Nigerian teachers’ utilization of test construction procedures for validity improvement of achievement tests

Nigerian teachers’ utilization of test construction procedures for validity improvement of achievement tests

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Nigerian teachers’ utilization of test construction procedures for validity improvement of achievement tests

Teachers are very important stakeholders in the education system as they drive whatever takes place within the classrooms of the school system. Apart from teaching, they generate assessments which are used to evaluate teaching efficacy and learning achievement within their classrooms. The validity of these assessments is of essence if we are to have confidence in the interpretations and uses to which the assessments are put. To ensure the validity of the tests used by teachers, appropriate test construction procedures should be utilized by them. The main question addressed in this study is whether teachers use appropriate construction procedures which confer on tests the requisite validity. In executing this study a survey approach was applied and the population of the study was composed of teachers in primary and secondary schools in Benin metropolis in Nigeria. From the population a sample of five hundred teachers made of two hundred and fifty each from primary and secondary school levels were selected. A questionnaire focusing on steps in constructing a valid achievement test was designed. The response option was a three-point scale of ‘,all the time’,, ‘,sometimes’, and ‘,not at all’,. The validity-evidence of the questionnaire was established using a juror of experts in measurement and evaluation and they were to determine the adequacy, comprehensiveness and suitability of the items. The reliability of the scores from the instrument was determined using Cronbach alpha and it yielded a value of .751. The data collected would be analyzed using means and standard deviation, an interpretative norm, t-test and ANOVA. The results indicated that teachers utilise approved procedures in constructing achievement test. They however did not use procedures to enhance content-validity evidence, and qualitative analysis. Results were also affected by experience. It was recommended that teacher development programmes be mounted to fill the gaps noticed in this study.

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