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Global Journal of Education, Humanities and Management Sciences (GOJEHMS);
Vol.1 No.1, May 2019, pg.128 - 136
128
PRINCIPALS’ SCHOOL SELF-ASSESSMENT PRACTICES FOR
SECONDARY SCHOOL IMPROVEMENT IN AWKA EDUCATION
ZONE OF ANAMBRA STATE
NONYE IFEDIORAH OKEKE
Department of Educational Foundations,
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam Campus,
Anambra State, Nigeria
ifedinoke@yahoo.com
&
CHIMAA OKAFORCHA
Department of Educational Foundations,
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam Campus,
Anambra State, Nigeria
choice.okaforcha@gmail.com
&
AMAKA EKWESIANYA
Department of Vocational Education,
Chukwuemeka Odumegwu Ojukwu University, Igbariam Campus,
Anambra State, Nigeria
kepolemma@gmail.com
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this research work was to determine the extent of principals’
school self-assessment for improvement of secondary schools. It is a descriptive
survey and was carried out in public secondary schools in Awka Education zone.
The population of the study comprised of 76 secondary school principals and 895
teachers in the area of the study while the sample for this study consisted of 486
respondents made up of 38 principals and 448 teachers. Fifty percent (50%)
principals and teachers respectively were selected by simple random sampling
technique. Instrument for data collection was a questionnaire developed by the
researchers. The instrument was validated by experts and their reliability indices
determined using Cronbach alpha method. Data were collected by the
researchers through direct hand-delivery process and were analyzed using mean
and standard deviation for answering the research question while t-test was used
to test the hypothesis. It was among others found that that principals in public
secondary schools in Awka education zone of Anambra state practice school self-
assessment for school improvement to a low extent. It was therefore recommended
that the state government organize in-service training for principals on school
self-assessment.
Global Journal of Education, Humanities and Management Sciences (GOJEHMS);
Vol.1 No.1, May 2019, pg.128 - 136
129
Keywords: Principals; Secondary School; Self-assessment practice; School
improvement.
Introduction
In all human organizations, self assessment allows people to reflect on themselves
and their work. In this process, the people in the organization are likely to identify
the aspects of the organization they can improve upon. In the school system and
with particular reference to learners, assessment encourages the learners to
understand their own progress or to comment on their own achievement in
schools.
In teaching and learning processes, assessment is indispensable to teachers, for
without it, there would be no evaluation of their own effectiveness. Thus, a
school’s performance is constantly and regularly appraised, criticize the
performance, teaching, physical and human resources and at the same time try to
find out the nature of the difficulties encountered by the schools, examine the
syllabus and other components of the school programme. According to Adebule
and Adebule (2014:23), assessment is basically for decision making which
concerns the following:
(i) Whether a student needs additional instruction on a topic
(ii) Whether a final programme is effective in developing student’s problem
solving abilities
(iii) Whether an educational policy that requires students to he promoted to the
next higher grade is made or less detrimental than a policy that allows low-
achieving students to be retained.
According to Alade (2017:57), the main purpose of assessment includes the
following;
(i) to find out if children are learning
(ii) to find out if children are having problems in learning
(iii) to improve the teaching-learning activities in schools
(iv) to ensure that children are helped or assisted to learn
(v) to prepare the teacher for discussion with parents and other teachers and
community members.
In schools, assessment could be internal or external. The focus of this work is on
internal assessment which is also known as self-assessment. According to
Adebayo (2016) and Oloda (2016) many schools have tried to encourage a more
active participation on the part of learners in learning activities by the
development of schemes for self-assessment and that self-assessment can take
many forms varying from a scrapbook collection of dairies of personal
experiences to formal judgments by the learners of their degree of attainment and
effort using their teacher- or leaner-generated criteria.
