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BC ADVOCACY PROJECT: PHASE 1 (2019-2020)

A Project for Grade R Teachers In The Pixley Kaseme

And John Taolo Gaetsewe Education Districts

Baseline Data 1: Test of Basic Concepts Knowledge (March 2019)

1. Introduction:

Baseline data for the project was gathered from learners in Grade 1 at the start of 2019 using the Test of Basic Concepts Knowledge (TBCK) and will also be gathered at the end of the year using the Word Knowledge Test. The current report will focus on the results of the TBCK. The baseline data will be compared to the results of the intervention learners who will be in Grade 1 in 2020.

2. Method:

The sample was drawn from 6 schools in each of the Pixley Kaseme and John Taolo Gaetsewe Districts (n=12).The sample represents 32% of the schools (38) participating in the project. 14 learners were randomly selected from each of the schools (n=168). The total sample represents approximately 7% of the learner population (n=2563). The same learners will be tested at the end of the year for Baseline 2.

|Education District |Number of schools tested |Number of learners tested per |Total |

| | |school | |

|Pixley Kaseme |6 |14 (x6 schools) |84 |

|John Taolo Gaetsewe |6 |14 (x6 schools) |84 |

|Total |12 | |168 |

The sample had equal numbers of male and female learners and was generally representative of the languages spoken by the learners in the project. While the Afrikaans and Tswana learners were under-represented (by 13% & 2% respectively), the Xhosa and English learners were over-represented (by 10% & 5% respectively) in the sample. See Pie Charts below.

3. Test Measure:

The Test of Basic Concepts Knowledge (Benjamin, 2005) is a screening test which assesses learners’ knowledge of the following 6 conceptual systems:- colour, shape, size, position, number and letter. It was designed to assess learners’ preparedness for formal school learning in Grade 1 at the start of the year. Some validity data on the test have found it to be a predictor of scholastic performance for Grade 1 learners (Benjamin, 2009a, 2009b, 2011, 2016).

The test battery consists of a simple paper and pencil format with a limited number of items per conceptual system, ranging from 3 (size) to 5 (position) items with a total of 24 items. Each item is scored as correct (1) or incorrect (0). The time taken to administer the test might vary as there are no time restrictions, but on average it is about 30 minutes.

The interpretation of test scores:

0 – 10: Very poor

11-17: Poor

18 -20: Average

21 -24: Strong-to-very-strong

4. Results:

Combined results for Phase 1 (Pixley Kaseme and John Taolo Gaetsewe)

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72% of the learners assessed at the start of the project were found not to be school ready. Of these learners 64% were found to be Weak while 8% were found to be Very Weak. 28% of the learners were found to be school ready (24% Average and 4% Strong-to-Very-Strong). The average score of the learners was within the weak range (15,51) on this test. The average score on this test was slightly higher (.65) than the average score (14.86) found in the past 6 control studies done by the researcher.

The average sub-test scores for colour, size and number were found to be satisfactory (96%, 85% and 76% respectively), while the sub-test scores for position, letter, and shape (61%, 39%, and 38% respectively) were not satisfactory. Sub-test scores of 75% and above are considered satisfactory. See figure below.

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Comparing Baseline (1) Results In Pixley Kaseme and John Taolo Districts. See figure below

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The results for both districts were very similar. While 72% of the learners in Pixley Kaseme (PK) were not school ready, 71% of the learners in John Taolo Gaetsewe (JTG) were also not school ready. There were however more learners in the ‘Very Poor’ category from PK than in JTG (15% compared to 1% respectively). The percentage of learners in the ‘Average’ category was similar: 23% from PK compared to 25% from JTG. The percentage of learners in the ‘Strong-to-Very-Strong’ category was also very similar: 5% compared to 4%. The overall average test results were slightly higher (by 1.62 points) for the learners from JTG (16.32) compared to PK (14.70), however the results for both districts were found to be within the ‘Poor’ range on this test.

5. Conclusion:

72% of the sample have had not yet attained the requisite conceptual understandings needed for formal school learning, while 28% of the learners were found to be prepared for school learning. The test results suggest that the majority of learners might also struggle to attain the learning outcomes at the end of Grade 1. An additional Baseline Measure (2) will be administered towards the end of the year to measure the word knowledge of these learners. The Baseline (1+2) test results will be compared with Grade 1 learners who will receive the Basic Concepts Programme in 2020.

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