Extensiveness of History Teachers’ Preparation of Table of Specifications on Enhancing Students’ Academic Achievements in Public Secondary Schools in Mwanga District, Tanzania

Authentic determination of evidence of students’ academic achievement is demonstrated in the best way by using a table of specification in which this study aimed at making its focus. Thus, study sought to investigatethe extent that history teachers prepare table of specification in enhancing academic achievements in public secondary schools in Mwanga district, Tanzania. Anchored on Validity theory, proposed by Messick in 1989, the study employed a convergent design under mixed methods approach to collect information from target population of 144 history teachers, 135 school quality assurers, 27 heads of school, 27 heads of history department, 1 chief quality assurer and 1 district secondary education officer made a total of 308 respondents. Sample size has total of 150 respondents that comprised 69 history teachers, 16 heads of schools, 16 heads of history department, 1 chief quality assurer and 48 school internal quality assurers that were selected through stratified and simple random sampling techniques. The study used questionnaire to obtain quantitative data from history teachers and school internal quality assurers and interview guide to acquire qualitative data from chief quality assurer. The study also used interview schedule to obtain the information from the history head of departments and school internal quality assurers. Validity of instruments was established through research experts in assessment and evaluation in the faculty of education from Mwenge Catholic University. Cronbach Alpha technique was used to establish the reliability of the Likert type items constituted in the questionnaires at a coefficient of 0.820. Dependability of qualitative data collection instruments was ensured through triangulation and peer debriefing. The study adhered to research ethical issues such as: signing consent forms, confidentiality, anonymity, and citation and referencing to avoid plagiarism. The study revealed that: history teachers in public secondary schools prepare and use table of specifications to outline the topics and skills to be assessed in exams or assignments to the low extent. The study concludes that, history teachers in public secondary schools do not prepare and use table of specification to outline the topics and skills to be assessed in exams or assignments and hence they fail to consider cognitive levels of learning. The study recommends to the District Chief Quality Assurer to create awareness to history teachers on viability of the preparation and usability of the table of specifications to ensure validity of testing and assessment procedures. The study also recommends that, heads of history department should ensure that history teachers prepare and use table of specifications during the entire assessment process to ensure students’ higher academic achievements.