converted to percentages are used in the
analysis.
Maximum possible mark per test
Grade
Learning Area
Total Mark
3
Literacy
30
3
Numeracy
40
6
Language
50
6
Mathematics
75
Percentage of learners functioning at levels of performance
•
•
•
•
Learners have been placed in specific levels of performance
according to the percentage scores they obtained out of the
total for each test.
Level
Description
Score range
Level 1: Not achieved:
Score Less than 35%
Level 2: Partially achieved: At least 35% but less than
50%
Level 3: Achieved:
At least 50% but less than
70%
Level 4: Outstanding:
At least 70%
Learner performance results (VA)
Grade 3 mean score (%) Grade 6 mean score (%)
Literacy
EC
Numeracy Language Maths
39
35
29
29
FS
37
26
23
28
GP
35
30
35
37
KZN
39
31
29
32
LIM
30
20
21
25
MPU
27
19
20
25
NC
28
21
27
28
NW
30
21
22
26
WC
43
36
40
41
35
28
28
30
Gender comparisons in performance (% learners)
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Grade 3 Literacy
Boy
62
14
17
8
Girl
48
17
22
13
Grade 3 Numeracy
Boy
70
16
10
4
Girl
67
17
11
5
13
Gender comparisons in performance (% learners)
Level 1
Level 2
Level 3
Level 4
Grade 6 Language
Boy
75
13
10
2
Girl
63
16
15
5
Grade 6 Mathematics
Boy
69
19
9
3
Girl
63
23
10
4
14
Marking
Except for literacy in grade 3, there were no significant
differences at national level between scores allocated by
teachers and those allocated independently after remarking of
scripts (VA).
There were however, individual schools where teachers
tended to either over- or under-mark learners’ work.
This has important implications for strengthening teachers
capacity in assessment.
Learner performance at specific levels
The percentage of learners performing at specific levels:
In all four of the ANA tests examined, over half of all learners
in the country perform at a level that indicates that they have
clearly not achieved the competencies specified in the
curriculum.
In Grade 6, the results indicate that around 70% of learners
fall into this category. At the top end, very few learners are
able to achieve outstanding results. For instance, only 3% of
learners in Grade 6 mathematics can be considered
outstanding.
Learner performance at specific levels
Performance in Grade 3 literacy by level
Learner performance at specific levels
Performance in Grade 3 numeracy by level
Learner performance at specific levels
Performance in Grade 6 language by level
Learner performance at specific levels
Performance in Grade 6 maths by level
Percent “Struggling” and “Promising” schools by quintile
Grade & Q 1
Subj.
S
Q2
P S
Q3
P
S
Q4
P
S
Q5
P
S
P
3 Lit
17
45 16
42
12
52
7
58
9
66
3 Num
38
19 35
11
34
25
26
30
10
41
6 Lang
46
13 56
9
32
16
18
35
3
62
6 Math
45
13 33
11
26
10
17
24
8
60
Universal ANA Results
Learners achieving acceptable performance (Levels 2, 3 & 4) in
Literacy and Numeracy
Total
Grade
Literacy/Language
Total
Numeracy/Mathematics
1
Captured
425 626
Number
341 725
%
80.3
Captured
431 489
Number
388 552
%
90.0
2
382 677
285 173
74.5
385 273
320 038
83.1
3
380 687
212 264
55.8
381 309
158 624
41.6
4
388 406
174 664
45.0
388 703
126 450
32.5
5
372 954
137 253
36.8
376 549
116 764
31.0
6
359 758
152 243
42.3
360 081
130 037
36.1
Total
2 310 108
1 303 322
56.4
2 323 404
1 240 465
53.4
Universal ANA
Mean scores of learners in Literacy and Numeracy
Grade
Literacy/Language
Numeracy/Mathematics
1
59.4
63.0
2
51.6
54.7
3
42.0
32.7
4
33.5
28.4
5
28.6
28.3
6
33.1
31.1
Universal ANA
Grade
Distribution of learners per achievement levels
% Distribution of learners per
achievement levels for Literacy
Level 1
(1 34%)
Level 2
(35 49%)
Level 3
(50 69%)
% Distribution of learners per
achievement levels for Numeracy
Level 4
(70 100%)
Level 1
(1 34%)
Level 2
(35 49%)
Level 3
(50 69%)
Level 4
(70 100%)
1
19.7
13.5
26.6
40.2
10.0
11.9
28.8
49.3
2
25.5
17.3
26.4
30.8
16.9
21.5
33.2
28.3
3
44.2
15.7
22.6
17.5
58.4
21.3
15.1
5.2
4
55.0
20.9
16.2
7.9
67.5
17.5
11.9
3.1
5
63.2
15.8
14.3
6.6
69.0
17.2
10.2
3.6
6
57.7
17.9
17.3
7.1
63.9
19.9
10.8
5.4
Total
43.6
16.8
20.7
18.9
46.6
18.1
18.7
16.6
Trends in ANA results
Universal ANA (2011)
• Preliminary findings show that learners in Grade 1 to Grade 5 performed
progressively less well in both Literacy and Numeracy from the foundation
phase to the intermediate phase. Results for Grade 6 are marginally better
than for Grade 5.
