Teachers And Students Perception On Portfolio Assessment In Secondary Schools In Kenya

Abstract

This study sought to establish the use of portfolio assessment as an alternative authentic assessment tool in Kenyan secondary school setting. The study was guided by three objectives: a) to determine whether Kenyan secondary school teacher practice in classroom assessment reflect an integration of portfolio assessment as an alternative authentic assessment tool; b) to determine secondary school teachers’ perception on the use of portfolio assessment as an authentic assessment tool; and, c) to determine the perception of students on portfolio assessment as an alternative authentic assessment tool. To achieve these objectives, the study adopted a quantitative research methodology where Mbeere sub county was used as a case study. The target population in this study was secondary school teachers and Fourth Form students in Mbeere Sub-county. Self-administered research instruments were used and distributed among the targeted population for response. The study utilized a combination of purposive and convenient sampling to collect data from the target population. Collected data was organized coded, and entered into SPSS Version 25. This data was then analyzed for descriptive statistics to answer the research questions. The results of the analysis confirmed that; a)Objective one, Secondary school teachers utilized portfolio assessment as an alternative authentic assessment tool [88% of the sampled teachers agreed to using portfolio assessment, 8% were not aware of portfolio assessment, while 4% did not use portfolio assessment. Secondary school teachers cited process portfolio as the most frequently used style [46%]. Evaluation style of portfolio assessment was equally popular at 36% while product portfolio was used by 18% of the total sampled population. Different subject seemed to prefer varying style of portfolio assessment. For instance, the science teachers seemed to prefer process portfolio 70%, Product portfolio was common among teachers teaching humanity subjects 56% while process evaluation was popular among mathematics teacher. Teachers teaching languages preferred evaluation portfolio 55%. b) Objective two and three,Teacher and student perception on portfolio was assessed based on portfolio use, portfolio as a learning tool, the process of developing portfolio and grading portfolio. The first two constructs portfolio use, portfolio as a learning tool reported a positive attitude towards portfolio assessment for both teachers and students M=>4.5. Both teachers and students expressed their reservation on the last two constructs of portfolio assessment [process and grading]. The study could not authoritatively report a positive perception towards portfolio assessment as a result of the division in opinion for both teachers and students, however, both the teachers and students recommended the use of portfolio assessment as an effective alternative assessment tool. Based on this finding, portfolio assessment should be encouraged as an alternative authentic assessment tool and integrated into Kenyan secondary schools.