Enhancing Test Development and Item Writing Skills of Subject and Vocational Teachers in Government-Owned Junior Secondary Schools in Jigawa State, Nigeria

Abstract

This study conducted a capacity building training programme to determine whether there exists effect of treatment on teachers’ knowledge of basic test development and construction skills in public Junior Secondary Schools in Jigawa state, Nigeria. Also, it examined if there exists effect of treatment on subject and vocational teachers’ item writing and test analysis skills, teachers’ ability to categorize and interpret test scores for learning improvement in public Junior Secondary Schools in the state. This is with a view to enhance teachers’ test construction competence and improve both validity and equity in achievement testing. An equally randomized quasi-experimental research design was employed in the study. The population studied comprised all male and female teachers in government-owned Junior Secondary Schools in all 27 Local Government Areas (LGAs) of Jigawa state, Nigeria. 520 secondary school personnel constituting 400 subject and vocational teachers, 40 Guidance Counsellors and 80 School Administrators constituted the sample in the study. Three self-developed research instruments were used in the study to collect data. These are: “Test Development Questionnaire (TDQ); Item Writing Questionnaire (ITQ), and Impact Assessment Questionnaire (IAQ)”. Independent t-test statistics was used to test hypotheses in the study at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that there existed a significant effect of treatment on subject and vocational teachers’ knowledge of basic test development and construction skills in Junior Secondary Schools in Jigawa state. Also, there was a significant effect of treatment on subject and vocational teachers’ item writing skills and teachers’ skills in item and test analysis in Junior Secondary Schools in the state. However, a non-significant effect of treatment on subject and vocational teachers’ ability to categorize and interpret test scores for learning improvement in Junior Secondary Schools in Jigawa state existed. It was concluded that continuous improvement in test development and construction is imperative for the 21st Century classroom teachers in the country. The study recommended that there was an urgent need to strengthening teacher education in view of competence-based test and item writing skills enhancement amongst secondary school teachers in Nigeria.