Abstract
Testing is essential in education and other behavioural science fields because many decisions and policies are made according to the results of testing. It is therefore, imperative that besides ensuring that the test items are valid and reliable, the scoring of the items must be reliably and validly conducted. It has been established by chief examiners of examining bodies that students most times obtained low scores in the constructed-response items aspect of mathematics and this could be as a result of the assessment procedures adopted by the examination bodies. Also, many research works have been carried out to confirm the similarity between West African Examinations Council (WAEC) and National Examinations Council (NECO) in Nigeria using multiple choice items. Against this backdrop, this study assessed the ability of senior secondary students in constructed-response mathematics tests of WAEC and NECO with test theories models and as well established the similarity between the two examinations. Non-experimental design of ex post facto type was adopted. The target population consists of all senior secondary school students in Ibadan Metropolis of Oyo State in Nigeria. Simple random sampling was used to randomly sample 24 schools and 1151 students. The compulsory section A of Paper II of three years past constructed-response items of WAEC and NECO were used as instruments for data collection. Data collected were analysed using mean, standard deviation, Person Product Correlation Movement; Classical Test Theory, generalized partial credit and graded response models of Item Response Theory. Results of the finding shows that students mean score in the examinations were below 50% using CTT and above 50% using IRT models respectively. It was concluded that the two examinations mathematics constructed-response items are equal and IRT models are more efficient and reliable in determining students’ ability compare to CTT. Keywords: WAEC Mathematics Constructed-Response Test, NECO Mathematics Constructed-Response Test, Classical Test Theories Model, Item Response Theory Models, DOI: 10.7176/JEP/11-7-05 Publication date: March 31 st 2020
Highlights
One of the best instruments to measure or assess the level of ability of students in educational system is test
Testing is essential in education and other behavioural science fields because many decisions and policies are made according to the results of testing
In Nigeria, the public examination bodies are faced with mass failure especially in Mathematics and English language which are the two most compulsory subjects in secondary school education level
Summary
One of the best instruments to measure or assess the level of ability of students in educational system is test. The conceptual foundations, assumptions and extensions of the basic premises of CTT have allowed for the development of some excellent psychometrically sound scales in the assessment practices of educational bodies in Africa This is owing to the simplicity of interpretation which can usefully be applied to examinees achievement and aptitude test performance (Hambleton, 1989). What are the ability estimate of students in NECO and WAEC mathematics constructed-response tests along: (a) Classical Test Theory (CTT) framework? 3. Is there any difference in male and female students ability in NECO and WAEC mathematics www.iiste.org constructed-response tests along: i. Method The study adopted non-experimental design of ex post facto type This was employed since the aim of the study was to assess the ability of students using test theories models without any form data manipulation. This indicates that on the average there are more female students than male students in the senior secondary school in Ibadan, Oyo State, Nigeria
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
