Rethinking Assessment in C‐STEAM Education: A Culturally Responsive Framework for Ghanaian Secondary Schools

ABSTRACT The study investigated how a culturally grounded 6C instructional model aligns with assessment practices in C‐STEAM education across 30 Ghanaian secondary schools ( N = 720; 600 students, 120 teachers). It was found that integrating local cultural content significantly increased student engagement and ownership. Futhermore, the results showed significant regional differences in Cultural Identity Integration ( F = 7.04, p < 0.001**, η 2 = 0.042), Creativity in Task Completion ( F = 6.23 , p < 0.001**, η 2 = 0.038), and Metacognitive Awareness ( F = 5.82 , p = 0.001 , η 2 = 0.035). School type also influenced outcomes, notably Cultural Identity Integration ( F = 6.38, p = 0.002, η 2 = 0.026) and Creativity ( F = 5.62, p = 0.004**, η 2 = 0.022). Regression models indicated that C‐STEAM exposure strongly predicted Cultural Identity Integration ( β = 0.48, p < 0.001, R 2 = 0.35), Creativity ( β = 0.44, p < 0.001**, R 2 = 0.29), and Metacognitive Awareness ( β = 0.41, p < 0.001, R 2 = 0.26). Correlations among learning outcomes were uniformly positive (MA & AE: r = 0.62**, CC: r = 0.63**, all p < 0.01**). Qualitative findings highlighted that integrating local culture, promoting student agency, reflective learning, and collaborative engagement increased motivation, ownership, and the connection between school learning and community practices. It was recommended that schools should implement performance‐based assessments that directly align with C‐STEAM learning activities to ensure engagement and creativity are accurately evaluated.