Reimagining Nigeria's Educational System: Improving Academic Performance Through High Stakes Standardized Testing

This book assesses the challenges within the Nigerian educational system and provides a concrete plan to revitalize the low-performing system by strengthening high-stakes testing at all levels. In Nigeria, many citizens believe that the solution to the country’s low performance in education is to eliminate high-stakes standardized testing. High-stakes testing refers to applying standardized student achievement tests as a primary mechanism to evaluate students, teachers, and their school’s performance. This book argues that the poor quality of education and low ranking of Nigeria’s educational system is not related to the negative consequences of high-stakes testing, but rather is due to many intrinsic factors. By conducting a comparative analysis of six high-performing education systems worldwide, the book offers a comparative summative evaluation of the educational system and offers recommendations. This book will be of interest to policymakers and scholars in the fields of African education, higher education, quality and global studies, African studies, management and administration, leadership, and professional development studies. Joseph Abiodun Balogun is former Dean and retired Distinguished University Professor at the College of Health Sciences, Chicago State University, USA, Visiting Professor/Program Consultant at the Centre of Excellence in Reproductive Health Innovation, University of Benin, Nigeria, and President/ CEO, Joseph Rehabilitation Center, Tinley Park, Illinois, USA.