• Notably, results for Grades 1 and 2 in both Literacy and Numeracy are very
promising.
• Factors contributing to relatively good results in Grades 1 and 2:
Expansion of Grade R, introduction of standardised learning material for
Grade R, introduction of Foundations for Learning, interventions to
improve Literacy and Numeracy in the Foundation Phase, among others.
Trends in ANA results (cont’d)
Universal ANA (2011)
• The lower performance in Grade 3 compared to Grade 2 may be
attributed to the fact that the above interventions were not present to
scale in time to have an impact on this Grade.
• The lower performance in Grade 4 compared to Grade 3 may be
attributed largely to the challenge in the transition from mother-tongue
instruction to the Language of Learning and Teaching that is
introduced from Grade 4. This issue has been clearly identified and
addressed in the Curriculum Revision process.
Trends in ANA results
Verification ANA
•
•
•
Overall mean learner performance in Literacy in Grade 6 is lower than
in Grade 3.
Grade 3 Numeracy:- Learners’ mean performance in numeracy was lower compared to
performance in Literacy.
- More learners perform at Level 1 (not achieved) compared to
performance in Literacy.
Grade 3 Literacy:- 53% of Grade 3 learners perform at Level 1 (not achieved) whilst
11% perform at Level 4.
Trends in ANA results
Grade 6 Language:
- 70% of Grade 6 learners perform at Level 1 (not
achieved)
- 3 percent of grade 6 learners perform at “outstanding”
level.
Grade 6 Mathematics:
- Learners’ performance in Mathematics is similar to that of
the Language.
Generally, girls tended to perform better than boys in all grades.
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Qualitative analysis
Lack of generic skills: Hand writing: Too many learners across the system have not
yet developed the basic skill of writing properly and legibly.
Difficult to establish if they know anything in the tested skills
and knowledge and doubtful if they can make sense of what
they have written
 Inability to read and follow written instructions: - Many
learners provided responses that suggested that they could not
read questions with understanding.
 Acute lack of basic word-treasure (vocabulary) to express
oneself in writing, especially from grade 4 upwards.
Qualitative analysis
 The rate at which learning occurs is low.
 Learners in the higher grades (grades 4, 5 and 6) display
learning deficiencies in basic literacy and numeracy skills.
Numeracy
• Inability to handle basic numeracy operations - subtraction,
multiplication and division that involve whole numbers.
• Conceptions of fractions, e.g. comparing fractions according to
size and arranging them from the smallest to the highest or
vice versa.
• Misconceptions become more pronounced when learners have
to operate mixed numbers, i.e. where there are whole numbers
and fractions in the same operation, such as in subtracting
“three-and-one- quarter” from “five-and-one-eighth”
Numeracy
• Inability to translate problems that are given in words and to
write them in ways that enable them to solve the problem using
mathematical techniques. For example, inability to calculate the
amount of change a shopper receives from a specified amount
tendered after paying for a number of items whose individual
prices are given.
Literacy
• General lack in basic literacy skills including basic grammar,
correct spelling of frequently used words, proper use of
language forms (e.g. correct use of prepositions, plural forms,
tense, words that mean opposites of given words, etc.).
• Lack of vocabulary, arising out of inadequate or infrequent
practice in the important skill of “reading”?
