PRESSURE OF ACCOUNTABILITY AND PORTFOLIO ASSESSMENT AMONG SECONDARY SCHOOL STUDENTS IN ILORIN, NIGERIA

Abstract

The pressure of accountability has made teachers to focus their instruction on preparing students for tests without considering learner’s knowledge, skills and potentiality. The study examined the pressure of accountability and portfolio assessment among secondary school students in Ilorin, Nigeria. It considered the adoption of portfolio assessment to reduce the pressure of accountability by the teachers and students of Economics in senior secondary schools in Ilorin, Nigeria. A quasi-experimental research design was adopted for the study where two senior secondary schools were purposively selected. Two intact classes of ninety-nine and eighty-one (81) students each constitute the experimental and control group respectively. A total of one hundred and eighty (180) Economics students were used as sample. The Instrument used in this study was self-constructed tagged Portfolio Assessment Assignment Exercise on Economics (PAAEE) along with twenty (20) Economics multiple choice items which was adopted from West African Senior Secondary School Certificate Examination (WASSCE). Analysis of Co-variance (ANCOVA) was used to analyze data generated. The findings revealed that portfolio assessment significantly increased students’ performance compared with those students exposed to the conventional method of teaching. It was also revealed that there was no significant difference in the performance of male and female students in the assessment of achievement through portfolio assessment and conventional assessment method. Based on the findings, it was recommended that teachers should be at liberty to adopt suitable method like portfolio assessment without fear of accountability.