Learning outcomes, teacher content knowledge & teacher absenteeism

Nic SpaullLRC conference

15 November 2012

2

Overview

① Setting the scene Student performance

② Teacher content knowledge

③ Teacher absenteeism

④ Concluding remarks

“Without data, you are just another person

with an opinion”- Andreas Schleicher

3

Student performance 2003-2011

TIMSS (2003) PIRLS (2006) SACMEQ (2007) NSES (2008-10) ANA (2011)

TIMSS 2003 (Gr8 Maths & Science)

• Out of 50 participating countries (including 6 African countries) SA came last

• Only 10% reached low international benchmark• No improvement from TIMSS 1999-TIMSS 2003• (Reddy, 2006)

PIRLS 2006 (Gr 4/5 – Reading)

• Out of 45 participating countries SA came last• 87% of gr4 and 78% of Gr 5 learners deemed to

be “at serious risk of not learning to read” (Trong, 2010: 2)

• (Howie et al., 2008)

SACMEQ III 2007 (Gr6 – Reading & Maths)

• SA came 10/15 for reading and 8/15 for maths behind countries such as Swaziland, Kenya and Tanzania

• 27% of gr6 students functionally illiterate• 40% of gr6 students functionally innumerate• (Moloi & Chetty, 2011), (Spaull, 2011; 2012)

NSES 2008-2010 (Gr 3-5 – Reading & Maths)

• Mean literacy score gr3: 19.4%• Mean numeracy score gr3: 28.4%• Gr 3 Black children in former white

schools scored higher on the same test than Gr5 Black children in former Black schools

• (Taylor, 2011b)

ANA 2011 (Gr 1-6 Reading & Maths)

• Mean literacy score gr3: 35%• Mean numeracy score gr3: 28%• Mean literacy score gr6: 28%• Mean numeracy score gr6: 30%• (DBE, 2011) (UNICEF internal report)

4

Student performance: matric performance

• Matric passes as % of Gr 2 learners 10 years earlier:– 2009: 28%– 2010: 34%– 2011: 38%

• In the bottom 4 quintiles of schools, only 1% of learners in grade 8 will go on to pass matric and obtain a C symbol or higher (60%) for Mathematics and slightly fewer for Physical Science

• Approximately ten times as many will do so in Quintile 5 schools

2009 2010 20110

200,000

400,000

600,000

800,000

1,000,000

1,200,000

1,400,000

Flow through: learner numbers in grades 2, 10 and 12 and matric passes

Gr.2 (10 years prior) Gr.10 (2 years prior)Numbers who wrote matric Number who passed matric

(Oxford Policy Management & Stellenbosch Economics, 2012)

Teacher knowledge

Student understands & can calculate

fractions

PCK – how to teach

fractions“For every increment of performance I demand from you, I have an equal responsibility to provide you with the capacity to meet that expectation. Likewise, for every investment you make in my skill and knowledge, I have a reciprocal responsibility to demonstrate some new increment in performance” (Elmore, 2004b, p. 93).

Teachers cannot teach what they do not know.

Demonizing teachers is popular, but unhelpful

SACMEQ

Southern and Eastern African Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality

14 participating countries

SACMEQ II (2000), SACMEQ III (2007)

Nationally representative

Testing :

o Gr 6 Numeracy

o Gr 6 Literacy

o HIV/AIDS Health knowledge

SACMEQ III: South Africa

9071 Grade 6 students

1163 Grade 6 teacher tests

392 primary schools• See SACMEQ website for research

Background: Data

7

Maths teacher content knowledge (SACMEQ III)

Teacher knowledge...

