TO PRINCIPAL/ GOVERNING BODY CHAIR
NEWSLETTER 1/2011
NEW SCHOOL YEAR AND ORGANISATIONAL MATTERS
The Foundation welcomes all member schools, their governors, principals and other staff to the start of another school year. The Foundation also thanks everyone involved for the many days of dedicated work, planning and preparation that have gone into ensuring that the schools for which they assume responsibility were able to function efficiently from day one.
It would be remiss of the Foundation not to add its congratulations to its member schools on ensuring that the pupils at these schools achieved the best possible results at the end of 2010 – whether in the grade 12 NSC examinations or in any other grade. There can be no doubt that the judicious selection of teaching staff and the wise allocation of resources to support these teachers have been of crucial importance in the maintenance and enhancement of quality school outcomes. In these aspects – and in many other features of school life - SGBs play a vital role along with the professional managers of the school.
The Grade 12 results for 2010 announced by the Minister of Basic Education occasioned significant comment. Some was well informed – other less so. This newsletter is partly devoted to providing members with a summary of the more balanced commentary.
Members are reminded that as newsletters are sent out they are posted on the GBF website. It is therefore possible for members to access back numbers. The latest alphabetical index of newsletters appears on the website. The National Office continues to load onto the website a selection of documents relevant to school governance as soon as electronic versions are available. For instance, the article by Nick Taylor and the media release by Umalusi [both referred to in this newsletter] can be accessed in full on the website. Members are encouraged to visit the site regularly and to request the Foundation to locate any documents which do not appear there but which would be of use to SGBs. A reminder of how to access the remodeled website has already gone out to members this year.
GRADE 12 RESULTS
Many people in South Africa believe that it cannot be in the best interests of learners or of the school system that the Grade 12 results remain such a high stakes issue. The 2010 release was once again a nationally televised event – this time with touches of the announcement by FIFA of the winning host country for the World Cup. As long as this remains the case, the system will continue to attract inappropriate comments and critical structures such as Umalusi will be subjected to undue pressure.
For the record, the key figures for the 2010 Grade 12 results can be summarized in the tables below:
Overall provincial and national performance
On the surface these figures tell a great deal. However, much of the comment which appeared at the time of the release of the results revolved around what was not publically pointed out but which was material to the significantly increased pass rate. This essentially has to do with the fact that with the exception of two provinces there had been a decrease in the NUMBER of fulltime candidates entered. In fact, in the seven provinces in which the number of full time candidates dropped this decrease totaled more than 21 000 learners. It goes without saying, that if the number writing drops and the number passing merely remains constant, the pass rate automatically increases. The argument is made in detail in an article written by the highly respected education researcher, Nick Taylor, which is quoted below. The full article is available on the Foundation website and it contains a number of very useful quality indicators for SGBs and Principals alike.
Extract from article by Nick Taylor entitled
Obsession with pass rates a national folly
Why the pass rate on its own is a misleading indicator
The obsession with the matric pass rate by both the Department of Basic Education and the public is not only misleading but encourages what economists call ‘gaming the system’. Widespread gaming led to large increases in the pass rate in the years 1999-2003. To give an example: principal A enrols 10 candidates and 5 pass, giving a pass rate of 50%; principal B holds back her risky candidates, enrolling only 7 and 4 pass, giving a pass rate of 57%. Although B is praised for the higher pass rate, she enrolled and passed fewer candidates. When the school’s reputation rests on a single number then principals must be tempted to tweak the figures, even if this results in prejudicing their own learners. There is evidence that the pass rate improvements in 2010 are at least partly attributable to gaming, or what the DBE calls ‘culling’, despite its protestations to the contrary.
A far better picture of the health of the system would be obtained by looking at the numbers enrolling and passing each year and at the quality of those passes. The pass rate is an efficiency measure and is therefore not unimportant, but only makes sense if both numbers and quality are increasing off the current very low base.
Overall, full time numbers are dropping in most provinces, while PT numbers are increasing even faster, resulting in an increase in total growth of 30 433 (5.2%) in 2009 and 21 809 (3.5%) in 2010. It is good that second chance candidates are given the opportunity to register part time. Of concern, however, is the drop in full time registrations, decreasing by 7 706 (1.3%) in 2009 and a much larger 21 771 (3.7%) in 2010 (Table 2). Since it is only those candidates who write in a full time capacity who are counted in calculating pass rates, moving candidates to part time status is one way of manipulating the pass rate.
