1

DDD Project Pockets Of SuccessStories that tell the real ‘story’ of the work done on the ground

Celebrating Success in Ekurhuleni North

In 2014, the DDD team embarked on a pilot-within-a-pilot programme to support the Ekurhuleni North district

circuits in using the dashboard in a focused manner. With specific reference to circuit 3, we looked at 3 high

performing schools and 3 poor performing schools. The intention was to learn more about what it takes for

districts and schools to leverage the dashboard as a tool so as to drive insights and constructive interventions to

improve teacher performance and ultimately learner outcomes.

One of the poor performing schools Kuzimisela Primary, were selected based on DBE Dashboard analysis that

showed 19% ANA pass rate in 2013. The district and school agreed to launch an ANA intervention for ANA NUM

and ANA LIT especially for grade 3 a week before the ANA exams in 2014. The Dashboard snapshots below

shows a significant improvement of more than 58% in the grade 3 ANA results in 2014.

- Zola Gule - Master Coach in Ekurhuleni North

3

Success Story from Ekurhuleni South

Kashif Oliphant

Acting Principal: Edenpark

Primary School

Ekurhuleni South

June 2015

Recently I used the dashboard, specifically the educator

attendance component to have a conversation with a

teacher about her attendance of the previous term. The

conversation was more of an engagement and not an

authoritative conversation, as the dashboard is able to

accurately show which days she was not at school. This

was very good as the dashboard tells the story.

Things I do differently now, with

the help of the dashboard :

I now manage attendance in a more

collaborative way as I am able to sit with

an educator, and together, we can look at

his / her attendance and come up with

strategies on how to close the gaps

caused by the absenteeism. It is not a

one way conversation any longer. I am

more proactive in managing my school.

My thoughts on the DBE

Dashboard:I see the DBE Dashboard as a

management tool, very user friendly, with

so much info, it makes it so easy for all

the managers to manage what they are

responsible for. It is a tool that help us to

up our curriculum achievements in our

school because we can now have a

clearer view of the reality on the ground.

It helps teachers to teach more

effectively.

We spent some time interviewing our dashboard champions and these are the stories they told

Since the inception of dashboard we have done the following:

1. SMT: All SMT members were trained on the dashboard and how it impacts on our accountability as managers of school

curriculum and human resources. We now analyse, understand and interpret information presented by dashboard that drives

school improvement and performance.

2. Accountability sessions: We use the dashboard to account for every performance done in a term. It helps us to be fair,

objective, just and transparent when we analyse how everyone (teachers and learners) contributed towards the results received

by the school for the term. The programme links every teacher’s performance with his/her subject and affords the opportunity to

plan for improvement. Prior to the dashboard, the teachers thought they were discriminated and targeted when analysis of the

results were done by Principals. Thanks to Data Driven Dashboard we can run Accountability session for Term one 2015 to the

SGB and parents through a data driven dashboard.

3. Teachers’ attendance: Since teachers are aware that record of their school attendance is no longer limited to the Principal’s

office and it is open to all departmental structures, we are experiencing improved school attendance. We presented dashboard to

them and they are aware of what is expected of them. Everyone takes his duties and responsibilities seriously. The programme

helps my office and teachers to link school attendance with subjects’ performance. Teachers are well positioned to introspect and

close down the gaps.

4. Rewarding performance: For the first time this year we are going use information from dashboard to award both teachers and

learners for sterling work done per term. Furthermore we will use same information to motivate and encourage those who did not

do well.

5. Intervention strategies: Every teacher links his/her intervention strategies per subjects with information reflected on the

dashboard. That includes encouraging improved school attendance by teachers and learners. Teachers are well positioned to

identify learners who are bottom achievers and help them improve.

6. Comparative results analysis: Dashboard presents us the opportunity to continuously compare our SBA and ANA performance,

and improve where needed.

