Zimbabwe ZW: Literacy Rate: Adult: % of People Aged 15 and Above data was reported at 88.693 % in 2014. This records an increase from the previous number of 83.583 % for 2011. Zimbabwe ZW: Literacy Rate: Adult: % of People Aged 15 and Above data is updated yearly, averaging 83.548 % from Dec 1982 (Median) to 2014, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 88.693 % in 2014 and a record low of 77.794 % in 1982. Zimbabwe ZW: Literacy Rate: Adult: % of People Aged 15 and Above data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Zimbabwe – Table ZW.World Bank: Education Statistics. Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

Historical dataset showing Zimbabwe literacy rate by year from 1982 to 2022.

Zimbabwe ZW: Literacy Rate: Youth: % of People Age 15-24 data was reported at 90.428 % in 2014. This records a decrease from the previous number of 90.931 % for 2011. Zimbabwe ZW: Literacy Rate: Youth: % of People Age 15-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 90.679 % from Dec 1982 (Median) to 2014, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 95.411 % in 1992 and a record low of 89.022 % in 1982. Zimbabwe ZW: Literacy Rate: Youth: % of People Age 15-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Zimbabwe – Table ZW.World Bank: Education Statistics. Youth literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15-24 who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

Zimbabwe ZW: Literacy Rate: Adult Male: % of Males Aged 15 and Above data was reported at 89.185 % in 2014. This records an increase from the previous number of 87.765 % for 2011. Zimbabwe ZW: Literacy Rate: Adult Male: % of Males Aged 15 and Above data is updated yearly, averaging 88.329 % from Dec 1982 (Median) to 2014, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 89.185 % in 2014 and a record low of 84.175 % in 1982. Zimbabwe ZW: Literacy Rate: Adult Male: % of Males Aged 15 and Above data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Zimbabwe – Table ZW.World Bank: Education Statistics. Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

Zimbabwe ZW: Literacy Rate: Youth Male: % of Males Aged 15-24 data was reported at 87.592 % in 2014. This records a decrease from the previous number of 89.591 % for 2011. Zimbabwe ZW: Literacy Rate: Youth Male: % of Males Aged 15-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 91.709 % from Dec 1982 (Median) to 2014, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 96.541 % in 1992 and a record low of 87.592 % in 2014. Zimbabwe ZW: Literacy Rate: Youth Male: % of Males Aged 15-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Zimbabwe – Table ZW.World Bank: Education Statistics. Youth literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15-24 who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

Zimbabwe ZW: Literacy Rate: Youth Female: % of Females Aged 15-24 data was reported at 93.188 % in 2014. This records an increase from the previous number of 92.125 % for 2011. Zimbabwe ZW: Literacy Rate: Youth Female: % of Females Aged 15-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 92.656 % from Dec 1982 (Median) to 2014, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 94.353 % in 1992 and a record low of 84.812 % in 1982. Zimbabwe ZW: Literacy Rate: Youth Female: % of Females Aged 15-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Zimbabwe – Table ZW.World Bank: Education Statistics. Youth literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15-24 who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

89.85 (%) in 2022. Adult literacy rate is the percentage of people ages 15 and above who can, with understanding, read and write a short, simple statement on their everyday life.

Zimbabwe ZW: Gender Parity Index (GPI): Literacy Rate: Youth Aged 15-24 data was reported at 1.064 Ratio in 2014. This records an increase from the previous number of 1.028 Ratio for 2011. Zimbabwe ZW: Gender Parity Index (GPI): Literacy Rate: Youth Aged 15-24 data is updated yearly, averaging 1.003 Ratio from Dec 1982 (Median) to 2014, with 4 observations. The data reached an all-time high of 1.064 Ratio in 2014 and a record low of 0.904 Ratio in 1982. Zimbabwe ZW: Gender Parity Index (GPI): Literacy Rate: Youth Aged 15-24 data remains active status in CEIC and is reported by World Bank. The data is categorized under Global Database’s Zimbabwe – Table ZW.World Bank: Education Statistics. Gender parity index for youth literacy rate is the ratio of females to males ages 15-24 who can both read and write with understanding a short simple statement about their everyday life.; ; UNESCO Institute for Statistics; Weighted average; Each economy is classified based on the classification of World Bank Group's fiscal year 2018 (July 1, 2017-June 30, 2018).

The researcher investigated identify enabling classroom conditions that promote the development of reading literacy competencies among lower grade learners in selected high-performing schools in Zimbabwe. Employing a multiple case study, the study revealed the impact of the guided reading approach, the effect of societal value systems and the contribution of organised pedagogical approaches on reading literacy development. Eight critical enabling factors were identified: interpretation and implementation of curriculum; school-level reading policies; curriculum materials content; professional development of teachers; school infrastructure and other resources; attitudes, psycho-social factors; mentoring and monitoring; parental involvement; teaching approaches, strategies and methods; and professional competencies and attitudes. The findings culminated in the design of the Multi-Faceted Reading Literacy Development Model, the significance of which provides hope for those in educationally deprived environments.

