Effect of Test Accessibility on Biology Students’ Test Scores in Secondary Schools in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria (Published)
This study examined the effect of test accessibility on Biology students’ test scores in secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. To achieve this purpose, three research questions and three hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. Quasi-experimental research design was adopted for the study. The population of the study consisted of 6,684 senior secondary two students in Akwa Ibom State. A sample size of 643 students was used for the study and they were selected using simple random sampling technique. A Biology achievement test was the instrument used for data collection on test scores of the students. The instrument was duly validated and subjected to reliability analysis which was 0.71 before being used for the study. The research questions were answered using mean and standard deviation while the hypotheses were tested using ANCOVA at 0.05 alpha level. The results showed that there was significant difference in the students’ test scores in Biology in secondary schools based on test response format, extended time and read aloud accommodations. From the results of the study, it was concluded that test accessibility significantly contributes to Biology students’ test scores in secondary schools in Akwa Ibom State, Nigeria. Based on the findings of the study, it was recommended that test accessibility should be adopted by teachers and test administrators since it can lead to significant improvement in the test scores of students in schools.
Keywords: Test accessibility, extended time, read aloud, test response format, test score