• Poor comprehension skills, thus only simple questions that
require them to extract information directly from given text or
give short one-word answers are attempted. Unable to
respond to questions that demand complex skills of inferential
reading (“reading between the lines”),
Literacy
• Can’t respond to questions that ask: “Why?” (Reasoning); “What
do you think?” (Inferential reading); “State in your own words.”
etc.
• Inability to write own text from given prompts (e.g. given picture
and asked to write what one thinks about what’s in the picture) or
transform a given text into another form that requires basic
comprehension.
Next Steps
Learner performance is influenced, inter alia,
following factors:•
•
•
•
•
by the
Availability of appropriate learning and teaching support
materials
Teacher competencies in relevant content areas
Time on task by both learners and teachers
Language of learning and teaching.
General school functionality
35
Next Steps
• Foundations for Learning Campaign provides directives,
support and materials to improve learner performance in
reading, writing and numeracy in all schools. This year DBE
distributed 15 000 Foundations for Learning packs for use
by teachers from Grade R to 3.
• The Curriculum and Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS)
builds on the Foundations for Learning and provide more
time for languages and mathematics (or literacy and
numeracy). This will be supported with guided teacher
development and appropriate readers and workbooks.
36
Next Steps
• Development of “banks” of good quality exemplars of
assessment in each of literacy and numeracy.
• Reduction in the number of subjects in the Intermediate
Phase (implementation will begin in Grades 4-6 in 2013.)
This will address the big leap between the Foundation
Phase (Grades 1-3) and the Intermediate Phase (Grades 46). Learners jump from three subjects to eight
• From 2012, the language chosen by the learner as a
Language of Learning and Teaching from Grade 4 shall be
taught as a subject, from Grade 1, and not from Grade 3.
This will address the switch in many schools from home
language to English from Grade 4.
•
37
Next Steps
• DBE is working towards universal access to Grade R, by
2014. Between 2007 and 2010 there was an increase in the
number of schools offering Grade R, from 12 480 schools to
16 020 and an increase in the number of learners in Grade
R, from 487 222 to 707 203
• Provision learner-friendly literacy and numeracy workbooks
for every learner in grades 1-6. This year government has
printed workbooks for 6 million learners. In 2012, workbooks
will also be distributed to learners in Grades 7-9. Workbooks
are available in the appropriate language of learning and
teaching for every learner.
38
Next Steps
•
•
Strengthening teacher development programmes. The focus
is on more targeted, subject-specific teacher education and
development that will improve teacher content knowledge.
Strengthening the campaign to attract young people to the
teaching profession by providing incentives to attract top
students into the teaching profession (e.g. the FundzaLushaka Bursary Scheme).
39
Next Steps
• Improving accountability in the system which is anchored
around the following four pillars:• Strengthening the culture of performance management.
• Simplifying and aligning the evaluation instruments that
measure performance standards for educators;
• Strengthening monitoring and support for educators;
• Strengthening reporting at all levels.
• The National Education Evaluation and Development Unit
(NEEDU) has been established. This Unit will help in evaluating the
education system and identifying critical factors that inhibit or advance
school improvement and make focused recommendations for
redressing the problem areas that undermine school improvement.
40
Next Steps
•
•
•
Principals and deputy principals will enter into performance
contracts with clear performance targets. Performance will
be measured in terms of the academic performance of the
school and against the quality of management of the school.
Support for schools, will be strengthened through the
development of job descriptions for circuit managers and
subject advisors and the development of performance
agreements to be signed by these officials with clear targets
and deliverables.
DBE plans through the Accelerated Schools Infrastructure
Development Initiative, to make all schools, rural and urban,
to function optimally by 2014.
41
Next Steps
•
Promoting education as a societal enterprise rather than an
exclusive responsibility of DBE. The Quality of Learning and
Teaching Campaign (QLTC) which provides a forum for all
role-players, e.g. parents, teacher formations, learner
formations, DBE, and others, is one initiative in this
collective responsibility strategy.
•
Ensuring that school management is led by competent staff
who are continually supported by equally competent officials
at district level so that schools are functional and provide a
conducive environment for learning and teaching.
42
Conclusion
The 2011 ANA will serve as the baseline which the DBE will
use to measure future progress.
All South Africans, parents, educators, the private sector,
the children themselves are called to action, to work
together in support of basic education and the future of
South Africa’s children.
43