Primary Schools In South Africa Research Articles

Teachers’ perspectives on diverse genders and sexualities in a South African primary school

ABSTRACT How teachers respond to, and interact with, learners of diverse genders and sexualities is critical to ensuring their safe and inclusive schooling experiences. This paper examines the perspectives and responses towards learners of diverse genders and sexualities of a selected group of teachers in a primary school in South Africa. Twelve teachers were interviewed for this qualitative study, and the findings reveal that teachers had a limited understanding of diverse genders and sexualities and mostly held heteronormative and moralistic views. They also considered children as deficient and innocent and were awkward about acknowledging and responding to diverse genders and sexualities with primary school learners. To create a safe and supportive environment for children to understand and construct their genders and sexualities, teachers need to improve their understanding of gender and sexuality, critically reflect on their conservative socialisation and moral judgements, and address their discomfort concerning diverse genders and sexualities among children. Teacher education must prepare teachers in a manner that recognises the complex ways in which gender and sexuality infuse all aspects of learners’ lives. This education should prepare all teachers to adopt a non-judgemental approach to gender and sexuality inclusion in ways that challenge heteronormativity in the primary school.

Fostering Decolonization, Reading and Multilingualism through Book Donation: A Case Study of One Primary School in South Africa

Despite the UNESCO declaration of literacy and access to primary education as a fundamental human right, many developing countries still face low literacy levels, limited access to reading material and poor reading culture. This can arguably be used to explain why children from developing countries are (according to large-scale studies such as Progress in International Reading Competency Study) performing below the expected standard compared to those from developed countries. While the low literacy levels are not solely attributed to limited access to reading material, the researchers argue that exploring the positive impacts of book donation will, in one way or the other, subvert the issue around low reading competency levels, and advance multilingualism as well as curriculum decolonization. This paper, therefore, discusses how decolonialism, reading and multilingualism are concurrently developed and realized through book donation. Using the decolonial thought theory as a lens, a qualitative design and case study approach were followed to explore how teachers used donated books to foster decolonization and advance reading as well as multilingualism in their classrooms. Three teachers from one rural primary school participated in the semi-structured interviews. Data was analyzed thematically. The findings revealed that the donated books written by university students empowered teachers to decolonize lesson presentations. In addition, the study found that the different languages in which the donated books were written promoted multilingualism. Finally, teachers reported learners’ interest in reading the donated books written by university students. This study concluded that it is important to evaluate the practice of book donation considering the current debates around decolonization, low reading competencies and multilingualism. Keywords: Book Donation; Decolonization, Primary Schools, Rural, Multilingualism

Design Thinking: An Alternative For Educational ICT Integration Training?

Challenges to incorporating ICT in the classroom have been debated in various literature over the last few years. It is, therefore, important to seek different strategies to mitigate these challenges. Design thinking (DT) is considered an approach that can help improve teachers’ Technological Pedagogical and Content Knowledge (TPACK). This study therefore examined teachers’ experience when developing lessons using ICT using design thinking. This qualitative study was conducted in a primary school in South Africa. Data was collected from two social science (Geography) teachers using face-to-face interviews. Highlights from the study point to the following benefits namely, teachers can learn in collaboration, they can be supported by their peers, and they take part in high-order thinking practices to solve problems related to ICT integration. Therefore, it is recommended that a design thinking approach needs to be applied when teacher training workshops for ICT integration are offered. This study contributes to the existing literature on developing strategies to incorporate ICT in the curriculum of primary schools in South Africa. Keywords: Design Thinking, ICT, Teacher Development, TPACK

ICT Integration in a Multigrade Context: Exploring Primary School Teachers Experiences

Technology offers pedagogical affordances that can transform teaching and learning in multigrade classrooms to assist in the process of teaching and learning. However, it is challenging for teachers to effectively integrate technology into their classrooms, given the complex and dynamic multigrade context. The technological pedagogical content knowledge (TPACK) model was a lens through which to explore teachers’ experiences in ICT integration in their multigrade classrooms in selected primary schools in South Africa. A case study design guided this qualitative study. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve teachers thematic analysis was used to analyse data. The findings revealed that access to ICT equipment for teachers and students is crucial. This study has found that generally, it is difficult for teachers to incorporate technology into their teaching because of the caveats, such as the multigrade context and the rural location which presents issues such as lack of basic technology infrastructure, limited training on integrating technology in teaching, time, the teaching context, and support from principals. This study recommends that teachers be trained on ICT usage and given the support needed to function effectively in their multigrade context. For teachers to be digitally connected and ensure ICT integration in the teaching and learning process, they need to be equipped with relevant knowledge and skills to use technology to transform their teaching and create new opportunities for learning.

