Spaull, N & Hoadley, U. (2017) Getting Reading Right In: Jamieson L, Berry L & Lake L (eds) South African Child Gauge 2017. Cape Town, Children's Institute, University of Cape Town..
Spaull, N. & Van Broekhuizen, H. (2017) The Martha Effect: The Compounding Female Advantage in Higher Education in South Africa. Stellenbosch Economic Working Papers 14/2017. Stellenbosch University.
Draper, K., and Spaull, S. (2015). Examining oral reading fluency among grade 5 rural English Second Language (ESL) learners in South Africa: Analysis of NEEDU 2013. South African Journal of Childhood Education 5(2) pp.44-77. (Working Paper here).
Spaull, N., and Taylor, S., (2015). Access to what? Creating a composite measure of educational quantity and educational quality for 11 African countries. Comparative Education Review. Vol. 58, No. 1.
Spaull, N. (2012). The Gospel according to Banerjee and Duflo. Development Southern Africa. Vol. 29(1): 191-2.
Spaull, N. (2019) Learning to Read and Write for Meaning and Pleasure. In "Improving Early Literacy Outcomes" (Eds: Spaull, N., & Comings, J). Brill Sense Publishers. Boston.
Spaull, N. & Lilenstein, A. (2019) Assessing Early Literacy Outcomes in Burkina Faso and Senegal: Using DHS and PASEC to Combine Access and Quality. In "Improving Early Literacy Outcomes" (Eds: Spaull, N., & Comings, J). Brill Sense Publishers. Boston.
Spaull, N. Priorities for Education Reform in South Africa. Input paper for the Economic Colloquium hosted by the Minister of Finance, Tito Mboweni. 19 Jan. South African Reserve Bank. Pretoria.
Spaull, N., Van der Berg, S., Wills, G., Gustafsson, M., & Kotzé, J. (2016). Laying Firm Foundations: Getting Reading Right. Synthesis report for a research grant provided by the Zenex Foundation.
Spaull, N. (2016). Learning to Read and Reading to Learn. Policy Brief (April). Programme to Support Pro-Poor Policy Development (PSPPD). Research on Socioeconomic Policy (RESEP).
Spaull, N., and Taylor, S. (2014). Combining educational access and educational quality into a single statistic (PB 14/31), World Bank Jobs Knowledge Platform. Cape Town.
Spaull, N. (2013). South Africa's Education Crisis. Centre for Development and Enterprise. Pretoria.
Spaull, N; & Taylor, S. (2013). Trends in effective enrolment: Measuring access and basic-quality improvements in education for nine African countries, 2000-2007. Input research report for Save The Children's "Getting to Zero" report.
Spaull, N. 2012. SACMEQ at a Glance for 10 African countries. 2 page research note per country.
Van der Berg, S; Taylor, S; Gustafsson, M; Spaull, N; Armstrong, P. (2011). Improving Education Quality in South Africa. Report for the National Planning Commission. Department of Economics, Stellenbosch University.
Spaull, N. (2011). "Primary school performance in Botswana, Mozambique, Namibia and South Africa" Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) Working Paper no. 8.
Van der Berg, S., Burger, C., Burger, R., de Vos, M., du Rand, G., Gustafsson, M., Shepherd, D., Spaull, N., Taylor, S., van Broekhuizen, H., and von Fintel, D. (2011). Low quality education as a poverty trap. Stellenbosch: University of Stellenbosch, Department of Economics. Research report for the PSPPD project for Presidency.
[26 Mar] Elmore (2004) Agency, Reciprocity and Accountability in Democratic Education.
This list is not a definitive list of important journal articles on South African education, it is my selection, and I'm open to other suggestions. Secondly, as far as I am aware, there is no breach of copyright here since the books are either open-source (like HSRC) and the articles are available elsewhere on the internet.
Ball, D, Hill, H & Bass, H. (2005). Knowing Mathematics for Teaching: Who knows mathematics well enough to teach third grade, and how can we decide? American Educator (Fall 2005).
Bruns, B., Filmer, D., & Patrinos, H. (2011). Making Schools Work: New evidence on accountability reforms. Washington DC: World Bank.
Carnoy, M., Chisolm, L., et al, (2008). Towards Understanding Student Academic Performance in South Africa: A Pilot Study of Grade 6 Mathematics Lessons in South Africa. Pretoria: HSRC.
Carnoy, M., Chisholm, L., & Chilisa, B. (2012). The Low Achievement Trap: Comparing Schooling in Botswana and South Africa. Cape Town: HSRC Press.
Case, A., & Deaton, A. (1999). School Inputs and Educational Outcomes in South Africa. Quarterly Journal of Economics, 114(3), 1047-1084.
Crouch, L., & Mabogoane, T. (2001). No magic bullets, just tracer bullets: The role of learning resources, social advantage, and education management in improving the performance of South African schools. Social Dynamics, 27(1), 60-78.
DBE. (2011). Macro Indicators Trends. Pretoria: Department of Basic Education.
