The impact Of School Supervision on the Academic Performance of Students in Secondary Schools

The impact Of School Supervision on the Academic Performance of Students in Secondary Schools

 ABSTRACT: The main purpose of the study was to investigate the effects of school supervision on the academic performance of students in secondary schools.

Research questions and hypotheses were formulated to guide the study. The study adopted a descriptive survey design. The population of the study consisted of all the 1252 JSS3 basic science students in 12 public secondary schools in the study area.

The sample size consisted of 100 JSS3 Basic Science students drawn from five (5) public secondary schools in the study area. The instrument for data collection was Basic Science Achievement Test (BAT). Independent t-test was adopted as statistical tools for data analysis.

The result of the findings revealed that there is a significant difference in the mean performance scores of Basic Science student which their school is always supervised and those that is not always supervised. Also, the result of the findings revealed that there is no significant difference in the mean performance score of Basic Science male and female which their school is always supervised.

Therefore, it was recommended among others that all the three tiers of government, Federal, State and Local should be involved in monitoring and evaluation of schools to enhance quality data on enrolment figures, personnel and infrastructure.

There is need to employ qualified supervisors with the training in educational supervision these supervisors need to be motivated by providing them with vehicles that will allow for accessibility into schools in rural area.

CHAPTER ONE

INTRODUCTION

1.1  Background of the Study

Education has been recognized as a process of impacting knowledge, skills and attitudes to the learners. This could take place in varying schools with the purpose of ensuring total development of the children. Education being regarded as the act or process of impacting or gaining knowledge, judgement and level of intellectual maturity.

In a general sense, it is a form of learning in which the knowledge, skills, values, ideas, norms, morals and habits of a group of people are transferred from one generation to another through the process of teaching, training or research Adeyinka A. A. (2009).

Adewuyi and Ogunwuyi (2002) defined education as the culture which each generation purposely give to those who are to be its successors in order to qualify them for at least keeping up and if possible for raising the level of improvement which have been attained.

According to Akinpelu (2004), education can be defined as a process of transforming cultural heritage and renewal from one generation to another. He stressed further that education is a process of renewal of experience that will probably occur in a deliberate and institutionalized form in order to generate social sustainability.

Thus, making education relevant is a matter of ensuring that it generates, informs and maintains the student’s vision of life including his/her professional activities, attitudes, beliefs and values.

Redden in Okemakinde (2014) gives a more explicit definition of education. According to him, Education is a deliberate and systematic influence extended by the mature person upon the immature through instruction, discipline and harmonious development of physical,

intellectual, aesthetic, social and spiritual powers of the human beings according to their essential hierarchy by and for the individual and social uses which is directed towards the union of the educated with the creator at the final end. Speaking in the same vein, Thompson (2009) says that education is “the influence of the environment upon the individual to produce a permanent change in his habits or behaviour, of thought and of his attitude:.

Environment has various aspects, physical, social and cultural. Education should therefore facilitate the task of adaptation of the child to his environment. Thus, educational system however, affects the way people of a particular country carryout their organizational programmes.

Human organization whether large or small, primitive or modern, educational or non-educational, engages in some activities or operation which leads to the achievement of their set goals and objectives.

The impact Of School Supervision on the Academic Performance of Students in Secondary Schools

The emergency of the modern world has been significantly impacting, productive, profitable and worthwhile in the conceptualization of evaluating the price and worth of the education. Thus, educational activities cannot take place in a vacuum, rather, in a well-structured formal settings or environment called school.

School being an integral and indispensable element of actualizing the set of educational goals and objectives is the birth place of citizens ideal. It is more important that all the stakeholder in the academic circle be it teachers, students, principals, administrators and lot more should collaborate and work in order to have an outstanding result.

Despite all the process involved in the teaching-learning process such as sequential planning of the teaching process, organizing the classroom to suit the desired educational purpose, proper and adequate classroom management, teacher’s intellectual and good oratory skills through evaluation of the teaching activities and lot more.

The students’ academic attainment or success is not guaranteed if proper, timely and thorough supervision is not done in the teaching-learning process especially in teaching Basic Science subjects in the secondary schools.

Ultimately, this is where the exploit of the teaching-learning process lies in yielding the intended result, it is vehemently believed that the defect and setback upsurge in the academic community especially Basic Science circle in the secondary schools comes  as a result of laxity in the area of school supervision.

The task of the school supervision has become increasingly complex within the past decades which call for urgent needs of the school supervision or supervisory teams to make use of relevant behavioural theories and techniques to be able to manage the modern complex educational institutions successfully.