-Mr. LJ Matlala at Mmampatile Primary School in Bela Bela Primary School

Our school has welcomed and embraced the introduction of data driven dashboard to

schools. The programme has minimised principals’ frustrations about curriculum

accountability and related issues, and it has maximized and professionalised our

accountability regarding school performance.

The Impact and Fruits of Data Driven Dashboard

5

Success Story from Ekurhuleni South

Richard Carelse

Principal

ES

25-06-2015

As a principal I have learned a lot from the dashboard.

It has improved the quality of my conversations with my SMT,

Educators and SGB. It allows me to show them accurate data

about our school and develop intervention strategies to improve

our performance.

Educators can even develop their own strategies based on the

data. Parents can be part of the progress of their children and

also assist the school to perform better just by interacting with the

data from the dashboard.

Things I do differently now, with

the help of the dashboard :

All conversations are now Data Driven

and interventions are more accurate and

to the point. Educators are taking

accountability for their own targets and

development based on the data on the

dashboard.

My thoughts on the DBE

Dashboard:

It is a very good tool to assist us with

improving the way we look at data.

It has improve the way we capture data

as well as allowing us to conduct critical

conversation with all stakeholders.

Specifically in relation to achievements

and intervention strategies that will allow

us to take the school to the next level.

We spent some time interviewing our dashboard champions and these are the stories they told

Stories from key beneficiaries

Measured Impact and Improved Management

Things I do differently now, with the help of

the dashboard :

I can now conduct concrete conversations using

quality data. The dashboard helps me to

categorise issues based on individual schools

and not generalised assumptions.

When I visit schools, I am not going in there blank

and unprepared. I can now assist schools with

their specific needs and address their critical

issues using the data from the dashboard.

Name: Nombasa Soga

Position: Circuit 3 Manager

District: Gauteng East

Date:25th June 2015

During one of our school support visits, the principal raised

a host of challenges and areas the school was struggling

in. With the help of the master coach we decided to

investigate to get to the root of the problem. It was clear

that we needed a data driven approach and used the DDD

Dashboard to draw insights and uncover some issues.

On analysis we found that one of the root causes of the

school’s performance was the poor relationship between

the Principal and his deputies.

Since then the Principal and his deputies have had a

company that has sponsored them with team alignment

sessions. One of the sessions will be when we review term

2 performance on the dashboard which will inform the team

if there has been any improvement. This means the school

will now be embedding the dashboard usage in their review

processes.

Secondary School in Ekudibeng implementing

interventions

- Circuit Manager in Ekurhuleni North - June 2015

I am the happiest Principal today, I got an email

that our data has been uploaded and really

when I logged on, term 2 data has been

uploaded. I am going to give our staff a preview

of the results before they leave today.

This is really an improvement from the

Dashboard side, thanks that our inputs are really

taken into consideration.

Regards Mr Klaas Mahlahlani – 26 June 2015

Dashboard helps to determine and address root causes

Mr Klaas Mahlahlani is the principal at Dikubu Primary in Naboomspruit. He showed

a keen interest in the dashboard from the first meeting in 2014 , when the

dashboard was shown to Principals. He went ahead and “broke the code” himself in

trying to explore all the components contained in the dashboard.

Stories from key beneficiaries

“The issue of educator and learner attendance came to light first. I immediately realised to link

absenteeism of learners and educators to the overall performance of the learners.

If learners are not doing well and the educator is always absent, it is an obvious case. On the other hand,

if the learners are not doing well even though the teacher is always at school, it highlights a different

issue. The teacher may be struggling with delivery of curriculum in the particular subject. With the help of

the dashboard I am now able to intervene and assist the teacher in that regard.

I can share an example were I picked up, through the dashboard, that there is a teacher in Grade 7 who

is struggling with his subjects. He is a young teacher and just 2 years in the system. We had a meeting

where he admitted that he is struggling with discipline in the classroom. We agreed to move him to a

lower grade to gain experience with younger learners.”

