Understanding school effects in South Africa using multilevel analysis: findings from TIMSS 2011

Abstract Introduction. Studies of school effect usually evolve around two major issues; understandin

Personal characteristics that predict South Africans’ participation in activities of their children’s schools

We investigated the extent to which personal characteristics such as age,marital status, education level, living standard measure (LSM), environmental milieu, race, gender and employment status predict parents’ participation in the activities of their children’s schools. The data used for analysis were drawn from 5,734 South Africans aged 16+ years who participated in the Human Sciences Research Council’s (HSRC) annual South African Social Attitudes Survey (SASAS). Respondents (n = 1,364) who had at least one child in school were selected for the analysis. The logistic regression model was used to estimate the extent to which personal characteristics would predict parents’ level of participation. Results showed that personal characteristics such as age, marital status, gender, and living standard measure (LSM) had a significant influence on parental participation. Amongst these, gender was the most significant factor. Respondents aged 35–49 years were 1.5 times more likely thanthose aged 50+ years to participate in their children’s school activities. Respondents who were married were more likely than those who had never married to participate. Mothers were more likely than fathers to participate in their children’s school activities. The literature suggests that American fathers show some interest in participating in activities of their children’s schools, at least in the first few years, but discontinue that participation in time. The results confirm a common belief in some communities in South Africa that fathers do not take seriously their responsibility to provide for their children and their partners in that regard from the onset. Even though the results on personal characteristics support existing theory and empirical literature on parental participation, a multidimensional perspective is needed that would incorporate other factors intothe study

Alumnos resilientes en las escuelas que atienden a comunidades pobres

Introduction. Through the the education for all initiative, a number of education systems have been able to provide access to their students at the basic education level. The major challenge is that most of these learners, especially, those from poor families who attend schools with limited resources are often not successful. However, in South Africa, quite a few of these learners succeed against all odds. We characterized these students as resilient and wonder what drives their success.Method. Our analysis employed the South Africa 2011 Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) and simple descriptive statistics to profile these resilient students. TIMSS was conducted by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (IEA). The TIMSS data included information on learners’ socioeconomic background characteristics, their mathematics and science achievement, and their schooling characteristics. Using these data, we were able to estimate learners’ socioeconomic status that was used as a proxy of poverty. We used a crosstabulation to identify poor learners in poor schools who were successful learning mathematics and developed the characteristics of these learners.Results. Our profile indicates that a typical resilient learner is a girl who does not speak the language of classroom instruction at home. This learner tends to not only value and like mathematics but also expressed confidence about her ability to learn mathematics.Discussion and Conclusion. The current South Africa policy to improve learning outcome for the poor tend to emphasise improvement of resources in schools serving the poor. Our findings demonstrate the importance of non-cognitive skills in developing resilience and the need to include professional development initiatives for teachers to develop capabilities to help learners to develop these skills. </jats:p

International Comparative Studies In Mathematics: Lessons For Improving students’ Learning

Comparing is one of the most basic intellectual activities. We consciously make comparisons to understand where we stand, both in relation to others as well as to our own past experiences. There has been a long history of international comparative studies in education (Alexander 2000). Especially in the past several decades, many international comparative studies of mathematics have been conducted, either to examine differences in mathematical proficiency and dispositions among students from various countries or to understand the possible influence on the observed differences of various factors such as curriculum, teacher preparation, quality of classroom instruction, and parental involvement. Some of these studies are large-scale, and others are small-scale in-depth analyses from cognitive or social perspectives. These international comparative studies in mathematics are valuable because they provide a large body of knowledge showing how students do mathematics in the context of the world’s varied educational institutions. In addition, they examine the cultural and educational factors that influence the learning of mathematics.published_or_final_versio

Millennium Development Goal 2: achieve universal primary education 2015

The Millennium Development Goal 2 to achieve universal primary education has one target, which is to ensure that by 2015 children everywhere, boys and girls alike, will be able to complete a full course of primary schooling. Progress towards its attainment is measured and reflects South Africa's unique challenges and priorities.

Use what you have to get what you need: the appropriateness of TIMSS to appraise and inform policy

Education is a key priority in the country, and outcome one in the presidential delivery agreements. It is therefore important to use reliable data to appraise the well-being of the system to date. Shawn Rogers and Lolita Winnaar explore how the TIMSS design and framework generate data that provides invaluable information on the nature and extent of learner achievement, and measure improvement, quality and outcomes of the education system. The Trends in International Mathematics and Science Study (TIMSS) has been undertaken in South Africa in 1995, 1999, 2002 and more recently, in 2011. TIMSS is one of the first studies to provide international and national learner assessment trend data for mathematics and science, and places quality of education in the eye of politicians, policy makers and the public.

South Africans at work: how satisfied are we?

Continuous tracking of work values and attitudes towards work remain critical given a concern to improve the quality of people's work life, write Bongiwe Mncwango and Lolita Winnaar.

Automated diagnostic feedback to learners, teachers, parents and education managers from large-scale school-achievement assessment

Paper presented at the HSRC Research Conference, Birchwood Conference Centre, Benoni, 27-28 Septembe