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Article Title: Quality or Mere Formality? Food For Thought in the Use of Teacher-Made Tests in Masvingo Rural Secondary Schools in Zimbabwe
by Chinyoka Kudzai; Kufakunesu Moses and Ganga Emily

Abstract:
The purpose of this study was to determine the quality, effectiveness and sustainable use of teacher-made tests among rural secondary school pupils. A cost-benefit analysis on the quality of teacher-made tests will be explored assessing whether their administration is of quality or a mere formality in the classroom setting in Zimbabwe. Teacher-made tests are highly vulnerable to misuse by teachers who adopt a haphazard approach to test planning, administration and scoring. The qualitative descriptive survey design was used with questionnaires, interviews, observations and document analysis as data collection instruments. Findings from this research study established that teacher-made classroom tests remain invaluable assessment devices for generating vital information which will ultimately be used to enhance educational practices. In rural secondary schools in Masvingo, a variety of factors, some concerning the individual taking the test, others inherent in design and content of the test itself, administration and test conditions have been noted to affect the validity, reliability and quality of test scores. This has a bearing on the effective assessment, teaching and learning in rural secondary schools in Zimbabwe. Efforts are being made to minimise errors though it is difficult to entirely eliminate errors in assessment. This study recommends in- service training programmes to sharpen the item writing skills of classroom practitioners to improve the quality of teacher-made tests. Moreover, an understanding of sources of errors in test scores help to minimise them in constructing, designing and administering of tests, thereby ensuring test validity and reliability.

Keywords: teacher-made tests; error; assessment, quality, formality, reliability, validity.

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