School Based Assessment

According to MoE (2014) and Bello and Tijani (2008), School Based Assessment (SBA) serves three purposes, namely: first, to discover the progress, strengths and weaknesses of students from the perspective of performance; Second, to inform teachers’ decision about what needs to be taught, how effective teaching has been and class performance in comparison with other teachers and schools; Third, to make important grading, selection and placement decisions about students on a grade based on merits, certify students learning achievement and provide feedback to stakeholders on the quality of an educational institution. On its grading function, they state that assessment produces certificates of competence at a particular stage of learning and provides

In Ghana, external assessment by the West African Examination Council (WAEC) is used nationally by policymakers for this purpose - improvements in educational outcomes (MoE, 2014).Additionally, Akunu (2012) observes that external assessment impacts what and how teachers teach and assess in the classroom. Some studies, that explored assessment practices of teachers, have reported on some purposes of assessment as indicated by teachers. Philippou and Christou (1997) conducted a study into the role of assessment, grading criteria, most common item format and objectives tested, and alignment of assessment and instruction. They investigated Greek and Cypriot teachers’ assessment practices and found that teachers thought that the main purposes of assessment were to determine students’ difficulties and to assess the effectiveness of instruction. Delandshere and Jones (1999) examined the assessment conceptions of elementary teachers. They found out that teachers viewed assessment as having three main purposes: for placing students in the appropriate curriculum stage; for describing student achievement and defending their grading system; and, for preparing students for large-scale standardized

School-based assessment ii) Continuous Assessment in Ghana

Until the educational reforms in 1987, “one shot” examination of paper and pencil was the mode of assessing pupils or students in Ghana. It was also the most common evaluative means used by various educational institutions. This method of assessment was carried out usually at the end of instruction, course, term or year before getting information on the learner. The Ministry of Education introduced continuous assessment in Ghana in 1987 to supplement the one shot examination. According to Tamakloe, et al (1996), countries such as Britain, Kenya, Zambia and Nigeria among others took the lead in the implementation of continuous assessment. Nigeria introduced it in 1977. In Tanzania, it was associated with the Mozama Revolution in 1975.

Ghana introduced the continuous assessment (CA) scheme in 1987 based upon International Monetary/World Bank educational expects’ CA recommendations ( Kwawukume, 2006). The rationale of introducing the according to Bartels (2003) is to minimize the elements of risks associated with taken a single terminal examination. The belief is that any student who works conscientiously should not fail the final certificate