Assessment Practices of Teachers in Selected Primary and Secondary Schools in Jamaica

Abstract

The purpose of the study was to determine if there were differences in the perceptions of primary and secondary school teachers' classroom assessment practices in region one in Jamaica. Seven research questions guided the study. An analytic survey research design was used to answer the research questions. A stratified random sampling method was used to select 225 teachers. However, a total of 157 (64 primary & 93 secondary) school teachers participated in the study. Data were collected through the use of a web-based questionnaire which had an overall reliability coefficient of 0.749. The findings showed that closed-book test, portfolio, multiple-choice, short answer, restricted essay, and fill-in-the-blanks were popularly used by the teachers. The findings also showed that there were significant differences among the teachers on the following arranging test items according to types and writing specific instructions, informing students about the areas that will be assessed, administration of assessments, grading assessment, explaining how scores were derived, giving students the opportunity to appeal their grades, and using the results of the statistical analyses to improve assessment practices. Based on these findings recommendations were made on how to improve teachers' assessment practices.

Basic School Teachers’ Assessment Practices in the Sissala East Municipality, Ghana

“…Similarly, Onyefulu (2018) discovered that teachers often used traditional assessment methods such as short answers, multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blanks, and closed-book tests. Again, the findings of this study concur with Suah and Ong (2012) that Malaysian in-service teachers often use traditional assessment methods.…”

“…Results from the study revealed that teachers mostly follow traditional assessment practice such as; oral presentations, objective type test, question answering, and homework during the instruction, and disregarding alternative assessment practices such as -group projects, one-minute test, presentation, portfolio, self and, peer assessment practices. Onyefulu (2018) conducted a study in Jamaica to determine the classroom assessment of primary (n=64) and secondary (93) school teachers. The results revealed that the teachers often used restricted essays, multiple-choice, fill-in-the-blanks, short answers, closed-book tests, and portfolios.…”

Assessment tools and strategies used by Jamaican secondary school teachers

“…Other researchers also found that elementary teachers used more varied assessment methods, including informal evidence and observations, while secondary teachers used paper-pencil objective tests, whether commercially prepared, teacher-made, or derived from textbooks (Brookhart, 2009(Brookhart, , 2013Guskey & Link, 2019;Ong, n.d.;Vlachou, 2018;Zhang & Burry-Stock, 2003). I found only one study investigating teachers' assessment practices in the Jamaican context: Onyefulu (2018). Onyefulu (2018) surveyed 157 primary and secondary school teachers in Region 1 in Jamaica and confirmed testing dominance with 51% of the primary school teachers and 85% of the secondary school teachers surveyed reporting that they most frequently used closed-book tests to assess their students.…”

“…Additionally, there is a dearth of empirical research on assessment in Jamaica, in general, and the formative use of assessment in the Jamaican context (Williams-McBean, 2021). I found only one paper on the assessment strategies Jamaican teachers used, and it focused on only one of the seven education regions in Jamaica (Onyefulu, 2018). Additionally, Onyefulu (2018) reported that she could find no published article on Jamaican teachers' classroom assessment practices.…”

“…I found only one paper on the assessment strategies Jamaican teachers used, and it focused on only one of the seven education regions in Jamaica (Onyefulu, 2018). Additionally, Onyefulu (2018) reported that she could find no published article on Jamaican teachers' classroom assessment practices. Therefore, I embarked on the Spotlight on Assessment in Jamaica Project (SAAJP).…”