Facilitation of practical work in Natural Sciences: experiences and approaches of junior teachers

Background This paper explored junior teachers’ experiences and approaches when facilitating practical work in Natural Sciences during teaching and learning. Grade 7 is the final year of primary school in South Africa, with students between the ages of 11 to 13. The researchers observed that there are enormous challenges encountered by junior grade 7 teachers when preparing, designing and conducting practical work in Natural Sciences teaching and learning. Methods A qualitative multiple case study design was used. Three grade 7 Natural Sciences junior level teachers were selected purposively as participants. Data was collected through classroom observations, semi-structured interviews and document analysis. Results The findings of this study revealed that some grade 7 junior Natural Sciences teachers were overwhelmed when facilitating practical work during teaching and learning. In addition, some of the grade 7 junior Natural Sciences teachers were unable to maintain discipline inside and outside the classroom environment when conducting practical work and demonstrations. The grade 7 junior Natural Sciences teachers had to use mechanism to cope with the demands associated with facilitation of practical work in Natural Sciences teaching and learning. Some of the approaches adopted by the grade 7 junior Natural Sciences teachers when facilitating practical work in Natural Sciences teaching and learning included group work, observations, demonstration, illustrations, projects and inquiry-based scientific investigations. Conclusion It is recommended that teachers be professionally trained on how to facilitate practical work to advance the new ways of teaching and learning as advocated by per the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement document while empowering them with pedagogical content knowledge to enable them to achieve the aim and objectives of practical work in Natural Sciences teaching and learning.

Re-storying schools as “research sites” of climate change in the Chthulucene: diffractively reading through the land of a primary school in South Africa

Inspired by Karen Barad’s agential realism and Donna Haraway’s use of the Chthulucene, our paper profoundly troubles and unsettles the humanist subject that has been the cause of so much trouble. Re-turning to a government primary school in Cape Town as the “research site,” we adopt temporal and spatial diffraction as a postqualitative research methodology. The colonial practices related to land ownership, are not in the past, but remain in its be(com)ing. Land “use” in South Africa during Apartheid, was, and still is, a form of violence. Thinking-with Neimanis and McLauchlan, we understand a school as not separate from the phenomenon of climate change, but as one of its sites and as a feminist project. A diffractive image articulates aesthetically and politically how the land as the more-than-human is a significant part of the phenomenon and queers school as a concept and “research site.”

Effectiveness of Mnemonic Instruction in Enhancing of Reading Ability Among Grade Three Learners with Dyslexia in Two Primary Schools in South Africa

The current study assessed the efficacy of the mnemonic instruction (MI) in enhancing reading abilities among grade three learners with reading disability in two government schools (grade R to 7) in Mpumalanga, South Africa. Skinner’s reinforcement and the Information Processing theories were employed. A research method used to estimate causal relationships without random assignment was used. One of the two schools was an intervention and the other one was a control one. 43 participants were included in the study from the two selected schools using purposive sampling technique. 23 parents (from the intervention school) participated in the questionnaires. The Bangor Dyslexia Test (BDT), pre- and post- tests, and a reading comprehension test were the tools used to collect data. The results revealed that there were statically substantial differences between the assessment scores administered before and after treatment for the experimental group, t (22) = -10.753; p <.001, suggesting that mnemonic instruction is highly effective in enhancing reading abilities among primary school LWD. This investigation advocates that the Department of Basic Education should revise the policy that reading is tested from grade one, instead of from grade three, that those who are not able to read do not proceed until and unless they are able to read, and to train teachers on how to use various approaches to enhance reading abilities, including mnemonic techniques.