Traditionally, teachers have been seen and regarded as the custodians of
knowledge and students as the recipients, but over the past few years, there has
Global Journal of Education, Humanities and Management Sciences (GOJEHMS);
Vol.1 No.1, May 2019, pg.128 - 136
130
been a growing recognition that revising for test is not the same as acquiring and
developing deep understanding of the test, its purpose and content. According to
Boud and McDonald (2013), teachers are taking more interest in assessment for
learning in which they target their own and their students’ actions precisely upon
the next steps in learning for individuals. Activities that contribute to assessment
for learning include the use of detailed feedbacks, teacher questioning, peer and
self-assessment build on specific learning goals and explicit criteria. Adebayo
(2016) opined that the benefits of self-assessment could he summarized to include
the: (a) transfer of some responsibilities for making decisions from the teacher to
the learner; (b) helping the students to understand the concepts of quality; (c)
providing the foundation for lifelong learning; and (d) improving learning in the
course being studied.
School self-assessment (SSA) is a programme of professional development that
supports schools in improving teaching and learning through ongoing reflection
and peer review (Alade, 2017). An institution undertaking school self-assessment
involves its whole staff in a process of goal —setting regarding students learning
and sets in motion a continuous cycle of internal self review and external peer
review that moves the school closer to its goals. School self-assessment shares a
common theme:
1. Questions are asked from school heads, staff and students about the
school teaching and learning progress, achievement, acquisition of
human and physical facilities and what areas confusion still exists.
2. Meaningful reflection on taken practices. This is true for the students as
it is for the staff. These questions serve as guide to ones reflection
according to Adebule and Adebule (2014; pg. 6).
(i) How do schools rate their own performance?
(ii) What is spectacular about the school?
(iii) What is the school lacking?
(iv) What are the areas where the school needs improvement?
School self-assessment is supposed to be the nucleus of a school’s review process
designed to establish the potentials of educational institutions for accreditation
and to maintain standard of already accredited schools but attention has been
focused primarily on the schools seeking external authentication or prove of
attainments and self or internal assessment and examination as of little or no
value. This has led to the non improvement of “school” itself’ (students and staff)
in school assessment and evaluation process due to oversight where it is supposed
to be on essential part of a balanced assessment (Adebayo, 2016).
School self—assessment is defined by Schildkamp (2007) as a procedure
involving systematic information gathering initiated by the school itself and
intended to evaluate the functioning of the school and the attainment of its
educational goals for purposes of supporting decision-making and learning and
for fostering school improvement as a whole. School self-assessment is a means
of recognizing the quality of provisions made by a school and from this early
identification, formulating actions to improve provision and outcomes. The focus
Global Journal of Education, Humanities and Management Sciences (GOJEHMS);
Vol.1 No.1, May 2019, pg.128 - 136
131
of school self-assessment is on all that the school provides, but is primarily
concerned with the impact the school has on students’ attainment while
recognising that the school also has a broader function. The general view is that
school self-assessment needs to be undertaken in partnership with the local
education authority so that each party can contribute maximally. The effectiveness
of a school self-assessment process is determined by the process adopted to gauge
the quality of its provision. As part of this process, judgments are made from
external and internal generated data which, in many cases, are for school
improvement.
Several scholars’ and authors have defined school improvement in different
manners. According to Nnebedum and Egboka (2017), school improvement is
about strengthening learning and other related conditions toward bringing about
higher students academic performance. They further pointed out that a school
could be said to have improved, if there is positive change from the existing
practices and outcomes and this positive and incremental change comes across
various areas such as curriculum planning, physical facilities, supervision,
financial management, time management, staff and students’ personnel
management as well as learning outcomes. School improvement is the on-going
process by which the school strives for high level of productivity and
effectiveness in terms of learners’ attainment (Makoelle, 2014). School
improvement is about rising students’ achievement through focusing on teaching-
learning and the conditions which support it (Alammar, 2015; Ashiq, Naseer &
Nasarullah, 2014). The above definitions point to the fact school improvement is
geared towards raising learning outcome. The state of education in Anambra State
does not seemly support that principals in the state fully engage on school self-
assessment for school improvement.
