This paper explores methodological insights from a mixed methods study that aims to understand how school leaders promote literacy development in their schools.
December 2, 2018 PDF
RESEP education research has a strong emphasis on empirical research in a broad range of policy-related issues including teacher knowledge and training, early-childhood outcomes, accountability, socioeconomic status, and school effectiveness. Policy application is one of the central aims of the research.
Education
Dr Nic Spaull, Senior Researcher in the Research on Socioeconomic Policy (RESEP) group in the Department of Economics, spoke about the importance of restoring our malfunctioning primary education system at the presidential roundtable discussions.
November 30, 2018 PDF
Academic Resilience in Challenging Contexts: Evidence From Township and Rural Primary Schools in South Africa
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No.WP18/2018Poverty is considered a risk factor that jeopardizes children’s academic performance. However, even in high-poverty contexts there are students who manage to achieve consistently good academic results.
November 23, 2018 PDF
Wills, G., Shepherd, D., and Kotze, J. (2018). Explaining the Western Cape performance paradox: An econometric analysis, in The Politics and Governance of Basic Education: A Tale of Two South African Provinces (Ed. Levy, B., Cameron, R., Hoadley, U. and Naidoo, V.): Oxford University Press.
November 8, 2018 PDF
Shepherd, D.L. (2018). Understanding language in education and grade 4 reading performance using a ‘natural experiment’ of Botswana and South Africa. Assessment in Education: Principles, Policy & Practice, Special Issue: Assessment of Reading in International Studies, 25(1), 87-106.
October 8, 2018 PDF
RESEP’s annual, two-day conference on Quantitative Applications in Education Research was held on 6 and 7 September 2018 in Stellenbosch
September 14, 2018 PDF
RESEP’s most recent policy briefs are now available for download.
September 5, 2018 PDF
Exploring how school leaders promote literacy improvements
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 06/2018The performance of South African learners in reading comprehension is extremely poor. The Progress in International Literacy and Reading Study (2016) highlighted that by the…
September 4, 2018 PDF
School leadership and local learning contexts in South Africa
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 05/2018The role of the school principal in South African schools has evolved. No longer are they only seen as managers and administrators; they are also…
September 4, 2018 PDF
Structural inequalities in school leadership and management across South African schools
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 04/2018In the National Development Plan strengthening the quality of school leadership and management was identified as a priority to support improvements in South African basic…
September 4, 2018 PDF
The possibility of improvements despite a lack of existing high-quality no-fee primary schools
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 03/2018The low quality of South African schooling has been widely confirmed through international tests of mathematics and literacy. The 2016 Progress in International Reading Literacy…
September 4, 2018 PDF
Creating reading fluency benchmarks in African languages
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 02/2018Learning to read for meaning is the most important skill that children learn in primary school. If a child cannot read well, then they will…
September 4, 2018 PDF
Academic resilience in challenging school contexts in South Africa
Stellenbosch Policy Brief No. 01/2018Poverty is considered a risk factor that jeopardizes children’s academic performance. Yet even in high poverty contexts there are students who manage to achieve consistently…
September 4, 2018 PDF
In 2018, RESEP was contracted by the Department of Higher Education and Training (DHET) via the National Skills Fund to draft an Investment Trends report.
August 1, 2018 PDF
A paper by RESEP’s Servaas van der Berg and Heleen Hofmeyr, titled “An incomplete transition – overcoming the legacy of exclusion in South Africa”, is now available on the World Bank’s website.
July 23, 2018 PDF
Instructional leadership and academic performance: Eastern Cape educators’ perceptions and quantitative evidence
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP13/2018Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP13/2018 Publication date: July 2018 Abstract: This study aims to explore the experiences and perceptions of school educators on how…
July 19, 2018 PDF
Integrating Indicators of Education Quantity and Quality in Six Francophone African Countries
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP09/2018Research and policy-making in education have historically focused on quantitative measures of education when assessing the state of education across countries.
July 19, 2018 PDF
Understanding the sharp primary level enrolment increases beginning in 2011
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP08/2018Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP08/2018 Publication date: May 2018 Abstract: Enrolments at the primary level in South Africa increased sharply from around 2011. Over…
July 19, 2018 PDF
Does education enhance productivity in smallholder agriculture? Causal evidence from Malawi
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP05/2018Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP05/2018 Publication date: March 2018 Abstract: Malawi is a low-income country where the majority of the poor live and work…
July 19, 2018 PDF
Home background and schooling outcomes in South Africa: Insights from the National Income Dynamics Study
Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP01/2018Stellenbosch Working Paper Series No. WP01/2018 Publication date: January 2018 Abstract: Patterns of poverty and inequality in South Africa are largely sustained by differential educational…
July 19, 2018 PDF
