TEACHER’S ATTITUDES TO THE USE OF CONTINUOUS ASSESSMENT IN SELECTED SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN IJEBU-NORTH LOCAL GOVERNMENT AREA OGUN STATE (EDUCATION PROJECT TOPICS AND MATERIALS)
ABSTRACT
This research is on the Effective Utilisation of Continuous Assessment in secondary schools. The National Policy on Education prescribes that students’ progress should be based on continuous assessment plus examination throughout the study in the secondary schools. This has become an integral part of the final certification of students at the secondary school level. However, of all the factors that may contribute to the failure or otherwise of the continuous assessment policy in the educational system, the attitudes of teachers towards its administration has been identified as the most critical. Hence, the study set out to investigate the attitude of teachers towards continous assessment in selected secondary schools in Ijebu North Local Government of Ogun State.
Meanwhile, the descriptive research design technique was used and simple tabulation, percentage analysis as well as t test statistics were used to analyse the research data. Also, the researcher used the self administered questionnaire as the major instrument while the conventional survey research was the method adopted.
At the end, the researcher was able to conclude that male and female. Low and high experience, junior and senior teachers in the local government have a positive attitudinal disposition towards the use of continuous assessment in secondary school. It is therefore recommended that efforts should be made that assessment of the students is made continuous to enable them perform better academically.
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the study
The educative process is an evolving one, so also is the process for assessment of the learning outcomes resulting from it. Assessments in Africa and indeed in Nigeria have developed along the same line of that formalised education.
Continuous assessment is not a new experience in the school system in some parts of the country from the time immemorial instructions were given to schools pertaining evidence of continuous assessment, it has usually been insisted upon by supervisors as a pre-condition for government assistance. This gave rise to the fortnightly tests which were conducted and whose results were recorded in report cards the students take home to show their parents.
However, there was usually a conspicuous display of the performance of each student on a chart called ‘Progress Chart’ in each classroom. Continuous Assessment provides the necessary feedback we require in order to maximize the outcomes of educational effort. The assessment of learners’ learning provides objective evidence necessary in the decision making process in education. As correctly pointed out by Cone and Foster (1991),’good measurement resulting in accurate data is the foundation of sound decision making’.
Education various functions among which, is to bring about modification in the behaviour of the learner in his cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains. The cognitive domain is the aspect that deals with the amount of knowledge a learner is able to acquire mentally during the course of an instruction. The affective domain is the aspect where the development of the personality lies.
Continuous assessment is an important tool for the successful implementation of the policy on education. It is therefore a matter of concern that many teachers do not understand what the concept means, its purpose and how best to practice it in the new education system to achieve the stated objectives of education.
Majority of our teachers in our school today do not understand the assessment test mark and analysts of the results. Even when they do give test
occasionally, they hardly analyze the scores of their students in order to get the required information there from. It is no exaggeration that some teachers do not even mark the scripts of their students in such tests.
