Thesis submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree of Masters in the Department of Mathematics, Science and Technology Education at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 2013. / The purpose of this study was to examine the attitude and perception of grade 9 mathematics teachers to CTA (common task assessment) 2009 as well as their understanding of the role of CTA. Six secondary schools in Pietermaritzburg area in the province of KwaZulu-Natal were selected as cases for an in-depth qualitative study. Two schools were African schools and the other three were multiracial school and one private school. Fourteen (14) teachers were interviewed and were observed teaching mathematics. The study utilised participant observation, interviews and relevant documents as source of data collection. The main finding of the study was the frustrations expressed by teachers not clearly understanding what is expected of them and also the lack of official support for meaningful implementation and general lack of teachers understanding of the role of CTAs. Most teachers raised their concerns about the lack of mathematics content in grade 9 mathematics CTAs. Most teachers raised concerns about CTAs content favouring or geared towards mathematical literacy and leaving out pure mathematics and failing to prepare learners to be competent in mathematics and failing completely to prepare learners for grade 10 pure Mathematics.

This study examines the design and implementation of Common Task Assessment as a Grade 9 summative assessment specifically of Economic Management Sciences. The main focus is on understanding how the quality of the design and implementation thereof at Sedibeng-West and Sedibeng-East schools are managed. The research was undertaken in response to the researcher’s personal observation and experience of how educators were struggling to implement Common Task Assessment, due to lack of resources and the challenges they faced in implementing new policies introduced by the Department of Education. From an international perspective, the literature reveals that Common Task Assessment is problematic in other countries as well, so it is not abnormal to discover similar problems emerging at South African schools during implementation. This thesis presents an overview of the relevant literature which was studied in order to validate the research problem: gaining a perspective on how the design and the implementation of Common Task Assessment concerning the Economic Management Sciences are presently managed at Sedibeng-East and Sedibeng-West schools. Attention was focused on aspects such as the conceptual framework on which the study was grounded, namely that there is a very specific societal relationship within a school which should be honoured at all times. The research paradigm was based on a positivist and post positivist worldview and the empirical investigation comprised of quantitative research, combined with a small dimension of qualitative research. The strategy of inquiry was non-experimental, descriptive survey research carried out with the participation of on Grade 11 learners who had completed the Common Task Assessment of Economic Management Sciences in 2009 and Grade 9 educators who teach this subject. Two structured questionnaires (one for learners and the other for educators) were used, consisting of Likert scale and open-ended questions. Key issues were identified, bolstering strengths and combatting weaknesses in managing the design and implementation of school-based assessment. Educators and learners‟ data revealed far-reaching implications for Common Task Assessment, which should be taken into consideration in order to improve this type of assessment instrument. In everything ethical principles were strictly adhered to. The results from the data analyses were organized into themes concerning the design of Common Task Assessment, as well as the implementation and management thereof. Challenges put forward by learner participants, as well as those put forward by educators, received prominence and the urgency of training educators in the implementation of school-based assessment was accentuated. Findings made from the literature study were compared with those which emerged from the questionnaires, simplifying the task of highlighting the contributions of the study to the theory and the practice of managing school-based assessment and the logic of the recommendations. The thesis suggests numerous guidelines toward a management intervention plan to improve the quality of the design and implementation of school-based assessment. These guidelines were compiled in line with the aims and principles of the New Curriculum Statement (CAPS). The main thrust of the research is therefore not the negative aspects which were identified, but the positive assurance that managing school-based assessment professionally while keeping it CAPS relevant, is not an insurmountable task. / "PhD awarded posthumously."--p.22, Autumn Graduation Ceremony, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

