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 assess-ment 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.