Changes in quality
It is instructive to examine two indicators of systemic quality, although there are others that could be used.
First, the numbers of matriculants obtaining a Bachelor level pass increased by 22 000 (26%) in 2008, 2 423 (2%) in 2009 and 16 674 (15%) in 2010 (Table 3). These are students who qualify to apply for Bachelor registration, as distinct from those who may register for Diplomas or Certificates, or who pass without qualifying for tertiary studies.
Provincial and national performance by type of pass
A better view of quality is given by the numbers registering for and passing mathematics (Table 4), and here there is a real problem, as the Minister acknowledged. Nearly 36 000 fewer candidates registered to write maths in 2010 compared with 2008, and nearly 9 000 fewer passed. This indicates that principals are directing students away from maths towards maths literacy. This practice dramatically narrows student options for further study.
Performance in selected subjects nationally
THE ROLE OF UMALUSI
The Council for Quality assurance in General and Further Education and Training
This important Council in terms of the credibility of the National Senior Certificate examinations was subjected to a considerable amount of criticism during the debate about the 2010 Grade 12 results. While some of this criticism was understandable, much demonstrated a level of ignorance on the part of the critics and much was made of the statutory power of the Council to adjust raw scores. In addition, various spokespeople for Umalusi did little to bring clarity to the situation.
However, on 6 January the Council issued a detailed statement entitled Why Umalusi standardises results, and how.
The full text of this statement is available on the Foundation website. This statement should help to clarify matters considerably.
SOME IMPLICATIONS FOR GOVERNING BODIES
In this climate, members are encouraged to take a variety of steps aimed at maintaining confidence of their school community in the school for which they take governance responsibility. These include, but are not limited to, the following:
· Err on the side of too much communication with parents rather than too little, particularly about potentially controversial matters, changes in policy, assessment requirements, and so on.
· In this regard make sure that parents understand fully what all arrangements are for all forms of assessment, examination and evaluation – both external and internal.
· Parents should also be made aware of the circumstances that apply to the remarking of scripts and access to supplementary examinations, including closing dates for applications.
· Do not limit yourselves to the basic prescribed minimum of meetings with parents for, for instance, budget approval and annual reporting.
· Encourage broad-based participation by parents in the budget process and in the development of or revision of new and existing policies and new capital projects.
· Balance the need for new capital and physical projects at the school with sensible innovation and modernisation in the teaching arena.
· Be seen to be supporting the professional managers of the school at every turn. This implies a clear understanding of the different governance and professional management roles and the allocation of adequate time to ensure their congruence.
· Encourage the establishment of meaningful benchmarking standards and comparisons with relevant institutions provincially, nationally and internationally. Parents want to know that academic standards at their children’s school are valid and credible.
· Above all, make sure that parents know that the SGB of the school is well informed of and is prepared to cope with changes impacting on the school. Is there a strategic plan in place? What is the school doing about ensuring a supply of competent teachers? Is the school sustainable financially and academically?
ANNUAL NATIONAL ASSESSMENTS [ANAs]
The Annual National Assessments originally due to be written during 2010 were delayed in an attempt to allow greater concentration on support for learners whose schooling was interrupted by the industrial action.
The school exemplars made available by DBE have been on the departmental website since last year and this information was brought to the attention of members. The final timetable is now also available and is reproduced below for ease of reference of all Foundation members.
NATIONAL OFFICE
JANUARY 2011
GBF CONTACT INFORMATION.
A. NATIONAL OFFICE (ADMINISTRATION)
Contact: Hester Green
Tel : 087808 5669
Cell : 082779 4560
Fax : 086578 0045
Email :
B. CAPE CHAPTER.
(i) Western Cape Office.
Contact: Mike Kessel.
Tel : 083375 1066.
Fax : 028313 0715.
Email :
(ii) Eastern Cape Office.
Contact: Ray Riggien
Tel/Fax: 083627 4666
Email :
C. GAUTENG CHAPTER OFFICE
Contact: Roger Millson.
Tel : 011678 0035.
Cell : 082330 6565.
Fax : 011678 0035
Email :
D. KWAZULU-NATAL CHAPTER OFFICE
Contact: Trevor Bennison.
Tel : 084403 7886
Fax : 031561 3080.
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