TMED Testimonial

My thoughts on the DBE Dashboard:

It is a very good tool that provides us with the relevant

data we need to execute the entrusted task. Although

my concern is about the authenticity sent by schools

to EMIS whereby you’ll find that evidence is school

mark sheet does not marry with the one captured in

SA-SAMS. This is a clear indicator that verification

needs strengthening.

Those accountable to verify must do it as expected.

As a subject advisor I am able to access the

performance of other subjects to compare

performance with mine as well as be able to compare

circuits performance against each other.Caroline Dhlomo

Subject Advisor Intermediate Phase (Social Science) TMED

24th June 2015

The Dashboard assisted me to conduct a tough conversation with an underperforming teacher. The Dashboard provided me with

the following:

1. It gave me the data regarding the teacher’s attendance i.e. the pattern of his attendance.

2. I was able to compare the teacher’s performance against other subjects as detailed in the achievement indicators whereby

the top teacher achievers and bottom achievers were clearly stated in the Dashboard.

3. It allowed me to track as to whether the school is performing badly in my subject alone or also demonstrating poor

performance in other subjects so that I can address the matter with the SMT.

4. The Dashboard also highlights learners having learning barriers that allows us to act quickly, plan intervention that can

provide learner support.

Things I do differently now, with the help of the

dashboard :

Initially, whenever I visited the school, I used to be demeaning and

controlling. For example if learners did not showcase adequate

quantity of written work as expected or required, I normally

requested admin clerks to print me the attendance data, request

time registers, leave registers etc just to track or trace where the

problem lies. But ever since getting onto the dashboard I am able

to access all the above-mentioned data prior to visiting the school.

I am able to analyse performance and provide support relevantly

to the challenge or need. It is really ‘”my life saver””.

Dashboard helps to determine and address root causes

Mr Masekela is the district planning

manager in Naboomspruit and is a

dashboard advocate.

My interest in the dashboard ignited when I was afforded the

opportunity to present the Dashboard at a national conference,

hosted by the Minister of Basic Education. It was such an

honour.

I have since then taken the lead in sharing the dashboard at

every management meeting.

The Dashboard also assists me when I need to support the

District Senior Manager in planning and preparing for a next

term. The dashboard highlights all the areas that we need to

focus our attention on, where to allocate resources and identifies

priority schools that need our support and guidance.

- Mr Masekela, the District planning manager

The regular use of the dashboard

assisted me to have a better view and

understanding of my overall school

performance. Having immediate access

to my school’s data has given me the

confidence to assist the HODs to plan

and implement interventions to address

underperforming subjects in specific

grades and improve poor educator

attendance.

- Mr Ranyao, Deputy Principal at

Qwelang Primary School in Sedibeng

West

Stories from key beneficiaries

10

Testimonial from Ekurhuleni South

Sizwe Mahlasela

Administrator/ ICT Co-

ordinator

District: Ekurhuleni South

24th June 2015

Things I do differently now, with the help of

the dashboard :

My thoughts on the DBE Dashboard:

We spent some time interviewing our dashboard champions and these are the stories they told

The project has been a success and very efficient

when it comes to presenting the core stats that staffs

at schools level need. It has been a perfect working

tool for our school because SMT members are able to

view the information they need regarding their fellow

team members and the performance of their

departments. And moreover, it helps them to be able

to plan ahead based on the stats provided by the

Dashboard. For future reference, I suggest that DBE

Dashboard be updated weekly if possible. A system

should be created for schools to be able to upload the

data that has been validated and correct. The DB

should not only focus on educators but include PS as

well.

Our school has been able to do a proper planning with

regards to Subjects that we need to focus on and also

on educators that do need support. The availability of

it has made the management to be able to ascertain

issues affecting the school’s progress (measurement

of performance) . Honestly the impact that DBE

Dashboard has thus far on our school has been

nothing but positive.