Abstract

The Southern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) is a consortium of Ministries of Education and Culture located in the Southern Africa subregion. This consortium works in close partnership with the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP). SACMEQ’s main aim is to undertake co-operative educational policy research in order to generate information that can be used by decision-makers to plan the quality of education. SACMEQ’s programme of educational policy research has four features which have optimized its contributions to the field of educational planning: (1) it provides research-based policy advice concerning high-priority educational quality issues that have been identified by key decision-makers in Southern Africa, (2) it functions as a co-operative venture based on a strong network of Ministries of Education and Culture, (3) it combines research and training components that are linked with institutional capacity building, and its future directions are defined by participating ministries. In each participating country, a National Research Co-ordinator is responsible for implementing SACMEQ’s projects.

The SACMEQ I Project commenced in 1995 and was completed in 1999. The SACMEQ I main data collection was implemented in seven SACMEQ Ministries of Education (Kenya, Mauritius, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, Zanzibar, and Zimbabwe). The study provided "agendas for government action" concerning: educational inputs to schools, benchmark standards for educational provision, equity in the allocation of educational resources, and the reading literacy performance of Grade 6 learners. The data collection for this project included information gathered from around 20,000 learners; 3,000 teachers; and 1,000 school principals.

This co-operative sub-regional educational research project collected data in order to guide decisionmaking in these countries with respect to questions around high priority policy issues. These included: • What are the baseline data for selected inputs to primary schools? • How do the conditions of primary schooling compare with the Ministry of Education and Culture’s own bench-mark standards? • Have educational inputs to schools been allocated in an equitable fashion? • What is the basic literacy level among pupils in upper primary school? • Which educational inputs to primary schools have most impact on pupil reading achievement at the upper primary level?

In 1995 there were five fully active members of SACMEQ: Mauritius, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania (Zanzibar), and Zimbabwe. These Ministries of Education and Culture participated in all phases of SACMEQ’s establishment and its initial educational policy research project. There are also four partially active members of SACMEQ: Kenya, Tanzania (Mainland), Malawi, and Swaziland. These Ministries of Education and Culture have made contributions to the preparation of the Project Plan for SACMEQ’s initial educational policy research project. Three other countries (Botswana, Lesotho, and South Africa) had observer status due to their involvement in SACMEQ related training workshops or their participation in some elements of the preparation of the first proposal for launching SACMEQ.

Geographic coverage

National Coverage

Analysis unit

• Pupils
• Schools
• Teachers

Universe

The target population for SACMEQ's Initial Project was defined as "all pupils at the Grade 6 level in 1995 who were attending registered government or non-government schools". Grade 6 was chosen because it was the grade level where the basics of reading literacy were expected to have been acquired.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

A stratified two-stage sample design was used to select around 150 schools in each country. Pupils were then selected within these schools by drawing simple random samples. A more detailed explanation of the sampling process is available under the 'Sampling' section of the report provided as external resources.

All sample designs applied in SACMEQ'S initial project were selected so as to meet the standards set down by the International Association for the Evaluation of Education Achievement (Ross, 1991). These standards require sample estimates of important pupil population characteristics to be (a) adjusted by weighing procedures designed to remove the potential for bias that may arise from different probabilities of selection, and (b) have sampling errors for the main criterion variables that are of the same magnitude or smaller than a simple random sample of 400 pupils (thereby providing 95 percent confidence limits for sample estimates of population percentages of plus or minus 5 percentage points, and 95 percent confidence limits for sample estimates of population means of plus or minus one tenth of a pupil standard deviation unit).

The desired target population in Zimbabwe was all pupils at the Grade 6 level in 1995 at the tenth month of the school year who were attending registered government or nongovernment schools in the country. The numbers of pupils in the desired, excluded, and defined populations have been presented in Table 2.2 of the Survey Report, provided as external resources. All schools which had a Grade 6 enrolment of fewer than 20 pupils were excluded. Table 2.2 of the Survey Report indicates that Harare had the lowest number of excluded schools (5) and pupils (24). On the other hand, Matabeleland North had the highest number of excluded schools (77) and pupils (864).

The 304 excluded schools covered 6.7 percent of the desired target population of schools, but this represented only 3,327 pupils, which was just 1 .0 percent of the pupils in the desired target population. Sampling weights were applied to 'adjust' for missing data and also to ensure that the relative size of the defined target population across regions was accurately represented in the relative sizes of the weighted sample data across regions. From the defined population, a probability sample of schools (with probability proportional to the total enrolment in Grade 6 in each school) was drawn. Twenty schools were sampled from regions with more than 600 schools, while 15 schools were sampled from regions where the number of schools was below this figure. This resulted in a planned national sample of 150 schools and 3,000 pupils (see Table 2.3 of the Survey Report). The sample design was designed to provide an 'equivalent sample size' (Ross and Wilson, 1994) of 400 pupils, based on an estimated intra-class correlation (rho) for pupil reading test scores of around 0.30.

