Senior high school mathematics teachers’ use of school-based assessment guidelines and test scores in the Cape Coast Metropolis of Ghana

Abstract

This paper reports on a study conducted to explore senior high school mathematics teachers’ use of School-Based Assessment (SBA) guidelines and test scores in the Cape Coast Metropolis in Ghana. A total of 110 educators comprising 100 male and 10 female mathematics teachers participated in the study. A questionnaire and an interview schedule were used to collect data for the study and descriptive statistics was used to analyse the data.*- Findings revealed that mathematics teachers in senior high schools in the Cape Coast Metropolis do not follow the School-Based Assessment guidelines on principles of testing in the construction of teacher-made or classroom tests. Very few respondents reported that students’ test scores were used to identify strengths and weaknesses and for remedial teaching. The majority of the respondents still practise the old continuous assessment in which students’ assessment scores were used mainly for promotion/selection, awarding of prizes/ranking, record keeping, providing feedback to parents, generating score for the West African Examinations Council (WAEC), and preparing students for examination. This is because they do not understand the SBA guidelines. Based on the above findings, it was recommended that the Ghana Education Service should facilitate regular in-service training in testing practices for senior high school mathematics teachers in the Metropolis.