Department of Basic Education. (2011). Report on the Annual National Assessments of 2011. Pretoria: Department of Basic Education.
Department of Education. (2008). Grade 3 Systemic Evaluation 2007 Leaflet. Pretoria: Department of Education.
Donalson, A. (1992). Content, Quality and Flexibility: The Economics of Education System Change. Spotlight 5/92. Johannesburg: South African Institute of Race Relations.
Elmore, R. (2004a). Agency, Reciprocity, and Accountability in Democratic Education. Cambridge, MA: Consortium for Policy Research in Education.
Elmore, R. (2008). Leadership as the practice of improvement. In OECD, Improving School Leadership. Volume 2: Case Studies on System Leadership (pp. 37-67). Paris: OECD Publishing.
Fiske, E., & Ladd, H. (2004). Elusive Equity: Education Reform in Post-apartheid South Africa. Washington: Brookings Institution Press / HSRC Press.
Fleisch, B. (2008). Primary Education in Crisis: Why South African schoolchildren underachieve in reading and mathematics. Cape Town. : Juta & Co.
Gustafsson, M., & Mabogoane, T. (2010). South Africa's economics of education: A stocktaking and an agenda for the way forward. Stellenbosch Economic Working Papers: 06/10.
Hanushek, E., & Woessmann, L. (2008). The Role of Cognitive Skills in Economic Development. Stanford Institute for Economic Policy Research Working Paper No. 07-34.
Hoadley, U. (2010). What doe we know about teaching and learning in primary schools in South Africa? A review of the classroom-based research literature. Report for the Grade 3 Improvement project of the University of Stellenbosch. Western Cape Education Department.
Hoadley, U., & Ward, C. (2009). Managing to Learn: Instructional Leadership on South African Secondary Schools. Cape Town: HSRC Press.
Howie, S., Venter, E., Van Staden, S., Zimmerman, L., Long, C., Du Toit, C., et al. (2008). PIRLS 2006 Summary Report: South African Children's Reading Literacy Achievement. Pretoria: Center for Evaluation and Assessment.
Loveless, T. (2005). Test-Based Accountability: The Promise and the Perils. The Brookings Institution No. 8, 7-45.
Macdonald, C. & Burroughs, E. Eager to talk and learn and think – Threshold Project.
Moll, P. (1998). Primary schooling, cognitive skills, and wage in South Africa. Economica, 65(258), 263-284.
Perry, H. 2003. Female Performance in the Senior Certificate Examination: Excellence Hiding Behind the Averages. EduSource Data News No. 29/May 2003.
Pretorius, E. 2014. Supporting transition or playing catch-up in Grade 4? Implications for standards in education and training. Perspectives in Education. 32 (1), pp 51-76.
Pretorius, E. 2018. Reading in the African languages: An annotated bibliography 2004-2017. DHET.
Taylor, N. 1989. Falling at the First Hurdle: Initial encounters with the formal system of African education in South Africa. Research Report #1. EPU. (via JET Education).
Taylor, N., Muller, J., & Vinjevold, P. (2003). Getting Schools Working. Cape Town: Pearson Education.
Taylor, N., Fleisch, B., & Shindler, J. (2008). Changes in Education since 1994. Pretoria: The Presidency: Input into the 15 year review process.
Van der Berg, S. (2007). Apartheid's Enduring Legacy: Inequalities in Education. Journal of African Economies, 16(5), 849-880.
Van der Berg, S. (2008). How effective are poor schools? Poverty and educational outcomes in South Africa. Centre for European, Governance and Economic Development Research (CEGE) Discussion Papers 69.
Yamauchi, F. (2011). School quality, clustering and government subsidy in post-aparteid South Africa. Economics of Education Review, 146-156.
Shalem, Y. (2003). Do we have a theory of change? Calling change models to account. Perspectives in Education, 21(1), 29-49.
Woolman, S & Fleisch, B. 2009. The Constitution in the Classroom: Law and Education in South Africa 1994-2008. Pretoria University Law Press.
Gustafsson, M. (2012). The gap between school enrolments and population in South Africa: Analysis of the possible explanations. Stellenbosch Economic Working Papers WP 23/2012.
Gustafsson, M. & Taylor, S. (2013). Treating schools to a new administration. The impact of South Africa's 2005 provincial boundary change on school performance. Stellenbosch Economic Working Papers WP 28/2013.
Spaull, N. (2011a). A Preliminary Analysis of SACMEQ III South Africa. Stellenbosch Economic Working Papers.
Taylor, S., & Yu, D. (2009). The Importance of Socioeconomic Status in Determining Educational Achievement in South Africa. Stellenbosch Economic Working Papers.
Van der Berg, S., & Louw, M. (2006). Lessons Learnt from SACMEQII: South African Student Performance in Regional Context. Investment Choices for Education in Africa. Johannesburg.
Van der Berg, S, & Van Broekhuizen, H. (2012). Graduate unemployment in South Africa: A much exaggerated problem. Stellenbosch Economic Working Papers WP ss/2012.
