Influence of pupil-teacher ratio on students’ formative evaluation practices; a case of public primary schools in Mwingi north sub-county – Kenya

Abstract

This study investigated influence of pupil-teacher ratio on students’ formative evaluation; a cases of public primary schools in Mwingi north sub-county – Kenya. The study used a descriptive survey design with a sample of 135 respondents comprising of 44 head teachers, 88 teachers and 3 education officers. The study used questionnaires for head teachers and teachers and interview schedules for the three education officials; Sub-county Director, Teachers Service Commission, Sub-county Quality and Standards officer and the Chief Education officer. Validity of the instruments was ascertained through expert judgment at the school of education while reliability was determined using Pearson’s Product Moment correlation coefficient. Quantitative data was analyzed using descriptive statistics and presented in percentages, frequencies, means and standard deviation. The null hypotheses were tested using the chi-square analysis at the .05 level of significance. Qualitative data was analyzed based on the themes emanating from the study objectives. The findings of the study revealed that at the 5% level of significance; that PupilTeacher Ratio had a significant effect on formative evaluation process at 0.085. This study concluded that schools in the area under study had a higher pupil to teacher ratio which significantly affected academic performance negatively.