Description of project:

The Western Cape Primary Science Programme (PSP) is a teacher in-service education organisation that aims to improve the quality of primary teaching and learning in the field of Natural Sciences and related learning areas in the most disadvantaged schools in the Western Cape. The PSP works in an environment where most teachers and learners have to operate in a second language. It therefore also develops learners? communication skills while also focusing on science. The PSP has launched a longitudinal, independent evaluation of all aspects of the PSP over a two and a half year period. Aspects covered in the evaluation include materials, teacher interaction, classroom practice and testing of learners in the intermediate phase (grade 4 to 6).

The Shuttleworth Foundation?s involvement:

The Shuttleworth Foundation is funding a portion of this evaluation.

Aims and objectives:

The aim of the evaluation is to ascertain what improvements can be made within the organization and to determine how programmes can be improved. The evaluation will also determine what impact the PSP is making in primary science education.

Timeline and deliverables:

The end of 2001 saw the completion of the pilot stage of the evaluation. Currently they are continuing with the evaluation which is due to be completed by the end of 2003 and will be made available on our website.

Updated Status (July 2003):

We’ve received a report on stage two of the evaluation which springs off the pilot study to concentrate on the formative and diagnostic aspects of the evaluation . This report will be made available on the website shortly.

The pilot study has shown that:

? The PSP is generally well managed, thoughtful, creative and committed.
? Teachers and principals highly value PSP and their involvement in it.
? PSP has changed the way teachers think about learning, assessment, curriculum design and teaching. It is reported that it has also changed their behaviours.
? The teachers in the Stage 1 study generally teach in ways promoted by PSP ? their teaching is well organised; they work from the PSP materials to a large extent; they use activities and group work and students are highly engaged. However, classes are widely varied in the attention they give to ?intellectual quality? (higher order thinking, deep learning, problem solving) and connections to local cultural knowledge. Instruments and processes have been developed that can be used again to deepen these findings.
? The students did poorly on our tests, in spite or our efforts in test design and administration, in spite of the students being in highly functional, engaging and well organised classrooms, and in spite of students? claims that they enjoy and learn from their science classes.

The next steps of the evaluation need to:
? Build on the above picture, deepening the understanding and description of PSP and its effectiveness.
? Pick up on particular problems that were uncovered ? in particular, issues of assessment, and questions about what the students are in fact learning.