This study examines the design and implementation of Common Task Assessment as a Grade 9 summative assessment specifically of Economic Management Sciences. The main focus is on understanding how the quality of the design and implementation thereof at Sedibeng-West and Sedibeng-East schools are managed. The research was undertaken in response to the researcher’s personal observation and experience of how educators were struggling to implement Common Task Assessment, due to lack of resources and the challenges they faced in implementing new policies introduced by the Department of Education. From an international perspective, the literature reveals that Common Task Assessment is problematic in other countries as well, so it is not abnormal to discover similar problems emerging at South African schools during implementation. This thesis presents an overview of the relevant literature which was studied in order to validate the research problem: gaining a perspective on how the design and the implementation of Common Task Assessment concerning the Economic Management Sciences are presently managed at Sedibeng-East and Sedibeng-West schools. Attention was focused on aspects such as the conceptual framework on which the study was grounded, namely that there is a very specific societal relationship within a school which should be honoured at all times. The research paradigm was based on a positivist and post positivist worldview and the empirical investigation comprised of quantitative research, combined with a small dimension of qualitative research. The strategy of inquiry was non-experimental, descriptive survey research carried out with the participation of on Grade 11 learners who had completed the Common Task Assessment of Economic Management Sciences in 2009 and Grade 9 educators who teach this subject. Two structured questionnaires (one for learners and the other for educators) were used, consisting of Likert scale and open-ended questions. Key issues were identified, bolstering strengths and combatting weaknesses in managing the design and implementation of school-based assessment.Educators and learners‟ data revealed far-reaching implications for Common Task Assessment, which should be taken into consideration in order to improve this type of assessment instrument. In everything ethical principles were strictly adhered to. The results from the data analyses were organized into themes concerning the design of Common Task Assessment, as well as the implementation and management thereof. Challenges put forward by learner participants, as well as those put forward by educators, received prominence and the urgency of training educators in the implementation of school-based assessment was accentuated. Findings made from the literature study were compared with those which emerged from the questionnaires, simplifying the task of highlighting the contributions of the study to the theory and the practice of managing school-based assessment and the logic of the recommendations. The thesis suggests numerous guidelines toward a management intervention plan to improve the quality of the design and implementation of school-based assessment. These guidelines were compiled in line with the aims and principles of the New Curriculum Statement (CAPS). The main thrust of the research is therefore not the negative aspects which were identified, but the positive assurance that managing school-based assessment professionally while keeping it CAPS relevant, is not an insurmountable task. / "PhD awarded posthumously."--p.22, Autumn Graduation Ceremony, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

This study examines the design and implementation of Common Task Assessment as a Grade 9 summative assessment specifically of Economic Management Sciences. The main focus is on understanding how the quality of the design and implementation thereof at Sedibeng-West and Sedibeng-East schools are managed. The research was undertaken in response to the researcher’s personal observation and experience of how educators were struggling to implement Common Task Assessment, due to lack of resources and the challenges they faced in implementing new policies introduced by the Department of Education. From an international perspective, the literature reveals that Common Task Assessment is problematic in other countries as well, so it is not abnormal to discover similar problems emerging at South African schools during implementation. This thesis presents an overview of the relevant literature which was studied in order to validate the research problem: gaining a perspective on how the design and the implementation of Common Task Assessment concerning the Economic Management Sciences are presently managed at Sedibeng-East and Sedibeng-West schools. Attention was focused on aspects such as the conceptual framework on which the study was grounded, namely that there is a very specific societal relationship within a school which should be honoured at all times. The research paradigm was based on a positivist and post positivist worldview and the empirical investigation comprised of quantitative research, combined with a small dimension of qualitative research. The strategy of inquiry was non-experimental, descriptive survey research carried out with the participation of on Grade 11 learners who had completed the Common Task Assessment of Economic Management Sciences in 2009 and Grade 9 educators who teach this subject. Two structured questionnaires (one for learners and the other for educators) were used, consisting of Likert scale and open-ended questions. Key issues were identified, bolstering strengths and combatting weaknesses in managing the design and implementation of school-based assessment. Educators and learners‟ data revealed far-reaching implications for Common Task Assessment, which should be taken into consideration in order to improve this type of assessment instrument. In everything ethical principles were strictly adhered to. The results from the data analyses were organized into themes concerning the design of Common Task Assessment, as well as the implementation and management thereof. Challenges put forward by learner participants, as well as those put forward by educators, received prominence and the urgency of training educators in the implementation of school-based assessment was accentuated. Findings made from the literature study were compared with those which emerged from the questionnaires, simplifying the task of highlighting the contributions of the study to the theory and the practice of managing school-based assessment and the logic of the recommendations. The thesis suggests numerous guidelines toward a management intervention plan to improve the quality of the design and implementation of school-based assessment. These guidelines were compiled in line with the aims and principles of the New Curriculum Statement (CAPS). The main thrust of the research is therefore not the negative aspects which were identified, but the positive assurance that managing school-based assessment professionally while keeping it CAPS relevant, is not an insurmountable task. / "PhD awarded posthumously."--p.22, Autumn Graduation Ceremony, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

