University of Nigeria Virtual Library

Serial No.

Author 1

UGWUJA .J. O

Author 2

Author 3

Title

The need for Reform in the Continuous Assessment Mode (CAM) of Evaluation in

Primary Schools in Nigeria for Uniformity in Scoring and Evaluation Outcomes

Keywords

Description

Education Sector Reform in Nigeria: What?

Why? How? And Sustainability

Category

Education

Publisher

Journal of Curriculum Organization of Nigeria (CON)

Publication Date

Signature

irlr, 14EEI) FOR REFORM IN TIIII:, CONTINUOUS ASSISSSMENT '"ODE (CAM) OF IWALUATION IN PRTMARY SCIIOOI~S IN

NIGERIA FOR UNIFORMITY IN SCOI

stud~cs. 1'11oi to the year 1981, when Continuous Assessment Mode of evaluation (CAM) was rntr-oduccd In schools, scores obtained from the biweekly or monthly tcsts of kx.hcrs wcrc ncvcr incorposatcd in the final grading and certification of the students ~ 1 1 thc cntl 01' proy.;\mrnc. Also, tcsts ndtninistcred by teachers in schools, assessed pr~nc~p;llly only the cognitive domain, to the neglect of the psychomotor and eff'cctive domnrns of cclucat~onal objcclivcs (FMI;,: 1985).The CAM of evaluation was therefore ~ntrocluccd i n schools so that some of thesc shortcomings in the asscssmcnt, evaluation md ccstrllcatlon ol' thc students, will eithcr bc eradicated or reduced to their berest tnlnrmum.

Ipayc, 11s cited in Nworgu (2003), defines C. A. as a proccss that dclibcrately ;illows Sol periodic assessment of a pupil throughout thc course and which takes into xcocrnt thc extent to which the goal or targct is being attamed on cumuiativc basis. Thc pcsl'or~nanccs ol' a pupil are continually judgcd by thc tcachcr through this system.

I t is also dcfincd in I-Ioste and 13loom.(1075) as, "thc systematic collcctlon of n ~ ~ k s or griidcs over n pcriod of timc and thcir aggregation into a final grade" A 1l11nd I30ok on Continuous Asscssnlcnt (CA) rclcascd by thc Fcdel'al Ministry of l~duci~tion, Sc~cncc ml 'l'cchnology (1985:8), dcf'incd C. A. as:

A rncchanism whereby the final grading of a studcnt in cognitive, all'cctivc and psychomotor domains of' bchaviour tiikcs i~ccount, in a systcmatic way, of all hi; performance duslng a given pcriod of schooling: such an asscssmcnt involves the use or a great varicty of modcs of cvaluation I'or the purpose of gurding and improving lcarning or pcrl'ormance of' the students. I

I

In the IIand I h r k , C. A. is chaructcsizcd as bcin'g: Systematic

I

I I I Comprchcnsi vc I

Cumulative Gu~dancc oriented Ilingnostic and I'rognoslic I Continuous ~sscssmdnt is said to bc systematic bccausc i t rcquim an

, opcsat~onal plan mat shows thc typc of assessment to bc can-ied out in the cognitivc, al'fcct~vc and psychonwtos bchaviours of students.

It is comprchcnsivc, not only because it requires thc evaluation of' all aspects of lcasncrs' bchaviours in the cognitive, psychomotor and affective domains, it also takes into account all the hierarchies of educational objectivcs associatcd with each of the domains. Its compschcnsivc nature is also based on the fact that various asbzssment tools likc class tcsls, pro.jccts, home-works, and observations, ri-lting scales or checklists can bc uscd in assessing thc cogni tivc or psychomotor domains, while questionnaircs, socio-mctrics inslrumcnts or intcrviews 'can bc uscd for assessing thc affective domain.

The cumulative naturc of C.A. is anchored on the fact that :I[ any point i n time, any current decision takcn on a st~.ldcnts' learning outcomes, lakes into accorlnt, i n ir progressive manner, all other previous decisions.

It is also guidance oricntcd since students are givcn the opportunity of making appropriate carccr decisions bascd on the int'ormntion derived fronl thcir conlinuo~~s assessment cumulative records. 'l'o this end those that arc technically talented ilrc advised to pursue technically bascd careers, whilc those that ale tnlcntcd in scicncc subject are advised to pursue science based carcws.

l'hc diagnostic naturc of continuous asscssmcnt is based on thc I'act that i t helps in thc continuous monitoring of the students' ability Icvcls, thcir strengths and wcakncsscs with ~.cgarcls to content arcus, possible causes of weakness i n contcl!t and possible rcmcdics.