In Anambra State and with particular reference to Awka education zone, several
efforts have been made to improve secondary schools. In an effort to improve the
productivity of secondary schools in the State, and Awka education zone in
particular, the Anambra State Ministry of Education has encouraged the
involvement of the Parent Teachers Associations and School Based Management
Committee in the management of schools in the state. However, some school
principals seem not to have devised the needed school self-assessment practices
for handling the multi-faceted problems facing the secondary school system in the
area. The problems border on how to ensure efficient service delivery towards
producing quality education in the area, ensuring that funds entrusted on them is
properly utilized, ensuring the provision and maintenance of physical facilities,
ensuring that teachers are motivated for their total commitment, ensuring the
supervision of instructional materials to ascertain effective teaching and learning.
Objectives of the Study
The main objective of the study was to determine the extent of principals’ school
self-assessment practice for improvement of secondary schools. Specifically, the
study determined the extent of principals’ school self-assessment practice for
improvement of secondary schools in Awka education zone of Anambra State.
Global Journal of Education, Humanities and Management Sciences (GOJEHMS);
Vol.1 No.1, May 2019, pg.128 - 136
132
Research question: What is the extent of principals’ school self-assessment
practice for improvement of secondary schools in Awka education zone of
Anambra State?
Hypothesis: There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of principals
and teachers in secondary school on the extent of principals’ school self-
assessment practices for improvement of secondary schools in Awka education
zone of Anambra State.
Research Method
This research work is a descriptive survey and was carried out in public secondary
schools in Awka Education zone. The population of the study comprised of 76
secondary school principals and 895 teachers in the area of the study. The sample
for this study consisted of 486 respondents made up of 38 principals and 448
teachers. Fifty percent (50%) principals and teachers respectively were selected
by simple random sampling technique. Instrument for data collection was a
questionnaire developed by the researchers. It is titled “Principals’ School Self-
Assessment for School Improvement Questionnaire” (PSSASIQ). The instrument
was validated by experts and their reliability indices determined using Cronbach
alpha method. In doing this, test-retest method was adopted using 20 copies of
the questionnaire which was administered twice in one week no 20 principals and
45 teachers in public secondary schools in the Area. This yielded index of 0.83
which was considered adequate for the study. Data were collected by the
researchers through direct hand-delivery process and were analyzed using mean
and standard deviation for answering the research question while t-test was used
to test the hypothesis. The decision rule was that wherever p-value is greater than
or equal to the significant value of .05, the null hypothesis was not rejected. On
the other hand, a null hypothesis was rejected wherever the p-value was less than
significant value and this means that the null hypothesis was significant.
Result
Research Question: What is the extent of principals’ school self-assessment
practice for improvement of secondary schools in Awka education zone of
Anambra State?
Global Journal of Education, Humanities and Management Sciences (GOJEHMS);
Vol.1 No.1, May 2019, pg.128 - 136
133
S/n
Items on school self-
assessment practices for
school improvement in your
school
Principals
N=76
Teachers
N=4595
mean
SD
Remarks
Mean
SD
Remarks
1
Ensuring that the periods for
school self-assessment are
known by teachers and
students
2.45
0.62
Low
Extent
2.00
0.71
Low
Extent
2
Involving students in the
teachers assessment
1.50
0.51
Low
Extent
2.11
0.70
Low
Extent
3
Involving parents in the school
assessment process
1.98
0.54
Low
Extent
2.34
0.65
Low
Extent
4
Making available resources for
carrying out school assessment
2.78
0.67
Moderate
extent
2.22
0.69
Low
Extent
5
Making staff aware of the
criteria for assessment
2.15
0.55
Low
extent
2.42
0.72
Low
Extent
6
Providing information on the
tools to be used for assessment
2.22
0.58
Low
extent
2.25
0.74
Low
Extent
7
Ensuring that assessment
covers issues regarding
teaching and learning in school
2.57
0.67
Moderate
extent
2.44
0.76
Low
Extent
8
Ensuring that audits are done
on the school finances
2.64
0.71
Moderate
extent
2.36
0.67
Low
Extent
9
Ensuring that the school
properties are audited
2.21
0.52
low
extent
2.34
0.69
Low
Extent
10
Providing feedback after
assessment
2.50
0.64
Moderate
Extent
2.38
0.72
Low
Extent
Cluster total
23 6
22.9
7.1
Cluster mean
2.30
0.60
Low
Extent
2.29
0.71
Low
Extent
Data in Table 1 reveals that the principals rated four items (items 4,7,8 and 10) on
the extent of principals’ school self-assessment practices for secondary school
improvement to a moderate extent with mean rating ranging between 2.50 to 2.78
and standard deviations ranging between 0.64 to 0.7 1. However, they rated 6
items (items 1, 2, 3, 5, 6 and 9) to a low extent with mean ratings ranging from 1
.50 to 2.45 and standard deviations ranging between 0.51 to 0.62 the teachers rated
all items to a low extent with mean ratings ranging between 2.00 to 2.44 and
standard deviations ranging from 0.65 to 0.76.
