Evaluation: A Critical Factor in Appropriate Career Development in Developing Economies

Developing economies are very often faced with challenging problems of under development. It becomes necessary therefore, that individuals within these economies are properly guided to face the challenges. Guidance and counselling assist people experience appropriate career choice and development. To achieve this, there must be reliable data. This paper examines the role of evaluation in appropriate career development. WAEC and NECO multiple choice test items in Mathematics were surveyed. The study spanned five years (ie 2000-2004). Nine experts in measurement and Evaluation with Mathematics bias were used to appraise the items randomly selected by the researcher to ascertain the proportion of items that belong to the different cognitive levels. Percentages were used to answer the two research questions and t-test statistics was used to test the two hypotheses of the study. The findings disclosed that both WAEC and NECO items were more of Lower Level Cognitive Skills (LLCS) than Higher Level Cognitive Skills (HLCS), thus, students and counsellors were all working with flawed information leading to the rejection of the hypotheses. Recommendations were made including the need for the Counsellor to apply a variety of techniques in order to assist their clients, whether in school or at work.