[[email protected]]

Hi there

Went ahead and took a look at some subject setups for 2017.
For example Grade 7 Afrikaans First Additional Language.
Entered 'dummy' marks (each raw mark is unique, to keep track of how the marks are allocated to later terms).
Found that
1) The two Oral activity marks in Term 1
   a) are allocated to a 'zero weight' Task in Term 2
   b) the 'zero weight' Task a) in Term 2 is then ported to an activity in the Term 2 Examination Task
   c) the same 'zero weight' Task in a) is then as well ported to an activity in the Term 4 Examination Task

Why the need for such a dummy task if the activities in both respective exams could've referenced the Term1 Task directly?


2) Term 4 has a Task (Oral) made up of two activities - which get their marks from the Oral 2 & 3 Tasks in Term 2 and Term 3 (not the Oral Task described above in 1)
 This Task is not used whatsoever further in Term 4.

Could it be that the Term 4 Exam - Activity (P1: Oral) has been linked to the wrong Task?

I've worked through the CAPS Documents available - not sure if new versions for 2017 have been released.
This setup doesn't seem to align correctly, (No Term 4 Oral, No Term 4 Exam Activity comprised of 4 Oral Marks, etc)

I have all four terms exported to a spreadsheet and assimilated for easier understanding.

Hope someone can shed some light!

[[email protected]]

Working through the other subjects - it seems like it's Grade 7-9 Languages (HL,FAL,SAL) that have these odd setups, which have been altered from the 2016 Curriculum. Hoping someone can help.

[SarelK]

Hello [email protected],

Sorry for taking so long to reply, but it's been a hectic couple of days. I do apologise beforhand if I manage to make any mistakes in my reply, but it is well past midnight at typing this.

Action Taken:
I have reported the incorrect deviations from CAPS to Carinne van der Westhuizen - feedback still pending.  In my understanding, changes to the Curriculum are sometimes implemented at a high level and merely "pushed" through in SA-SAMS, without involving PEDs, LFs and other key role-players (like Teachers), which simply means that it isn't Carinne's fault.

From the latest HL, FAL and SAL CAPS documents at our disposal from the Department of Education's National website:

1. Although some similarities occur in the Intermediate Phase, the "weighting" in terms of the CAPS document differ, plus Grade 6 has the additional Paper 3 that Grades 4 & 5 doesn't have. The changes made (read: "standardization of Grades 4-7 HL, FAL and SAL") are not aligned with CAPS and should be rectified.

2. The fixing of so-called "Formal Tasks and Activities" to disallow editing is a good thing and a bad thing.  Good in terms of minimum standardization; bad when it goes wrong, and especially frustrating if you know how to fix it.

3. You are correct in your understanding of the role of the "dummy" marks. Bear in mind that CAPS merely gives an indication of the % weighting of the various components of assessment; it doesn't dictate which "raw marks" schools should use.  According to the CAPS, thus the "dummy" marks serve the purpose of converting those "raw marks" to a fixed mark of its own in order to allow the calculation of the Paper 1 (Oral Mark) for the End-of-Year Examination. This is applicable to Grades 7-9; not Grades 4-6.  There are a couple of things that seems off with the current setup though, but I would like to run some calculations of my own tomorrow to test it. I am of opinion that you are correct when you say some tasks may be "linked" incorrectly.

Example: Senior Phase CAPS for HL, FAL and SAL indicate that the Paper 1 (Oral Mark) for the End-of-Year Examinations constitute an average of the four terms marks for the Oral component.

Oral Assessment Tasks: Paper 1
Listening and Speaking
Reading aloud
The oral tasks undertaken during the course of the year constitute the end-of-year assessment.

4. In my opinion, this is an intentional act of the powers that be to "manipulate" the learner's actual performance and thus, also in my opinion, not a true reflection of the learner's actual academic performance.  Personally, I strongly disagree with all forms of "manipulation" in the actual assessment, including some weightings.

