what do we know about
play

What do we know about reading outcomes in SA? -Nic Spaull - PowerPoint PPT Presentation

Nov 05, 2023 •227 likes •631 views

What do we know about reading outcomes in SA? -Nic Spaull (OECD/UJ/SU) 18 May 2016 BRIDGE Overview 1. SA context 2. Why focus on reading? 3. Background research on reading in SA 4. What data is there on reading outcomes? How do

  1. What do we know about reading outcomes in SA? -Nic Spaull (OECD/UJ/SU) 18 May 2016 BRIDGE

  2. Overview 1. SA context 2. Why focus on reading? 3. Background research on reading in SA 4. What data is there on reading outcomes? – How do sample-based assessments work? – Inequality as the over-arching feature of SA education system • Language, Province, Former-department, Socioeconomic status (SES) – PIRLS (2011), prePIRLS (2011), SACMEQ 2007, NSES 2007-2009 5. New research on Oral Reading Fluency – Draper & Spaull (2015) 6. Reading as THE binding constraint in the education system

  3. The curse of inequality

  4. Not all schools are born equal ? Pretoria Boys High School SA public schools? 4

  5. Complex language dynamics in SA ANA 2013 Language of Assessment 100% 90% 23% 23% 24% English 80% isiZulu isiXhosa 70% 19% 19% 23% Sepedi 60% 90% 90% 90% Afrikaans 91% 50% 13% 22% 20% Setswana 40% Sesotho 9% 8% 8% Xitsonga 30% 9% 8% 8% siSwati 20% 8% 8% 8% Venda 6% 10% 5% 5% 0% 1% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% isiNdebele 9% 9% 9% 8% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% 0% Gr1 Gr2 Gr3 Gr4 Gr5 Gr6 Gr9

  6. Background: qualitative research on reading in SA Hoadley (2016) summarizes the SA classroom-based research and finds the following descriptive features: – Lack of opportunities for reading and writing ( oral discourse dominates ) – Classroom interaction patterns that privilege the collective (chorusing) – Weak forms of assessment and lack of feedback on student responses – Students in poorer schools can usually mechanically decode text (i.e. pronounce sounds and words) but have little comprehension of the content of what they are reading • Similarly Pretorius & co-authors have found that a number of instructional practices (prevalent in SA) contribute to poor reading development: – The tendency of teachers to rely on whole class oral chorusing of reading, – The lack of reading homework – Minimal reading of extended texts in the early grades – ( Pretorius & Machet 2004; Pretorius & Mokhwesana 2009; Pretorius 2014 ).

  7. What data is there on reading outcomes in SA? “ Without data you are just another person with an opinion ” - Andreas Schleicher

  8. Number How do sample-based Census- Number of Comparable Sample-based of assessments work? based students? over time? schools? TIMSS 1995, 1999, - 285 11969 Yes 2003, 2011, 2015 SACMEQ 2000, 2007, Cross-national studies - 392 9071 Yes 2013 of educational achievement PIRLS 2006, 2011, - 92 3515 Sort of 2015 (Eng/Afr only) prePIRLS 2011, 2015 341 15744 NA Systemic Evaluations 2001 (Gr3) 2004 - 2340 54,000 Sort-of (Gr6), 2007 (Gr3) ANA - 24 7mil Definitely not 2011/12/13/14 National assessments (diagnostic) In addition to these, the Western Verification-ANA 2164 (125/ No Cape is the only province to have a 2011, 2013 (Gr 3 & 6) prov) population-based assessment at NSES* Gr3 (2007) Gr4 24000 Yes Grades 3, 6 and 9, also (confusingly) 266 (2008) Gr5 (2009) (8383 panel) (+ longitudinal) called the Systemic Evaluations National assessments (sometimes WCED SE) - Matric 6591 about 550,000 (certification) *Number of schools and students is for the most recent round of assessments

  9. Purple dots = 266 NSES sampled schools Brown dots = former black schools Blue dots = former white schools Purple dots = school included in NSES (courtesy of Marisa Coetzee)

  10. What do they show?

  11. Inequality as the over-arching feature of Numerous correlated dimensions education in SA • Given the apartheid-era policies, it is unsurprising that the inequalities we see in South Africa can be seen along a number of correlated dimensions, including – Language, – Geographical location, – Socioeconomic status, – Race – Former department

  12. Can children read in African languages? PrePIRLS 2011 - Proportion of Grade 4 students that are illiterate and the proportion who cannot read for meaning (in LOLT Gr1-3) Using prePIRLS 2011 illiterate: cannot reach low benchmark. Read for meaning: reach intermediate benchmark. Note: prePIRLS not % Illiterate % Cannot read for meaning 90% 80% 70% 60% 50% 83% 40% 66% 63% 60% 30% 58% 57% 50% 44% 20% 32% 32% 29% 29% 27% 26% 21% 10% 11% 0% Western Cape Gauteng KwaZulu-Natal Eastern Cape Mpumalanga North West Limpopo South Africa

