Marking Matric

COLLOQUIUM PROCEEDINGS Edited by Vijay Reddy Published by HSRC Press Private Bag X9182, Cape Town, 8000, South Africa www.hsrcpress.ac.za © 2006 Human Sciences Research Council First published 2006 All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. ISBN 0-7969-2116-4 Copy editing by Angela Briggs Typeset by Stacey Gibson Cover design by Farm Design Print management by comPress Distributed in Africa by Blue Weaver PO Box 30370, Tokai, Cape Town, 7966, South Africa Tel: +27 (0) 21 701 4477 Fax: +27 (0) 21 701 7302 email: orders@blueweaver.co.za www.oneworldbooks.com Distributed in Europe and the United Kingdom by Eurospan Distribution Services (EDS) 3 Henrietta Street, Covent Garden, London, WC2E 8LU, United Kingdom Tel: +44 (0) 20 7240 0856 Fax: +44 (0) 20 7379 0609 email: orders@edspubs.co.uk www.eurospanonline.com Distributed in North America by Independent Publishers Group (IPG) Order Department, 814 North Franklin Street, Chicago, IL 60610, USA Call toll-free: (800) 888 4741 All other enquiries: +1 (312) 337 0747 Fax: +1 (312) 337 5985 email: frontdesk@ipgbook.com www.ipgbook.com Contents List of tables and figures v Foreword ix Introduction xii Acknowledgements xx List of abbreviations and acronyms xxi SECTION 1: THE MACRO PERSPECTIVE 1. A review of ten years of assessment and examinations 3 Themba Ndhlovu, Nkosi Sishi and Carol Nuga Deliwe 2. Transition from Senior Certificate to the Further Education and Training Certificate 10 Morgan Naidoo 3. The history of falling matric standards 18 Peliwe Lolwana SECTION 2: STANDARDS AND STANDARDISATION 4. The matriculation examination: how can we find out if standards are falling? 33 Mbithi wa Kivilu 5. The statistical adjustment of matric marks 45 L Paul Fatti 6. Evaluating the school-leaving examination against measurement principles and methods 58 Cheryl D Foxcroft 7. Comparing and standardising performance trends in the matric examinations using a matrix sampling design 72 Anil Kanjee 8. Methodological issues in measuring learner flow-through in the education system 90 Fabian Arends SECTION 3: DISAGGREGATED DATA ILLUSTRATING INEQUALITIES 9. Gender and educational achievement in South Africa 107 Helen Perry and Brahm Fleisch 10. Matric matters 127 Michael Kahn 11. A trend analysis of matric maths performance 139 Vijay Reddy and Servaas van der Berg with Likani Lebani and Robert Berkowitz 12. The matric results of 2002 and 2003: the uncomfortable truths of the Western Cape? 161 Peter Kallaway SECTION 4: ISSUES IMPACTING ON EDUCATION 13. Learning (dis)advantage in matriculation language classrooms 185 Jeanne Prinsloo 14. Many are called, few will remain: HIV/AIDS and the matric in the South African school system 201 Relebohile Moletsane 15. Listening to matric teachers: township realities and learner achievement levels 213 Makola Collin Phurutse 16. Matric improvement programmes 228 Jennifer Rault-Smith SECTION 5: THE FUTURE 17. The Further Education and Training Certificate: unresolved problems 241 Stephanie Matseleng Allais 18. Pathways from matric 253 Michael Cosser Contributors 263 List of tables and figures Tables Table 2.1 Table 5.1 Table 5.2 Table 5.3 Table 5.4 Table 5.5 Table 6.1 Table 6.2 Table 6.3 Table 6.4 Table 7.1 Table 8.1 Table 9.1 Table 9.2 Table 9.3 Table 9.4 Table 9.5 Number of candidates who wrote, those who passed and those who passed with exemption from 1996 to 2003 13 Flow-through rates for Grades 11 and 12 47 Number of candidates presenting for Standard Grade and Higher Grade examinations 48 Accounting Higher Grade mark distributions and adjustments 51 English Second Language Higher Grade marks and adjustments 53 Numbers and pass rates, 1990 to 2003 56 Correlations: final first-year marks, Swedish Points, and weighted matriculation average mark 60 Matric and academic performance: correlations for gender and cultural groups 63 Score equivalence across examinations 67 Example of score equating table 67 Matric pass rates: 1997 to 2003 79 Promotion, repetition and drop-out rates in public ordinary schools in Gauteng,Western Cape and KwaZulu-Natal, 2002 98 Number of candidates, passes and endorsements and Gender Parity Index (GPI), 1996 to 2002 112 Number of candidates gaining merit and distinction by gender, 2001 and 2002 114 Number of candidates and aggregate mark obtained by candidates who failed and who passed, with and without endorsement, 2002 115 Female and male candidates’ aggregate marks by percentile, 2002 116 Provincial number of candidates and aggregate mark obtained by candidates who failed and who passed with and without endorsement, 2002 118 v ... - tailieumienphi.vn