Influence of Test Anxiety on Academic Performance of Students with Hearing Impairment in Special Schools in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State

This study investigates the influence of test anxiety on academic performance of students with hearing impairment in special schools in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State. The study adopted the descriptive research design. The study was guided by three research questions and three null hypotheses. The population of the study comprised fifty-four (54) students with hearing impairment in special schools in the area. The sample size was 54 students with hearing impairment which was adopted through the use of census sampling technique. The instrument for data collection was a structured questionnaire, titled: “Influence of Test Anxiety on Academic Performance Questionnaire’’ (ITAAPQ)”. The instrument was validated by the research supervisor and experts in Special Needs Education. The reliability of the instrument was determined through test re-test reliability method which yielded a reliability index of r=0.84 for influence of academic self-concept on academic performance sub-scale, r=0.72 for influence of text format on academic performance sub-scale, r=0.80 for influence of text difficulty on academic performance sub-scale. Mean and standard deviation were used to answer the research questions while Independent sample t-test was used to test the null hypotheses at 0.05 level of significance. The study revealed that academic self-concept, text format and text difficulty positively influenced academic performance of students with hearing impairment in special schools in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area. It further revealed that there was no significant difference in the mean rating of male and female students on the influence of academic self-concept, text format and text difficulty on academic performance of students with hearing impairment in special schools in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area. It was recommended among others that; Schools should introduce anxiety management programs and workshops to help students cope with anxiety. Techniques such as mindfulness, relaxation exercises, and counselling can be integrated into the curriculum to teach students how to manage their anxiety effectively.