CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1   BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY

            Continuous assessment is a relatively new innovation to our education system. It is seen as one of the major outcome of the deliberations of Nigeria National curriculum conference that was held in 1969. It is put in National Policy on Education this “educational assessment and evaluation will be liberalized by using them in whole or part on continuous assessment of the progress of individual” the Nigerian National Policy on Education state clearly in section 3 article 17 (g) that “advancement from one class to another (in primary school) shall be based on continuous assessment.

Meaning of Continuous Assessment

            According to Yoloye (1985) define continuous assessment as a method of ascertaining what a pupils gains from schooling in terms of knowledge, industry and the development of character, taking into account the pupil performances in tests, assignments, project and other educational activities within a given period of the term, year or during the entire period of an educational level of the pupil. It may be viewed as “a method of finding out what the pupil has gained from learning activities in terms of knowledge, thinking, reasoning, the development of character and industry”.

            Anikweze (1987) regards continuous assessment of the learning experiences made as a strategy that offers the teacher an opportunity to ensure that pupils are not merely that pupils are not merely schooled but equally educated. The emphasis here is on the assessment of affective behaviours during the lesson when the pupils is involved in direct participation in the learning process, Anikweze (1995).

            According to Falayajo (1979) says continuous assessment is a “system of assessment which is carried out of predetermined intervals (usually coinciding with some identifiable units of instruction or level of educational system) for the purpose of monitoring the progress of otherwise of students and the general performance or educational system” Ezewu and Okoye (1991) define continuous assessment as a systematic and objective process of determining the extent of a student’s learner) performance in all the expected changes in his behaviour from the day he enter upon a course of study in a progressive manner to the end of such course of study, and a judicious accumulation of all pieces of information derived from this purpose with a view to use them to guide and shape the students in his learning from time to time and to serve as basis for important decisions about the child.

            Continuous assessment is a mechanism whereby the final “grading of a student in the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains or behaviour systematically takes account of all his performances during a give period of schooling” Akinade (1996) from these definitions above, continuous assessment can therefore be described as a systematic use of varied and reliable multiple assessment tools at regular interval to determine the performance and the ability of the learner in the three domains of behaviour that is (cognitive, affective and psychomotor) with the aim of getting the true picture of the learner and helping him develop fully his potentials. Continuous assessment also allows teacher greater input into the overall assessment of his pupils through the help of this, the teacher will be able to plan better the curriculum and teaching in order to meet the needs of the pupils.

            All these ideas can be easily grappled, but when the phrase standard of education is mentioned. The concept immediately change and become less clear, there is no universally accepted view as to what excellence, criterion established or basis of measurement for education. The important Knowledge on which the acquisition of many kinds of knowledge and understanding of other subject experience in arts and on enquiring and which may form the basis of educational quality

            Moreover, degree of excellence in this entire fields cannot be easily achieved, for example in mathematics neatness, accuracy, methods and layout, in reading, relative valve are given to phrases emphasis, in reading, relative value are given to phrases emphasis, accent and understanding while in writing, neatness, accuracy, method, punctuation, layout, spelling of words, idea and imagination. All these are subjective judgment which varies from one individual to another. There is a greater element of subjectivity that is, use in measuring attitude of mind. However, this does not implies that there can be no degree of excellence in these spheres, measurement depend to a lesser or greater extent on the measures that are used and since their measuring rods differ from one another, measurement must also be different. This educational standard will always be a matter of dispute.

1.2    STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM

            This project is basically interested in examining continuous assessment as a factor of promoting educational standard and is set at determining the relevance of continuous assessment as a factor of promoting educations standard in primary schools most especially in

1.            Blessing Nursery and Primary School.

2.            Alice Nursery and Primary School.

3.            Anglican Nursery and Primary School.

4.            NUD Primary School

5.            Grace International Nursery and Primary School.

1.3    OBJECTIVES OF THE STUDY

            The objective of the study of continuous assessment is to investigate the use of continuous assessment as a major factor that should be used to achieve all educational objectives and standard in primary schools.

1.4   RESEARCH QUESTIONS

            The following questions are to guide the researcher in her study and provide answer to the research questions

i.              What are the factors that are responsible for the misuse of continuous assessment in Ifo Local Government Primary schools?

ii.            How frequently do teachers use continuous assessment in their teaching and learning process?

iii.           What are the efforts being made by the government to improve the use of continuous assessment in our primary schools?

iv.           How can the use of continuous assessment in our primary schools be improved upon?

v.            In what ways or areas has these factor affect the standard of education in Ewekoro Local Government primary schools?

vi.           What are the possible suggestions for improving the use of continuous assessment in order to promote the standard of education in our primary schools?

1.5    SIGNIFICANCE OF THE STUDY

            It is hoped that a study of this nature will go a long way to educate both the government and the teachers to effectively recognize and make use of continuous assessment as a major factor of promoting and also as a promoter of educational standard especially at the preliminary level that is, primary level.

1.6    SCOPE OF THE STUDY

            This researcher project work is purposely meant to discover all the primary schools in Ifo Local Government Area but, due to financial problem and also time factor the research work is limited to some selected primary schools in Ifo Local Government Area.

1.7    LIMITATION OF THE STUDY

            Another important and major problem encounter by the researcher is the problem of finance. Due to financial constraints the researcher will not be able to cover all primary schools in Ifo Local Government Area.

1.8    DEFINITION OF TERMS

Continuous: A process going on without been disturbed or interrupted. That is, the existence of something for a period of time without interruption.

Continuous Assessment: This is a formulative method of evaluation that is in ideal form systematic, comprehensive, cumulative and guidance, cumulative and guidance oriented. It is acclaimed to be a progressive objective method of evaluating learner’s achievement gains from class instruction.

Standard: A specific level of quality that is normal or acceptable for a particular person or in a particulars situation. It could also be a unit of measurement that is officially used.

            Promoting Educational standard. This is a process of developing the level of quality of a particular educational process or the process of maintaining the high standard in education.