Teachers’ Perception and Practices Towards Continuous Assessment of Mathematics Classes: The Case of Secondary School in Wolaita Zone, Snnpr Region

Abstract

Now-a-days a paradigm shift in the educational system from teacher-centered to the modern mode of active learning is getting progress. Along with this, the issue of continuous assessment has been addressed to maintain the quality of education. This study is aimed at investigating how high school mathematics teachers have perceived continuous assessment, looking into how it is being practiced and finding out the major problems encountered during its implementation in mathematics teaching. The subjects of this study were mathematics teachers from purposively selected high schools in Wolaita Zone in SNNPR Region. By availability sampling procedure, all private high schools were also included in this study. As tools of data collection, questionnaire, informal interviews and focus group discussion were employed. The data were analyzed using methods of descriptive statistics and Linkert type scale. Linkert type of scale results revealed that the frequency of continuous assessment practice was affected by various factors. Class size, Job commitment, Additional training, and additional incentives had a strong influence on frequency of continuous assessment practice. With regard to the perception, the results revealed that most mathematics teachers viewed continuous assessment as an assessment strategy that is beyond testing though they do not use a variety of assessment techniques in their mathematics teaching. Moreover, the findings indicated that continuous assessment has not been fully practiced in high school mathematics teaching yet as desired. It was then concluded that even though a considerable proportion of mathematics teachers have a clear concept of continuous assessment, they do not use different arrays of it. In addition to this, continuous assessment has not been properly implemented in the selected schools. To overcome this, it was suggested that on the-job training and incentives to mathematics teachers as a means of motivation, reduction of the class size and adequacy of materials should be given prior attention.