ASHESI UNIVERSITY COLLEGE Tracking Teacher Absenteeism in ...
Learning outcomes, teacher content knowledge & teacher absenteeism
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Transcript of Learning outcomes, teacher content knowledge & teacher absenteeism
Learning outcomes, teacher content knowledge & teacher absenteeism
Nic SpaullLRC conference
15 November 2012
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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
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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)
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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
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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
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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
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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
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2 education systems
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Teacher knowledge...
Q6: 53% correct (D)
Q9: 24% correct (C) English Q9: 57% correct (D)
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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
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Accountability: teacher absenteeism(SACMEQ III – 2007 – 996 teachers)
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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
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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
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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)
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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%
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Conclusions
Some binding constraints:
① Below-basic teacher content knowledgeI. Minimum teacher competency tests and
emergency training
② Excessively high teacher absenteeismI. Teacher inspectorate?