South African Teacher Content Knowledge in Local and International Perspective

Nic Spaull www.nicspaull.com/research

NAPTOSA Gauteng Leadership ConferenceAugust 2013

2

Overview

• Background information to SA education system

• South African teachers’ content knowledge– By sub-group– Relative to other African countries– In specific content areas– Relative to Grade 8 international students

• Educational outcomes in Gauteng 1995-2011

Bird’s-eye view of the South African

education system

Not all schools are born equal

4

SA public schools?

?Pretoria Boys High School

Education and inequality?

Type of education

Quality of education

Duration of

education

SA is one of the top 3 most

unequal countries in the world

Between 78% and 85% of

total inequality is explained by

wage inequality

Wages

• IQ• Motivation• Social

networks• Discrimination

Attai

nmen

tQ

ualit

yTy

pe

6

High SES background

+ECDHigh quality primary school

High quality

secondaryschool

Low SES background

Low quality primary school

Low quality secondary

school

Unequal society

17% Semi-Skilled (31%)

Unskilled(19%)

Unemployed

(Broad - 33%)

Labour Market

High productivity jobs and incomes (17%)

• Mainly professional, managerial & skilled jobs

• Requires graduates, good quality matric or good vocational skills

• Historically mainly white

Low productivity jobs & incomes

• Often manual or low skill jobs

• Limited or low quality education

• Minimum wage can exceed productivity

University/FET

• Type of institution (FET or University)

• Quality of institution • Type of qualification

(diploma, degree etc.)• Field of study

(Engineering, Arts etc.)

• Vocational training• Affirmative action

Majority (80%)

Some motivated, lucky or talented students make the transition

Minority (20%)

- Big demand for good schools despite fees

- Some scholarships/bursaries

cf. Servaas van der Berg – QLFS 2011

South African teacher content knowledge

8

Teacher Content Knowledge• Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (2001, ch.2) recommends that

mathematics teachers need: – “A thorough mastery of the mathematics in several grades beyond that

which they expect to teach, as well as of the mathematics in earlier grades” (2001 report ‘The Mathematical Education of Teachers’)

• Ball et al (2008, p. 409) – “Teachers who do not themselves know the subject well are not likely to

have the knowledge they need to help students learn this content. At the same time just knowing a subject may well not be sufficient for teaching.”

• Shulman (1986, p. 9)– “We expect that the subject matter content understanding of the teacher

be at least equal to that of his or her lay colleague, the mere subject matter major”

9

South Africa specifically…

• Taylor & Vinjevold’s (1999, p. 230) conclusion in their book “Getting Learning Right” is particularly explicit:

• “The most definite point of convergence across the [President’s Education Initiative] studies is the conclusion that teachers’ poor conceptual knowledge of the subjects they are teaching is a fundamental constraint on the quality of teaching and learning activities, and consequently on the quality of learning outcomes.”

10

Carnoy & Chisholm (2008: p. 22) conceptual framework

Teacher knowledge

Student understands & can calculate

fractions

PCK – how to teach

fractions

CK – How to do

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

13

Background Data

14

Mathematics teacher content knowledge (SACMEQ 2007)

Source: Stephen Taylor

15Rural urban

700

720

740

760

780

800

820

840

BOTKENLESMOZNAMSEYSOUSWATANUGAZIM

Reading teacher reading score by SCHOOL LOCATION of schools SES (SACMEQ 2007)

16Rural Urban700

750

800

850

900

950

BOTKENLESMOZNAMSEYSOUSWATANUGAZIM

Mathematics teacher mathematics score by SCHOOL LOCATION (SACMEQ 2007)

17

Mathematics teacher mathematics score by SCHOOL LOCATION (SACMEQ 2007)

600

650

700

750

800

850

900

950

1000

Series1

Rural lower bound confidence interval (95%) Rural upper bound confidence interval (95%)Urban lower bound confidence interval (95%) Urban upper bound confidence interval (95%)

Mat

hs-t

each

er m

athe

mati

cs sc

ore

18

1 2 3 4 5700

750

800

850

900

950

Kenya

South Africa

Swaziland

TanzaniaZimbabwe

BotswanaKenyaNamibiaSeychellesSouth AfricaSwazilandTanzaniaZimbabwe

Quintiles of school SES

Mat

hem

atics

teac

her m

athe

mati

cs sc

ore

Mathematics teacher mathematics score by QUINTILE of schools SES (SACMEQ 2007)

19

1 2 3 4 5700

720

740

760

780

800

820

840

860

880

Botswana

Kenya

Namibia

Seychelles

South Africa

Swaziland

Tanzania

BotswanaKenyaNamibiaSeychellesSouth AfricaSwazilandTanzaniaZimbabwe

Quintiles of school SES

Mea

n Re

adin

g te

ache

r rea

ding

scor

e

Reading teacher reading score by QUINTILE of schools SES (SACMEQ 2007)

Student and Mathematics teacher’s content knowledge by

province (14 countries 115

provinces)

21

SACMEQ 2007 Student and teacher mathematics content knowledge by province (115 provinces across 14 countries)

North Unguja South Pemba Tete Thaba-Tseka Zambezia KwaZulu Natal Central South Ohangwena South East Bulawayo BOT-Central SEY-Central TAN-Central KEN-Northern Rift Valley0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

0

100

200

300

400

500

600

700

800

900

1000

MpumalangaLimpopo

Gauteng

Western Cape

Student maths score Teacher's additional content knowledge Maths teacher content knowledge score

Which content areas do South African teachers struggle

with?

