TEACHING TO THE TEST: ASSESSMENT SYLLABUS AND VALIDITY OF ENGLISH EDUCATION IN BOTSWANA SECONDARY SCHOOLS

The demand for better results among school leavers in Botswana, like in many other places in the world, has been increasing in recent years, but what do the scores students get in examinations really mean? Do they mean such school leavers are adequately equipped to join the world of work and fully participate in the development process? Is classroom instruction geared towards achieving the goals of the syllabus or it is a mere examination preparedness exercise? To what extent can mid-year and final examinations be taken as a valid measure of the syllabus?

            To find the answers to these questions and others, the study, which was survey inferential in nature, comparatively content analysed the subject matter content as well as cognitive skill content of the midyear as well as the final examinations, and the subject matter content as well as well as cognitive skill content of English language syllabi. The data was then analysed using SPSS by conducting Pearson correlation and Fisher’s z-score transformations tests. Both literature review and findings for this study indicated a tendency among instructors to teach more to fulfil the requirements of the examinations than those of the syllabus. Correlation between the content of the mid-year examinations and that of BGCSE was found to be significant in most cases. It was recommended that teachers be engaged in in-service courses that emphasize test development and that assessment of English should include oral exams.