This study examines the design and implementation of Common Task Assessment as a Grade 9 summative assessment specifically of Economic Management Sciences. The main focus is on understanding how the quality of the design and implementation thereof at Sedibeng-West and Sedibeng-East schools are managed. The research was undertaken in response to the researcher’s personal observation and experience of how educators were struggling to implement Common Task Assessment, due to lack of resources and the challenges they faced in implementing new policies introduced by the Department of Education. From an international perspective, the literature reveals that Common Task Assessment is problematic in other countries as well, so it is not abnormal to discover similar problems emerging at South African schools during implementation. This thesis presents an overview of the relevant literature which was studied in order to validate the research problem: gaining a perspective on how the design and the implementation of Common Task Assessment concerning the Economic Management Sciences are presently managed at Sedibeng-East and Sedibeng-West schools. Attention was focused on aspects such as the conceptual framework on which the study was grounded, namely that there is a very specific societal relationship within a school which should be honoured at all times. The research paradigm was based on a positivist and post positivist worldview and the empirical investigation comprised of quantitative research, combined with a small dimension of qualitative research. The strategy of inquiry was non-experimental, descriptive survey research carried out with the participation of on Grade 11 learners who had completed the Common Task Assessment of Economic Management Sciences in 2009 and Grade 9 educators who teach this subject. Two structured questionnaires (one for learners and the other for educators) were used, consisting of Likert scale and open-ended questions. Key issues were identified, bolstering strengths and combatting weaknesses in managing the design and implementation of school-based assessment.Educators and learners‟ data revealed far-reaching implications for Common Task Assessment, which should be taken into consideration in order to improve this type of assessment instrument. In everything ethical principles were strictly adhered to. The results from the data analyses were organized into themes concerning the design of Common Task Assessment, as well as the implementation and management thereof. Challenges put forward by learner participants, as well as those put forward by educators, received prominence and the urgency of training educators in the implementation of school-based assessment was accentuated. Findings made from the literature study were compared with those which emerged from the questionnaires, simplifying the task of highlighting the contributions of the study to the theory and the practice of managing school-based assessment and the logic of the recommendations. The thesis suggests numerous guidelines toward a management intervention plan to improve the quality of the design and implementation of school-based assessment. These guidelines were compiled in line with the aims and principles of the New Curriculum Statement (CAPS). The main thrust of the research is therefore not the negative aspects which were identified, but the positive assurance that managing school-based assessment professionally while keeping it CAPS relevant, is not an insurmountable task. / "PhD awarded posthumously."--p.22, Autumn Graduation Ceremony, North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

This research sought to investigate how appropriate the Continuous Assessment (CASS) and Common Task for Assessment (CTA) are as assessment models for the General Education and Training Certificate (GETC) with specialization in Economic and Management Science. It examined the appropriateness of quality assurance mechanisms that were used in CASS and CTA at Grade 9 level, with specific reference to Economic and Management Science. The research question further examined how valid the CASS tasks are and how reliable the CASS and CTA marks are at Grade 9 level, with reference to EMS? The qualitative research approach was used within a case study research design. Thus purposeful sampling was used to select the five participants of this study, namely; two EMS educators, two EMS departmental heads and the District facilitator for EMS. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews, document analysis and observations, and triangulated to support the conclusions and to make the findings more reliable. The results indicated that teachers lacked the skills to construct tasks of high quality, assessment plans, and assessment tools. As a result, they resorted the use of tests as a dominant form of assessment. The study further revealed that moderation of Grade 9 School-Based Assessment occurred at various levels of the education system, namely at school, cluster and provincial level. The study showed that there was a corroboration of concepts used in the conceptual framework based on the open system theory, as teachers’ qualifications contributed to the effective development and implementation of the learning programmes in Economic and Management Science. However, the procedures used in conducting moderation were not regarded in a favourable light. The difficulty of CTA was attributed to the non-coverage of all assessment standards during the implementation of CASS. Copyright / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2010. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted