Schools- Based Assessment: A Case Study of Selected Public Junior Secondary Schools (Published)
This study examined the relevance of schools based assessment: A case study of selected public junior secondary schools in Ikpoba – Okha Local Government Area. The study also sought to examine the relevance of using school assessment as a strategy for the evaluation of teaching and learning specifically. Three research questions were raised to guide the study. The study adopted the descriptive survey research design. The population comprised the teachers in the 24 public junior secondary schools in Ikpoba – Okha Local Government area of Edo State. The simple random sampling method was used to select the sample. Sixty questionnaires were administered and the entire questionnaires were returned and analyzed using mean and standard deviation. The results revealed that teachers have a good perception of school-based assessment, and their application was to a low degree. Based on the findings, it was recommended among others that teachers should apply various assessment techniques in teaching of any subjects. School authorities should make it compulsory that all schools must be involved in school-based assessment; and teachers should be encouraged to employ varieties of evaluation instruments in the assessments of students.
Imasuen Kennedy1 and I.F. Iyamu (2021) Schools- Based Assessment: A Case Study of Selected Public Junior Secondary Schools, British Journal of Education, Vol. 9, Issue 11, pp.32-43
Keywords: Assessment, Curriculum, Performance, School-based assessment, assessment techniques
Formative Assessment Practices of Senior High School Teachers in the Ashanti Mampong Municipality of Ghana (Published)
This study investigated the Senior High School (SHS) teachers’ formative assessment practices in the Mampong Municipality of Ghana. Three research questions guided the study: What is SHS teachers’ knowledge of formative assessment? What are SHS teachers’ formative assessment practices? How does formative assessment contribute to improvement in teaching and learning? Stratified and simple random sampling methods were used to select 80 teachers from the four public SHSs in the Municipality for the study. The study used a questionnaire for data collection. The study revealed that about half of the teachers lacked the conception of formative assessment and its sub-concepts. Generally, the teachers were involved in certain practices which unknown to them were formative assessment practices. They saw these practices as norms and daily routines that needed to be done as part of the teaching and learning procedures. To them, these practices contributed to improvement in teaching and learning. From the findings, the researchers recommended that, to increase the understanding of SHS teachers on formative assessment and its sub-concepts, pre-service teacher training must place much emphasis on the theory and practice of formative assessment and in-service training activities should be organised for teachers already in the field. Stakeholders of education need to give this the needed support.
Keywords: Assessment, Continuous Assessment, School-based assessment, Senior High School, Summative Assessment, formative assessment practices
The Understanding of Senior High School Mathematics Teachers of School-Based Assessment and Its Challenges in the Cape Coast Metropolis (Published)
This study focuses on the understanding of mathematics teachers of School-Based Assessment (SBA). It explores the challenges mathematics teachers in the Senior High School face in the management of assessment and ways of improving assessment practices. A total of 110 educators comprising 100 male and 10 female mathematics teachers participated in the study. A questionnaire and an interview schedule were used to collect data for the study and frequencies and percentages were used to analyze the data. Findings revealed that mathematics teachers in Senior High Schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis do not understand SBA guidelines and do not use them so they still practise the old ‘continuous assessment’ scheme which seems to be directing classroom practices. Considering the revelations from the study that majority of the teachers still used dated continuous assessment, it is obvious that they are not abreast with new trends and development relating to assessment practices. In view of this, in-service training in the form of workshops and seminars could greatly contribute to upgrading their skills and introducing them to effective ways of implementing SBA. This is clearly acknowledged in the submissions of majority of the teachers involved in the study. Taking cognizance of the universal nature of the teaching, learning and assessment of mathematics, it is likely that the problems associated with it in the schools in Cape Coast Metropolis would be found elsewhere across the globe. This study therefore seeks to serve as basis for similar studies in different jurisdictions so as to make its finding more encompassing.
Keywords: Mathematics, School-based assessment, Senior High School