Within selected schools, simple random sample of 20 pupils from all Grade 6 pupils was drawn. The figure of 20 pupils was chosen because, from practical experience, it was known that increasing the number of pupils within scl~ools above this figure would increase the accuracy of sampling by a negligible amount, but would increase the cost of the data collection considerably. There were also concerns among the SACMEQ NRCs that conditions in many schools would not permit a valid administration of the reading test if more than 20 pupils per school were involved.

At the first stage of sampling, schools were selected with probability proportional to the number of pupils who were members of the defined target population. To achieve this selection a 'random start-constant interval' procedure was applied (Ross, 1987). In several strata there were some schools with numbers of pupils in the defined target population that exceeded the size of the 'constant interval', and therefore each of these schools was randomly broken into smaller 'pseudo schools' before the commencement of the sampling. At the second stage of sampling a simple random sample of 20 pupils was selected within each selected school. Sampling weights were used to adjust for the disproportionate allocation of the sample across regions and also to account for the loss of student data due to absenteeism on the day of the data collection.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The data collection for SACMEQ's Initial Project took place in October 1995 and involved the administration of questionnaires to pupils, teachers, and school heads. The pupil questionnaire contained questions about the pupils' home backgrounds and their school life; the teacher questionnaire asked about classrooms, teaching practices, working conditions, and teacher housing; and the school head questionnaire collected information about teachers, enrolments, buildings, facilities, and management. A reading literacy test was also given to the pupils. The test was based on items that were selected after a trial-testing programme had been completed.

The SACMEQ Data Collection Instruments include the following documents: - SACMEQ Questionnaires - which are administered to pupils, teachers, and school heads. - SACMEQ Tests - which are administered to pupils and teachers (covering reading mathematics, and HIV-AIDS knowledge). - Other SACMEQ Data Collection Instruments - such as take-home pupil questionnaires, school context proformas, and within-school project management documents.

Cleaning operations

The data entry exercise started at the beginning of January 1996. A separate room equipped with two personal computers and a laptop computer was set aside for this exercise. A data entry committee was set up, consisting of an overall supervisor, a technical officer and data entry clerks. The data entry committee started with the Pupil Booklet followed by the School Head and Teacher Questionnaires. By 30 January 1996 data entry was complete. The last instruments

Abstract

The Southern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) is a consortium of Ministries of Education and Culture located in the Southern Africa subregion. This consortium works in close partnership with the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP). SACMEQ’s main aim is to undertake co-operative educational policy research in order to generate information that can be used by decision-makers to plan the quality of education. SACMEQ’s programme of educational policy research has four features which have optimized its contributions to the field of educational planning: (1) it provides research-based policy advice concerning high-priority educational quality issues that have been identified by key decision-makers in Southern Africa, (2) it functions as a co-operative venture based on a strong network of Ministries of Education and Culture, (3) it combines research and training components that are linked with institutional capacity building, and ? its future directions are defined by participating ministries. In each participating country, a National Research Co-ordinator is responsible for implementing SACMEQ’s projects.

SACMEQ’S Initial Project commenced in February 1995. During 1995-1998 seven Ministries of Education participated in the Project, in Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania (Zanzibar), and Zimbabwe.This co-operative sub-regional educational research project collected data in order to guide decisionmaking in these countries with respect to questions around high priority policy issues. These included: • What are the baseline data for selected inputs to primary schools? • How do the conditions of primary schooling compare with the Ministry of Education and Culture’s own bench-mark standards? • Have educational inputs to schools been allocated in an equitable fashion? • What is the basic literacy level among pupils in upper primary school? • Which educational inputs to primary schools have most impact on pupil reading achievement at the upper primary level?

In 1995 there were five fully active members of SACMEQ: Mauritius, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania (Zanzibar), and Zimbabwe. These Ministries of Education and Culture participated in all phases of SACMEQ’s establishment and its initial educational policy research project. There are also four partially active members of SACMEQ: Kenya, Tanzania (Mainland), Malawi, and Swaziland. These Ministries of Education and Culture have made contributions to the preparation of the Project Plan for SACMEQ’s initial educational policy research project. Three other countries (Botswana, Lesotho, and South Africa) had observer status due to their involvement in SACMEQ related training workshops or their participation in some elements of the preparation of the first proposal for launching SACMEQ.

Geographic coverage

The surveys had national coverage of the countries participating in the project, which include Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania (Zanzibar), and Zimbabwe.

