Improving Mathematics Performance at Schools
Comments
By Anonymous
Mon 15 Aug, 2011 - 09:08
Dear all
I think this is a very thought provoking article and I also endorse the comments by other respondents. It is not only maths and science that need attention but all areas of learning.
I think it is importatnt for parents, care givers and educators to also emphaise the point that " Teaching and learning" does not begin when a child starts formal schooling, nor does it end when the school bell rings and classes are over. There are numerous inexpensive ways that parents and care givers can stimulate thinking, independent learning and creativity in children using non formal methods. Learning through play, social interaction and being aware of learning opportunities in everyday situations is one that is overlooked.
There are various instances when numeracy, literacy and science awareness can be encouraged in the home, in taking a keen awareness around your surroundings and by being in contact with print, audio, video and digital media. Sadly far too often parents tend to neglect the importance of early childhood education and also miss the opportunity to reinforce learning when children are away from school.
The department of basic education and NGOs in the education sector should be working closely to develop programmes to provide:
1. ALL parents irrespective of economic class and social background with training, outreach and awareness programmes to encourage parents to take a more keen interest in their children's education. There are instances of neglect even in households that are economically more fortunate than others.
2. We have a large unemployment programme in SA, should there not be a stimulus to provide training to keen unemployed people who have shown initiative to be teaching assistants. Our classrooms are overcrowded and we also face the problem of poor teacher: pupil ratio - surely the government can support the training and subsidise the salaries of more early childhood educators and teaching assistants in under-resourced schools.
3. South Africa is a country with inequity and differences , but pockets of excellence do exist in every province. Twinning of schools, sharing of community resources and supporting schools with less resources (both financial, educational and personnel) should be ENCOURAGED and SUPPORTED by the DBE in order for well resourced and well performing schools to share best practice and support the development, cooperation and improved performance in underperforming schools.
4. Improving accountability among educators is paramount- absenteeism, malperformance, neglect of duties and other transgresssions should not be tolerated and parents need to be more vocal and show a far greater interest in the type of education their children are getting in the formal schooling environment.
5. Instead of teacher and educator unions protesting and supporting labour disputes, they should support and encourage the continued professional development of their membership. Then they would be instrumental in shaping the future of education in South Africa.
6. We are fortunate in South Africa to have a very strong network of NGOs who work in education in all spheres. Their work should be more visibly promoted nationally and they should be able to access funds in more equitable way in order to continue with the work they have started in many rural and under performing urban areas.
By Anonymous
Mon 1 Aug, 2011 - 10:43
This article is very thought provoking and what I find very interesting are the statements that we need to start helping children learn Math and Science concepts in the early years that is Foundation Phase, from Grade R to Grade three.
In my view to ensure better results in Maths and Science at higher levels of schooling the focus of skills development and concept formation should start actrually from birth. Parents and child minders should be sensitised on the importance and relevance of playing with children, talking to them singing and interacting with them using objects and colours, size, shapes and allowing children to experiment with water,sand, plant growth,different textures and smells of objects etc.Science and Maths skills and concept formation begin at birth.There is a lot relating to Science and Maths that children can andshould learn through play before they even get to Grade R starting with the Foundation phase, therefore might also be too late. Let's expause the children to Math and Science experiences at a time in life when their brains are at their pick of growth and development, and when they are most curious to learn about the world around them. Thanks for this opportunity to contribute. Juliana Seleti jseleti@unicef.org)
By Anonymous
Thu 28 Jul, 2011 - 12:41
Very good article - see also Sunday Times (last), page 10.
In a nutshell, the South African schooling system shows the following characteristics: the national mean mathematics scores are low and need to improve. There is a high differentiation of the educational performance of students from different socio-economic conditions and we can say that we have two systems of education. This means that an estimated 30 percent of schools perform reasonably well, while 70 percent of schools are underperforming.
Another feature of our educational system is that the national average mathematics achievement score for different grade levels across the schooling system is similar and stable; around 30 percent to 40 percent at different grades.
This raises the question of whether improved schooling makes any difference in performance.
In discussing mathematics performance, I am not dismissing the other areas of a school curriculum, but mathematics is a proxy for analytical thinking.
As we evaluate the high skill capacity in the country and active participation in the knowledge economy, mathematical skills are very important.
High levels of attention paid to the early years of learning for children from environments of lower household and parental resources would contribute to breaking the cycle of poor academic performance.
Let us focus on mathematics performance in both the ‘performing’ and ‘underperforming’ parts of the educational system.
