Responses to accountability pressure and support for learner performance improvement : a case study of one school

This study examines how a township school responded to external pressure and support to improve grade 12 results, in general, and mathematics in particular. The study is theoretically located within scholarship pertaining to forms and effects of accountability measures. The focus is on whether responses to such measures are substantive, i.e. directed towards the goal of general improvement of learning and teaching within the school, or non-substantive, i.e. directed towards compliance with external quantitatively framed measures as an end in itself. The general methodological approach was a case study with ethnographic elements. Data collection strategies included interviews and observation. In general, this study shows that the responses within the school to pressure and support to improve mathematics results were complex, uneven and layered. These external pressures did, often indirectly, contribute to improved grade 12 results. This was facilitated by a degree of internal coherence within leadership practices, i.e. effective and purposeful strategies aligned with substantive goals within the school. However, these pressures also arguably prompted undesirable pedagogic practices, especially at grade 9 level. Contextual difficulties in grade 9 undermine practices more at grade 9 level than at grade 12 level. The support offered was not generally congruent with demands. Un ive rsi ty of Ca pe To wn Chapter 1: Introduction and background For the past four years (2008 – 2011) there has been a steady improvement in learner performance as measured in the national external grade 12 examination. However, while the national grade 12 results improved during these four years, the mathematics and physical sciences results were declining. The national ministry of education has been concerned about the problem of weak learner performance in these gateway subjects. The focus has been on improving the grade 12 results while also improving learner performance in mathematics and science. A number of strategies were developed and tried by the national ministry to no avail until 2012, when the ministry came up with a strategy to improve the grade 12 pass rate and the quality of mathematics and physical sciences. The National Strategy for Mathematics, Science and Technology education focusses on four areas: (i) Improving the participation and performance of girl learners. (ii) Helping schools to improve learner subject choices. (iii) Ensuring correct placement of teachers. (iv) Focussing teacher development efforts on subject and pedagogical content knowledge. (Department of Basic Education 2012). The national ministry’s commitment to improving these results has been interpreted differently by school leaders and the responses vary from individual to individual. Problem statement and methodological approach The focus of this study is on how a school l responded to external pressures and support in order to improve grade 12 passes in general and mathematics performance in particular. I have investigated the extent to which school leaders and other role players adopt nonsubstantive or substantive strategies in responding to improvement strategies and policies that are initiated by policy makers. I describe the improvement strategies in response to the school’s increasing failure rate and to the decreasing number of learners passing mathematics as a grade 10 – 12 subject. The study adopts a broadly ethnographic case study approach. This involves observation and informal interactions within the daily life of the school as well as more formal interviews over a period of two years. The school is located in the greater part of the Cape Town area. Un ive rsi ty of Ca pe To wn 2 Context: The South African schooling system In the South African context, the political transition to democracy meant that the education system had to be changed to fit the goals of the new dispensation (Christie 2003). Educational restructuring focussed on removing racial discrimination, up-skilling and increasing the capabilities of the global citizen while enabling the citizen to participate in the labour market. However, this transition occurred at a time when an international neo-liberal agenda had already shifted the provision of public services from a welfarist model to a marketised model. The new education policies were modelled on international practices and were sometimes difficult to implement in a different context. Strategies such as outcomes based education did not transform actual conditions at the grass-roots level and tended to require greater resources to implement than were available (Christie 2003). The rationale for the selection of outcomes-based approaches to education in South Africa included a management argument which stated that, to enable greater effectiveness and efficiency in schooling, it was necessary to increase accountability of teachers, schools and the system (Jansen 1995). This accountability was measured in terms of outcomes and these were measured in terms of the grade 12 results. Since 1994 there has been a steady improvement in the grade 12 result (See table 1), however with fluctuating mathematics achievement (See Graph 1). This impacted negatively on the national skills agenda. The National Curriculum Statement (NCS) was introduced in South Africa in 1995 and in 2008 – 2011 there was a further curriculum change which resulted in the Revised National Curriculum Statement (RNCS). In spite of these shifts in the curriculum, there was little change in levels of learner attainment in mathematics. Instead, as the overall grade 12 pass rate increased, the mathematics pass rate decreased or fluctuated, as Table1 and Graphs 1 to 3 illustrate. The results for the period 1995 to 2006 and 2008 to 2011 are presented separately because of the change in the curriculum that took place in South Africa as mentioned earlier. Table 1 and graphs 1 – 3 show how the trend in the general pass rate was increasing and how the mathematics pass rate was fluctuating through the years. This fluctuation in learner attainment in mathematics led the department of education to put pressure on schools through the district offices to increase mathematics attainment. Un ive rsi ty of Ca pe To wn 3 ‘95 ‘96 ‘97 ’98 ’99 ’00 ’01 ’02 ’03 ’04 ‘05 ‘06