DEVELOPMENT AND VALIDATION OF ECONOMICS TEACHER-MADE TEST FOR AUTHENTIC ASSESSMENT OF STUDENTS' ACHIEVEMENT IN NORTH CENTRAL STATES OF NIGERIA

This study developed and validated an Economics teacher-made test for authentic assessment of students' achievement in North Central States of Nigeria. In terms of geographical scope, the study was restricted to Nasarawa, Benue and Plateau States of the North Central States of Nigeria. Instrumentation design type with cross-sectional survey research design were used and focused on senior secondary II curriculum. The population of this study comprises 200,530 students. Multi-stage random sampling technique was used to select a sample of 400 respondents for the study. Maikudi Economics Teacher-Made Test (METEMA) developed by the researchers was the instrument for the study. Kudder-Richardson (KR-20) statistic was used to establish the reliability of 0.89 (Internal consistency) of the instrument with validity index of 0.80. Factor analysis was used to answer research questions and establish norms for the METEMA. Findings from the study showed that, the content validity index was found perfect at 0.80 validity index and the METEMA was found to be highly reliable at 0.89 reliability index. It concluded that Economics Achievement Test is a valid evaluation instrument. The study recommends that,teachers, researchers and relevant educational agencies should always establish the content validity index of any instrument they develop, for measuring educational achievements in order to ensure the items are vaiid and reliable that is, relevant to the course objective.