Its prognostic naturc has to do with the fact that information obti~incd from , .

continuo~~s asscssmcnt can be ~ ~ s c d i n prcclicting how well :I Ici~rncr ciin pcrl'orn~ 1 1 cxposed to similar tasks or cvcn on completcly diffcrcnt tasks i n the I ' L I ~ L I ~ C .

According to the National Policy on Education ( W N , 2004) the ma,jor objcctivcs of continuous asscssmcnt are as follows:

'I'o pr-ovitlc a basis for effcctivc maintcnnncc of unil'ormity in scoring ;~nd ~naintcnancc of expected standards. To give the tcacher grciitcr involvement in thc ovcrnll nsscssmcnl of his or hcr pupils. 'I'o provide a morc valid assessment of the child's overall ability a n d pcrl'ormancc. 'To enablc teachcrs to bc morc flcxiblc and innovativc in thcir instructions '1.0 providc a basis for morc effective guidance of the child. 7'0 providc ;I basis for the tcacher to improve his or her instn~ctional mcthotls. '1'0 rc(lucc examination malpractice. The I-land Book on C.A. (IXN: 2004) stipulated somc Scdcral govcrnmcnt

dircctivc for the opc~ation of C. A, at primary scliool lcvcl ol'cdr~cation i n t l x count~-y. At thc primary school Icvcl, whcrc n tcachcr tcnchcs all thc s~hjccts in Ilisllwr cl;lss, :I 10131 01' 8(cight) rcsrs i11.c ~ccommcndcd to bc given in tllc class 1x1. subjcct 1)cr 1cr.111 ils shown in thc table I over!enf.

4 a

'I'ablc I : Iicconlmended Continuous Assessntent Mode (CAhl) of evaluation at primary school level in the year and - '. sul~jects taught by thc te;icllc.rs. . f

i I First term (a total of S(eig1tt) tests I Sccond I term Sul~jcct offcrcd of 3(three) 1 2"" summary of 3 (three) 1 The same

1 (301) 1 '? I test (10%) I (30%) / ? term-exam I as ln (3070) illst term

test at 10%

English Language I I I 1 I

test at 10% KO. of bbtainable IOht~incd I Mid-term- bbtainable lobtained I End of

Mathematics- .Mother Tongue Social Studies .. -

test

Primary Science Religious

-- -

Instruction

Espectcd xo . of' tcsts term 1 KO. of

.

1 1 A-

1 -

The Hand Book on C.A. also stimulated, among other things, that:-

The same No. of test as

first term

-

1

Total I I I I I

There should he continuous assessment of students learning outcomes in six subject areas as shown in table 1 above. Each assessment 01- test should be based on a,Test Blue Print

tests

primary schools arc indeed pchieving the desired uniformity in scoring and ~ v a l ~ ~ n ~ i o n 1'0s r~~cmingful Jcdisiqn making goals.

I I

Iieseirrch Questions ! I 'I'hc following rcscarch questipnslhave been posed

What are the types of CAM of evaluation currently practiced in primary schools in old Nsul&n Local Govcrnqent Area? Wha~ IS ~ h c I'rcqucncy in thc numbcr of obscrvcd ~ c s ~ s givcn by rcachcrs in arcas 01 lcsrlng a n d the numbcr acLually cxpcctcd? '1'0 wha~ cxlcnl can thc various CAM bc said to bc intcrnally ho~nogciious in ordcr LO bc able to posscss the attributes 9f a reform agenda? What is thc dcgscc of correlation betw4en the common CAM of evaluation as C \ I I I c11t l y ~ ) ~ x i ~ c c t l I 11 rlic pl:iiqary sclioo s by tcachcrs wilh thosc. recommended b y (;ovcrnrncnt1? I

1

I I liesearch Ilyl~olllescs ' 'I'hc i'otlowing rcscodR.hypotheses have to guidc the study:

[ I ) '1.hc1.c will Ix no significant cohelatiohi between the Continuous Assessment Moclc ol' c~i i l~~at ion I conirn n l i adopt$ by tcachcrs in schools and those P B mcammcndcd by t hc ~ovcrnmc'nt for adoption.

(2) rI*hc~o will be no sighificance d/fferenie between the observed and expected I'scclucncics ol' tcsis givcn by:tcabhers tc) students in the area recommended for

-

Design of the Study 11 r . I hc design adoptcd Design. Thc dcsign

cn;lblcd tlic I C S C ~ ~ ~ I W Lo evaluation cx~sting in the

1

I

tcst~ng. I I '

-

Design of the Study 11 r . I lic design adoptcd i n thc Design. Thc dcsign

cn;lblcd tlic I C S C ~ ~ ~ I W lo collkct existing in the schools AS well as the

Area of lllc Study I r I ' l x study is c;~rsicd

Area of Enugu Statc.

