Influence Of Aberrant Response Behaviours On Academic Achievement Of Secondary School Students With Physical Disability Status In Niger State, Nigeria

The purpose of this study was to assess the influence of aberrant response behaviour on academic achievement of secondary school students with physical disability. A quasi-experimental design was carried out in 66 public secondary school within Niger State. The study adopted, through a purposive sampling method 98 students with various and varying degrees of physical disabilities, specifically, 75 orthopaedic and 23 visual impaired students currently in SSS III classes. Two self-developed instruments were utilized to collect data; Mathematics-English-Language-Achievement-Test (MELAT); and Proforma for Achievement Scores of Students with Physical Disability (PASS-PD). Data collected were analyzed using descriptive statistics of percentages and Analysis of Variance (ANOVA) at 0.05 level of significant difference. The findings of the investigation revealed that, with cheating and plodding as observed aberrant response behaviours among the subjects, there is statistically significant difference in the academic achievement of students with orthopaedic and visual impairments in Mean Cumulative Academic Achievement (MCAA), Pre-test and Post-test MELAT. This assertion is based on the evident results of 30.32 for difference in the academic achievement of students with orthopaedic impairment, and 13.41 for difference in the academic achievements of students with visual impairments, which are greater than the probability value of 0.00. Academic integrity policies to promote ethical conduct of tests and specialized support services to enhance improved learning experiences and valid outcomes of students with these impairments were recommended. Keywords: Physical disability, Aberrant response pattern, Item response theory, Orthopaedic impairment, Cheating and Plodding