Primary School Teachers’ Views on Grade 7 Examination Preparations: A Comparative Analysis of Urban and Peri-urban Primary Schools in Masvingo, Zimbabwe

Elliott Nkoma^1, , Zivanai Samson¹ and Herbert Zirima¹

¹Department of Psychology, School of Social Sciences, Great Zimbabwe University, Masvingo, Zimbabwe

Cite this paper:
Elliott Nkoma, Zivanai Samson and Herbert Zirima. Primary School Teachers’ Views on Grade 7 Examination Preparations: A Comparative Analysis of Urban and Peri-urban Primary Schools in Masvingo, Zimbabwe. American Journal of Educational Research. 2017; 5(8):927-932. doi: 10.12691/education-5-8-13

Abstract

The study sought to compare teachers’ views on the preparation for grade 7 examinations between urban and peri-urban primary schools in Masvingo Province, Zimbabwe. Four primary schools were purposively selected comprising of two from each school location. 60 teachers (30 from each school location) volunteered to participate. A convergence parallel design was utilized. The results show that teachers in peri-urban schools received lower scores (M = 4.30, SD = 1.52) than did those teachers in urban areas (M = 7.00, SD = 1.73), t (58) = 34.57, p < 0.01, two tailed. The size of this effect is large (effect size r = 0.95). Most urban teachers had above 16 years teaching experience, while most peri-urban teachers had between 6 to 10 years teaching experience, χ2 (1, N = 60) = 19.08, p < 0.05. Although the two variables are not independent of each other, the strength of the association between them is moderate (V = 0.56). The lecture method was a form of instruction for both school locations. After completion of the syllabuses the use of past examinations papers will be frequent in urban schools. Lack of resources and unknown school missions hamper teachers’ effectiveness in teaching in peri-urban schools.

Keywords:
washback quality education curriculum teaching and learning

This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License. To view a copy of this license, visit http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

References:

