Level of Implementation of Basic Science Core Curriculum in Secondary Schools in Ebonyi State, Nigeria/ Dataset

Basic science is more than ten years since it was introduced into the school curriculum hence the need to evaluate the level of implementation of basic science core curriculum in secondary schools in Ebonyi State. The variables in this study are level, implementation and core curriculum. Seven research questions and six null hypotheses guided the study. The study employed a programme evaluation model and the specific design used for the study was the context, input, process and product evaluation (CIPP) model. The area of the study is Ebonyi state. The population of the study was all the public and private secondary schools in Ebonyi State. The sample of the study comprised of thirty secondary schools (five public secondary schools and five private secondary schools from each of the three educational zones) in Ebonyi State. The schools were drawn from a total of five hundred and eighty three secondary schools in Ebonyi State. The instruments used for this study were Basic science core curriculum implementation checklist and Basic science instructional and evaluation procedure questionnaire. The research questions 1-4 were answered using frequencies, ratio and percentage, research questions 5 and 6 were answered using mean and standard deviation while research question 7 employed a combination of frequencies, ratio, percentages, mean and standard deviation. Hypotheses 1-4 were tested using chi-square while hypotheses 5 and 6 were tested using t-test of difference between means of independent samples. The results of the study revealed that there were lack of content correspondence in seven topics in Junior Secondary School One (JSS1) and JSS2 and there was adequate correspondence in topics in JSS3 with specification of the core curriculum. It also revealed that classrooms and blackboards were inadequate in secondary schools in Ebonyi State. The study also revealed that all the materials for teaching basic science were inadequate in Ebonyi State secondary schools. The results also indicated that the teachers were inadequate in secondary schools in Ebonyi State. The results indicated that chalk-talk approach was the most popular method of teaching basic science in secondary schools in Ebonyi State and discovery method was relatively well utilized as a medium of instruction. The results also revealed that home assignment and tests were the methods of evaluation. It was revealed that facilities, instructional material and personnel for teaching basic science were better provided in the private secondary schools than in public secondary schools. The study also revealed that the chalkboard method dominates all instructional approach both in public and private secondary schools. The private secondary schools utilized field trips more than the public secondary schools. Tests and quizzes dominated all assessment techniques in both private and public secondary schools. Based on these findings, recommendations were made which includes, that there should be provision of instructional facilities and instructional materials for the teaching of basic science in Ebonyi state, and finally, the government should employ more basic science teachers.