Testing in inclusive education setting in primary schools in kenya

Abstract

The hallmark of testing in inclusive setting is the support of the learners with special needs in the mainstream classrooms. The provision of appropriate testing in regular schools is faced by rampant challenges. The purpose of this study was to determine adequacy of assessment practice in inclusive education situations in Kenya. The objectives that guided this study are, to investigate knowledge and skills of testing in inclusive setting, physical and structure of testing in inclusive setting, school approach in testing in inclusive setting, behaviour of teachers and learners on testing in inclusive setting and national policy for inclusivity on testing in inclusive setting. In this study the researcher used mixed analysis where both quantitative and qualitative techniques were used within the same frame work. The study involved a population of forty respondents from eight public primary schools in Thika East Sub County in Murang’a County. The sample was selected through purposeful sampling technique where the sample was based on the knowledge and experience of the respondents. The researcher also used the descriptive approach to turn the data on the questionnaires into numbers according to 5 point Likert scale. The data was then analyzed using the SPSS version 21 and presented on tables and graphs for easy interpretation. From the outcome of this study, testing practice in inclusive education setting seem to be faced by rampant challenges related to knowledge and skills, physical and structure, school approach, behavior of teachers and learners as well as national agenda for inclusivity in Kenya. This concurs with findings of Chhabra et al (2010) on inclusive education in Botswna. He contends that testing is faced by challenges such as lack of trained personnel, learning resources, educational facilities and testing policies of testing in inclusive setting. The implication of results of this study is that there is indeed inadequate assessment practice in inclusive education settings. There is need to equip teachers with knowledge and skills in testing in inclusive education, appropriate educational resources, proper school approaches, appropriate testing policy. There is also need to encourage teachers and learners behaviour that support learners with special needs in inclusive setting