Managing Classroom Assessment Quality Evidence on Teacher Test Construction Competence, Test Quality KPIs, and Pupils Performance in Western Area Rural, Sierra Leone

Managing Classroom Assessment Quality Evidence on Teacher Test Construction Competence, Test Quality KPIs, and Pupils Performance in Western Area Rural, Sierra Leone Author Details: Issa John GblaSenior Lecturer, Freetown Polytechnic Abstract The researcher reposition classroom assessment as a management system by testing whether teachers’ test‑construction competence (TCC) operates as a process KPI that improves teacher‑made test quality and, indirectly, pupil performance in junior secondary mathematics.The study covers Western Area Rural, Sierra Leone (30 schools; 60 teachers; 300 pupils). We audited tests for blueprint coverage, item difficulty and discrimination, distractor performance, and internal consistency (KR‑20/α) to build a Test Quality Index (TQI). Multilevel models with school random intercepts and a mediation specification assessed TQI as an indirect pathway between TCC and achievement. Findings: TCC correlated positively with achievement (β≈0.22–0.28). Introducing TQI attenuated the direct TCC path (β≈0.17; p≈.065) and produced an indirect effect of about 0.08 SD (bootstrap 95% CI ≈ [0.02, 0.14]).Practical implications: Treating TCC and TQI as KPIs supports a low‑cost continuous quality improvement (CQI) cycle: blueprint checks, item‑writing clinics, marking moderation, and termly dashboard review embedded in district QA governance. Originality/value: By recasting psychometric indicators as management devices, we offer a pragmatic blueprint for assessment quality management (AQM) in low‑resource public education systems, linking process control to measurable gains in information quality and student outcomes. Keywords: quality management; KPIs; continuous improvement; assessment quality management; performance dashboard; public sector; Sierra Leone