Kwara State University
Oluremi Awogbade
Designation: Associate Professor
Department: CREATIVE ARTS AND TOURISM
| My Publications | ||||||||
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| S/N | Title | Abstract | Authors | Volume Numbers | Publication Type | Publication Date | Link | |
| 1 | Sustaining Standard in Educational Assessment: The West Africa Examination Council Experience |
This paper would attempt to expound the procedures for maintaining standards in the conduct of public examinations and procedures used in order to achieve reliability and validity of the test instruments vis-a-vis the challenges faced in the process of standard maintenance. Assessment is an important aspect of education and should be carefully pursued so as to achieve the set objectives. The reasons for assessment includes, among others: (1) getting feedbacks, (2) monitoring progress, (3) evaluating test instruments and (5) aiding learning. Instruments of assessment could be multiple choice/objective tests, essay questions, aural or oral tests, projects and case studies, continuous or fixed. Text generally could be for achievement or selection. However, irrespective of the aim of assessment, there should be uniformity of standards in the use of the assessment instruments; it should reflect the test blueprint i.e. Test the various levels of individuals being tested, the cognitive, affective and psychomotor domains. Sustenance of standards in educational assessment in West African Examinations Council involves among others, test development and test administration procedures such as: Syllabus developments/review: Items specification table; Commissioning of items; Item writing/editing; Trial testing; Moderation of items; Compilation of drafts; Production of test papers, Administration of test; Selection scripts; International Preliminary Coordination Meeting; standard fixing and Grade Boundaries Awards Meetings. However, the paper would also look at some of the societal factors that militate against the maintenance of standards despite the efforts being made by the West African Examination Council. These include: financial constraints/funding; examination malpractices; poor and inadequate facilities; inadequate manpower; individual interests; poor teaching leading to poor learning; instability in government and inconsistency in Government policies. | Proceedings of The Association for Educational Assessment in Africa (AEAA) 26th Annual Conference, Accra. | |||||