INFLUENCE OF EVALUATIONS STRATEGIES ON THE ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE OF STUDENTS
CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 Background to the Study
Education is considered as one of the most promising paths for individuals to realize better and more productive lives (RoK, 2011). The interest attached to education is a confirmation for the increased need for quality human resource and increased accountability by stakeholders for student learning in many countries of the world. Secondary education level enables students acquire knowledge, skills and attitudes, which, enables them to develop as holistic individual in cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains (RoK, 2012).
Globally, countries of the world have step-up efforts to improve student performance and reduce achievement gaps. United States of America has been in the forefront in developing teaching standards and strategies to enhance effective teaching. According to Darling-Hammond, Wei, Andree, Richardson, and Orphanos (2009), strategies to enhance effective teaching and improve students’ performance should entail organizing forums where teachers meet in learning teams and share their experiences.
In a teaching and learning community, the most effective evaluation is that which encourages and rewards effective teaching practices on the basis of student learning outcomes (Doherty 2002; Shapiro and Levine, 1999). Assessment of student learning at its best enables students to identify their own strengths and weaknesses and to determine the kinds of information they need to correct their learning deficiencies and misconceptions. When such evaluation is properly employed, students learn that they can engage in self-assessment and continuous improvement of performance throughout their lives.
Teacher evaluation technique requires the establishment of reference standards and evaluation criteria to allow proper assessments of performance to be made. In particular, a definition of what “good‟ teaching is needs to be developed. Performance measurement also calls for a judicious choice of instruments and sources of information. For instance, using student results to evaluate individual teachers is particularly challenging since learning outcomes are the result of a multitude of factors including the students‟ socio-economic background.
Teachers have specific needs for feedback, and therefore evaluation procedures need to be designed to meet those needs. Improving teacher evaluation effectiveness implies choosing adequate procedures for given objectives (e.g. internal vs. external process; formative vs. summative process) A good teacher is one who has a good understanding of what his pupils need to learn and also their capabilities for learning. He is able to judge just how much he needs to intervene in pupils learning and knows the most effective way of providing this assistance. Thus the skills of teaching lies in knowing who, what and how to teach and also being able to judge when (Farrant,1980:169). He also identified the professional skills of the teacher as thus:
(a) A good teacher establishes a productive classroom atmosphere from the start by means of good organization and carefully planned teaching structures.
(b) He can create specific kinds of climate setting for different lessons e.g. serious and business like or relaxed and enjoyable.
(c) He uses friendly humour and creates excellent teacher pupil relations.
Evaluation Skills simply refers to the methods, approaches and pattern used by the teachers to determine the level of attainment of behavioral objectives. Michael (2004) defines evaluation strategies as the way or manner a teachers or instructor adopted in other to examine learning outcome of the students, during, after or before teaching process; such methods includes, formative evaluation strategies, summative evaluation strategies, diagnostic evaluation strategies, and many others.
Daniel (2014) was on this opinion when he added that evaluation strategies is an undisputed factor in every teaching and learning process, he went further to say that for learners to attain greater percentage of the lesson, teachers must adopt proper evaluation methods to enable the students perform better in the cause of lesson delivery. Nigeria society today is developing; therefore, it should stimulate the spirit of patriotism and lay the solid foundation for national and international understanding and corporation in students. Due to this fact, the education of the youth is very importance in other to ensure the citizens to the social and economic development of the country as well as raising the standard of living generally.
According to smith (2008) the school as agent of socialization could have significant impact on the child. This is evident from the fact that it is a place where the child learns about leadership and what it takes, also learn basic skills and behavior pattern taught by teachers. It therefore becomes a necessity to the method that the teachers use to evaluate the students. He concluded by saying that the teacher should therefore adopt a proper evaluation strategies that suit the developmental stage of the learners in the teaching context. It was on this background that the researcher was interested in determining the influence of evaluations strategies on the academic performance of students in government in secondary school in Eket Local Government Area.