5. I have been asking for quite some time that CAPS documents be assigned a "version" and that all subsequent version changes be documented and released in order to keep track of changes.  That would save an enormous amount of time, nullifying the need to often, needlessly scour documents for changes.

I hope that my reply might clarify some of your valid questions and concerns.

[[email protected]]

SarelK

Thank you endlessly.
Hoping this gets resolved and the 2017 Caps Documentation becomes available ASAP.

[SarelK]

Followed up on this with Carinne yesterday afternoon (2017/01/25). Will report back as soon as I have any good news.

[[email protected]]

Word of Mouth in KzN is that schools will be attending workshops to understand and rectify the weightings in the SA-SAMS Application... any information from anybody else? Can we have a liason between KzN Education and SA-SAMS confirm this?

[SarelK]

1. Proper workshops of this nature would be a really good thing.

2. SA-SAMS (EMIS Directorate) has no control over how Provinces conduct their training, unless the EMIS Directorate is requested to assist. The best would be to contact the KwaZulu-Natal Department of Education EMIS Section to confirm this. You can try Sindi Myeza at 033 264 1510 or [email protected].

3. Please feel free to post feedback. If a representative of KZN EMIS is willing to post their feedback here, even better. 

[annelie wessels]

           

Good day SASAMS users

This is my first post and therefore I'm not sure whether my inquiry has been dealt with before. Please excuse if it was. 
I am totally confused about what the correct tasks and totals for tasks are for gr 8 & 9 languages (FAL & HL). I attach examples of spreadsheets from 3 different provinces - Limpopo, EC and WC. When you look at these you will understand my dilemma. I'm specifically referring to Task 9 (or is it???) for Gr 8 HL in Term 3 - the Language test.  Believe me I have consulted the CAPS doc over and over, but I do not get any clarity on the matter. Maybe I do not know where to look? Shouldn't all provinces be using the same spreadsheet? How is this possible???

Please help!

[[email protected]]

Good day SASAMS users

This is my first post and therefore I'm not sure whether my inquiry has been dealt with before. Please excuse if it was. 
I am totally confused about what the correct tasks and totals for tasks are for gr 8 & 9 languages (FAL & HL). I attach examples of spreadsheets from 3 different provinces - Limpopo, EC and WC. When you look at these you will understand my dilemma. I'm specifically referring to Task 9 (or is it???) for Gr 8 HL in Term 3 - the Language test.  Believe me I have consulted the CAPS doc over and over, but I do not get any clarity on the matter. Maybe I do not know where to look? Shouldn't all provinces be using the same spreadsheet? How is this possible???

Please help!

Annelie

None of the  SA-SAMS Teams, 9 Provinces or their Curriculum Teams nor national Curriculum Teams communicate with one another at all. There is a general consensus of providing a statutory assessment setup for every public school - however analyzing the setups in SA-SAMS vs. the ancient CAPS documentation available this is proving to be a headache for everyone.

[SarelK]

1. I deem it important to clarify that - currently - Provincial Departments of Education function as entities in their own right.  It is not a requirement for them to "speak" to other PEDs, nor to use a standard means of recording assessment, granted, which is sometimes problematic when it comes to recording marks in SA-SAMS.

2. Yes, changes have occurred in the Curriculum. More details can be found in the Guidelines to strengthen CAPS Implementation 2017: FET, as well as the Guidelines to strengthen CAPS Implementation 2017: GET - links available in the right-hand pane on Curriculum Assessment Policy Statements (CAPS). Some of the changes have not been addressed appropriately in SA-SAMS yet, but physical changes in terms of assessment are not dealt with by the EMIS Directorate - this is done on Curriculum's part and should be communicated in a timely fashion. In turn, this puts a lot of strain on the EMIS Directorate to facilitate those changes, through proper channels, to be included in SA-SAMS.

My advice would be to consult with your Provincial EMIS Section to address concerns and find out how they choose to handle any discrepancies between existing CAPS documents and SA-SAMS, until such time that the official changes have been made to both the documents and SA-SAMS.