Relationship between Senior High School Teachers’ Knowledge and Practices of Continuous Assessment (Published)
One major concern of stakeholders in education across the world is how to improve students learning outcomes. To address this, a number of researchers have unearthed various factors that affect students’ learning outcomes and recommended ways of addressing these factors to improve students’ learning outcomes. This study is posited on the fact that key among these factors is the effect of teachers’ assessment practices. The study, therefore, sought to investigate the level of high school teachers’ knowledge of how to assess students’ learning and the relationship between their knowledge and how they implement it in assessing students’ learning formatively. A sample of 75 teachers and 750 students, selected from the 10 senior high schools in Southern Ghana participated in the study. Findings from the study showed, among other things, that though teachers have good knowledge of continuous assessment, there was a sharp contrast between this and their classroom practices. Implications of these findings for policy makers are discussed.
Keywords: Continuous Assessment, Formative assessment, teachers’ knowledge, teachers’ practices