Leibbrandt, M., Wegner, E., & Finn, A. (2011). The Policies for Reducing Income Inequality and Poverty in South Africa. University of Cape Town. Cape Town: Southern Africa Labour and Development Reserch Unit Working Paper Number 64.
Van der Berg, S. & Moses, E. (2012). How better targeting of social spending affects social delivery in South Africa.
Hungi, N., Makuwa, D., Ross, K., Saito, M., Dolata, S., van Capelle, F., et al. (2011). SACMEQ III Project Results: Pupil achievement levels in reading and mathematics. Paris: Southern and Eastern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality.
Ross, K., Saito, M., Dolata, S., Ikeda, M., Zuze, L., Murimba, S., et al. (2005). The Conduct of the SACMEQ III Project. In E. Onsomu, J. Nzomo, & C. Obiero, The SACMEQ II Project in Kenya: A Study of the Conditions of Schooling and the Quality of Education. Harare: SACMEQ.
"Some Children are More Equal Than Others" 2015 documentary by Stefan Gottfried on the state of education in South Africa.
Useful list of Douglas Willms' research focussing on education and inequality.
"When Schooling is the Fiercest Thing" – Lant Pritchett's presentation at the Oxford Young Lives conference (2013).
Great course outline from Princeton on "Making schools effective in developing countries (2008-9)" by Marlaine Lockheed who is one of the international gurus in education.
Fabulous Nic. I am so pleased you have put together a list of great readings for people out there (like me) who currently have no access to university library/online resources.
Hi Nic. Thanks for giving access to your research. As an educator, the information is invaluable.
Hi Daniel and Gabi – I'm glad that this collection of research is helpful to someone! Part of my aim in starting this website was to create a repository of useful education-type stuff.
Hi Nic. Am so glad that I perused your page. What a wealth of current thinking. Thanks for the vision.
Are independent schools obliged to implement affirmative action in admissions and employment policies?
Hi Coco, I'm not sure but I don't think so.
Read you articles and got enriched the more. Good job Nic!
Nic, you are amazing. I am passionate about changing schools in difficult contexts. And your research is invaluable.
Thanks Philani. It's great to hear that this research/website is helpful to those working into schools in difficult contexts!
I need to share some information with you but would like to discuss this in private. I will be in Stellenbosch round about the 20-22nd of January. How can I get hold of you? I will give a presentation for which I will use the ANA 2013 results. From this I think you get an idea of the kind of discussion I would like us to have if you would kindly agree. I am an ex-Foundation Phase teacher and I am currently a lecturer.
Hi Nick. I am a teacher in the rural free state.Your articles is of great help to us and thank you for making your research available.
Iam doing my PhD research proposal, my study is about The dynamics of school performance in South Africa. What kind of relevant literature should I consult this study?
Great and detailed article indeed, I am glad your research extensively covered my country Botswana. I am currently running a Tutorial center for Primary and Secondary Syllabus in Rural areas in Botswana, providing remedial lessons in Maths and English. It would be great for us to hear more from you, either through seminars and workshops. How can we get hold of your presentations.
Hi Nic, thank you for this information. We equip and employ people in the communities where the drop out rate from primary schools are very high to reintegrate these children back into the school and to support them with in-school services. The majority of the children that are dropping out is due to their social circumstances and relatively uneducated parents. If we can only show the more privilege communities the risk of not getting involved, 50% of our work will be done.
Hi Nic, Thank you for the info in the research article " South Africa's Education in crisis" I must admit that I was ignorant to the SACMEQ and TIMSS facts and the dire situation that the country is in. I am presently studying my masters in education at Walden University specializing teacher leadership. We are currently discussing learning communities and networking as opportunity for teacher development. Your research shows the need for teacher development. Independent education in SA is trying to provide a higher quality in education, but unfortunately we know that this root is not possible for the vast majority of our learners. Would not teacher mentoring by teachers in independent education for teachers in public schools not be suitable? The possibility for networking and mentoring to teachers in the area/district could be made. I feel that as an independent school teacher I can 'hold the hand' and steer another colleague who teaches the same subject as I. I am part of a school-cluster, and we have included new teachers into the cluster for guidance. I see the advantage and practicality of such a system working here in SA. It could be done for teachers in public schools. Sending teachers out for further study is costly. Our government needs to seriously think of ways in getting those grade six results up.
Great fan of your work – absolutely awesome on such a relevant topic in our country right now.
Nic, I require some advice and hope you can assist. I am currently employed in corporate – I have a BA in Communication Science and have completed my PMD at GIBS.
I want to make a career change into into Education and become part of the solution. Problem is, I have no idea where to start?
Teenagers – they will soon be leaving school and entering tertiary or the working world and ensuring they are adequately equipped for this.
Working with parents and encouraging active participation in their children's education.
Given your expertise in this area, what would you suggest I need to study or which doors do I need to knock on to start moving in my desired direction?
Hi Dr Spaull, please confirm if you guys implemented the course for foundation phase teachers in getting reading right in South Africa?