Improving teaching and learning through the South African Annual National Assessment: challenges, possibilities and solutions

Abstract

Current policy to improve the quality of education provision in South Africa is outlined in the document Action Plan to 2014: Towards the Realisation of Schooling in 2025, published by the Department of Basic Education (DBE 2010). The document explains an envisaged Annual National Assessment (ANA) of literacy and numeracy levels by means of standardised tests administered to all learners from Grade 1 to Grade 6. The main objective of the ANA is to identify the weaknesses in literacy and numeracy development in South African schools. The underlying assumption is that ANA data on learners' achievement levels and background characteristics would be available for analyses that should provide information relevant to schooling improvement strategies. The success of ANA therefore depends largely on the belief in the use of large-scale assessment practices to improve learning.