Abstract:
This study investigated the level of assessment literacy of mathematics teachers and
the challenges in the implementation of School Based Assessment (SBA) in Senior
High Schools of the Central Region of Ghana. Specifically, it explored the level of
mathematics teachers‟ knowledge of the purposes of assessment, assessment
strategies, interpretation and action-taking on assessment data, and what to assess in
mathematics. It also explored the challenges in implementing SBA and the possible
ways of addressing the problems of SBA implementation. The study used mixed
method design in which 102 mathematics teachers were purposively sampled from 15
randomly selected Senior High Schools. The instrument used was a questionnaire.
Major findings of the study were: mathematics teachers tended to have low level of
knowledge on the use of assessment to plan their lessons; low level of knowledge on
assessing problem-solving; low level of knowledge in the development of project
work assessment; low level of knowledge in preparing marking schemes to score
subjective tests. Furthermore, the challenges in SBA implementation were overloaded
classes, heavy teaching workload, lack of SBA coordination and monitoring
mechanism, lack of guideline for preparing/implementing SBA, lack of interest from
parents in schoolwork of students, and insufficient time to carry out SBA. Proposed
solutions to challenges included: GES should set reasonable and manageable class
sizes; and organise in-service training on assessment. Recommendations were made.
Description:
A Thesis in the Department of Mathematics Education, Faculty of Science
Education, submitted to the School of Graduate Studies in partial fulfilment
of the requirements for the award of the degree of
Master of Philosophy
(Mathematics Education)
in the University of Education, Winneba
MAY, 2016