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TEACHER PERCEPTIONS OF THE IMPLEMENTATION OF THE NATIONAL CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT PROGRAMME IN A PRIMARY SCHOOL

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1 Background to the study

One of the functions of a school is the certification of the individual learner under its embrace, but beyond certification, the process that leads to this certification is very essential. To effectively carry out this role, assessment of one kind or the other is a pre-requisite The National Policy on Education (NPE), 2004 edition recommended the use of continuous assessment for taking summative decisions on students' level of attainment at the end of any level of schooling (Esere and Idowu, 2015). Continuous Assessment is one of an essential element used in the process of certification or award of completion or excellence to student in order to determine if learning have taken place. According to Osokoya (2010), various authors’ definition of continuous assessment is finding out what the students have gained from learning activities in terms of knowledge, thinking and reasoning, character development and industry. This thought indicated that continuous assessment is beyond cognitive assessment; unlike before 1977 National Policy on Education where all other aspects of human development were not considered for assessment. Every individual as a whole is made up of spirit, body and mind, which cater for individual physical, psychological and emotional state. Hence, for a thorough continuous assessment to be made, the totality of an individual should be considered in assessment. Continuous assessment as a system of school examination was introduced nationwide in 1982 following the restructuring of the Nigeria school system (Akindoju and Banjoko, 2010).

According to Mwebaza (2005), following the World Bank (1988) Policy Paper, “Education in Sub-Saharan Africa, which recommended, “a renewed commitment to academic standards principally through strengthening examination systems” (World Bank 1988: 93), the first plenary meeting of the Donors to African Education (DAE) now called Association for Education Development in Africa (AEDA), reflecting the mood and development in many countries, addressed the need to improve education quality. The same commission emphasized the importance of both continuous assessment and final examinations. The Jomtien declaration (1990) in Thailand about Education for All (EFA) required definitions targets for quality improvement and it specified a need to assess students achievement (Kellagan, 2003). This is why the White Paper (1992) on the Education for National Integration and Development recommended that schools should maintain a cumulative record card on continuous internal assessment including class performance. Since then, teachers have continued to carry out continuous assessment in schools.

 According to Aina and Adedo (2013), assessment is very important in teaching and learning process, through assessment, feedback could be provided to both students and teachers. Assessment is either internal or external. Internal assessment refers to school-based assessment, which includes class assignments, teacher-made tests, recap exercises, projects, field studies and all these tools form part of the classroom continuous assessment. A continuous assessment strategy refers to the different tools/procedures used in the classroom to understand the academic achievement levels of learners in terms of their knowledge, attitudes and values. Also a strategy in assessment is a purposefully conceived and determined plan of action. It is a pattern of assessment that seems to attain certain outcomes and to guard against others (Mwebaza, 2005).  External assessment refers to tests that are produced by examining bodies away from school. This study goes beyond certification but process of assessment.

In Nigeria, Educational Planners and Administrators are now more conscious than ever before of their role in the nationwide scheme of curriculum innovation. Not only have new courses been introduced and new contents injected into existing subjects, a fundamental change in the system of assessment of students’ performance has also emerged through the formalization of continuous assessment as a major component of evaluation process (Oyesola, 1986; Idowu & Esere, 2009). The repeated emphasis being placed on continuous assessment is a clear evidence of its importance. As in the former system, the student's academic achievement is based only on one test, which is the final year examination. At the secondary school level, the position is not different during the former system of education when  students' achievement from forms one to five are determined by only one examination in the West African School Certificate Examinations, given at the end of the fifth year of schooling. To teachers amazement is even the fact that , the external examining body employs outsiders to mark the students scripts for them, thus completely separating the teacher from his/her students. A purpose of secondary (High School) education in Nigeria is to prepare students for tertiary level education though not everybody that graduates from this level of education actually proceeds. Assessment is one way of determining how well this is done; to that extent it is an important component of secondary education. It can be looked at from micro and macro levels. At the macro level assessment is designed to collect information for purposes of certification and very often school assessments are integrated into results obtained for deciding on quality of performance in the examinations conducted by the examination boards external to the school. At the micro level assessments are conducted at the school level and these have been variously described as continuous assessments and school-based assessments. According to Afemikhe and Omo-Egbekuse (2010), these assessments are used for determining progression from one class to another. The outcome of the school curriculum depends so much on the effectiveness of the assessment and evaluation system put in place by the stakeholders in the education. This explains the introduction of the continuous assessment by the Government in all schools instead of leaving a one-in-all summative evaluation at the end of the academic program.

1.2. Statement of the Problem

Despite the effort of teachers particularly in secondary school to fulfill and complete expected continuous assessment report, the process has been observed to lack the objectivity and not actually fulfilling that aspect of general objective of evaluating the set behavioral outcomes of the learner i.e. the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domain of the learner. It has been observed that the methods and aims of continuous assessment is yet to be actualized yet secondary school teachers in Nigeria continue to implement continuous testing in the place of continuous assessment.

Continuous assessment is used to find out what the students have gained from learning activities. This learning activity is beyond what is obtained in test, assignment and end of the term examination but involves the aggregate of the student’s class participation, interaction among peers, group associations, school societies and other extracurricular activities are also evaluated. All these form the basis of the learner’s outcome that is recorded as continuous assessment. The Assessment covers all aspects of school experience both within and outside the classroom. It covers the cognitive as well as the affective and psychomotor aspects of learning. This study will attempt to analyze the extent of the understanding and the attitude of the classroom teachers, principals, head of schools, examination officers etc., as well as the process by which it is been carried out.

1.3. Objective of the Study

The purpose of this study is to establish the teacher perceptions of the implementation of the national continuous assessment programme in primary schools, Hence, the following objectives were highlighted;

i.                 To find out the continuous assessment reporting strategies used by teachers in Secondary Schools.

ii.               To find out the teachers’ perception to continuous assessment strategies.

1.4. Significance of the Study

The findings of this study might contribute in the following ways:

I.                The research results would be relevant for teachers on the need to develop and use planned instruments in the assessment of learning attainments.

II.              It will help teachers, Principals, school guidance and counselors, examination officers and other major role players in behavioral outcomes evaluation on the utilization of instruments for the assessment of personality characteristics and psychomotor behaviors.

III.            It will also help the teachers to develop right attitude towards scoring and interpretation of scores from assessment instruments.

IV.            This research will serve as a basis for further studies that will improve student behavioral outcomes evaluation.

1.5. Research Questions

❖    What are the teachers’ perceptions on continuous assessment strategies in    

            Secondary schools?   

1.6. Scope of the Study

The Study will cover teachers in both private and public secondary schools in Abeokuta Metropolis, Ogun State of Nigeria. The study will revolve around teacher’s perspectives towards continuous assessment and strategies employed in scoring, interpretation of scores and recording being used by the teachers in secondary schools.

1.7 Definition of terms

Continuous Assessment: this is the methods of determining what learning activities have taken place in the learner in relation to the student performance in the three domains of learning.

Perception of teachers: the attitude and knowledge of classroom teachers about continuous assessment, as well as strategies employs by teachers in assessing their students.

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