Underperforming schools
For the underperforming schools, mathematics performance continues to be low. Even with many interventions we seem unable to effect changes, using the indicator of matriculation mathematics performance.
Findings from a paper 1 where we used a panel-like data-set to examine the extent of association between grade 8 mathematics performance and grade 12 performance shows a strong correlation between grade 8 mathematics performance and matric mathematics achievement. The strong relationship between grade 8 and grade 12 mathematics scores corroborates the findings from the literature that earlier performance and strong foundational knowledge form the base for subsequent learning.
Analytic skills in mathematics need to be built up from early years. Mathematical knowledge is hierarchical in nature and therefore strong prior knowledge is critical for conceptual development. The acquisition of these capabilities is shaped in the early years by the nature and quality of interactions in the home and community and the quality of input from school.
The policy implication from this finding is that raising the mathematics scores at grade 12 level requires raising grade 8 mathematics scores. Extrapolating from this – and linking to the literature on cognitive development – we need to raise the mathematics scores from the foundation phase of schooling.
High levels of attention paid to the early years of learning (reception year and foundation phase) for children from environments of lower household and parental resources would contribute to breaking the cycle of poor academic performance. If we do not do this, both their backgrounds and schooling will let the children down and the reproduction of inequality will continue.
Students must know and understand earlier concepts and only when they do can they progress. Our findings show that it is too late to try to improve matric mathematics performance by the time students reach the secondary level. But this learning does involve a school and a teacher – a teacher that especially understands how learning occurs. Thus, one of the priorities is that foundation phase teachers must have appropriate qualifications and expertise to teach these classes.
This means government targets should not only be the assessment scores, but should also include the number of new foundation phase teachers. Interventions made at the secondary level do not raise exit level mathematical performances. It might raise general performance, which is fine, but we need to recognise what interventions at the secondary level will provide and what they will not. Therefore, as we talk about ‘second chance’ programmes, we need to recognise what the outcome will be, and it may not be raised mathematics scores at grade 12 level.
Performing schools
There are also challenges for students from what are described as well-performing schools. Scores on international tests show that we are not globally competitive.
The Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) results show that students from South African top-performing schools are outperformed by other African countries – with lower Gross Domestic Products.
In the 2002 TIMSS study, involving 50 countries, schools categorised as well resourced and better performing (i.e. from the House of Assembly and House of Delegates) schools performed at the international mean level.
The way forward
The country’s mathematic performance must be located within the global trends. TIMSS surveyed a number of countries for grade 12 physics performance. It had undertaken these studies about 10 years ago. The results showed that globally (with the exception of Russia), performance levels in physics had decreased.
Internationally, there is a concern that students entering tertiary institutions are coming in with less maths and science knowledge.
Given the knowledge growth and the vastly technological and information-oriented world we live in and the strides that need to take place for the economy to grow and meet the social and environmental challenges, it would seem that we are not nurturing or growing the mathematics knowledge at the top end.
The hypothesis for the drop in science and maths competencies and capabilities is that we have focused on the Education for All agenda – and it was necessary to do so – and have neglected the agenda of maths for excellence and access to science, engineering and technology qualifications.
Given South Africa’s agenda for economic competitiveness, this is an investment we need to make. The mistake we made is to assume that it would happen on its own. But results have shown that it does not and for this reason we should include achievement targets for better-resourced schools as well.
In conclusion, we need to set differentiated targets for the two parts of our educational system. Neither part is performing at the requisite levels, and specific strategies need to be designed for each part of the system.
Dr Vijay Reddy is Executive Director of the research programme on Education and Skills Development, and Dean Janse van Rensburg is a research trainee. This article is based on a paper, ‛Improving education quality and skills development’, delivered at the Human Condition Seminar hosted by the National Planning Commission, 29 March 2011, at the Presidency.
Reddy V, Van der Berg S, Janse van Rensburg D and Taylor S (2011) Educational Quality in an Unequal Society: Student pathways and performance in South African schools. Submitted to South African Journal of Science.
This article was first published in the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) Review Volume 9 – No 2. It is republished here with the permission of the HSRC.
Another feature of our educational system is that the national average mathematics achievement score for different grade levels across the schooling system is similar and stable; around 30 percent to 40 percent at different grades.
This raises the question of whether improved schooling makes any difference in performance.
In discussing mathematics performance, I am not dismissing the other areas of a school curriculum, but mathematics is a proxy for analytical thinking.
