Research Articles (Economics)

Permanent URI for this collection

https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/709

Browse

Browsing Research Articles (Economics) by Subject "Academic achievement -- South Africa"

Now showing 1 - 1 of 1
  • Thumbnail Image
    Item
    Continuous assessment and matriculation examination marks – an empirical examination
    (AOSIS Publishing, 2016) Van der Berg, Servaas; Shepherd, Debra
    This study analyses information and feedback from matriculation level continuous assessment in the South African education system. Continuous assessment (CASS) at the time carried a 25% weight in the final matriculation (Grade 12) mark, and it provides feedback that affects examination preparation and effort. Weak assessment in schools sends wrong signals to students that may have important consequences for the way they approach the final examination. Moreover, similarly wrong signals earlier in their school careers may also have affected their subject choice and career planning. This study compares CASS data to the externally assessed matric exam marks for a number of subjects. There are two signalling dimensions to inaccurate assessments: (i) Inflated CASS marks can give students a false sense of security and lead to diminished exam effort. (ii) A weak correlation between CASS and the exam marks could mean poor signalling in another dimension: Relatively good students may get relatively low CASS marks. Such low correlations indicate poor assessment reliability, as the examination and continuous assessment should both be testing mastery of the same national curriculum. The paper analyses the extent of each of these dimensions of weak signalling in South African schools and draws disturbing conclusions for a large part of the school system.