DBE Dashboard has been a driving force since it

was introduced, the manner in which it presents

our data is very brilliant and efficient. Schools

and IDSO’s are able to relate easily because of

the DBE Dashboard that is easily accessible.

Furthermore, this has given our district the ability

to track performances of schools at a click of a

button which was not possible before the

Dashboard. The District also has access to

quality information which will lead to proper

curriculum planning for schools that need

support.

This is perfect. Keep it Up!!!!

SN Mahlasela

11

Success Story from Gauteng East

Name: Judith Ntamane

Position:

Principal(Moshoeshoe Pri Sch)

District: Gauteng East

Date:25th June 2015

Things I do differently now, with

the help of the dashboard :

The dashboard is being used when I

have meetings with my SMT. This

tool is greatly utilised because of my

findings in respect to learner

performance which is merged

against educator attendance

attached to that particular learner.

My thoughts on the DBE

Dashboard:

My thoughts about the dashboard is

simple…we have to feed in accurate

data in SA-SAMS as this will allow us

to fully utilise the data on the

dashboard without second guessing

if its correct or not. The Valistractor is

also a great tool that can help us to

check if the data captured is correct.

We spent some time interviewing our dashboard champions and these are the stories they told

The use of the dashboard has helped me tremendously in

knowing my overall school performance. Especially when it

come to having immediate access to the general pass rate,

individual learner and educator performance. These are

critical indicators that we use to identify and implement

interventions.

Dashboard helps to determine and address root causes

“During a school visit , I took the principal through his

school dashboard. When looking at the achievement

by subject, it became evident that the home language

was one of the weakest subjects.

This led to a discussion about how the demographics

of the area had changed and as a result the home

language of the learners was no longer Zulu but now

rather Sotho.”

– Cluster Leader in Gauteng East.

“One of the challenges that the dashboard presented

was the performance gap between foundation phase

and intermediate phase. The root cause was that

learners at foundation phase learn Maths in their

home language and then switch over to English

when they move over to the intermediate phase. This

meant that educators in the intermediate phase had

to spend almost half the year doing foundation work

in English.

“ – Coach from Ekurhuleni North

The principal had reported this before to the district

with no response. The outcome: hard evidence to

motivate a change in home language at the school.

The outcome : Siphethu has asked the district to

switch to English as a medium of instruction from

grade one. The district have agreed and granted

the school permission to teach in English.

Quotes from key beneficiaries

Quotes from key beneficiaries

Measured Impact and Improved Management

“There is a saying that says you

can't manage what you can’t

measure. The dashboard allows me

to track and measure performance

and chase targets on all levels - this

is an excellent management tool

that will drive improvement.“

- Comment from Circuit Team

Workshop

“The dashboard mirrors the

quality of the SA-SAMS data of all

my schools.

The dashboard helps me during

school visits to emphasise the

importance of data integrity and

the need for capturing accurate

data.

The outcome has been

remarkable, and has significantly

improved the quality of data

received from schools.”

- CIA in Sedibeng East

"I now realise the importance of

capturing accurate data onto SA-SAMS,

because that information captured,

informs the dashboard. It is crucial for

us as school management teams to be

more involved in the data capturing

process“

-Principal in TMED

“For the first time we know what is

going on in our schools"

- Principal in Gauteng East

“As educators we have now

become accountable“

Principal in Gauteng East

“My management of the school has

changed because I can see which

areas of my school are under

performing“

- Principal in Gauteng East "The dashboard will enable us to

provide better support and

determine intervention strategies

for the different schools "

SMDG in TMED

“The dashboard shares insights that

were not always visible across

sections. The transparency is

refreshing and will allow us to work

better across circuits and as an

informed district team"

-Circuit Manager in Sedibeng East

“The dashboard is very helpful

in managing my school as I

don’t have to wait for printed

reports and information from the

staff in order for me to act”

- Principal in Gauteng East