Analysis unit

Units of analysis in the survey included schools and individuals

Universe

The target population for SACMEQ's Initial Project was defined as "all pupils at the Grade 6 level in 1995 who were attending registered government or non-government schools". Grade 6 was chosen because it was the grade level where the basics of reading literacy were expected to have been acquired.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

A stratified two-stage sample design was used to select around 150 schools in each country. Pupils were then selected within these schools by drawing simple random samples.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The data collection for SACMEQ’s Initial Project took place in October 1995 and involved the administration of questionnaires to pupils, teachers, and school heads. The pupil questionnaire contained questions about the pupils’ home backgrounds and their school life; the teacher questionnaire asked about classrooms, teaching practices, working conditions, and teacher housing; and the school head questionnaire collected information about teachers, enrolments, buildings, facilities, and management. A reading literacy test was also given to the pupils. The test was based on items that were selected after a trial-testing programme had been completed.

Zimbabwe: PISA reading scores: The latest value from is index points, unavailable from index points in . In comparison, the world average is 0.000 index points, based on data from countries. Historically, the average for Zimbabwe from to is index points. The minimum value, index points, was reached in while the maximum of index points was recorded in .

The Southern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) is a consortium of Ministries of Education and Culture located in the Southern Africa subregion. This consortium works in close partnership with the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP). SACMEQ’s main aim is to undertake co-operative educational policy research in order to generate information that can be used by decision-makers to plan the quality of education. SACMEQ’s programme of educational policy research has four features which have optimized its contributions to the field of educational planning: (1) it provides research-based policy advice concerning high-priority educational quality issues that have been identified by key decision-makers in Southern Africa, (2) it functions as a co-operative venture based on a strong network of Ministries of Education and Culture, (3) it combines research and training components that are linked with institutional capacity building, and ? its future directions are defined by participating ministries. In each participating country, a National Research Co-ordinator is responsible for implementing SACMEQ’s projects. SACMEQ’S Initial Project commenced in February 1995. During 1995-1998 seven Ministries of Education participated in the Project, in Kenya, Malawi, Mauritius, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania (Zanzibar), and Zimbabwe.This co-operative sub-regional educational research project collected data in order to guide decisionmaking in these countries with respect to questions around high priority policy issues. These included: • What are the baseline data for selected inputs to primary schools? • How do the conditions of primary schooling compare with the Ministry of Education and Culture’s own bench-mark standards? • Have educational inputs to schools been allocated in an equitable fashion? • What is the basic literacy level among pupils in upper primary school? • Which educational inputs to primary schools have most impact on pupil reading achievement at the upper primary level? In 1995 there were five fully active members of SACMEQ: Mauritius, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania (Zanzibar), and Zimbabwe. These Ministries of Education and Culture participated in all phases of SACMEQ’s establishment and its initial educational policy research project. There are also four partially active members of SACMEQ: Kenya, Tanzania (Mainland), Malawi, and Swaziland. These Ministries of Education and Culture have made contributions to the preparation of the Project Plan for SACMEQ’s initial educational policy research project. Three other countries (Botswana, Lesotho, and South Africa) had observer status due to their involvement in SACMEQ related training workshops or their participation in some elements of the preparation of the first proposal for launching SACMEQ.

Abstract

The Southern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) is a consortium of Ministries of Education and Culture located in the Southern Africa subregion. This consortium works in close partnership with the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP). SACMEQ’s main aim is to undertake co-operative educational policy research in order to generate information that can be used by decision-makers to plan the quality of education. SACMEQ’s programme of educational policy research has four features which have optimized its contributions to the field of educational planning: (1) it provides research-based policy advice concerning high-priority educational quality issues that have been identified by key decision-makers in Southern Africa, (2) it functions as a co-operative venture based on a strong network of Ministries of Education and Culture, (3) it combines research and training components that are linked with institutional capacity building, and its future directions are defined by participating ministries. In each participating country, a National Research Co-ordinator is responsible for implementing SACMEQ’s projects.

The SACMEQ I Project commenced in 1995 and was completed in 1999. The SACMEQ I main data collection was implemented in seven SACMEQ Ministries of Education (Kenya, Mauritius, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, Zanzibar, and Zimbabwe). The study provided "agendas for government action" concerning: educational inputs to schools, benchmark standards for educational provision, equity in the allocation of educational resources, and the reading literacy performance of Grade 6 learners. The data collection for this project included information gathered from around 20,000 learners; 3,000 teachers; and 1,000 school principals.

This co-operative sub-regional educational research project collected data in order to guide decisionmaking in these countries with respect to questions around high priority policy issues. These included: • What are the baseline data for selected inputs to primary schools? • How do the conditions of primary schooling compare with the Ministry of Education and Culture’s own bench-mark standards? • Have educational inputs to schools been allocated in an equitable fashion? • What is the basic literacy level among pupils in upper primary school? • Which educational inputs to primary schools have most impact on pupil reading achievement at the upper primary level?