I'opulation ol' the Study

' 1 / : i ; 1 1 , l 1 I I -. *. -- I 1 : 1

I I , I

. 8

Instrtlnicnt Dcvclopmcnt An intcnricw schcdulc.was in 81r : l collection The scliccl~~lc

sought such i n lbsrn;~tion fsom of scll(x,l: 1nc;ll ion 01' scliool (Shtc); Rank of rcspondcnls; in schools; L Y I I C I I ~ C I - tlic is

" in :~yccmcnt with those rccommcndccl bylfcdcs$ rhinistsy 0 1 ' ctlilc:~tion lo sb tc pi m:isy cduc:~ti(m bo;~rd, and reasons for nonc conjpli;m~q, hfony.

Instrt~nicnt Vdidatcd I I 'I'hc intcsvicw schedule was vh~idatcd b y c x p c ~ ~ s i n Mc:~surcrncn~. : ~ n d

. Evyluation of' the IJnivcrsity of Nigeria, NSukka. , ;

Method of Data Analysis I I I 1

Data obtainccl in this scscarch work wcrc annlyscd using tlcscriptivc statlst~cs, like pcsccnlagcs, I'scqucncics, and means. Inferential statistics llkc Spc:ll.man's cosl.clarions cocfl'icicnt tcchniqucs and the chi S ~ L I ~ I ~ C goodness ol' f ' i t rw staristic wcrc i\lso cmploycd.

Rcsulls of' thc Study I

I I < C S C ~ I I C ~ I C I I I C S ~ I U ~ 4 sought on thc cxtcnt of corrclnliun bctwccn 11ic

common types of CAM practiced schools and thosc rccommendcd by the Govcrnmenl.

Iicsull oblaincd shows inverse correlation of (-0.77) Ocl w c c ~ i 111~: I wo 111oJcs

I

i I

Answer to Hcsc;lrch I lypot11cr;cs 'I'hc IOSC~I I 'C I I I~ypoth~sis 1 of the study sought information with 'regards to the 4

ex rcnl [ o which tllc Continuous Assessmcnt Mode of Evaluari'on commonly adoptcd in I schools curldatc wit11 the rnoilc rccommendcd by Govemmcnt I

1 A~,s\vct. r c ~ lhis 1.cscarc11 Iiypothcsis !was obtaincd whcn rhc two modcs of cv;lliuiioll LVCI.C C O I I C I I ~ C L I using Pcarson product momcnt corlclntion cocfficicnt ? technique. The valuc of the co~relation coe~ficicnt is -0.77 high inverse correlation 1 cocl'l'icicnt . 'I'liis intli&itcs that thcL'thrcd-tests~oyly' modc of evaluation -devised by tcach21-s in schools ~~cguti vcl y corrclatcs with thc modc recommended by [he

I 2 , govcrn~iicnt. 'l'hc cocfl'icicnt ol' dctcrmination, (r );,of 0.59 also shows that the tcachcrs' I lnadc 0 1 cvdu i~~ io~ l ncg;~tivcly pmdicts thcl rcCommcndcd govemmcnt mode by us much

;IS 59%. (Scc ~.csull below). I I

, . 11114 111cli~i1tcs t l ~ i ~ t [IICI-c is ;I significant nc correlation bctwccn the two moclcs. 'I'c;!c.lrc.~ \ ,111' t l i~~rc~ l 'o~ .~ signi l'icunt ly i'louting ordcr in [his d~rcction.

,I l~s \ \~cr lo I

' I IIic rcrn~~nc~xlions or ihcsc contrxt-wdrkcn b~iould hc i~tttxtivc since the ,oh is i ~ n XI-hoc rYIx''l 'his will makc thcm to be veri cimcicnlious i n their. tlutics. Tlicrc sliould bc regular supqrvision of schod;ls8;to ensure complii~ncc \v i l l i ~l ic C.A. mode ol' evaluation. I I : o i i l i i ~ ~ i c with tlic C. :A. mode shodlld form tlic lxxln)cl< I.or llic ~~.oniotion/l~cgulii~. payment of tcachcrs' salaribs.

I I Conclusion 1

Continuoils Asscssmcnt Modes of ~valuniion adoptccl by primary scliool \cacIicl.s in Ns\~l