Submitted to the FACULTY OF EDUCATION in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF EDUCATION in the Department of CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTIONAL STUDIES at the UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND, 2004. / The present study examines the active participation of learners in learning and continuous assessment. The first aim was to ascertain the extent to which learners play an active role in learning and continuous assessment. The second aim was to determine whether learners' biographical factors such as gender, age and grade have any influence on the active role which they play in learning and continuous assessment. To this end, a questionnaire was administered to a randomly selected sample of three hundred and fifty four learners. The findings reveal that learners differ in the extent to which they play an active role in learning and continuous assessment a very high percentage (79.9%) of learners report an average level of active role. The findings also show that learners' personal variables such as gender, age as well as grade have no influence on learners' active role which they play in learning and continuous assessment. On the basis of the findings of this study, recommendations to the Department of Education as well as for directing future research were made.

submitted to the Faculty of Education in fulfillment ofthe requirement for the degree of MASTER OF EDUCATION in the Department of CURRICULUM AND INSTRUCTIONAL STUDIES at the UNIVERSITY OF ZULULAND, 2002. / The present study examines the role of parents in the continuous assessment of learners. The first aim was to ascertain the extent to which parents play an active role in the continuous assessment of their children. The second aim was to ascertain the extent to which parents understand the significance of continuous assessment. The third aim was to determine whether parents' biographical factors such as gender, age, type of parent, academic qualification as well as learner's grade have any influence on parents' active role which they play in the continuous assessment of their children. The last aim was to determine whether parents' biographical factors such as gender, aEQ, type of parent, academic qualification as well as learner's grade have any influence on parents1 understanding of the significance of continuous assessment. To this end, a questionnaire was administered to a randomly selected sample of one hundred and eighty four parents. The findings reveal that parents differ in the extent to which they play an active role in the continuous assessment of their children. A very high percentage (72,3%) of parents report an above average level of active role. The findings show that parents differ in the extent to which they understand the significance of continuous assessment. A very high percentage (65.2%) of parents report an above average level of understanding of the significance of continuous assessment. The findings also indicate that parents' personal variables such as age, type of parent, academic qualification as well as learner's grade have no influence on parents' active role which they play in the continuous assessment of their children. The last findings show that, with the exception of learner's grade, gender, age, type of parent and academic qualification have no influence on parents' understanding of the significance of continuous assessment. A very high percentage (72.2%) of parents.with learners in grade 8 report above average level of understanding of the significance of continuous assessment as compared to (57.5%) of parents with learners in grade 7. On the basis of the findings of this study, recommendations to the Department of Education and Culture, as well as for directing future research were made. / National Research Fund

Thesis (M.Ed.)--University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Education, 1999.

The changes brought by the democratic government in South Africa in 1994 have also brought considerable changes to the different sectors of the government and education was not different. There was a need to redress the imbalances of the past and the education system was to be reviewed so as to bring about the new assessment methods and approaches that would improve teaching and learning in the schools. Whenever any new idea enters education, it is usually aimed at improving the old school of thought. The challenge now remains the creation of new knowledge. Continuous assessment (CASS) with its greater weight requires an in-depth understanding by the teachers for correct implementation. This study was undertaken to determine the experiences of teachers with CASS in grade 9 Geography classrooms, by determining and exploring the way through which the assessment policy guides and informs the teachers in the implementation of CASS in Geography, the way the teachers implement CASS in the teaching, the requirements for CASS in terms of the NCS as well as the impact of CASS on the teaching-learning process. CASS is a prominent component of assessment that requires the teacher to understand its implementation in the classroom. It is the responsibility of the individual teachers and schools to read and interpret the assessment policy to ensure the correct implementation of CASS. A qualitative research design was employed and data was collected through literature review, questionnaires and interviews. The experiences of the teachers with CASS in the teaching of grade 9 Geography learners were investigated. From the literature review, it surfaced that Geography offers some interesting and fulfilling careers that teachers and learners can pursue. Career guidance is necessary to expose learners to these opportunities. Open-ended questions were used in both the questionnaires and interviews with the aim of obtaining an in-depth understanding of their experiences. Based on the findings of the questionnaire and interview data, it appears that the teachers still need support in understanding the policy of the Social Sciences. Though teachers appear to have information about the policy, they often misinterpret its correct meaning. The following are the dominant key words in this dissertation: learning outcomes, assessment standards, continuity, continuous assessment, curriculum, outcomes-based education, national curriculum statement, policy, progression, teaching strategies, assessment strategies. From this investigation, it can be inferred that there is a need for the results of this investigation to be used to guide the development of policies and that future researches be done in the area of CASS at all levels of the senior phase. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2011. / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted

In 2000, the Minister of Education, Professor Kader Asmal announced that all learners exiting the Further Education and Training band as from 2001 must accumulate marks in the subjects offered at Grade 12 through a process of Continuous assessment (CASS) (DoE, 2001d). Apart from indicating the value of CASS to the external summative component in the ratio of 25% for CASS and 75% for the summative examination, there were and there still is no other policy to regulate the conduct of CASS at Grade 12 level. The situation is worsened by the non-preparation of educators to cope with the challenges of CASS implementation. This study focuses on the implementation of CASS in Mathematics and Science since there is a body of firm evidence, which indicates that, the results in Mathematics and Science in South Africa is not very good. The TIMSS-R study conducted in 1998/1999 indicates that South African learners performed poorly in Mathematics and Science when compared to other participating countries (Howie, 2001). Since it has been established that continuous assessment conducted in a formative manner in subjects such as Mathematics and Science can lead to improved academic performance (Black&Wiliam, 1998), it is essential that attention be given, and initiatives taken to improve the quality of assessment in these critical subjects. In the analysis of the 2001 Senior Certificate examination, it became evident that the CASS marks of learners in many instances were not valid (SAFCERT, 2000a). To address the concern of inflated CASS marks, Umalusi resorted to the use of statistical moderation to ensure that the CASS marks do not deviate drastically from the examination marks of learners. This predominantly quantitative study makes use of surveys to gather data on the problems and challenges experienced by Grade 12 educators in the effective implementation of CASS and the kinds of support provided to educators to strengthen and to sustain the effective implementation of CASS in the classroom. In addition, the study seeks to examine to what extent the Grade 12 CASS marks are fair, valid and reliable. Data was collected from a non - random sample of 21 subject advisors and 60 educators of Mathematics, Biology and Physical Science across six provinces namely, Eastern Cape, Northern Cape, Limpopo, KwaZulu - Natal, Gauteng and Mpumalanga and across all locations (rural, township and urban). Individual interviews were also conducted with four experts on CASS from national, provincial and district levels and an official from Umalusi. It is apt to end this abstract by indicating that, “our education system has been subjected to many far - reaching initiatives which, whilst taken in reaction to concerns about existing practices, have been based on little evidence about their potential to meet those concerns. In the study of formative assessment there can be seen, for once, firm evidence that indicates clearly a direction for change, which could improve standards of learning. Our plea is that national policy will grasp this opportunity and give a lead in this direction” (Black&Wiliam, 1998). / Dissertation (MEd (Assessment and Quality Assurance))--University of Pretoria, 2005. / Curriculum Studies / unrestricted

The study reports on two Grade 7 mathematics teachers’ assessment practices in an attempt to identify the knowledge and competencies that they have and use in designing Grade 7 mathematics tasks and how they provide feedback to the learners. These two Grade 7 mathematics teachers were selected from schools that had consistently good results despite disabling teaching conditions such as large and under–resourced classes. Data was collected through semi-structured interviews with the teachers to assess their knowledge and practice of continuous assessment. Classroom observation and analysis of teacher’s portfolio and learners’ exercise books were undertaken to triangulate data on teachers’ practices and interview protocols. A mathematics taxonomy referred to as MATH taxonomy was used as a framework to evaluate teacher mathematics assessment tasks in grade 7 lessons. Classroom observations focused on how the two teachers planned and implemented their Grade 7 mathematics lessons with emphasis on the assessment procedures. The results of the study showed that the two teachers had rudimentary knowledge and understanding of continuous assessment and its practice. Both teachers failed to demonstrate knowledge or ability with any knowledge taxonomy including the MATH taxonomy in designing (or selecting) their mathematics assessment tasks in Grade 7. The mathematics assessment tasks frequently used by the teachers were sourced from the school textbooks, and these were found to be mainly recall-type questions involving routine procedures, and which according to the math taxonomy are classified as low order thinking assessment tasks. Furthermore both teachers presented feedback to their learners in superficial ways that would not necessarily assist the latter to improve in their learning methods and the former in their teaching methods. The education implications of the findings of this study are discussed. / Dissertation (MEd)--University of Pretoria, 2013. / gm2014 / Science, Mathematics and Technology Education / unrestricted

Submitted in partial fulfillment for the requirements of the Degree of Master of Education in the Department of Foundations of Education in the Faculty of Education at the University of Zululand, 2007. / The aim of this study was to pursue an investigation into the role of continuous assessment in the primary school. From the literature study it became clear that the role of continuous assessment, as formative assessment is to inform educators and learners about a learner's progress in orderto improve learning. The information obtained by continuous assessment should be of such a nature, and be available at a time, that willl enable the learner to grow. Effective continuous assessment should involve the continuous updating of assessment of the performance of a learner. There are many different methods that can be employed in continuous assessment and different ways in which they can be used. In order to improve assessment and to ensure the best feedback from it, the educator needs to find the method which best fits the purpose of the assessment. The purpose of continuous assessment is to assess all aspects of a learner's development. For the purpose of the empirical investigation a self-structured questionnaire, to be completed by primary school educators, was utilised. The completed questionnaires were analysed using descriptive statistics. In conclusion a summary was presented on the findings of the literature and empirical study and the following are some of the recommendations that were made: * Educator development should focus on the skills needed by educators for the effective implementation of continuous assessment. • Adequate human and material resources should be made available to educators for the successful implementation of continuous assessment.

