Abstract

This study examined high school teachers’ and students’ perceptions, attitudes and actual practices of continuous assessment. The participants of the study were 41 teachers and 808 students in Injabara General and Preparatory, Tilili General Secondary, Mengesha Jembere General Secondary, and Dangila Preparatory schools in West Gojjam, Ethiopia. Multiple instruments that included questionnaires, interviews and content analyses were used to gather data. The findings indicated that ‘continuous assessment’ was exclusively used for developing students’ intellectual skills. Teachers gave students assignments to evaluate their achievement of the learning objectives. Based on the findings, it was concluded that the participant English teachers did not properly practice continuous assessment in their schools. Finally, it was recommended that teachers be given on-job training on continuous assessment for its effective utilization in schools.

Key words: Continuous assessment, social desirability, summative tests