The cluster mean of 2.30 for principals and 2.29 for teachers indicates that
principals in public secondary schools in Awka education zone of Anambra state
practice school self-assessment for school improvement to a low extent. The
standard deviation shows that the responses of principals and teachers rating for
each item is low, suggesting that their responses still clustered, though there is
difference in the cluster scores of 0.60 and 0.71 respectively.
Global Journal of Education, Humanities and Management Sciences (GOJEHMS);
Vol.1 No.1, May 2019, pg.128 - 136
134
Hypothesis: There is no significant difference in the mean ratings of principals
and teachers in secondary school on the extent of principals’ school self-
assessment practices for improvement of secondary schools in Awka education
zone of Anambra State.
Table: t-test Analysis of the mean ratings of principals and teachers in
secondary schools on the extent of principals’ school self-assessment
practices for school improvement
Status
N
Χ
SD
Df
Cal.t
t-
value
p-value
Decision
Principal
38
2.30
0.60
484
0.11
1.96
0.91
NS
Teacher
448
2.29
0.71
Total
486
Result in Table 2 show that principal (38 in number) had a mean rating of 2.30
and standard deviation of 0.60, while the teachers (448 in number) had a mean
rating of 2.29 and standard deviation of 0.71. These yielded a calculated t-value
of 0.1 1 at 484 degree of freedom with a p-value of 0.91. Since the p-value of 0.91
is greater than the criterion value of 0.05, the null hypothesis is accepted. Hence,
there is no significant difference in the mean ratings of principals and teachers of
secondary school on the extent of principals’ school self-assessment practices for
school improvement in Awka education zone of Anambra State.
Discussion of Results
The findings on the seventh research question indicated that public secondary
school principals in Awka education zone of Anambra State practice school self-
assessment to a low extent. This finding is in line with Adediwura (2012) who
found that more than half of the sampled teachers were not adequately prepared
to conduct school based assessment. Adediwura also discovered that more than
fifty percent of the teachers have a negative perception of the effect of school
based assessment on their teaching practices and on students’ learning.
Schildkamp (2017) discovered that school self-assessment is a means of
recognizing the quality of provisions made by a school and from this early
identification, formulating actions to improve provision and outcomes.
Schildkamp also found that the effectiveness of a school self-review process will
be determined by the process it adopts to gauge the quality of its provision.
Furthermore, findings of the study revealed that principals and teachers did not
significantly differ in their mean ratings on the extent of principals’ school self-
assessment for school improvement. ‘This implies that principals and teachers of
public secondary schools in the area of the study, irrespective of status, practice
school self-assessment for school improvement to a low extent. As a result of this,
it becomes imperative that principals of public secondary schools arc educated on
the need to adequately apply school self assessment principle in order to meet
school goals.
Global Journal of Education, Humanities and Management Sciences (GOJEHMS);
Vol.1 No.1, May 2019, pg.128 - 136
135
Conclusion
The conclusion of this study is that public secondary school principals in Awka
education zone of Anambra State practice school self- assessment to a low
extent. Principals and teachers did not differ significantly in their mean ratings
on the extent of principals’ school self-assessment for school improvement.
Recommendations
In the light of the findings of this study, the following recommendations were
made:
1. State government organize in-service training for principals on school
self-assessment
2. Government should also provide adequate fund for secondary school
principals to enable them organize seminars, workshops and interactive
session to expose teachers on the importance of school self-assessment.
3. Institutions of higher learning in the state should mount programmes on
school self-assessment and improvement.
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