STATE BASED TRANSITION AND MOCK EXAMINATIONS AS PREDICTORS OF STUDENTS’ ACHIEVEMENT IN SENIOR SECONDARY SCHOOL EXAMINATION IN KOGI STATE
ABSTRACT
The purpose of this study was to determine the extent to which Transition and Mock examinations predict the student achievement in SSCE. The design of the study was correlational survey research design carried out in Kabba/Bunu and Mopamuro local government areas in the western senatorial district of Kogi state. The population comprised of 9,677 secondary II students who sat for Transition examination in 2013/2014 academic session and wrote Mock examination in first term SS III. A sample of 520 students from the two local government areas was drawn using proportionate stratified sampling technique. The instrument used for the data collection was students’ grade chart (SGC). It was a standardized pro-forma. It was designed in such a way that the students’ grades could be obtained in STANINE form, that is, A1, B2, B3, C4, C5, C6, D7, E8 and F9 and assigned 9, 8, 7, 6, 5, 4, 3, 2 and 1 respectively.. The questions were answered using descriptive statistics and the hypotheses were tested at .05 level of significance using Regression Analysis of variance (ANOVA). Major findings of the study showed that; (1) Transition and Mock Examinations in Mathematics are good predictors of SSCE Mathematics. Transition and Mock scores accounted for 58% of the variance of students’ achievement in SSCE Mathematics. (2)There was a good prediction of SSCE English Language by Transition and Mock Examinations. Transition and Mock Examinations in English Language predicted 42% of the total variance of the students’ achievement in SSCE English Language. (3) Transition and Mock Examinations in Physics are good predictors of SSCE Physics. Transition and Mock scores accounted for 38% of the variance of students’ achievement in SSCE Physics. (4) The prediction of Transition and Mock Examinations in Chemistry was good. 50% of the total variance of students’ achievement in Transition and Mock Chemistry accounted for students’ achievement in SSCE Chemistry. (5) Transition and Mock Examinations in Biology are good predictors of SSCE Biology. Transition and Mock scores accounted for 37% of the variance of students’ achievement in SSCE Biology. (6) The combination of Transition and Mock Examinations scores jointly accounted for 72% of the variance of students’ achievement in SSCE. Based on these findings, it was recommended among others that Kogi state ministry of Education should ensure that the selection of students for SSCE is maintained while the Transition Examination is sustained and the repackaged Mock Examination is improved upon for better performance in these external examinations.