Influence of Evaluations Strategies on Academic Performance of Students
1.2 Statement of the Problem
Education is a basic and fundamental human right, which promotes acquisition of knowledge, skills and development of an individual in a holistic and integrated manner. Despite various efforts by key educational stakeholders to improve students’ performance, by injecting financial resources for improving school infrastructure to provide child friendly schools, provision of subsidized public secondary school tuition to improve access to education and qualified teachers, the trend on students’ performance in some public secondary schools in remains poor.
Factors have been blamed for his poor performance among which teachers evaluation skills is inclusive. It was in this background that the researcher was interested in finding whether proper evaluation skills by teachers can improve the academic performance of s students in Government in Eket Local government Area.
1.3 Objectives of the Study
The main objective of this study was to investigate how evaluation strategies used by teachers influence students academic performance in Government in secondary schools in Eket Local Government Area.
The specific purposes of the study include:
(i). To investigate the influence of formative and summative evaluation strategies and students academic performance in Government in secondary schools students in Eket Local Government Area.
(ii). To investigate the influence of formative and diagnostic evaluation strategies and students academic performance in Government in secondary schools students in Eket Local Government Area.
Influence of Evaluations Strategies on Academic Performance of Students
1.4 Significance of the Study
The significant of this study might be seen in the following ways:
(i). The research results would inform the teacher trainers of the evaluation strategies being utilize in Government in secondary schools in Eket Local Government Area that these strategies should be emphasized during the course of a teacher training.
(ii). the research would provide sacrosanct knowledge and information to the inspectorate department about the student academic performance in Government in secondary school from the evaluation strategies.
(iii). Teacher would be informed of the alternative evaluation strategies that could be used in Government to enhance students academic performance.
(iv). The research will act as a foundation for further research that will benefit researchers.
1.5 Research Questions
(i) To what extent does students expose to formative evaluation strategies and those expose to summative evaluation strategies differs in their academic performance?
(ii) To what extent does student expose to formative evaluation and those expose to diagnostic evaluation strategies differs in their academic performance?
1.6 Research Hypotheses
The following research hypotheses were postulated to guide the study:
(i). There is no significant difference in academic performance of students expose to formative evaluation strategies and those expose to summative evaluation strategies.
(ii). There is no significant difference in academic performance of students expose to diagnostic evaluative strategies and those expose to placement evaluation strategies.
1.7 Limitation of the Study
The constraint of the study was lack of fund and time as the research project was done along side with other academic activities. The available resources of the researcher were inadequate to cater for both the materials needed for the research project and other academic activities.
Influence of Evaluations Strategies on Academic Performance of Students
1.8 Delimitation of the Study
The study was delimited to senior secondary school students offering Government in Eket Local Government Area. The study also focused mainly on the teachers’ evaluation strategies and students’ academic performance in Government in secondary schools.
1.9 Operational Definition of Terms
The following terms that were used in the study were operationally defined.
Government: refers to the process where the affair of the state is been manage, run and demonstrated by one person called the president.
- Evaluation: This is the determination of the value of a variable or expression.
- Strategies: This is a process by which a task is completed; a way of doing something.
- Formative evaluation strategies: This is that aspect of evaluation which is carried out periodically while instruction on a unit or course is still in progress.
- Summative evaluation strategies: This is the type of evaluation which is carried out at the end of a course of instruction to determine what an individual has learnt from the subject or course, usually mid-term or end of year.
- Diagnostic evaluation strategies: measures a students’ current knowledge and skills for the purpose of identifying a suitable program of learning.
- Learning: This is the act of acquiring new, or modifying and reinforcing, existing knowledge, behaviours, skills, value or preferences and may involve synthesizing different types of information.
- Academic Performance: This refers to the total outcome of the students’ achievements or efforts in test, assignment and examination scores or results.
- Secondary School: A secondary school often referred to as a high school or senior high school, which provides secondary education, between the ages of 11 and 19 depending on location, after primary school and before higher education.
- Students: This refers to a person who is studying or learning at a place (secondary school).
- Teacher: A person whose job is teaching, especially in a school.
Lawson Peter – Chief Editor in Projectvilla Nigeria. A writer and academic researcher.