Principals’ Management Practices and Their Influence on Students’ Academic Performance in Public Secondary Schools in Turkana County, Kenya
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Date
2025-03
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Kenyatta University
Abstract
Examinations results have been used to determine a student's aptitude as well as to choose them for further education and career opportunities. Across the course, Turkana County has been experiencing disparities on the examinations result of Kenya Certificate of Secondary School examinations and has remained poor over the last five years as shown by the following mean scores 2016 (3.8531), 2017 (3.5488), 2018 (3.2222), 2019 (2.9078), and 2020 (3.0121). This provides proof that the KCSE scores have been fluctuating in a declining trend. For the past five years, Turkana County's academic performance has been appalling, which begs numerous questions, especially in regard to principals’ management practices and how they influence students’ academic achievement. Principals’ management practices always have devastating effects on students’ academic performance when they are not properly practiced. This study, therefore, endeavors to establish the influence of selected principals’ management practices on students’ academic performance in Turkana County. The research objectives were; to establish the influence of principals’ communication practices, principals’ decision-making practices, principals’ problem-solving practices and principals’ motivation practices on students’ academic performance in Turkana Central SubCounty. Systems theory served as the foundation for this research. Descriptive survey research design was used in this study. The target population of the research comprised of 16 principals, 200 teachers, and 784 students. A total of 300 respondents were chosen using random for sampling. Principals were chosen using census sampling, teachers through simple random selection, and students through stratified random sampling. Questionnaires with structured and unstructured items were used to gather data. Ten percent of participant questionnaires were examined in order to verify their validity for its intended purpose. In particular, 22 students, 6 teachers, and 2 principals took part in the pilot study. The researcher also requested the supervisor to validate the instruments' accuracy. The study adopted a method of rational equivalence by Kuder-Richardson Reliability. The data was grouped, entered, coded, cleaned, stored, and analyzed with the aid of SPSS v. 26 software. Descriptive statistics in the form of percentages, frequencies, and means were utilized to assess the quantitative information from the structured questions. Narratives and direct quotes were utilized to examine thematically the qualitative data from unstructured questions. Frequency bar graphs, tables and charts were utilized to display the analyzed data. The findings revealed that effective communication by principals, characterized by clear articulation of academic goals, expectations, and feedback, positively correlates with students’ academic performance. Schools with decentralized decision-making structures that empower teachers and distribute leadership responsibilities tend to adapt more effectively to changing educational needs, positively impacting student academic performance. A motivated teaching staff improves instructional quality and student engagement, resulting in improved academic achievement across all subjects. The study concludes that effective communication between principals, teachers, students, and parents is foundational to fostering a supportive and engaged school community. Principals who employ evidencebased solutions and involve stakeholders in decision-making demonstrate a more proactive approach to addressing academic challenges. Effective problem-solving strategies foster innovation, resilience, and continuous improvement, which are essential for enhancing academic performance. The study recommends that principals should adopt evidence-based decision-making processes, considering input from teachers and students. Encouraging participatory decision-making enhances commitment and ownership among stakeholders. Principals should also cultivate a transparent decision-making culture, ensuring fairness and accountability in resource allocation and educational policies. Further, principals should xii inspire and empower teachers by recognizing achievements and providing professional development opportunities.
Description
A Research Project Submitted to the Department of Educational Management, Policy and Curriculum Studies in Partial Fulfilment of the Requirement for the Award of the Degree of Master of Education (Management) of Kenyatta University, March 2025.
Supervisor
Joseph G. Mungai