The Relationship Between Teachers’ Utilization of Bloom’s Cognitive Taxonomy in the Construction of Examination Questions and Assessment of Students’ Academic Performance, in Public Secondary Schools, in Nandi County, Kenya

A common worry among stakeholders is the academic performance of public secondary schools in comparison to private institutions. According to best practices,Bloom’sTaxonomy is widely recommended for improving academic performance. Because of this, the study set out to look at the connection between students’ academic performance in public secondary schools in Nandi County, Kenya, and teachers’ use of Bloom’s Cognitive Taxonomy in instruction and examination. The objective of the study was to examine the relationship between teachers’ utilization of Bloom’s Taxonomy in the construction of examinations and assessment of students’ academic performance in public secondary schools. The study adopted a pragmatic paradigm. This study was based on Bloom’s Cognitive Taxonomy of objectives. An explanatory sequential design and a mixed method research strategy were employed in this study. 2055 teachers from 137 public secondary schools made up the research population. A total of 360 instructors from 30 county schools comprised the sample. Using simple random sampling, 30 county schools were chosen, and 12 Form 3 teachers teaching six chosen subjects were identified from among them. The methods employed to gather data from the examination were questionnaires and document analysis. Data was analyzed using frequencies, means, and Chi-square. The study revealed a positive relationship between the utilization of the taxonomy in setting exams and academic performance (χ2 = 97.89 with C = 0.47). The study therefore concluded that, 86 % of teachers used Bloom’s Taxonomy when developing internal examinations, and these had a significant positive relationship with academic performance of the students. The findings of this study suggest that educators should make full use of Bloom’s Taxonomy and aim to incorporate all levels into examinations. This will foster a critical thinking and analytical mindset among students, ultimately leading to improved academic achievement.