CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

        Continuous assessment is one of the new concepts introduced in the Nigeria educational system with the new national policy on education in short it is an interval part of the new system of education otherwise known as the 9-3-3-4 system. Assessment is an essential element in the educational process. A teacher must make some measurements of the extent to which the learning experiences of students have enabled them, achieve the stated objectives of the course of study.

        Ohunche on Odili (2001) defines assessment as an involving the determination for the value and work of a thing implies making decision. The changing needs and attitude of individual children call for a continuous evaluation of such needs and trials in order to enable the children understand themselves better. Their teachers to improve on their teaching methods, the parents and guidance understood the children, so that educational vocational and personal social decision can be realistically made on them. Scholars have looked at the issues of the attitude of students towards assessment in educational system and have seen that the success education will ever offer is seriously tied to the facilities relevant to it. According to Peretomode (2007) stock of educational facilities in public school system in Nigeria is enormous even at the present state of their insufficient and inadequacy. They represent substantial financial outlay to the tax payer. Establishing new educational facilities is no longer that easy because of the current state of economic depression and constantly raising costs. Edem (2008) seeing the importance and position influence of school facilities to educational achievement of students said. It is the duty of the ministry or the board of education to make furniture’s, equipment, books and expendable materials available to schools. Their inadequacy constitutes another source of frustration and disillusion among teachers. African leaders earnestly desire good education programmes for their people, but in many cases the resources are so merger that little progress can be made.           

        According to Inyong Abia (2002) continuous assessment are the pivot on which the wheel of teaching and learning process rotates. As cited by Inyang Abia (2004) the use of continuous assessment is the most significant aspect of influence for students effective performance. According to Bayo (2005) the availability of continuous assessment in learning process have the potency for motivating and focusing learners attention on the lesson being presented.

        According to Obi (2003), a good continuous assessment can make the following contributions. Promote the development of ready skills and encourage long term habits through ready, listening and etc those learning habits from the key to continuous success in school and to the personal encouragement of leisure this throughout line. Assessment is not merely testing (Osokoya, 2006), it is a process through which the quality of an individual work or performance is judged (Mwebaza, 2010). In relation to school setting. Greaney (2001) defines assessment as any procedure or activity that is designed to collect information about the knowledge, attitude, or skills of the learner or group of learners. Thus, in the context of education, assessment can be defined as a predetermined process through which the quality of a student’s performance in the three domains of educational objectives (cognitive, affective, and psychomotor) is judged. Assessment of students learning of curriculum contents in the area of knowledge, skills, and values is a major pre-occupation of many educational reforms. This is because results from such assessment not only provide feedbacks regarding the educational progress of students but remain the authentic yardstick for gaining the effectiveness of the teacher, the quality of instruction and in part the functionality of any curriculum reform. Continuous assessment as an assessment carried out in an ongoing process (Mwebaza, 2010) is an objective judgment considered an important part of structured assessment purposely designed and administered to enable the teacher to evaluate some aspect of a students learning of a specific time.

        A number of characterizations of continuous assessment exist in the literature. According to Agawam cited in Mwebaza (2010) continuous assessment not simply continuous testing. Continuous assessment does not solely depend on formal tests. Continuous assessment is more than giving a test; it involves every decision made by the teacher in class to improve students achievement. Continuous assessment as only a part of the field of educational evaluation is a method of evaluating the process and achievement of students in educational institutions (Yoloye, 2006). This means that continuous assessment could be used to predict future student’s performance in the final examinations and the possible success of individuals at the work place or on a particular job. Continuous assessment is a formative evaluation procedure concerned with finding out in a systematic manner, all gains that a student’s has made in terms of knowledge, attitudes and skills after a given set of learning experience (Ogunniyi, 2004). A more comprehensive definition of continuous assessment is given by Ezewu and Okoye (2007). They see continuous assessment within the educational context as a systematic and objective process of determining the extent of a student’s performance and all the expected changes in his behaviour from the day he enter into a course of study in a continuous and progressive manner to the end of such a course of study and judicious accumulation of all pieces of information derived from this purpose, with a view to using them to guide and shape the students in his learning from time to time and to serve as bases for important decision about the child.         

