National standardized assessments in South Africa: Policy and power play

In South Africa the modern outlook towards time may be said to have started in 1948. Both the two major observatories, The Royal Observatory in Cape Town and the Union Observatory (now known as the Republic Observatory) in Johannesburg had, of course, been involved in the astronomical determination of time almost from their inception, and the Johannesburg Observatory has been responsible for the official time of South Africa since 1908. However the pendulum clocks then in use could not be relied on to provide an accuracy better than about 1/10 second, which was of the same order as that of the astronomical observations. It is doubtful if much use was made of even this limited accuracy outside the two observatories, and although there may – occasionally have been a demand for more accurate time, it was certainly not voiced.

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Indirect Rule in South Africa

10.1017/upo9781580467421 ◽

2009 ◽

Author(s):

J. C. Myers

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Indirect Rule

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Phonological Awareness Screening to Identify At-Risk Readers

Language Speech and Hearing Services in Schools ◽

10.1044/0161-1461.2902.109 ◽

1998 ◽

Vol 29 (2) ◽

pp. 109-116 ◽

Cited By ~ 14

Author(s):

Margie Gilbertson ◽

Ronald K. Bramlett

Keyword(s):

At Risk ◽

Phonological Awareness ◽

Reading Ability ◽

At Risk Students ◽

First Grade ◽

Receptive Vocabulary ◽

Standardized Assessments ◽

Cutoff Score ◽

Invented Spelling ◽

Reading Measures

The purpose of this study was to investigate informal phonological awareness measures as predictors of first-grade broad reading ability. Subjects were 91 former Head Start students who were administered standardized assessments of cognitive ability and receptive vocabulary, and informal phonological awareness measures during kindergarten and early first grade. Regression analyses indicated that three phonological awareness tasks, Invented Spelling, Categorization, and Blending, were the most predictive of standardized reading measures obtained at the end of first grade. Discriminant analyses indicated that these three phonological awareness tasks correctly identified at-risk students with 92% accuracy. Clinical use of a cutoff score for these measures is suggested, along with general intervention guidelines for practicing clinicians.

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Combining Professional Interests and Travel: People to People Citizen Ambassador Program

Perspectives on Global Issues in Communication Sciences and Related Disorders ◽

10.1044/gics1.2.47 ◽

2011 ◽

Vol 1 (2) ◽

pp. 47-54

Author(s):

Alex Johnson ◽

Amanda Hitchins

Keyword(s):

South Africa ◽

Health Education ◽

Communication Disorders ◽

Social Conditions ◽

Speech Language Pathologists ◽

Exchange Program

Abstract This article summarizes a series of trips sponsored by People to People, a professional exchange program. The trips described in this report were led by the first author of this article and include trips to South Africa, Russia, Vietnam and Cambodia, and Israel. Each of these trips included delegations of 25 to 50 speech-language pathologists and audiologists who participated in professional visits to learn of the health, education, and social conditions in each country. Additionally, opportunities to meet with communication disorders professionals, students, and persons with speech, language, or hearing disabilities were included. People to People, partnered with the American Speech-Language-Hearing Association (ASHA), provides a meaningful and interesting way to learn and travel with colleagues.

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