Instructional supervision as a determinant of students' academic performance in public secondary schools in Kenya

Abstract

Education is critical for the progress and changes of nations across the world. The purpose of the study was to the influence of instructional supervision on students’ academic performance in public secondary schools in Kenya. The article is an extract from a study done in public secondary schools in the Yatta sub-county, Machakos County, Kenya. The study was guided by the instructional leadership model. The researcher adopted a descriptive research design, survey method. The study was conducted among 247 respondents comprising 19 principals and 228 teachers. The study employed stratified sampling techniques and simple random sampling techniques. Data collection was done using questionnaires for principals and teachers. Data were analysed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS). The findings, from the principal’s perspective, revealed that there exists a weak positive correlation between the principal’s instructional supervision and students’ academic performance (r = 0.236 p = 0.330). However, from the teacher's perspective, the findings show that there is a weak negative correlation between the principal’s instructional supervision and students’ academic performance (r =- 0.190, p =0.009). Therefore, the study concluded that instructional supervision is crucial, but it must be carried out properly and with the participation of all parties concerned for the best result. It was, thus, suggested that the principals in public secondary schools should enhance instructional supervision by always being actively involved in the day-to-day learning of the institutions and engaging the teacher in planning for the supervision to enhance students’ performance.