Abstract
The introduction of the Annual National Assessment (ANA) programme by the South African education department was met with much resistance from unions with some stating that it is not matched well to the curriculum. In this small-scale study, I compare the differences in outcomes between the internal summative assessment and the ANA for Grade 9 learners from five schools. The results indicate that the learners’ results from the final exam were statistically significantly higher than that from the ANA for all five schools. This suggests that the ANA was considerably more difficult than the schools’ assessments. However, the learners’ scores in each of the two assessments were strongly correlated, suggesting that both tests assessed similar skills. Interviews with the teachers suggested that some of the reasons for the lower results in the ANA were that the test was too long, some instructions were not clear, the timing in September was not ideal and there were too many higher level questions. It is hoped that the results from this study could be used by the education department to improve the functioning of the assessment programme.
Highlights
At the beginning of each year, the release of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) results is met with consternation
The poor learning outcomes of the education system in South Africa are evidenced by the overall results of the more than half a million Grade 12 learners who write these examinations each year. These poor results show no signs of systemic improvement, in mathematics as indicated by an analysis of the 2015 Grade 12 results by the Department of Basic Education (DBE 2016a, 2016b)
Teachers from schools A, B and C agreed to participate in focus group interviews that probed them about their opinions and experiences of the 2014 Grade 9 mathematics Annual National Assessment (ANA), which was written in September 2014
Summary
At the beginning of each year, the release of the National Senior Certificate (NSC) results is met with consternation. The poor learning outcomes of the education system in South Africa are evidenced by the overall results of the more than half a million Grade 12 learners who write these examinations each year. These poor results show no signs of systemic improvement, in mathematics as indicated by an analysis of the 2015 Grade 12 results by the Department of Basic Education (DBE 2016a, 2016b). There were 58 059 learners (22%) who passed with 50% or higher – these are learners who can progress towards sciencerelated careers Tracking this cohort back to 2005, when in an ideal situation they would have been in Grade 2, we see that there were 1 094 373 learners enrolled in public schools (Department of Education [DoE] 2006:9). Current trends suggest that this goal will not be met
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