In 1995 there were five fully active members of SACMEQ: Mauritius, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania (Zanzibar), and Zimbabwe. These Ministries of Education and Culture participated in all phases of SACMEQ’s establishment and its initial educational policy research project. There are also four partially active members of SACMEQ: Kenya, Tanzania (Mainland), Malawi, and Swaziland. These Ministries of Education and Culture have made contributions to the preparation of the Project Plan for SACMEQ’s initial educational policy research project. Three other countries (Botswana, Lesotho, and South Africa) had observer status due to their involvement in SACMEQ related training workshops or their participation in some elements of the preparation of the first proposal for launching SACMEQ.

Geographic coverage

National coverage.

Analysis unit

• Pupils
• Schools
• Teachers

Universe

The target population for SACMEQ's Initial Project was defined as "all pupils at the Grade 6 level in 1995 who were attending registered government or non-government schools". Grade 6 was chosen because it was the grade level where the basics of reading literacy were expected to have been acquired.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

A stratified two-stage sample design was used to select around 150 schools in each country. Pupils were then selected within these schools by drawing simple random samples. A more detailed explanation of the sampling process is available under the 'Sampling' section of the report provided as external resources.

In Malawi, from the defined target population, a probability sample of schools (with probability proportional to the total enrolment in Grade 6 in each school) was drawn. Twenty-five schools were sampled from five Divisions, while 30 schools were sampled from Central West Division. This resulted in a planned national sample of 155 schools and 3,100 pupils. The sample design was designed to provide an 'equivelent sample sixe' (Ross and Wilson, 1994) of 400 pupils, based on an estimated intra-class correlation (rho) for pupil reading test scores of around 0.35.

Within selected schools, a simple random sample of 20 Standard 6 pupils was drawn. The figure of 20pupils was chosen because, from practical experience it was known that increasing the number of pupils within schools above this figure would increase the accuracy of sampling by a negligible amount, but might also increase the cost of the data collection considerably. There were also concerns among the SACMEQ NRCs that conditions in many schools would not permit a valid administration of the reading rest if more than 20 pupils per school were involved.

At the first stage of sampling, schools were selected with probability proportional to the number of pupils who were members of the defined target population. To achieve this selection a 'random start-constant interval' procedute was applied (Ross, 1987). In several strata there were some schools with numbers of pupils in the defined target population that exceeded the size of the 'constant interval', and therefore each of these schools was randomly broken into smaller 'pseudo schools' before the commencement of the sampling.

At the second stage of sampling a simple random sample of 20 pupils was selected within each selected school.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The data collection for SACMEQ's Initial Project took place in October 1995 and involved the administration of questionnaires to pupils, teachers, and school heads. The pupil questionnaire contained questions about the pupils' home backgrounds and their school life; the teacher questionnaire asked about classrooms, teaching practices, working conditions, and teacher housing; and the school head questionnaire collected information about teachers, enrolments, buildings, facilities, and management. A reading literacy test was also given to the pupils. The test was based on items that were selected after a trial-testing programme had been completed.

The SACMEQ Data Collection Instruments include the following documents: - SACMEQ Questionnaires - which are administered to pupils, teachers, and school heads. - SACMEQ Tests - which are administered to pupils and teachers (covering reading mathematics, and HIV-AIDS knowledge). - Other SACMEQ Data Collection Instruments - such as take-home pupil questionnaires, school context proformas, and within-school project management documents.

Cleaning operations

In February 1999, the IIEP arranged a training workshop in Malawi for the data entry team and members of the SACMEQ team. Data entry then commenced and the whole exercise took three weeks. This activity was followed by six days of data cleaning which removed 'wild codes' and any major inconsistencies in the data.

Response rate

In Table 2.3 of the Report (The Quality of Primary Education in Malawi - provided as external resources), it may be seen that only seven schools withdrew completely from the data collection. However, a major problem occured with the data loss at the pupil level, where only 1,983 valid pupil responses were obtained from the planned sample of 3,100 pupils. That is, around a third of the pupil data were missing.

The reasons for this extremely high level of pupil non-response were varied. However, two of the major problems were the lack of transport for data collectors, and pupil absenteeism on the day of testing. The data loss was particularly severe in the North, South East and Shire Highlands Divisions- where around 50 percent of the pupil data were missing.These levels of data loss were far larger than had been set down as part of the quality control standards for SACMEQ's initial project.

Sampling error estimates

Details on calculation of sampling errors are available on pages 13-14 of the attached report.

