Assessment Practice in Special Education Schools in Zamfara State, Nigeria

Assessment practices for special need students have been a concern in the educational system of most countries, especially in Nigeria. The aim of this study was to examine the assessment practice in special education Schools in Zamfara state, Nigeria. The Survey design was adopted for this study. The population of the study comprised all the 55 teachers (special educators) in the two (2) Schools for Special Education in Zamfara State, which include School for Special Education Gusau and School for Special Education Gummi. School for Special Education Gusau and School for Special Education Gummi have 37 and 18 teachers respectively. Purposive or judgmental sampling technique was used to select all the 55 teachers of the targeted population. The instrument used for data collection was a researcher designed questionnaire namely “Special Educators’ Assessment Practice Questionnaire (SEAPQ)”. Both face and content validity of the instrument were established by experts in Educational Research, Measurement and Evaluation. Cronbach Alpha method of reliability was used to determine the reliability of the instrument. The Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of Weighted Mean and Standard Deviation. The results showed that the components of student assessment practice conducted among special need students are curriculum-based assessments, intelligence Quotient (IQ), Test screening test, academic achievements, developmental assessments and end-of-grade assessments, and the methods of assessment used are formative assessment, summative assessment, speech therapy evaluation/language scales, developmental scales, diagnostic assessment, standardized test and direct observation. The findings also revealed that special educators’ professional competence in choosing assessment methods appropriate for special need students, administering, scoring, and interpreting of their results and recognizing unethical and inappropriate assessment methods are inadequate. Based on these findings, it was recommended that Special educators should be trained on all the components of assessments practices that will benefit special needs students learning outcomes.

Key words: Assessment practices, special needs students, special educators, special education