        Continuous assessment is defined as a mechanism whereby the final grading of a students in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains of behaviour takes account in a systematic way, of all his performances during a given period of schooling. Such an assessment involves a great variety of modes of evaluation for the purpose of guiding and improving the learning and performance of the student (Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Education). Continuous assessment is an ongoing diagnostic and school based process that uses a variety of assessment tool to measure learners performance (Zambia Ministry of Education, 2007). Continuous assessment could also be defined as a mechanism whereby the final grading of learners progress in the cognitive, affective.

STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

        The research work is designed to investigate the attitude and competence of teachers to conduct continuous assessment in selected secondary schools in Edo State. This study will examine the problem of the implementation of the continuous assessment encountered by teachers in our secondary schools and the useful suggestions to relevant authorities.

RESEARCH QUESTIONS

1. Do teachers assess students learning outcomes after teaching?
2. Does practice of continuous assessment enhance teacher’s effective evaluation of students?
3. Do teachers keep continuous assessment record?
4. Do teachers use varieties of evaluation instrument?
5. Does continuous assessment helps in improving performance of students in economics?

PURPOSE OF THE STUDY

The purpose of this study is out lined below, this researcher wants to find:

1. The factors affecting the implementation of continuous assessment in selected secondary school sin Edo State.
2. If the school teachers are adequately equipped to participate natively in the implementation of the continuous assessment programme of then state government.
3. Teachers know the difference between continuous assessment and the traditional system of testing students.

SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

        Education development sustains the growth of the entire action. We need adequate assessment method that would show exactly what on wishes to know about the individual. This explains why teacher attitude and competence in implementing continuous assessment is a necessity for all teachers in the new educational system in Nigeria.

        This work will equip the classroom teachers to implement the continuous assessment in their various schools it will direct and inform teachers on area of the behaviuor of the children to adopt in achieving these purpose.

        Teachers also see continuous assessment as an acceptable and beneficial development in the evaluation of their input and students performance. This also enables the teacher to periodically assess his work and get motivation for greater action for progress especially when outcomes are positive.

SCOPE

        This work is predicted on selected secondary schools in Egor Local Government Area in Edo State with a view of evaluating teachers attitude and competence in implementing continuous assessment in secondary schools in the 6-3-3-4 educational system.

DEFINITION OF TERMS

        The following terms are defined as used in the study in order to avoid misinterpretation by different individuals.

Continuous Assessment: This is a method of ascertaining what a pupils gains from school in terms of knowledge, industry and character development, taking into account all his/her performance in test assessment, project and other educational activities during a given period which an education should determine.

Implementation: The act or process of putting into effect some operations plans, policies or idea is known as implementation.

Competence: This has to do with efficiency, the ability to be skillful, knowledgeable and to be effective in performing given tasks. It implies the possession of specialized skills active performance in specialized area like teaching field.

Cognitive Domain: A behavioural objective of remembering of something which had been learned.

Psychomotor Domain: The psychomotor domain deals with manipulative skills and body movement.

Affective Domain: It has to do with values and beliefs attitudes and appreciation interested social relation, emotional adjustment and life style.

6-3-3-4: The new system of education in Nigeria has spent out by the 1981 national policy on education broken down as;

6- Years primary education

3 – Years junior secondary education  

3 – Years senior secondary education

4 - Years tertiary or post secondary education

        The basis assumption in respect of this work is as follows:

        The basis for the assumption in respect of this work is as followed:

1. There is no student preference for any method of assessment.
2. Continuous assessment is not very adopted in school in local government area under study.
3. Most teachers do not know when, who and why continuous assessment is being used recommended in schools.
4. Most teachers have the motion that continuous assessment of students work is a difficult task due to regular administrative scoring and record of task.
5. That so many especially the old breed in the profession not understand the whole concept of continuous assessment.

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