TEACHERS CONFIDENCE OF CLASSROOM ASSESSMENT PRACTICES: A CASE OF BASIC SCHOOLS IN UPPER DENKYIRA WEST DISTRICT, GHANA

Abstract

Teachers' confidence in classroom activities has been a major concern for educators and major stakeholders in Ghana. However, the literature suggests that showing higher confidence in classroom practices positively impact students learning outcome. The specific purposes of the study were to determine whether teachers are confident in (1) monitoring, analysing, and communicating assessment results and (2) assessment, design, implementation, and feedback. The study also sought to find out whether gender plays a role in teachers’ confidence in classroom assessment practices. A descriptive research design was adopted for the conduct of the study. The population for this study comprised all public basic schools in the Upper Denkyira West District. The purposive Sampling technique was used to select 137 out of 187 Lower Primary School Teachers (Basic 1-3). A standardised inventory called “Classroom Assessment Inventory” developed and validated by Christopher DeLuca, Danielle LaPointe-McEwan, and Ulemu Luhangain in 2016 was adopted for this study. It was found that primary school teachers were generally more optimistic about their ability to put the various classroom assessments into practice in the classroom. Overall, the study found that teachers have a higher level of confidence in their assessment practices in the classroom. It was also revealed that there is no statistically significant difference between confidence in classroom assessment and the gender of teachers. It was recommended that Ghana Education Service through District Directors of Education should organize in-service training and workshops for all teachers to partake in irrespective of their gender.<p> </p><p><strong> Article visualizations:</strong></p><p><img src="/-counters-/soc/0011/a.php" alt="Hit counter" /></p>