23

ZAM LES ZAN BOT MAL MOZ NAM SWA SOU ZIM SEY UGA TAN KEN0

10

20

30

40

50

60

70

80

90

100

Arithmetic operations (10 Qs) Space and shape (8 Qs) Fractions, ratio and proportion (10 Qs)Algebraic logic (9 Qs) Rate of change (7 Qs)

Country

Perc

enta

ge it

ems c

orre

ct

Mathematics teacher performance by content area (SACMEQ III - 2007)

24

Rate of change exampleSACMEQ 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

25

Percentage of Grade 6 mathematics teachers with correct answer on Q17 rate of change example of the SACMEQ III (2007) mathematics teacher test

ZAN MOZ ZAM LES MAL SOU NAM SWA BOT UGA TAN SEY ZIM KEN0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

90%

17%24%

31% 31%35%

38%

38%

49% 49% 51%55%

62%

71%

80%

26

SA Grade 6 Teacher knowledge...

Q6: 53% correct (D)

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

27

Suggestive of serious deficits in teacher content knowledge

What do South African teachers know relative

to international students?

• Conference Board of the Mathematical Sciences (2001, ch.2) recommends that mathematics teachers need: – “A thorough mastery of the mathematics in several grades beyond that which

they expect to teach, as well as of the mathematics in earlier grades” (2001 report ‘The Mathematical Education of Teachers’)

29

Background…

• The SACMEQ 2007 teacher test tested Grade 6 Mathematics teachers.

• The TIMSS 1995 test tested Grade 8 students from 38 countries in maths and science.

• 16 items were common to both tests…

30

South Afri

ca

Philippines

Portuga

l

Icelan

d

Engla

nd

New Ze

aland

Lithuan

ia

Cypru

s

Latvia

(LSS

)

ZANZIB

AR

Romania

TIMSS

Gr8 Avg

Irelan

d

Switz

erlan

d

SOUTH

AFRICA

MOZAMBIQ

UE

Austria

Russian

Federa

tion

Bulgaria

Slova

k Rep

ublic

Belgium (F

l)

Czech Rep

ublic

SACMEQ

AVG.

Hong Kong

Korea

TANZA

NIAKEN

YA0%

10%

20%

30%

40%

50%

60%

70%

80%

Aver

age

perc

enta

ge co

rrec

t on

16 co

mm

on m

athe

mati

cs it

ems

SACMEQ Grade 6 teachers’ average correct response (dark red) and TIMSS Grade 8 average correct response (light red) on 16 items common to Gr 8 TIMSS Mathematics test 1995 and SACMEQ Grade 6 mathematics teachers test 2007

Solutions?

32

Possible solution…

• The DBE cannot afford to be idealistic in its implementation of teacher training and testing– Aspirational planning approach: All primary school mathematics teachers

should be able to pass the matric mathematics exam (benchmark = desirable teacher CK)

– Realistic approach: (e.g.) minimum proficiency benchmark where teachers have to achieve at least 90% in the ANA of the grades in which they teach, and 70% in Grade 9 ANA

(benchmark = basic teacher CK)

• Pilot the system with one district. Imperative to evaluate which teacher training option (of hundreds) works best in urban/rural for example. Rigorous impact evaluations are needed before selecting a program and then rolling it out

• Tests are primarily for diagnostic purposes not punitive purposes

Accountability stages...

• SA is a few decades behind many OECD countries. Predictable outcomes as we move from stage to stage. Loveless (2005: 7) explains the historical sequence of accountability movements for students – similar movements for teachers?

– Stage 1 – Setting standards (defining what students should learn),

– CAPS– Stage 2 - Measuring achievement

(testing to see what students have learned),– ANA

– Stage 3 - Holding educators & students accountable (making results count).

– Western Cape performance agreements?

33

3) Holding accountable

2) Measuring achievement

1) Setting standards

Stages in accountability movements:

TRAINING

“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).

How have educational outcomes changed in

Gauteng between 1995 and 2011?