[1]	Kiomrs, R., Adolmehdi, R., & Naser, R. (2011). On the Interaction of Test Washback and Teacher Assessment Literacy: The Case of Iranian EFL Secondary School Teachers. English Language Teaching. 4(1), 156-161.
[2]	Rahimi, F., Esfandiari, M. R., & Amini, M. (2016). An Overview of Studies Conducted on Washback, Impact and Validity. Studies in Literature and Language, 13(4), 6-14.
[3]	Aftab, A., Qureshi, S., & William, I. (2014). Investigating the washback effect of the Pakistani Intermediate English Examination. International Journal of English and Literature, 5(7), 149-154.
[4]	McEwen, N. (1995). Educational accountability in Alberta. Canadian Journal of Education, 20, 27-44.
[5]	Taylor, L. (2005). Washback and impact. ELT Journal, 52(2), 154-155.
[6]	Alderson, C., & Wall, D. (1993). Does washback exist? Applied Linguistics, 14(2), 115-129.
[7]	Bailey, K. (1996). Working for washback: a review of the washback concept in language testing. Language Testing, 13(3), 257-279.
[8]	Pang, Y. (2017). An Investigation into Longitudinal CET Washback from Teachers’ Perspective. 2017 3rd International Conference on Social Science and Technology Education. Retrieved from http://dpi-proceedings.com/index.php/dtssehs/article/viewFile/9368/8934.
[9]	Pearson, I. (1988). Tests as levers for change. In D. Chamberlain & R. J. Baumgardner (Eds.), ESPM in the classroom: Practice and evaluation (pp. 98-107). London: Modern English.
[10]	Popham, W. J. (2001). Teaching to the Test? Educational Leadership, 58(6), 16-20.
[11]	Weigle, S. C., & Jensen, L. (1997). Assessment issues for content-based instruction. In M. A. Snow & D. Brinton (Eds.). The content based classroom: Perspectives on integrating language and content (pp. 201-212). White Plains, NY: Longman
[12]	Popham, W. J. (1987). The merits of measurement-driven instruction. Phi Delta Kappan, 68, 687-688.
[13]	Yeh, S. S. (2005). Limiting the Unintended Consequences of High-Stakes Testing. Education policy analysis archives, [S.l.], v. 13, p. 43.
[14]	Lam, H.P. (1994). Methodology washback an insider’s view. Bringing about change in language education. Hong Kong: Department of Curriculum Studies, University of Hong Kong.
[15]	Andrews, S., Fullilove, J., & Wong, Y. (2002). Targeting washback: A case-study. System, 30, 207-223.
[16]	Kellaghan, T., & Greaney, V. (2003). Monitoring Performance: Assessment and Examination in Africa. Washington DC: World Bank.
[17]	Watanabe, Y. (1996). Does grammar translation come from the entrance examination? Preliminary findings from classroom-based research. Language Testing. 13(3), 318-333.
[18]	Spratt, M. (2005). Washback and the classroom: the implications for teaching and learning of studies of washback from exams. Language Teaching Research, 9(1), 5-29.
[19]	Read, J. and Hayes, B. (2003). The impact of IELTS on preparation for academic study in New Zealand. IELTS International English Language Testing System Research Reports, 4, 153-206.
[20]	Opoku-Asare, N. A. A., & Siaw, A. O. (2015). Rural–Urban Disparity in Students’ Academic Performance in Visual Arts Education: Evidence From Six Senior High Schools in Kumasi, Ghana. SAGE Open, 1-14.
[21]	Cimbricz, S. (2002). State-Mandated Testing and Teachers' Beliefs and Practice. Education Policy Analysis Archives, 10(2), 1-21.
[22]	Farkas, S., Johnson, J., & Duffett, A. (2003). Rolling up their sleeves: Superintendents and principals talk about what’s needed to fix public schools. New York: Public Agenda.
[23]	Greene, J. C. (2007). Mixed Methods in Social Inquiry. San Francisco: John Wiley & Sons.
[24]	Kirkpatrick, R. and Zang, Y. (2011) The Negative Influences of Exam-Oriented Education on Chinese High School Students: Backwash from Classroom to Child. Language Testing in Asia, 1(3), 36-45.
[25]	Unesco, Ministries of Primary and Secondary education and Higher education (2001). The developments in education: The education system at the end of the 20th century. National report on the Republic of Zimbabwe.
[26]	Eshiwani, G. S. (1993). Education in Kenya since independence. Nairobi: Government Printer.
[27]	Armah, A. N. (2013). Contextualising the underperformance of rural education in Northern Ghana: Management approach. International Journal of ICT and Management. Retrieved from http://www.ijictm.org/admin/html/mail/attach/2013-12-27-07-42-08.
[28]	Nkoma, E. (2013). Effects of streaming in P1 (former group A) primary schools in Mutare urban, Zimbabwe. IOSR Journal Of Humanities and Social Science (IOSR-JHSS, 16(2), 118-125.
[29]	Hayes, B., & Read, J. (2004). IELTS Test Preparation in New Zealand: Preparing Students for the IELTS Academic Module. In L. Cheng & Y. Watanabe (Eds,). Washback in Language Testing. Resource Contexts and Methods (pp 97-111) New Jersey. Lawrence Erlbaum.
[30]	Chapman, D. W., & Snyder, C. W. (2000). Can high-stakes national testing improve instruction: Reexamining conventional wisdom. International Journal of Educational Development, 20, 457-474.
[31]	Bray, M., & Kwok, P. (2003). Demand for private supplementary tutoring: conceptual considerations, and socio-economic patterns in Hong Kong. Economics of Education Review, 22, 611-620.
[32]	Nzomo, J., Kariuki, M., & Guantai, L. (2001). The quality of primary education: some policy suggestions based on a survey of schools—Kenya. Paris: UNESCO International Institute for Educational Planning SACMEQ Policy Research Report No. 6.
[33]	Baker, D. P., Akiba, M., LeTendre, G. K., & Wiseman, A. W. (2001). Worldwide shadow education: outside-school learning, institutional quality of schooling, and cross-national mathematics achievement. Educational Evaluation and Policy Analysis, 23(1), 1-17.
[34]	Miller, C. J., & Metz, M. J. (2014). A comparison of professional-level faculty and student perceptions of active learning: its current use, effectiveness, and barriers. Advances in Physiology Education, 38(3), 246-252.
[35]	Muijs, D., Kyriakides, L., Van der Werf, G., Creemers, B., Timperley, H., & Earl, L. (2014). State of the art – teacher effectiveness and professional learning. An International Journal of Research, Policy and Practice, 25(2), 231-256.
[36]	Stallings, J. (1985). Effective elementary classroom practices. In M. J. Kyle (Ed.), Reaching for excellence: An effective sourcebook (pp. 14-42). Washington, DC: US Governing Printing Office.