School supervision is the activity carried out by supervisors to oversee the activity of the workers or staff and that of the learners in order to ascertain the successful outcome of the teaching-learning process.

The supervision conducted by the school authority must be properly and effectively done especially in the teaching of Basic Science is a subject that deals with the study of living things and non-living things. It also combines all other science subjects such as physics, biology, health science, agricultural science, geography, etc.

To this extent, the study is aimed at investigating the impacts of school supervision on the academic performance of secondary school students in Basic Science in Akwa Ibom State.

The findings from the study area may as well be of a general application to other schools in terms of planning, organizing and evaluating students academic performance within and outside the study area in Akwa Ibom State.

The impact Of School Supervision on the Academic Performance of Students in Secondary Schools

1.2  Statement of the Study

For some years now, it has been observed with keen interest the sharp increase in poor academic performance of students in Basic Science subject most especially in Junior Secondary School Certificate Examination (JSCE), as a result of inadequate supervision.

However, Basic Science subject has played and is still playing enterprise like any other human organization requires adequate supervision to ascertain the pre-determined aims and objectives; also to increase students’ performance, the effects of school supervision must be considered.

To this extent, this research work is structured to investigate impacts of school’s supervision on academic performance of secondary school students in Akwa Ibom State.

1.3   Purpose of the Study

The main purpose of this study was to determine the effects of school supervision on the academic performance of students in secondary schools.  Specifically, the study aims at:

1. determining the difference in the academic performance of Basic Science students which their school is always supervised and those that their school is not always supervised.
2. ascertain the difference in the academic performance of male and female students where their school is always supervised.

1.4       Hypotheses

The following null hypotheses were formulated to guide this study:

1. There is no significant difference in the mean performance scores of Basic Science students which their schools is always supervised and those that their school is not always supervised.
2. There is no significant difference in the mean performance scores of Basic Science male and female students which their school is always supervised.

1.5       Research Questions

The following research questions were formulated for this study:

1. What is the difference in the mean performance scores of Basic Science?
2. What is the difference in the mean performance scores of Basic Science male and female students which their school is always supervised?

1.6   Significance of the Study

The findings of the study are expected to be of utmost importance to the supervisors, educators, researchers, classroom teachers, principals, students and the government in general through the following perspectives:

The findings of the study is significant to the supervisors and government agencies to use appropriate supervisory measures to motivate and arouse both the interest of the teachers and students on effective teaching and learning of school subjects. This would enhance teachers’ productivity and students’ performance on the requisite skills.

The significant of this study and that of related literatures would help teachers modify their instructional strategies in line with the recommendations and suggestions for improved teacher professional performance as well as guiding staff development.

The findings will also be relevant to the teacher as a purposeful and constructive advice for increased productivity of teachers in diverse disciplines. It utmost goal is to help teachers learn what their problems are and seek the best methods of solving them be it individual or group problems.

The findings of this study will be of utmost significance as a reference point to prospective researcher on school supervision and teachers’ productivity.

To the principals, this work will be relevant because it will serve as informative to school administrators to ensure high standards are maintained and that laid down rules and regulations are observed.

The findings of the study will be significant to the Ministry of Education to help prioritize qualified school supervisors who have technical skills about education especially at the secondary schools level. Government should not sacrifice the merit and competence on the altar of political affiliation.

Qualified personnel in the field of education with sufficient knowledge, skills and experience in secondary school education should be appointed as supervisors in order to exhibit all sense of professionalism in carrying out their functions in our school system.

The findings of this work could be of help to the external supervisors from the Ministry of Education whose manner of inspection is dreaded by both the principals and the teachers.

Again, the students stand to reap the immense benefits as teachers’ productivity will be affected positively through correct usage of instructional supervisory strategies by teachers. Finally, it is also vital as it would add to the existing studies and literature relating to the school supervision and teachers’ productivity.

The impact Of School Supervision on the Academic Performance of Students in Secondary Schools

1.7  Scope of the Study

For the purpose of attaining the objectives of these findings, this study is not expected to cover beyond examine school supervision and its influences on the academic performance of the students in Basic Science. Therefore, the study focuses specifically on the impact of school supervision on the academic performance of secondary school students in Basic Science in Akwa Ibom State.

1.8   Definition of Terms

Performance: the action or process of carrying out or accomplishing an action, task, or function.

Supervision: the action, process, or occupation of supervising; especially: a critical watching and directing (as of activities or a course of action).

Academic: relating to education and scholarship.

Organizing: make arrangements or preparations for (an event or activity); coordinate.

Organization: an organized body of people with a particular purpose, especially a business, society, association, etc.