35

LMP ECA NWP KZN MPU FST GAU NCA WCA NATIONAL0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

1995* Maths Gr8 1998 Maths Gr8 2002 Maths Gr8

TIM

SS M

aths

scor

eFigure 1: Provincial scores for Grade 8 Mathematics, TIMSS 1995*, 1999, 2002 (with 95% confidence interval)

36

ECA

LMP

KZNNW

PMPU

NCA FST

GAUW

CA

National

TIMSS

Gr8 ben

chmark

Indepden

dent

0

50

100

150

200

250

300

350

400

450

500

313 321 333 342 343 350 354383

403

352

433474

2002 Maths Gr9 2011 Maths Gr9

Figure 5: Provincial average for Grade 9 Mathematics, TIMSS 2002 and TIMSS 2011 (with 95% confidence interval) - TIMSS benchmark used here is the average TIMSS middle-income Grade 8 mathematics mean score

37

WCA NCA KZN MPU NWP ECA FST LMP GAU National

-20

0

20

40

60

80

100

-11

10

55 5662 63 63

77 80

67

Impr

ovem

ent b

etw

een

Gr9

TIM

SS 2

002

and

TIM

SS 2

011

Figure 7: Provincial improvement between TIMSS 2002 and TIMSS 2011 - Grade 9 Mathematics (with 95% confidence interval)

38

EC NW FS LP KN MP NC WC GP EC NW FS LP KN MP NC WC GP

Gr2 enrolments - 2001

209954 64940 54481 128831 212734 76468 16885 65220 115464

Gr10 enrolments - 2009

150372 68078 63999 171076 218528 89809 21421 70451 162626

Gr12 enrolments - 2011

65359 25364 25932 73731 122126 48135 10116 39960 85367

Gr12 matric passes - 2011

37997 19737 19618 47091 83204 31187 6957 33110 69216

Matric passes as a % of Gr2 enrol-ments 10 years ear-lier

18% 30% 36% 37% 39% 41% 41% 51% 60%

25,000

75,000

125,000

175,000

225,000

5%

15%

25%

35%

45%

55%

65%

18%

30%36% 37% 39% 41% 41%

51%

60%

Gr2 enrolments - 2001 Gr10 enrolments - 2009Gr12 enrolments - 2011 Gr12 matric passes - 2011Matric passes as a % of Gr2 enrolments 10 years earlier

Provincial matric pass rates as a percentage of Grade 2 enrolments 10 years earlier

39

Matric performance in Gauteng 2011

26%

14%

36%

24%

Gauteng

Drop-out before Grade 12Fail matricPass matricPass with Bachelors

40

26%

14%

36%

24%

Gauteng

Drop-out before Grade 12Fail matricPass matricPass with Bachelors

Other provinces…

41

Gr12 in 2004 (Gr2 in 1994)

Gr12 in 2005 (Gr2 in 1995)

Gr12 in 2006 (Gr2 in 1996)

Gr12 in 2006 (Gr2 in 1996)

Gr12 in 2009 (Gr2 in 1999)

Gr12 in 2010 (Gr2 in 2000)

Gr12 in 2011 (Gr2 in 2001)

EC 0.115969334719335

0.142480866176582

0.147266323373551

0.142015378564547

0.130669355475878

0.161233917623694

0.180977737980701

GP 0.441515756911774

0.44808121094118

0.431974633587901

0.469063607121151

0.467150927103863

0.517888123371292

0.599459571814592

KN 0.303426948377001

0.303377697044247

0.285785581101969

0.311521762081981

0.295571534220296

0.34941062489908

0.391117545855387

LP 0.299205345658288

0.337041025813617

0.311839295460446

0.333432782385584

0.23966990724958

0.356215611545416

0.365525378208661

WC 0.395041816009558

0.371291135200447

0.376818150971566

0.390524405608146

0.357171356572869

0.414793026246844

0.507666360012266

5%

15%

25%

35%

45%

55%

65%

EC GP KN LP WC

Matric pass rates as a percentage of Grade 2 enrolments 10 years earlier for selected provinces – see Taylor (2012: p. 9)

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Conclusions1. Below-basic teacher content knowledge is a binding constraint to progress

– Teachers cannot teach what they do not know

2. The average Grade 6 mathematics teacher in South Africa has lower CK than Grade 6 maths teachers from other African countries and lower levels of CK than Grade 8 students from some OECD countries.– Serious problem which needs well-thought out, rigorous, proven ways of improving CK to basic levels

3. Teachers in South Africa have highly variable content knowledge (urban/rural, rich/poor)– High quality teachers in SA are the minority and are highly unequally distributed

4. The Department does not seem to have a credible plan to address the crisis in teacher content knowledge.– Programs should be piloted and evaluated before roll out– Billions have been wasted on ineffective teacher training, partially because the impact of those

programs was not proven prior to implementation

5. Of all the nine provinces, Gauteng has improved the most and is most efficient in “converting” Grade 2 enrolments into matric passes

43

Comments, questions and suggestions welcome…

• NicholasSpaull@gmail.com

• @NicSpaull

• www.nicspaull.com/research

• www.resep.sun.ac.za