Continuous assessment practices and impact on students’ learning outcomes in Secondary Schools in the South West Region of Cameroon

The study sought to find out if assessment practices have a significant impact on students’ learning outcomes in Secondary schools. The general objective of the study was to investigate the impact of continuous assessment ( CA) practices on students’ learning outcomes. The specific objectives were to find out the impact of formative and sequential assessment practices on students’ learning outcomes. The main research questions were what is the impact of assessment practices on students’ learning outcomes? The general hypothesis was that assessment practices have a significant impact on students’ learning outcomes. The research method adopted was the mixed method using the explanatory sequential design. The population of the study comprised students and teachers of secondary schools in the South West Region. The target population was students and teachers of the three selected divisions namely; Fako, Meme and Manyu. The accessible population comprised form four students and teachers in some accessible schools from the three selected divisions. The sample for the study comprised of twelve (12) schools selected within the three divisions. The two main instruments of the study were questionnaire for students and interview guide for teachers. The convenience, purposive and simple random sampling techniques were used to select the sample size comprised of 382 form four students and 24 teachers. Data were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics, that is, frequencies, percentages and Pearson product correlation coefficient. The findings showed that continuous assessment practices have a great influence on students’ learning outcomes. Findings showed that formative and sequential assessments practices have a great impact on students’ learning outcome. Findings also revealed that sequential assessment has great impact on students’ learning outcomes. All the 2 null hypotheses were rejected while the 2 alternative hypotheses were retained. The conclusion was that formative  and sequential assessments have great impact on students’ learning outcomes .  The study thus recommends an adequate implementation of formative and sequential assessments practices in our school system to enhance students’ learning outcomes. Teachers should be motivated to  effectively implement assessment practices in the teaching-learning process.