Professor Surette van Staden completed her undergraduate studies at the University of Pretoria (UP) and has been doing research at UP since 2002. She says UP has an excellent reputation as a research-intensive university and is a leader in the African higher education landscape.

Prof Van Staden says her research matters because the importance of firm foundations in reading literacy, especially in the early years, is undisputed. About 78% of young children in South Africa cannot read for meaning, and this lack of basic ability is not encouraging for their success in later grades, other subject areas and for their future prospects if they progress to Grade 12.

UP’s Centre for Evaluation and Assessment (CEA) is the national research coordinating centre for the Progress in International Reading Literacy Study (PIRLS) in South Africa. The study assesses reading literacy at Grade 4 and takes place in five-year cycles, with more than 60 countries from geographical areas across the globe participating. South Africa’s participation in PIRLS includes the 2006, 2011 and 2016 cycles of assessment. The latest PIRLS 2021 results will be published at the end of 2022.

Researchers from Stellenbosch University found that the reported trend growth between the PIRLS 2011 and 2016 cycles were underestimated, when in fact, more growth had taken place. While this news was encouraging, the nature of growth still provides evidence that growth occurred only at the lower ends of the reading comprehension skills scales.

Additional analysis of PIRLS 2016 data, as presented in 2021 at the European Conference for Education Research, shows that socioeconomic status is still the overriding factor that impedes growth and development for children who attend schools in poor communities, which have a lack of resources at home and at school. Prof Van Staden says they are eagerly awaiting the results of South Africa’s participation in PIRLS 2021, a study for which data collection was conducted between August and October 2021.

In 2021, the efforts of Prof Nic Spaull and the Human Rights Commission resulted in a Constitutional Court ruling that all children have the right to basic education by age 10. The PIRLS low international benchmark reading skills are used as a guideline for what basic reading constitutes. “Without this data and these benchmarks, rulings like these were likely to remain unattainable with nothing tangible against which to measure progress using international benchmarks.” That is why her research matters, says Prof Van Staden.

She is inspired by her colleagues at the International Association for the Evaluation of Education Achievement, the PIRLS study centre leaders at Boston College and National Research Coordinators from participating PIRLS countries. “They inspire me with their continued effort to effectively monitor their respective education systems to bring about change if and where needed.”

Her role models include, among others, her colleagues at the CEA, Prof Servaas van der Berg, Prof Irma Eloff, Prof Kobus Maree, Prof Lilli Pretorius and Prof Elbie Henning. She will always be indebted to Prof Sarah Howie who gave her an opportunity as a junior researcher at the CEA.

Prof Van Staden adds that when she was working on data analysis for her PhD, Prof Roel Bosker of the Groningen Institute for Education Research at the University of Groningen in the Netherlands was generous in providing assistance and co-authoring subsequent research articles with her. “I also had great admiration for Prof Tim Dunne of the University of Cape Town’s Department of Statistics, whose untimely passing in 2016 is still difficult to fathom.”

Prof Van Staden’s hope for her academic work and research endeavour is to do the best she can for as long as she can with integrity, honesty and humility.

Her advice to school learners and undergraduates who are interested in her field is to work hard and consistently, and encourages them to remember that for every success there are many failed attempts.

In her spare time, Prof Van Staden enjoys reading, singing in a choir and motorbiking with her husband.