Establishing the Effectiveness of Teacher-Made Tests in Nkayi District Primary Schools

Abstract

This study sought to establish the effectiveness of teacher-made tests on the performance of pupils in Nkayi District in Matabeleland North in Western Zimbabwe. The study used the quantitative paradigm and adopted the descriptive survey design. The population comprised of all primary schools in Nkayi district. The sample consisted of 120 teachers from 30 schools randomly selected. Each school provided 4 teachers for the study. Of the sampled respondents 65 were female and 56 male. All the information was collected through a questionnaire which had both close-ended and open-ended questions. Descriptive statistical analysis was used to interpret data. The results of the study indicate that teacher-made tests are given to pupils in the schools and there was overwhelming acceptance by the respondents that these tests helped to improve the academic performance of pupils. It was also found that most teachers did not have knowledge about the standard procedures of constructing, marking, scoring and grading of tests. The study recommends that there was need for schools to conduct staff development programmes to equip teachers with skills to construct teacher-made tests. Key words: Effectiveness, teacher, tests, primary school, district