  13. Do children in English or Afrikaans LOLT schools learn to read? PIRLS 2011 - Proportion of Gr5 students in English & Afrikaans schools acquiring basic reading skills by school location Note: Proportion reaching low international benchmark in PIRLS 2011. SA tested 3515 grade 5 students in 92 schools where Eng/Afr was LO 100% 95% 90% 84% 81% 80% 70% 64% 57% 60% 55% 50% 40% 28% 30% 26% 20% 10% 0% Remote rural Township Small town/ Medium-city or Urban Suburban National International village large town median (Gr4)

  14. Former department … (NSES) NSES 2007-9 (Taylor, 2011) Taylor, 2011

  15. Socioeconomic status... SACMEQ III (2007) SACMEQ III (2007) Distribution of student reading scores by quartiles of school socioeconomic status (Spaull, 2013) .008 .006 .004 .002 0 0 200 400 600 800 1000 Learner Reading Score Poorest 25% Second poorest 25% Second wealthiest 25% Wealthiest 25%

  16. Province…SACMEQ III Reading (Gr6) Western Cape Gauteng North West Northern Cape Free State Kwazulu-Natal Mpumalanga Percentiles of performance Eastern Cape 5th 25th 75th 95th Limpopo 95% Confidence Interval for Average ( 2SE) 200 300 400 500 600 700 800 900 1000 SACMEQ III Reading Score

  17. Bimodality – indisputable fact .008 .005 Kernel Density of Literacy Score by Race (KZN) U-ANA 2011 .02 .004 .006 .015 .003 .004 .01 .002 .002 .005 .001 0 0 0 0 200 400 600 800 1000 0 20 40 60 80 100 Learner Reading Score Literacy score (%) 0 200 400 600 800 reading test score Poorest 25% Second poorest 25% Black White English/Afrikaans schools Second wealthiest 25% Wealthiest 25% African language schools Indian Asian PIRLS / TIMSS / SACMEQ / NSES / ANA / Matric… by Wealth / Language / Location / Dept… .025 Kernel Density of School Literacy by Quintile U-ANA 2011 .04 .02 .03 .015 .02 .01 .01 .005 0 0 20 40 60 80 100 0 Average school literacy score 0 20 40 60 80 100 Numeracy score 2008 Quintile 1 Quintile 2 Quintile 3 Quintile 4 Ex-DET/Homelands schools Historically white schools Quintile 5 17

  18. Labour Market Type University/ High productivity jobs High and incomes (17%) quality FET secondary • Mainly professional, school High SES managerial & skilled jobs background • • Type of institution Requires graduates, good + ECD 15% (FET or University) quality matric or good High • Quality of institution quality vocational skills • Type of qualification primary • Historically mainly white Legislators, Minority school (diploma, degree etc.) managers, assoc • Field of study (20%) professionals (Engineering, Arts etc.) Unequal Some motivated, lucky or society talented students make the - Big demand for good transition schools despite fees • Majority Vocational training Semi- - Some • (80%) Affirmative action scholarships/bursaries Quality Skilled (32%) Low quality secondary Clerks, service workers, schoo l shop personnel, skilled Low productivity jobs & agric/fishery workers, plant and machinery incomes Low SES operators) • Often manual or low skill background jobs Unskilled • Limited or low quality education (18%) • Minimum wage can exceed Low quality Elementary occupations & productivity domestic workers primary school Unemployed Attainment (Broad - 35%) 18 QLFS 2014

  19. New research: Oral Reading Fluency

  20. ORF literature • Oral reading fluency, defined in terms of accuracy and speed in word recognition, has been found to be a reliable indicator of reading comprehension (Fuchs et al, 2001; Spear-Swerling 2006). Although prosody is part of fluency, difficult to measure objectively. • There is a strong empirical basis attesting to a relationship between fluency and reading comprehension. Fluency typically measured as total words read correct per minute . • Fuchs et al. (2001) report high correlations (0.8) between ORF and various kinds of reading comprehension measure such as high stakes state mandated comprehension tests, as well as a variety of other comprehension tests using different formats (e.g. multiple choice or open questions, cloze procedures or story recall protocols). • The relationship obtains across schools serving children from different socioeconomic backgrounds or instructional programmes, and occurs with children without reading difficulties as well as with children with learning disabilities with reading (Deno et al. 2001; Wolf & Katzir-Cohen 2001).

  21. How do ORF assessments work?

  22. ORF Test 1

  23. ORF Test 2

Recommend

More recommend