English Literature in the Grade R Classroom: Exploring the Implementation of Children’s Literature Curricula in Selected Early Childhood Development Centres

The reading challenges children face in the lower grades of primary school in South Africa are well publicised. Children’s literature is critical in early childhood education, supporting growth in multiple domains. The study aimed to explore the implementation of Grade R children’s literature curricula at selected early childhood development (ECD) centres in Johannesburg. Four Grade R teachers teaching at different ECD centres were chosen as the study’s participants. The four ECD centres selected were in demographically disparate areas of Johannesburg. Two followed the Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS) curriculum, one followed the Independent Schools Association of Southern Africa (ISASA) curriculum, and one followed the Reggio-Montessori curriculum. The study is a generic qualitative inquiry, and data were generated using semi-structured interviews with Grade R teachers at the ECD centres, observations of lessons, and document analysis. Three themes emerged from the data analysis. Firstly, the Grade R children’s literature curricula’s content, design, and implementation aim to develop children holistically. Secondly, Grade R teachers use different methods to teach children’s literature. Finally, Grade R teachers pay close attention to their classroom contexts when planning and executing children’s literature lessons. The authors conclude that the architecture of the children’s literature curriculum at the selected centres is a complex function of various factors. These include the content of the curriculum, the methods used by the teachers in delivering it, and the teacher’s responses to the contexts in which they teach.

Comparison of Malnutrition Indicators and Associated Socio-Demographic Factors among Children in Rural and Urban Public Primary Schools in South Africa.

Most children in South Africa attending public schools are predisposed to malnutrition due to poor infrastructure and social inequality. This is despite the implementation of the National School Nutrition Programme to address barriers to learning associated with hunger and malnutrition and the National Development Plan to reduce child malnutrition through provision of social grants. In view of this, we compared malnutrition indicators and associated socio-demographic factors among children in rural Mpumalanga and urban Gauteng in South African public primary schools selected using a multistage cluster random sampling. A validated researcher-administered questionnaire was used to collect socio-demographic data of caregivers, along with primary school children data collected on age, sex, learning grade, and anthropometric measures. Malnutrition indicators, which are stunting (low height-for-age z-scores), underweight (low weight-for-age z-scores), thinness (low body-mass-index-for-age z-scores), and overweight/obesity (high body mass index) were computed using WHO Anthro Plus 1.0.4 and data were analyzed using Stata 18. A total of 903 children (rural = 390 and urban = 513) with a mean age of 10 ± 2 years in the foundation phase (learning grades one to three) and the intermediate learning phase (learning grades four to seven) participated with their caregivers (mean age: 39 ± 8 years). Significant levels of poor socio-demographic status were observed among caregivers living in the rural setting compared to in the urban setting. Overall, thinness (18%), stunting (12%), underweight (10%), and overweight/obesity (24%) were observed among school children. Children in the rural schools had a significantly higher prevalence of stunting (20% vs. 3%; p < 0.0001), underweight (17% vs. 2%; p < 0.0001) and thinness (28% vs. 7%; p < 0.001) than their urban counterparts. In the urban, the odds of stunting, underweight and thinness were less among school children, while overweight/obesity was twice as likely in the urban setting. The multivariate final model showed lower odds of underweight [adjusted odds ratio (AOR) = 0.16; 95% confidence interval (CI): 0.06-0.42] and stunting [AOR = 0.33; 95% CI: 0.13-0.87] in the urban compared to the rural schools. The association of stunting with sex [AOR =0.53; 95% CI: 0.30-0.94] and the intermediate learning phase [AOR = 7.87; 95% CI: 4.48-13.82] was observed in the rural setting, while thinness was associated with living in households with an income of USD 52.51 to USD 262.60/month [AOR = 2.89; 95% CI: 1.01-8.24] and receiving the child social grant [AOR = 2.49; 0.90-6.86] in the urban setting. Overweight/obesity was associated with living in a household with an income of USD 52.51 to USD 262.60/month [AOR = 1.80; 95% CI: 1.02-3.10]. The findings suggest nutritional intervention approaches that are accustomed to the context of settings to effectively tackle malnutrition.

The role of early childhood development and education (ECDE) in supporting learning and well-being in rural early childhood and primary schools in South Africa

ABSTRACT This paper examines how early childhood and primary schools can be constructed as enabling spaces to improve the learning and well-being of children aged six to nine who live in multidimensionally poor, low-resourced rural communities in South Africa. Quality early childhood development and education (ECDE) can be the catalyst to break the cycle of poverty for many young children in rural areas. A systematic review was conducted based on the Preferred Reporting Items for Systematic Reviews and Meta-Analyses flowchart. A comprehensive search strategy using electronic databases and hand searches systematically whittled down an initial database of 30,080 articles to 16 articles for this study. A thematic analysis identified enablers and constraints for supporting children’s learning and well-being across three themes: (1) infrastructure, educational resources and child agency (2) initial teacher education (ITE) and (3) socioeconomic status. The findings and discussion highlight child agency as an enabler to learning and well-being and the structural and pedagogical challenges of implementing ITE curricula specific to rural educational contexts.