Source: Stephen Taylor

8Rural urban

700

720

740

760

780

800

820

840

Reading teacher reading performance by URBAN/RURAL

SACMEQ III

BOTKENLESMOZNAMSEYSOUSWATANUGAZIM

9Rural Urban700

750

800

850

900

950

Maths teacher maths performance by URBAN/RURAL

SACMEQ III

BOTKENLESMOZNAMSEYSOUSWATANUGAZIM

10

1 2 3 4 5700

750

800

850

900

950

Kenya

South Africa

Swaziland

TanzaniaZimbabwe

Mathematics teacher mathematics score by school SES QUINTILESACMEQ III

BotswanaKenyaNamibiaSeychellesSouth AfricaSwazilandTanzaniaZimbabwe

Quintiles of school SES

Mat

hem

atics

teac

her m

athe

mati

cs sc

ore

11

1 2 3 4 5700

720

740

760

780

800

820

840

860

880

Botswana

Kenya

Namibia

Seychelles

South Africa

Swaziland

Tanzania

Reading teacher reading score by school SES QUINTILESACMEQ III

BotswanaKenyaNamibiaSeychellesSouth AfricaSwazilandTanzaniaZimbabwe

Quintiles of school SES

Mea

n Re

adin

g te

ache

r rea

ding

scor

e

12

Teacher knowledgeSACMEQ III (2007) 401/498 Gr6 Mathematics teachers

SACMEQ Maths teacher test Q17

QuintileAvg

1 2 3 4 5Correct 23% 22% 38% 40% 74% 38%

Correct answer (7km):

38% of Gr 6 Maths teachers

7

2 education systems

13

Teacher knowledge...

Q6: 53% correct (D)

Q9: 24% correct (C) English Q9: 57% correct (D)

14

Teacher knowledge

• Teachers cannot teach what they do not know– Minimum competency test

• Teachers need to be able to pass tests that their learners are expected to pass. If not they need training ASAP

– Matric marker competency test• Piloted nationally in 2012• Already established in WC

15

Accountability: teacher absenteeism(SACMEQ III – 2007 – 996 teachers)

16

Accountability: teacher absenteeism(SACMEQ III – 2007 – 996 teachers)

Mauriti

us

Mozambique

Swazi

land

South Afric

a

Zanzib

ar

Namibia

Malawi

Kenya

Botswan

a

Zimbab

we

Lesotho

Seychell

es

Uganda

Zambia

Tanzan

ia0

5

10

15

20

25

67 8 8 9 9 10 10 11 11

1214 14 14

19

Non-strike teacher absenteeismSACMEQ III (2007)

Days per year

4th/15

17

Mauriti

us

Mozambique

Swazi

land

South Afric

a

Zanzib

ar

Namibia

Malawi

Kenya

Botswan

a

Zimbab

we

Lesotho

Seychell

es

Uganda

Zambia

Tanzan

ia0

5

10

15

20

25

67 8 8 9 9 10 10 11 11

1214 14 14

19

00

0

12

0 0 00 0

2 00 0

0

0

Non-strike Self-reported teacher absenteeism (days)SACMEQ III (2007)

Non-strike teacher absenteeism Teachers' strikes

Days per year

Accountability: teacher absenteeism(SACMEQ III – 2007 – 996 teachers)

15th/15Yes, BUT…2007 was a

bad year

18

Accountability: teacher absenteeism

• Teacher absenteeism is regularly found to be an issue in many studies• 2007: SACMEQ III conducted – 20 days average in 2007

• 2008: Khulisa Consortium audit – HSRC (2010) estimates that 20-24 days of regular instructional time were lost due to leave in 2008

• 2010: “An estimated 20 teaching days per teacher were lost during the 2010 teachers’ strike” (DBE, 2011: 18)

• Importantly this does not include time lost where teachers were at school but not teaching scheduled lessons• A recent study observing 58 schools in the North West concluded

that “Teachers did not teach 60% of the lessos they were scheduled to teach in North West” (Carnoy & Chisholm et al, 2012)

19

Western Cape Limpopo

Accountability: teacher absenteeism(SACMEQ III – 2007 – 996 teachers)

% absent > 1 week striking 32% 81% 97%

% absent > 1 month (20 days) 22% 62% 48%

% absent > 2 months (40 days) 5% 12% 0%

Eastern Cape

1.3 days a week

KwaZulu-Natal

82%

73%

10%

20

Conclusions

Some binding constraints:

① Below-basic teacher content knowledgeI. Minimum teacher competency tests and

emergency training

② Excessively high teacher absenteeismI. Teacher inspectorate?

21

www.nicspaull.com/researchnicholasspaull@gmail.com

@NicSpaull