International Education Research Volume 1, Issue 2 (2013), 08-20 ISSN 2291-5273 E-ISSN 2291-5281 Published by Science and Education Centre of North America 8 © Science and Education Centre of North America Effect of Formative Testing with Feedback on Students’ Achievement in Junior Secondary School Mathematics in Ondo State Nigeria Ajogbeje, Oke James 1* , Ojo, Adewale Amos 1 , & Ojo, Olarenwaju Adeniyi 1 1 Department of Mathematics, College of Education, Ikere-Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria * Correspondence: Ajogbeje, Oke James, Department of Mathematics, College of Education, Ikere- Ekiti, Ekiti State, Nigeria. E -mail: ajogbejeoke@yahoo.com ; ojajogbeje@gmail.com Abstract: The study investigated the effect of formative testing with feedback as an instructional strategy on junior secondary school students’ achievement in mathematics in Ondo State. The effects of gender and socio-economic status on this learning outcome were also examined. The sample for the study consisted of 227 junior secondary school two (JSS II) students in intact classes of three co-educational schools purposively selected from Akure South Local Government Area of Ondo State. The study employed quasi-experimental design with treatment at three levels namely: Formative Test with Feedback, Formative Test only and Non-Formative Test which served as control. The treatment levels were crossed with students’ socio-economic status (high, medium and low) and gender (male and female). Five research instruments namely: Formative Tests I, II and III, Socio-Economic Status Questionnaire (SESQ) and Mathematics Achievement Test (MAT) were constructed, validated and used for the collection of all revelant data. The data collected were analyzed using Analysis of Covariance (ANCOVA) and Scheffe’s Post-Hoc Analysis. Results from the study revealed a significant effect of treatment on students’ achievement in mathematics. However, there were no significant effects of gender and socio-economic status (SES) on achievement in mathematics. Keywords: formative test, socio-economic status, feedback, gender, mathematics achievement 1. Introduction The evaluation of students’ progress and the ultimate level of achievement in schools is a very important part of any educational system. The utilization of formative testing in the teaching- learning process involve breaking up the subject matter content or course into smaller hierarchical units for instruction; specifying objectives for each units; designing and administration of validated formative test; offering a group based remediation in areas where students are deficient before moving to another units and then administration of summative test on completion of all units. Ajogbeje (2010) opined that the breaking up of subject or course into small units enable students to adequately prepare for periodic tests. And these periodic tests also provide a means of getting the students to be more involved and committed to the teaching-learning process thereby enhancing their performance. Hence the regular testing of students’ ability as demanded by the “6-3-3-4” system of education assists greatly in discovering the performance of students and could also be used to improve learning The essence of using tests and other evaluation instruments during the instructional process is to guide, direct and monitor students’ learning and progress towards attainment of course objectives (Alonge, 2004; Kolawole, 2010). Teachers and learners cannot perform optimally or effectively