Two Pathways into Number Work for Primary Teachers: A Counting Pathway and a Measurement Pathway

Teacher quality in primary schools in South Africa is a serious concern, and how best to prepare teachers in initial teacher education—with regard to mathematics—remains an open and vexing question. There is a confluence of challenges facing the mathematics education community in South Africa: poor conceptual understanding of mathematics amongst teachers; poor attainment in Primary Teacher Education mathematics tests at both first and fourth year levels; and few initial teacher education programmes having evidence of improving knowledge for teaching mathematics. In addition, few lecturers in initial teacher education make explicit the theoretical tenets informing their course design for mathematics. In response to the latter challenge, this paper makes explicit the design choices made in the Emergent Number Sense first year mathematics module in Bachelor of Education degrees, used across six universities in South Africa. It then theorises the choice to commence the B.Ed mathematics programmes with two pathways into number knowledge: (1) a counting pathway, making use of discrete objects or events which can be quantified by counting in ones; and (2) a measurement pathway, making use of continuous extents which can be quantified by introducing a unit of measurement. Each has a distinct metaphor, strategy for the reification of the 10 and supporting representation. This offers the lecturers using the course in their own design trials, and initial teacher educators beyond the Maths4Primary Teachers collective, a conceptual framework for this design choice, which can now be critiqued and further improved.

Exploring learners’ sense of belonging in Port Elizabeth low-income primary schools in South Africa: A narrative inquiry

ABSTRACT This study explored the narratives of low-income school learners’ sense of belonging in Port Elizabeth, South Africa. It provided a historical overview of the South African Apartheid system. The study employed the narrative inquiry approach of the qualitative research design and is hinged on the constructivist paradigm. Purposive sampling was used in selecting a school, and learners in Grade 8 and 9 consisted of 8 boys and 8 girls each. Data (narratives of the learners) were collected through Focus Group Discussion and analysed using the three-dimensional space inquiry tools – broadening, burrowing, and storying and re-storying. Findings revealed the prevalence of poverty, school disengagement, and stigmatisation among learners in low-income schools. Thus, the effects of poverty on learners lead to their feelings of desolation and futility as they experience what is known as a low-control-of-effects syndrome. The hope that education may change their lives seems to be superseded and dampened by what transpires in their poor homes and schools.

Experiences of Students’ Challenging Behaviour in Primary Schools in South Africa: Teacher, Governor, and Caretaker Perspectives

Students’ challenging behaviour is a persisting problem in some primary schools. In South African primary schools, however, students’ challenging behaviour is mainly understood as disruptive classroom behaviour. To establish how primary schools experience this phenomenon, interviews were held with twenty-one participants, purposively selected from three primary schools, to provide qualitative data. Opposing prior understandings, thematic analysis showed that students’ challenging behaviour in primary schools is experienced through acts of violence, vandalism, and bullying. Social cognitive theory revealed how students growing up in hostile environments emulate and reproduce hostility. Education departments should consider these experiences to appraise and revise disciplinary policies to promote school safety, and more effective learning in the classroom.

Guidelines for action learning as professional development to transform Physical Education in low resourced primary schools in South Africa

ABSTRACT Continuing professional development (CPD) within a low resourced education environment necessitates context specific and needs-driven learning, particularly in Physical Education (PE) where personal and systemic barriers impede negatively on teachers and children’s educational experiences. This paper provides evidence-based guidelines as to how an action learning approach to CPD for PE might empower teachers to direct their own learning within low resource environments. A participatory action learning and action research design, using qualitative data generation methods, guided the inquiry. Ten teachers from two low resourced schools in South Africa, through participation in an action learning process, ultimately deduced five guidelines from their reflective enquiry to guide teachers to collaborate to transform their teaching of PE. The action learning approach to CPD supports teachers to take ownership of and responsibility for their CPD within the subject of PE. Ultimately, learning how to learn, enables teachers to champion sustainable change through establishing ongoing communities of practice.

