Classroom assessment practices by mathematics teachers in secondary schools of kenya

Abstract

This study examined classroom assessment practices by Secondary school mathematics teachers in Nandi Central Sub-County. The objectives of the study were:- 1. To investigated the common teachers‘ classroom assessment practices used in school across teaching levels 2. To establish common assessment tools/formats applied by math teachers for classroom assessment 3. To establish how the math teachers used assessment information collected from students 4. To establish how often math teachers considered the mathematics competencies as they prepared assessment tools for classroom assessment practices. The study used both quantitative and qualitative research designs to collect and analyze the data. Data was collected through questionnaires, interviews and analyzed documented data (School records). The information from the questionnaires was presented in figures and percentages, in tables and graphs while the information obtained from interviews were analyzed using qualitative techniques. Quantitative data was analyzed using the statistical software package for social sciences (SPSS). The findings were that discourse, observation, students‘ self-assessment and peer assessment were the common classroom assessment practices reported. Open-open questions, select-type items and super items were the common assessment formats used across school categories. Assessment information were mainly used to give students grades or marks, diagnose students‘ learning problems and to assign them to different programs or tasks and mathematical competencies often considered when math teachers prepared assessment tools across school categories included communication, problem solving, mathematical reasoning and use of symbols and formal language. Recommendations, implications, and suggestions for practice and future research are discussed.