What the Annual National Assessments can tell us about learning deficits over the education system and the school career

Servaas Van Der Berg

doi:10.4102/sajce.v5i2.389

Abstract

<p>Much hope is placed on education systems to reduce socioeconomic learning gaps. But in South Africa, uneven functioning of the school system widens learning gaps.<br />This paper analyses education performance using ANA data. Weak calibration and inter-temporal or inter-grade comparability of ANA test scores limit their usefulness for measuring learning gains. However, relative performance provides meaningful information on learning gaps and deficits. A reference group that is roughly on track to achieve the TIMSS average is used to estimate the performance required in each grade to perform at TIMSS’ low international benchmark. <br />By Grade 4, patterns across quintiles of on track performance approximate matric exemption patterns. Viewed differently, academic and labour market prospects may be bleak for children who are no longer on track. Improvement in outcomes requires greater emphasis on the Foundation Phase or earlier, before learning deficits have grown to extreme levels observed by the middle of primary school. This statement is true whether deficits arise from weak early instruction, or simply because a disadvantaged home environment requires early remedial action. The emphasis on the early grades that this analysis of the ANAS suggests to is contrary to the conclusions drawn from the ANA results by policy makers, that weak test scores in Mathematics in Grade 9 require major interventions in that grade.</p>

Highlights

It is well known that socio-economic gaps in cognitive outcomes are established, widen and become more intractable even before children enter school
Problems related to the calibration and inter-temporal and inter-grade comparability of Annual National Assessments (ANAs) test scores limit their usefulness for measuring learning gains
The pattern of performance across different parts of the school system appears quite similar to that for university exemptions in Grade 12, intimating that potential access to university, with all the advantages that such access confers in the labour market, is already largely predetermined by Grade 4. This learning gap has immense implications for where the learning effort should be focused: dealing with poor performance in Mathematics in Grade 9, as policy interventions informed by ANA currently attempt to do, is taking the wrong message from ANA

Summary

Introduction

It is well known that socio-economic gaps in cognitive outcomes are established, widen and become more intractable even before children enter school. The results of the analysis of performance across grades show a clear learning gap between children from advantaged and non-advantaged backgrounds that is already exceedingly wide by Grade 4 By this grade, the pattern of performance across different parts of the school system appears quite similar to that for university exemptions in Grade 12, intimating that potential access to university, with all the advantages that such access confers in the labour market, is already largely predetermined by Grade 4. The pattern of performance across different parts of the school system appears quite similar to that for university exemptions in Grade 12, intimating that potential access to university, with all the advantages that such access confers in the labour market, is already largely predetermined by Grade 4 This learning gap has immense implications for where the learning effort should be focused: dealing with poor performance in Mathematics in Grade 9, as policy interventions informed by ANA currently attempt to do, is taking the wrong message from ANA

Background

Findings

Methodology