Factors contributing to and detracting from relational trust in leadership: The case of primary schools in South Africa

Trust in leadership is a key element in organizational effectiveness and the foundations of a successful school. However, this element of leadership is underexplored in terms of empirical work, concomitantly, distrusting school cultures have been identified as inhibitors of school improvement. This paper explores trust in leadership through a relationship-based perspective of trust, taking by taking the case of eight primary schools, in South Africa, to examine: Which factors positively influence trust in leadership of primary schools and which undermine it. The paper begins by conceptualizing trust and relational based trust in leadership before moving on to analyze trust in educational settings. It explores trust between leaders and staff and within staff member groups. From there the paper discusses the implications of the findings within the particular cultural context of South Africa. The paper concludes with a summary of factors detracting from and contributing to trust in leadership, and to what extent these align with relational trust in leadership and the construction of effective learning communities. In so doing, the paper raises awareness of the importance of trust in leadership in the context of South African Primary Education and how it can undermine leadership if not established throughout relationships in schools, offering insights for primary leaders working within the African context. It also questions the appropriateness of adopting a relational understanding of trust in distributed leadership in relation to this particular context.

Translanguaging as bona fide practice in a multilingual South African science classroom

The call for improving students’ academic achievement in science education has increased in urgency in recent years. It has also increased in complexity in the face of the growing cultural and linguistic diversity of present-day classrooms following inter- and intra-state migration. Although translanguaging pedagogy, where languages of input and output are deliberately interchanged, remains a relatively young field of research, it has grown substantially in the past decade. The study presented in this article sought to explore the role language plays in the academic performance of multilingual students at a primary school in South Africa. Adopting an ethnographic research design, the author collected qualitative data through lesson observations video-recorded in a fifth-grade science class, supplemented with several interviews with the teacher. Data analysis involved a combination of both inductive and deductive methods, and the results affirm that translanguaging pedagogy is indispensable for effective learning in multilingual classrooms. The author’s findings confirm insights from previous research that the ability and encouragement to use multiple languages in science class allows multilingual students to engage in a practice of generating and creating scientific explanations in their own voice, resulting in better academic performance.

Mixed intervention effects and long-term changes in physical activity and cardiovascular outcomes among children at risk of cardiovascular diseases

Objective&#x0D; Risk factors for chronic diseases such as insufficient physical activity (PA), overweight or hypertension are getting more predominant among children. While school-based interventions are promising preventive strategies, evidence of their long-term effectiveness, especially among vulnerable populations is scarce. KaziKidz is a physical education intervention that promotes healthy and active lifestyles among children from low-income communities. We aim at assessing the short- and long-term effects of KaziKidz on cardiovascular risk factors in high-risk children from disadvantaged communities.&#x0D; Methods&#x0D; The intervention was tested in a cluster-randomized controlled trial between January and October 2019 in eight primary schools in South Africa. Children with adverse cardiovascular profiles were defined as presenting at least one risk factor for (1) overweight, (2) elevated blood pressure, (3) glycaemia, and/or (4) cholesterolemia. After their identification, high-risk children were re-assessed 2-years post-intervention. Study outcomes include accelerometry-measured PA (MVPA), body-mass-index (BMI), mean arterial pressure (MAP), glucose (HbA1c), and lipid levels (TC/HDL). We conducted mixed regression analyses to assess intervention effects by cardiovascular risk profile, and Wilcoxon signed-rank tests to evaluate longitudinal changes in the high-risk subpopulation.&#x0D; Results&#x0D; A significant intervention effect on MVPA during school hours was found for physically inactive children (B: 1.71, 95% CI: 0.14 – 3.35, p-value: 0.008), and among active (B: 1.80, 95% CI: -0.22 – 3.82, p-value: 0.035) and inactive (B: 2.03, 95% CI: 0.58 – 3.42, p-value: &lt; 0.001) girls. In contrast, the intervention lowered HbA1c (B: -0.26, 95% CI: -0.52 – -0.01, p-value: 0.037) and TC/HDL (B: -0.11, 95% CI: 0.18 – -0.05, p-value: 0.002) only in children with normal glucose or lipid values, respectively. The intervention effects were not maintained in at-risk children at follow-up. A decline was observed in MVPA from 53.29 to 41.90 min/day (z = -1.95, p = 0.05, r = 0.26), and an increase in BMI-for-age (z = -0.34, p = 0.737, r = 0.03), MAP (z = -5.18, p &lt; 0.001, r = 0.42), HbA1c (z = -1.63, p = 0.104, r = 0.25) and TC/HDL (z = -1.61, p = 0.11, r = 0.21).&#x0D; Conclusion&#x0D; We conclude that schools are key settings to promote PA and improve health; however, because the intervention effects were not maintained in children at risk of NCDs, structural changes that ensure effective interventions reach disadvantaged populations are necessary to achieve sustainable impact.