As we evaluate the high skill capacity in the country and active participation in the knowledge economy, mathematical skills are very important.
High levels of attention paid to the early years of learning for children from environments of lower household and parental resources would contribute to breaking the cycle of poor academic performance.
Let us focus on mathematics performance in both the ‘performing’ and ‘underperforming’ parts of the educational system.
Underperforming schools
For the underperforming schools, mathematics performance continues to be low. Even with many interventions we seem unable to effect changes, using the indicator of matriculation mathematics performance.
Findings from a paper 1 where we used a panel-like data-set to examine the extent of association between grade 8 mathematics performance and grade 12 performance shows a strong correlation between grade 8 mathematics performance and matric mathematics achievement. The strong relationship between grade 8 and grade 12 mathematics scores corroborates the findings from the literature that earlier performance and strong foundational knowledge form the base for subsequent learning.
Analytic skills in mathematics need to be built up from early years. Mathematical knowledge is hierarchical in nature and therefore strong prior knowledge is critical for conceptual development. The acquisition of these capabilities is shaped in the early years by the nature and quality of interactions in the home and community and the quality of input from school.
The policy implication from this finding is that raising the mathematics scores at grade 12 level requires raising grade 8 mathematics scores. Extrapolating from this – and linking to the literature on cognitive development – we need to raise the mathematics scores from the foundation phase of schooling.
High levels of attention paid to the early years of learning (reception year and foundation phase) for children from environments of lower household and parental resources would contribute to breaking the cycle of poor academic performance. If we do not do this, both their backgrounds and schooling will let the children down and the reproduction of inequality will continue.
Students must know and understand earlier concepts and only when they do can they progress. Our findings show that it is too late to try to improve matric mathematics performance by the time students reach the secondary level. But this learning does involve a school and a teacher – a teacher that especially understands how learning occurs. Thus, one of the priorities is that foundation phase teachers must have appropriate qualifications and expertise to teach these classes.
This means government targets should not only be the assessment scores, but should also include the number of new foundation phase teachers. Interventions made at the secondary level do not raise exit level mathematical performances. It might raise general performance, which is fine, but we need to recognise what interventions at the secondary level will provide and what they will not. Therefore, as we talk about ‘second chance’ programmes, we need to recognise what the outcome will be, and it may not be raised mathematics scores at grade 12 level.
Performing schools
There are also challenges for students from what are described as well-performing schools. Scores on international tests show that we are not globally competitive.
The Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) results show that students from South African top-performing schools are outperformed by other African countries – with lower Gross Domestic Products.
In the 2002 TIMSS study, involving 50 countries, schools categorised as well resourced and better performing (i.e. from the House of Assembly and House of Delegates) schools performed at the international mean level.
The way forward
The country’s mathematic performance must be located within the global trends. TIMSS surveyed a number of countries for grade 12 physics performance. It had undertaken these studies about 10 years ago. The results showed that globally (with the exception of Russia), performance levels in physics had decreased.
Internationally, there is a concern that students entering tertiary institutions are coming in with less maths and science knowledge.
Given the knowledge growth and the vastly technological and information-oriented world we live in and the strides that need to take place for the economy to grow and meet the social and environmental challenges, it would seem that we are not nurturing or growing the mathematics knowledge at the top end.
The hypothesis for the drop in science and maths competencies and capabilities is that we have focused on the Education for All agenda – and it was necessary to do so – and have neglected the agenda of maths for excellence and access to science, engineering and technology qualifications.
Given South Africa’s agenda for economic competitiveness, this is an investment we need to make. The mistake we made is to assume that it would happen on its own. But results have shown that it does not and for this reason we should include achievement targets for better-resourced schools as well.
In conclusion, we need to set differentiated targets for the two parts of our educational system. Neither part is performing at the requisite levels, and specific strategies need to be designed for each part of the system.
Dr Vijay Reddy is Executive Director of the research programme on Education and Skills Development, and Dean Janse van Rensburg is a research trainee. This article is based on a paper, ‛Improving education quality and skills development’, delivered at the Human Condition Seminar hosted by the National Planning Commission, 29 March 2011, at the Presidency.
Reddy V, Van der Berg S, Janse van Rensburg D and Taylor S (2011) Educational Quality in an Unequal Society: Student pathways and performance in South African schools. Submitted to South African Journal of Science.
This article was first published in the Human Sciences Research Council (HSRC) Review Volume 9 – No 2. It is republished here with the permission of the HSRC.
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