2023-10-24 08:29:39
24.10.2023
Tracking changes in South African reading Literacy achievement: A developing country perspective, edited by Surette van Staden and Celeste Combrinck, focuses on South Africa as a developing country in addressing the complexities of learning to read and measuring trends in reading achievement.
The book, with a foreword by Dr. Hans Wagemaker, introduces additional data analysis, perspectives and contextualizations of South African participation in the PIRLS education study and draws attention to the diverse population of students in South Africa who participated in three PIRLS rounds between 2006 and 2016. It is intended to familiarize readers with the complexity of South Africa’s education system (or systems) and provides relevant background information. Against this background, one chapter presents South Africa’s participation in PIRLS in the context of the other participating countries, with a focus on the content to be assessed and the changes to the survey design made across cycles.
The book reflects on the PIRLS data collected over ten years in South Africa and the lessons and insights learned from it. The additional secondary data analysis presented therein aims to provide additional insights into the existing body of knowledge and is presented in chapters addressing the following topics:
The PIRLS assessment frameworks and how they have evolved over time; South African educational requirements and curriculum expectations. Trend growth between PIRLS 2011 and PIRLS 2016 and reflections on the meaning of “progress” as suggested by the PIRLS results. Implications for teacher education regarding development, curriculum expectations and multilingual classrooms from a two country perspective. What achieving the low international benchmark means and how these results impact students’ reading proficiency and mastery of comprehension in all 11 national languages. Challenges in cross-country comparisons from the perspective of both developed and developing countries and the difficulties in creating rating scales when teachers’ responses to questionnaires do not adequately capture classroom processes. The development of African languages and their implementation in the field of reading in a benevolent political environment.
Looking back at PIRLS provides an opportunity to reflect on whether the goals and intentions have led to improvements, expected outcomes and successes, or whether they simply reflect the status quo. It also allows a look into the future. The final chapter concludes that the results of PIRLS provide an up-to-date look at the status of the system following the end of the COVID-19 pandemic. Ultimately, the ongoing interpretation and application of PIRLS results will also strengthen opportunities to support key stakeholders – teachers and learners.
Information regarding the book:
Tracking Changes in South African Reading Literacy Achievement
A Developing Context Perspective
Surette van Staden and Celeste Combrinck (eds.)
Brill 2023
ISBN: 978-90-04-68541-3
Price: €49.50 (boxed)
Link:
1698136844
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