Voting on the questions as a pedagogical practice in a community of philosophical enquiry

This article considers two of the methodological steps in a Community of Philosophical Enquiry: developing the questions and voting on the questions. Both of these practices are enacted by the 8-9 year old children who are the participants in a philosophical enquiry, which I facilitated at a government primary school in South Africa. Matthews (1994) reminds us that children as philosophical thinkers/doers have been left out of the dominant narratives about children and childhood. A question that guides this research is where is the place for philosophical questions (developed by children) and the kind of philosophical thinking/drawing/creating/being for child (and adults) in schools? How do we make space for such questioning–so that the richness of these pedagogical encounters can really matter and make a difference to the teaching and learning taking place? Gandorfer in an interview with Barad (2021), suggests that critical thought “is to encounter what is unrecognizable and imperceptible, yet sensible and constructive of sense without separating it from the physical world” (p. 20). I would agree and apply this to the critical thoughts of child. This thinking is not located in the child, in their mind and does not emerge only through the thoughts, child verbalises. A critical posthumanism theory/practice analysis ensures that as researcher, I do not stand outside of the research peering in at a distance. Similarly the children, the questions, the voting and the enquiries are not separate from the world, they are all already entangled with the world. When the children are voting on the questions, this performs as a pedagogy of interruption (Michaud, 2020). As the facilitator, I do not know which question will receive the largest number of votes for the philosophical enquiry. This makes possible an emergent curriculum in its be(com)ing. Toby Rollo’s (2016) formulations about child as political agent and not just moral agent and the implications for more democratic and just schooling are theorised in this paper through the act of the children voting on the questions. I argue that children are not just excluded from participating in decisions about what and even how they are learning at school but from most pedagogical practices in classrooms and schools. I show how the children creating the questions and voting on the questions can be democratic practices with political and moral implications in a community of philosophical enquiry.

Teachers’ Experiences on Stress during COVID-19: A South African Case Study

COVID-19 posed an obstacle to many teachers as they tried to master online teaching. This study sought to investigate teachers stress experiences in primary schools in South Africa during COVID-19. The study adopted the interpretivism paradigm in which thematically analysed data was collected through interviews. Fifteen (15) participants were selected purposely from primary schools of Chris Hani East District in South Africa for the interview. In the study, teachers attributed their stress to the lack of protective resources, lack of proper plans for remote teaching, and lack of skills. Students were not co-operating with the teachers during online lessons. The study recommends that the necessary protective resources be provided by the Department of Education to protect teachers from being infected with Covid-19 and provide teaching assistants so that teachers can find it easier to teach with less burden. Schools must be equipped with digital technology and train teachers on how to use digital technology to ease the burden on them. It is important for teachers and motivational speakers to meet with students to raise students’ interest and curiosity about learning and in the same vein boosting the students’self-confidence. Keywords: anxiety, burnout, COVID-19, frustration, pressures, stress, and workload

What Do You Mean by ‘Good’? the Search for Exceptional Primary Schools in South Africa's No-Fee School System

This paper describes a rigorous data collection process to find and verify the quality of what could potentially be high-functioning or high-performing schools accessible to the poor in three of South Africa’s nine provinces. A potential sample of outlier schools is selected using system-wide Universal Annual National Assessment data corroborated against school recommendations collected from a variety of system actors expected to be informed about school quality. Unfortunately, literacy testing in 31 purposively selected schools yields no example of high-performing, no-fee schools. However, we identify outlier or resilient students even in under-performing schools. Furthermore, within the no-fee school system there exists a continuum of functionality. Schools exist that while far from reaching good (or even adequate) median levels of English literacy, exhibit relatively higher literacy levels than other sample schools after controlling for student background differences. The presence of these relatively better performing sample schools (and performance variation more generally in the no-fee system) suggests that there is a middle-ground, a rightward movement away from dysfunction that can be reached. However, it is not clear that all system actors are able to detect variations in school quality. Our sample of respondents recommending ’good’ schools are only able to identify slightly better performing no-fee schools. For certain groups, specifically education district officials, enrolment growth appears to be a better indicator of their perceptions of ‘good’ than measures of student performance.