ZW：非文盲率：成年女性：15岁及以上女性百分比在12-01-2014达88.284%，相较于12-01-2011的80.066%有所增长。ZW：非文盲率：成年女性：15岁及以上女性百分比数据按年更新，12-01-1982至12-01-2014期间平均值为79.291%，共4份观测结果。该数据的历史最高值出现于12-01-2014，达88.284%，而历史最低值则出现于12-01-1982，为71.854%。CEIC提供的ZW：非文盲率：成年女性：15岁及以上女性百分比数据处于定期更新的状态，数据来源于World Bank，数据归类于Global Database的津巴布韦 – 表 ZW.世界银行：教育统计。

Abstract

Abstract Background: Effective pedagogical practices make students learn better and create the right learning environment inside classrooms. While the current preservice and in-service Teacher Professional Development (TPD) programs have immensely contributed to the education systems in Africa through a steady though inadequate supply of trained teachers, stakeholders have raised concerns about quality of teacher training and teaching. Aim: The aim of this research is to identify and model the successful aspects of an effective school-based practicum for TPD program, encompassing its development, implementation, impact on instructional decision-making within the classroom, individual behaviour influences, strategies for uptake and scaling, key challenges, and teacher perspectives. The following research questions will be addressed: 1. What aspects of the school-based practicum for TPD program have the potential to enhance best teaching practices especially for Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN), and what factors contribute to their effectiveness? 2. How can the school-based practicum for TPD support broader educational reforms such as implementing a new curriculum, scaling evidence-based teaching approaches of Foundational Literacy and Numeracy (FLN), or generating data for classroom-based decision making? Methods: We will use a cross-sectional survey design to collect primary data that will contribute to understanding of teachers' and key education stakeholders' perspectives on school-based practicum for TPD, and especially broader educational reforms such as implementing a new curriculum, scaling evidence-based teaching approaches of FLN, and/or generating data for classroom-based decision making. The study will be conducted in one sub-Saharan African country. Three countries (Ghana, South Africa or Zimbabwe) were considered as informed by a literature review conducted by our team (APHRC). After stakeholder consultation, North-West University (NWU) in South Africa was chosen as the site for the study. A primary consideration in making this choice is the fact that NWU has a well-developing teaching practice component as part of its Bachelor of Education (BEd) degree. The study will be focusing on student teachers training to teach in early primary school grades (grade 2-3), and exposed to successful school-based practicum for TPD. We shall select 90 student teachers (for classroom observations as well as to respond to a survey). Another 150 early grade student teachers will be selected for the survey only. In total we shall target 240 student teachers. A mixed method will be adopted, producing both qualitative and quantitative data. Moreover, 15 education stakeholders (e.g. mentors, supervisors, curriculum support officers, curriculum developers, university faculty that train teachers, principals/academic deans of education departments, etc.) will be selected to elicit qualitative data using Key Informant Interviews (KIIs). The qualitative data will undergo thematic analysis while the quantitative data will be analysed using descriptive statistics.
Results: The study is expected to yield comprehensive insights into effective school-based practicum strategies for TPD and their impact. It will shed light on successful elements of school-based practicum that contribute to effective FLN programs in low- and middle-income countries. Furthermore, the study will offer an in-depth understanding of how TPD initiatives can align with and bolster broader education reforms. It will emphasize evidence-based approaches, drawing attention to the specific aspects of successful practicum-based TPD.

Geographic coverage

National covering all campuses of North-West University (NWU) South africa

Analysis unit

Student teachers, school-based mentors, school coordinators, and NWU faculty involved in teaching and practicum supervision.

Universe

Student teachers enrolled in the B.Ed Foundation Phase program at North-West University (NWU) across all campuses and learning modes (on-site and distance), along with school mentors, school coordinators at partner schools, and relevant NWU faculty.

