Abstract
The Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) assessment is an international comparative study of reading skills of Grade Four learners. South Africa’s "rst participation in the study took place in the 2006 cycle (Mullis et al., 2007), with repeat participation planned to take place for PIRLS 2011. PIRLS 2006 results pointed to serious issues of under achievement among South African Grade Four learners, resulting in the adoption of the National Reading Strategy (Department of Education,2008) and the Foundations for Learning Campaign. While some time has passed since the release of the PIRLS 2006 results, participation in PIRLS 2011 would highlight trends and possible progress made since the PIRLS 2006 study. !is paper reports on the analysis of the Grade Four learner achievement in the PIRLS 2006 assessment into the teacher characteristics, use of resources and instructional practices and analyses of the PIRLS 2006 Teacher Questionnaire data. The main findings outlined by this paper reflects the need for teachers’ continued professional development at Intermediate Phase, the need to employ strategies to retain young teachers and the importance of making available good quality reading materials to schools.
Highlights
In the last decade, South African teachers have faced extensive changes to the education system and South Africa has successfully produced many policy documents, but has been less successful in implementing them
South African Grade Four learner-achievement in the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) 2006 study accentuates the need for reading instruction practices aimed at addressing the di culties South African learners encounter in both the Foundation and Intermediate Phases
As stated in the International Reading Association’s (2007: 1) synthesis on their research into teacher preparation for reading instruction “putting a quality teacher in every classroom is key to addressing the challenges of reading achievement in schools
Summary
South African teachers have faced extensive changes to the education system and South Africa has successfully produced many policy (including curricula) documents, but has been less successful in implementing them. To add to the di culties of implementation, there are many di erences between schools in South Africa, and, a er thirteen years of democratic rule, schools that were previously designated for White learners only are still elite schools compared to those that were previously disadvantaged under the Apartheid system. South Africa e ectively still has separate education systems operating within the country in light of the starkness of continuing di erences in teacher education and educational provision. Howie (2001) earlier described South Africa as containing features of both richer countries and poorer countries with regard to its education system. Notwithstanding these continuing variances in education provision, the national Department of Education views teachers as key contributors to transformation in South Africa. In the light of the above, the literature on teacher e ectiveness is reviewed, on the assumption that teacher e ectiveness is a critical component of the education system
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