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System-wide improvement of early-grade mathematics: New evidence from the Gauteng Primary Language and Mathematics Strategy

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  • Fleisch, Brahm
  • Schöer, Volker
  • Roberts, Gareth
  • Thornton, Amy

Abstract

This article reports on a two-year evaluation of the Gauteng Primary Language and Mathematics Strategy (GPLMS), an innovative system-wide reform intervention designed to improve learning outcomes in Gauteng Province, South Africa. Using data from universal testing of all learners in 2008 on a provincial systemic evaluation, as well as data from the 2011, 2012 and 2013 Annual National Assessment tests, this article investigates whether or not the GPLMS improves the numeracy skills of learners in early-grade mathematics in underperforming schools. Using as identification strategy, the natural experiment that resulted from a miscalculation of the provincial systemic evaluation test scores in 2008, which had been used to assign schools to the GPLMS intervention, the study shows that the GPLMS intervention is positively associated with improvements in early-grade mathematics performance of schools in the neighbourhood around the assignment threshold. The findings of the study contribute to the growing body of knowledge that shows the effectiveness of combining lesson plans, learner resources, and quality teacher capacity building.

Suggested Citation

  • Fleisch, Brahm & Schöer, Volker & Roberts, Gareth & Thornton, Amy, 2016. "System-wide improvement of early-grade mathematics: New evidence from the Gauteng Primary Language and Mathematics Strategy," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 49(C), pages 157-174.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:injoed:v:49:y:2016:i:c:p:157-174
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ijedudev.2016.02.006
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Abhijit V. Banerjee & Shawn Cole & Esther Duflo & Leigh Linden, 2007. "Remedying Education: Evidence from Two Randomized Experiments in India," The Quarterly Journal of Economics, President and Fellows of Harvard College, vol. 122(3), pages 1235-1264.
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    3. Adrienne M. Lucas & Patrick J. McEwan & Moses Ngware & Moses Oketch, 2014. "Improving Early‐Grade Literacy In East Africa: Experimental Evidence From Kenya And Uganda," Journal of Policy Analysis and Management, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 33(4), pages 950-976, September.
    4. Sabarwal, Shwetlena & Evans, David K. & Marshak, Anastasia, 2014. "The permanent input hypothesis : the case of textbooks and (no) student learning in Sierra Leone," Policy Research Working Paper Series 7021, The World Bank.
    5. Mona Mourshed & Chinezi Chijioke & Michael Barber, 2011. "How the worlds most improved school systems keep getting better," Voprosy obrazovaniya / Educational Studies Moscow, National Research University Higher School of Economics, issue 2, pages 5-122.
    6. Masino, Serena & Niño-Zarazúa, Miguel, 2016. "What works to improve the quality of student learning in developing countries?," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 48(C), pages 53-65.
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    Cited by:

    1. Kotze, Janeli & Fleisch, Brahm & Taylor, Stephen, 2019. "Alternative forms of early grade instructional coaching: Emerging evidence from field experiments in South Africa," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 203-213.
    2. Jacobus Cilliers & Brahm Fleisch & Cas Prinsloo & Stephen Taylor, 2020. "How to Improve Teaching Practice?: An Experimental Comparison of Centralized Training and In-Classroom Coaching," Journal of Human Resources, University of Wisconsin Press, vol. 55(3), pages 926-962.
    3. Kika,Jesal Chandrakant & Crouch,Luis A. & Dulvy,Elizabeth Ninan & Thulare,Tshegofatso Desdemona, 2022. "Early Grade Reading in South Africa," Policy Research Working Paper Series 172983, The World Bank.
    4. Christiansen, Iben & Bertram, Carol, 2019. "Early schooling teachers’ learning from a formal teacher development programme in South Africa," International Journal of Educational Development, Elsevier, vol. 66(C), pages 78-87.

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