Sampling procedure

Three countries (Ghana, South Africa or Zimbabwe) were shortlisted based on a literature synthesis, conducted by our team, which established that they have ongoing large-scale school-based practicum for TPD and/or have recently implemented teacher education reforms that have great potential for scale up in various contexts. We consulted with stakeholders and chose South Africa. Ghana was not selected because T-TEL, the Transforming Teacher Education and Learning organization, is currently conducting a similar study. The study focuses on improving the quality of teacher education in Ghana, aiming to enhance teacher training programs, support professional development for teachers, and contribute to overall improvements in the education system. The choice between Zimbabwe and South Africa was based on logistical considerations and the stakeholders' prior work in these countries. APHRC, the implementing organisation, has established networks and ongoing projects in South Africa, and the current project will benefit from leveraging these relationships.
Specifically, in South Africa, the study will be conducted in the North-West province. The study sites selected are the Potchefstroom and Mafikeng campuses of the North-West University (NWU). The Potchefstroom campus, which historically served privileged students (formerly a white-only university during apartheid), is in an urban area and is relatively well-resourced. On the other hand, the Mafikeng campus, formerly a black-only university during apartheid, is situated in a rural environment and is relatively less resourced compared to the former. Both campuses have large-scale preservice TPD programs that include the practicum component and now serve a range of students, both racially and in terms of socio-economic background. In addition to providing multiple contact sites, NWU also offers a distance learning program. The course content of the Bachelor of Education (BEd) program is similar across the different campuses served by the university, as well the distance learning mode of delivery. However, the three groups of students located in the Potchefstroom campus, the Mafikeng campus and the distance learning mode offer opportunities for differences of program implementation that could potentially imply differences in quality of TPD practicum which render them interesting from a research perspective. While efforts are made to choose institutions that represent the historical and socio-economic landscape of South Africa, the selection of these sites is also based on the need to select a few cases in order to conduct in-depth research, rather than obtaining a representative sample of the entire country (Stake, 1995). The selection of the study sites followed extensive consultations with the Department of Higher Education and Technology and the Department of Basic Education in South Africa, as well as researchers with experience in practicum-based preservice TPD programs in the country. The researchers' prior knowledge of the practicum-based TPD programs at NWU, and their previous relationships and work in this institution, were also key in the selection of these programs. The data will be collected from student teachers and key TPD stakeholders such as teacher educators, school-based mentors, principals of schools where student teachers undertake the practicum, supervisors, university faculty that train teachers, principals/academic deans of teacher training departments, curriculum support officers, and curriculum developers. Since the focus of the study is FLN, the student teacher sample will be drawn from those destined to teach in early primary school grades (grade 2-3) and are currently exposed to school-based practicum for TPD offered by NWU. These students are currently enrolled in the Bachelor of Education (Foundation Phase), where they are being trained to teach Languages, Mathematics and Life Skills. Sudman (1976) recommends that for each major group or subgroup in the sample, it is advisable to have at least 100 elements. For minor subgroups, a sample size ranging from 20 to 50 elements is considered adequate. Based on this suggestion, we shall select 30 teachers from each of the three 'sites of delivery': Potchefstroom campus, Mafikeng campus and the distance learning program. Data collection will consist of classroom observations (a total of 90 student teachers) as well as participation in a survey. Another 150 early grade student teachers who went through the practicum program will be selected for the survey only. In total we shall target 240 primary grades 2 and 3 student teachers. A sample size of 240 is considered to be sufficient to address our research questions, especially as we will use descriptive statistics to analyse the data (Israel, 1992) (see section 4.6. on data management and analysis).

At least 15 key TPD stakeholders (five per site of delivery) will be selected to collect qualitative data using Key Informant Interviews (KIIs). These will include teacher educators, school-based mentors, principals of schools where student teachers undertake the practicum, supervisors, university faculty that train student teachers, principals/academic deans of teacher training departments, curriculum support officers, and curriculum developers.

4.2.1. How the sample of participants will be identified and recruited Prospective participants will be identified based on their status as student teachers in their final year of teacher training, particularly those undergoing or about to undergo practicums in early primary school grades (grade 2-3) at Potchefstroom and Mafikeng

Abstract

The Southern Africa Consortium for Monitoring Educational Quality (SACMEQ) is a consortium of Ministries of Education and Culture located in the Southern Africa subregion. This consortium works in close partnership with the International Institute for Educational Planning (IIEP). SACMEQ’s main aim is to undertake co-operative educational policy research in order to generate information that can be used by decision-makers to plan the quality of education. SACMEQ’s programme of educational policy research has four features which have optimized its contributions to the field of educational planning: (1) it provides research-based policy advice concerning high-priority educational quality issues that have been identified by key decision-makers in Southern Africa, (2) it functions as a co-operative venture based on a strong network of Ministries of Education and Culture, (3) it combines research and training components that are linked with institutional capacity building, and its future directions are defined by participating ministries. In each participating country, a National Research Co-ordinator is responsible for implementing SACMEQ’s projects.

The SACMEQ I Project commenced in 1995 and was completed in 1999. The SACMEQ I main data collection was implemented in seven SACMEQ Ministries of Education (Kenya, Mauritius, Malawi, Namibia, Zambia, Zanzibar, and Zimbabwe). The study provided "agendas for government action" concerning: educational inputs to schools, benchmark standards for educational provision, equity in the allocation of educational resources, and the reading literacy performance of Grade 6 learners. The data collection for this project included information gathered from around 20,000 learners; 3,000 teachers; and 1,000 school principals.

This co-operative sub-regional educational research project collected data in order to guide decisionmaking in these countries with respect to questions around high priority policy issues. These included: • What are the baseline data for selected inputs to primary schools? • How do the conditions of primary schooling compare with the Ministry of Education and Culture’s own bench-mark standards? • Have educational inputs to schools been allocated in an equitable fashion? • What is the basic literacy level among pupils in upper primary school? • Which educational inputs to primary schools have most impact on pupil reading achievement at the upper primary level?

In 1995 there were five fully active members of SACMEQ: Mauritius, Namibia, Zambia, Tanzania (Zanzibar), and Zimbabwe. These Ministries of Education and Culture participated in all phases of SACMEQ’s establishment and its initial educational policy research project. There are also four partially active members of SACMEQ: Kenya, Tanzania (Mainland), Malawi, and Swaziland. These Ministries of Education and Culture have made contributions to the preparation of the Project Plan for SACMEQ’s initial educational policy research project. Three other countries (Botswana, Lesotho, and South Africa) had observer status due to their involvement in SACMEQ related training workshops or their participation in some elements of the preparation of the first proposal for launching SACMEQ.

