Factors Influencing Assessment Conceptions among Basic School Teachers: A Multiple Analysis of Variance

This study examined teacher variables that influence assessment conceptions of basic school teachers in the Sissala East Municipality of Ghana. Gender, academic levels, class assigned, teaching experience, age and assessment-based training were investigated to determine the effects of these individual variables on the teachers' conception of assessment. The data for this study were collected and analyzed using a strictly quantitative approach. Teachers Conception of Assessment III was used to collect data from 204 teachers. Using multiple analysis of variance (MANOVA), out of the six variables included in the study, the results revealed that the main effect for gender was significant, Wilks' Lambda = .95, F (4, 198) = 2.53, p < .05; multivariate 2 = 0.05. A follow-up Bonferroni adjustment analysis, the dependent variables were verified individually, and the only variable to attain a difference in statistical significance was improvement assessment conception, F (1, 201) = 6.56, p = .011, partial eta squared = .03. An analysis of the mean scores revealed that females recorded marginally higher levels of improvement conception (M = 4.84, SD = .55) than males (M = 4.63, SD = .59). It is therefore recommended that stake holders should ensure the development of ways to improve the assessment literacy of especially male teachers.