A review of the adult psychotherapy outcome literature reveals decades of empirical studies that support the efficacy of group treatment for mental health concerns (Burlingame, Fuhriman, & Mosier, 2003; Horne & Rosenthal, 1997). Although research demonstrates positive results for the utilization of group therapy, between 33-50% of clients drop out before treatment is completed (Baekeland & Lundwall, 1975; Wierzbicki & Pekarik, 1993). Methods for improving psychotherapy retention have been addressed through the application of a client feedback model (i.e., monitoring treatment outcome routinely). Although using client feedback has been found to be beneficial for improving retention and even enhancing client outcome in both individual (Lambert et al., 2001a; Lambert et al., 2002; Miller, Duncan, Brown, Sorrell, & Chalk, 2006; Reese, Norsworthy, & Rowlands, 2009; Whipple et al., 2003) and couples psychotherapy (Anker, Duncan, & Sparks, 2009; Reese, Toland, Slone, & Norsworthy, 2010), evidence of client feedback efficacy in a group format is limited but worthy of investigation given the positive individual and couples therapy findings. In the current study, I evaluated the effects of client feedback in group psychotherapy using a randomized clinical trial design. Participants (N = 85) attended psychotherapy groups that were randomly assigned to a client feedback (Feedback) or treatment as usual (TAU) condition. Clients in the Feedback condition were predicted to experience a statistically significantly higher pre-post gain on the ORS compared to group clients in the TAU when controlling for their initial functioning. The effect size (ES) for Feedback between treatment conditions was found to be d = 0.35 on the Outcome Rating Scale when initial treatment functioning was controlled, which is a medium ES (Cohen, 1988). Additionally, statistically significantly more clients in the Feedback condition experienced reliable and clinically significant change, attended statistically significantly more sessions, and dropped out at a lower rate than clients in the TAU condition. Results of this study were similar to those generated by other studies that evaluated the efficacy of client feedback with individuals (Reese et al., 2009) and couples (Anker et al., 2009; Reese et al., 2010). Study limitations and implications for future work are provided.

Learning and assessment are inextricably intertwined, since assessment not only measures learning, but future learning is also dependent on assessment. The purpose of this two phase sequential mixed-methods study was to examine the interplay between informal and formal assessment in Grade 9 EFAL classrooms in order to gain a better understanding of teachers’ assessment practises. Argued from a constructivist point of view, the study endorses continuous assessment (CASS), which balances informal and formal assessment. In order to direct the study towards the stated purpose, the researcher embarked on a literature study to contextualise English as First Additional Language against the background of educational developments in South Africa since 1994 and to examine assessment of English First Additional Language in an OBE framework. The literature study was followed by an empirical study. By applying a sequential mixed-methods research design, 66 conveniently sampled EFAL teachers in the Johannesburg-North District of the Gauteng Department of Education participated in the quantitative phase of the empirical study. By means of a survey as strategy of inquiry, these teachers completed a questionnaire. Six randomly selected teachers from the initial sample participated in the qualitative phase of the empirical study which followed a case study strategy of inquiry and consisted of individual interviews and observations. The empirical research findings revealed that the sampled teachers experienced the official Departmental documents as regulatory, overwhelming and ambiguous and that they gave more attention to formal assessment than informal assessment. Due to this emphasis on formal assessment, the teachers felt uncertain about the purposes of informal assessment which, as a consequence, was considered as less important than formal assessment. A preference of conventional assessment methods was also disclosed which implied that the sampled teachers were not willing to experiment with alternative assessment methods. In conclusion, the researcher discovered that although CASS was implemented in the sampled teachers’ classrooms, learner-centred teaching founded on constructivism with the aim of encouraging scaffolding, was not high on the teachers’ teaching agendas. / MEd (Learning and Teaching), North-West University, Vaal Triangle Campus, 2013

Student Number: 9710860W School of Education Doctor of Philosophy / The study investigates the extent to which primary school teachers understood and implemented the requirements of the continuous assessment programme that has been introduced in primary schools in Swaziland. By focussing on teaching and learning activities that occurred during eight teachers’ lessons within the Salesian-Ekutsimuleni zone in Manzini, and what they expressed as intentions and justifications for these activities, it tries to clarify, in particular, the relationship between their assessment strategies and the broader educational principles promoted by the programme. Classroom observations and stimulated interviews were used to capture, respectively, data on what teachers did and principles that informed their behaviour. Codes abstracted from classroom observations and grounded on the views expressed by teachers indicate that they followed slavishly what was contained in the curriculum support materials with which they had been provided. Even though they used assessment strategies promoted by the Continual Assessment (CA) programme, their assessment strategies prioritized knowledge-retention rather than the cognitive development advocated by the programme and, in a specific sense, implied by lesson objectives they had to fulfil. The conclusion is that teachers could not translate the rhetoric of the CA programme into relevant professional judgement, decisions and practices without exposure to meaningful development programmes. Key Words Swaziland, Continuous Assessment, Criterion - Referenced Assessment, Mastery learning, Fordism, Post-Fordism