Geographic coverage

National coverage.

Analysis unit

• Pupils
• Schools
• Teachers

Universe

The target population for SACMEQ's Initial Project was defined as "all pupils at the Grade 6 level in 1995 who were attending registered government or non-government schools". Grade 6 was chosen because it was the grade level where the basics of reading literacy were expected to have been acquired.

Kind of data

Sample survey data [ssd]

Sampling procedure

A stratified two-stage sample design was used to select around 150 schools in each country. Pupils were then selected within these schools by drawing simple random samples. A more detailed explanation of the sampling process is available under the 'Sampling' section of the report provided as external resources.

All sample designs applied in SACMEQ's initial project were selected so as to meet the standards set down by the International Association for the Evaluation of Educational Achievement (Ross, 1991). These standards require sample estimates of important pupil population parameters to be (a) adjusted by weighting procedures designed to remove the potential for bias that may arise from different probabilities of selection, and (b) have sampling errors that are of the same magnitude or smaller than a simple random sample of 400 pupils (thereby guaranteeing 95 percent confidence limits for sample estimates of population percentages of plus or minus 5 percentage points, and 95 percent confidence limits for sample estimates of population means of plus or minus one tenth of a pupil standard deviation unit).

From the defined population in Mauritius, a probability sample of schools (with probability proportional to the Grade 6 enrolment in each school) was drawn. In Black River and Rodrigues all schools in the defined target population were selected into the sample. This resulted in a planned national sample of 159 schools and 3,180 pupils. This sample design was designed to yield an 'equivalent sample size' (Ross and Wilson, 1994) of 400 pupils based on an estimated intra-class correlation (rho) for pupil reading test scores of around 0.30. In fact, after the rho was calculated for the reading scores, it was found to be 0.21 - which was considerably lower than had been expected.

Within schools, a simple random sample of 20 pupils from all Grade 6 pupils was drawn. The figure of 20 pupils was selected because, from practical experience, it was known that increasing the number of pupils within schools above this figure would increase the accuracy of sampling by a negligible amount, but would increase the cost of the data collection considerably. There were also concerns among the SACMEQ NRCs that conditions in many schools would not permit a valid administration of the reading test if more than 20 pupils per school were involved.

Sampling deviation

There were nine pupils excluded from the desired population in one school on the island of Agalega. This island is situated about 100 kilometres from the main island. Communication is difficult to and from Agalega, and the expense of travel is high. At the same time, schools which had Grade 6 enrolments of fewer than 20 pupils were also excluded. There were seven such schools in the whole country and, taken with the one excluded school in Agalega, this resulted in eight schools being excluded out of a total of 283 schools. Altogether, there were 133 pupils excluded out of a total of 27,849 pupils. The excluded population of pupils represented less than half of 1 percent of all pupils in the desired target population. In the districts of Black River and Rodrigues, all schools in the defined target population were taken into the sample. This was because the Master Plan had identified these two districts as low-achieving areas compared with the rest of the country.Sampling weights were then applied to all data in order to ‘adjust’ for missing data and also to ensure that the relative size of the defined target population across school districts was accurately represented in the relative sizes of the weighted sample data across school districts.

The planned sample was designed to contain 159 schools allocated across districts. After the sample of schools was selected it was found that one school in the district of Riviere du Rempart had adopted an ‘International School’ curriculum for Grade 6 which was quite different from the approved Ministry curriculum. It was therefore decided to remove this school from the sample. The final achieved sample therefore contained 158 schools.

Mode of data collection

Face-to-face [f2f]

Research instrument

The data collection for SACMEQ's Initial Project took place in October 1995 and involved the administration of questionnaires to pupils, teachers, and school heads. The pupil questionnaire contained questions about the pupils' home backgrounds and their school life; the teacher questionnaire asked about classrooms, teaching practices, working conditions, and teacher housing; and the school head questionnaire collected information about teachers, enrolments, buildings, facilities, and management. A reading literacy test was also given to the pupils. The test was based on items that were selected after a trial-testing programme had been completed.

The SACMEQ Data Collection Instruments include the following documents: - SACMEQ Questionnaires - which are administered to pupils, teachers, and school heads. - SACMEQ Tests - which are administered to pupils and teachers (covering reading mathematics, and HIV-AIDS knowledge). - Other SACMEQ Data Collection Instruments - such as take-home pupil questionnaires, school context proformas, and within-school project management documents.

Cleaning operations

Once the instruments were returned to the main Ministry office they were checked to ensure that the correct number of pupil tests and questionnaires for pupils, teachers, and school heads were there. Each questionnaire was checked for completeness because there were not meant to be any missing data. A team of five data enterers had been trained by the NRC. One personal computer was available to be used full-time for the data entry. Three other computers could be used when available.

The Data Entry Manager (DEM) computer software developed at the IIEP (Schleicher, 1995) was used to manage the data entry. This software was adapted specifically for