Exemplary schools in South Africa: schools serving poor communities but achieving success against all odds

This report provides details of research activities and major findings. The report provides a literature of school effect and what is known about exemplary schools in South Africa. Section three employs large scale datasets in South Africa to provide evidence and characteristics of exemplary schools in South Africa. In section case studies methodology are employed to explore teaching and teacher characteristics of exemplary schools in Limpopo, one of the poorest provinces in South Africa. Section five examines the leadership qualities from a case study of an exemplary school. The last section of the report provides a summary of major findings from the study with implications for school quality improvement in South Africa.