Managing the implementation of the assessment policy in the senior certificate band

Abstract

Educators in the basic education system are facing extreme challenges in assessing learners in general and in implementing assessment policy in particular. These challenges influence the pass rate, particularly in grade 12. The validity of the evidence of the learners’ performance depends on the quality and type of assessment tasks administered to those learners. Therefore, it was critical that those aspects, which pose challenges in the management of the assessment policy within the education system, be addressed by developing policies which would assist educators in managing assessment at school, since assessment forms an integral part of teaching and learning. Support programmes on policy implementation had to be developed for learners and for the training of educators, the implementation of which should improve the pass rate. These programmes had to include the conditions and roles of provincial and district education officers. A South African policy development model had to be developed to address the unique situation of developing such programmes. The introduction of the National Curriculum Statement (NCS) and the National Protocol on Recording and Reporting (NPRR) were some of the measures aimed at improving learner performance and assisting educators in implementing and managing assessment which is in line with national policy. An exploratory study, aimed at providing a broad framework on policy analysis, was used with the view to understand how the NCS and National Protocol for Recording and Reporting are managed. A proportional representative sample of 25% of the schools from the six clusters in the Mopani district formed part of this study. To ensure that the historically white, urban and rural schools were represented, an incidental biased sampling method was used. Data obtained from the questionnaire indicates that educators have knowledge of the various policies, acts and guidelines which should be used in assessing learners. However, some data indicates that some educators know about the existence of such policies, acts and guidelines but do not have knowledge of the content thereof. Data obtained from the interviews indicates that educators either know the content of policies or are only aware of them. Therefore, the lack of knowledge of policy content which regulates the practice of a policy has an influence on the teaching and assessing of learners.