INFLUENCE OF PRINCIPALS’ INSTRUCTIONAL SUPERVISORY PRACTICES ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN KENYA CERTIFICATE OF SECONDARY EDUCATION, IN PUBLIC SECONDARY SCHOOLS IN MASHURU SUB-COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

This study was set to establish the influence of principals’ instructional supervisory practices on students’ academic performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education in public secondary schools in Mashuru Sub-County, Kenya. Particularly, the study sought to determine the influence of; principals’ management practices of teachers’ professional records, principals’ class visitation practices, principals’ management practices of academic progress records, and principals’ practices on implementation of instructional programmes on students’ academic performance in Kenya Certificate of Secondary Education (KCSE) in public secondary schools in Mashuru Sub-County. Descriptive survey design was used to guide this study. The target population consisted of 45 principals, 540 teachers and 585 student leaders totalling to 1170. Purposive sampling was used to select 13 principals while simple random sampling was employed to select a sample size of 54 teachers and 56 student leaders. Data was collected by use of interview schedule for principals and questionnaires for teachers and student leaders. The data collected through questionnaires was analysed using descriptive statistics comprising of frequencies and percentages. The Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) version 27 was utilized in running the analysis. Analysed data was presented using frequency tables, pie-charts and bar graphs. The qualitative data generated by interviewing the principals was thematically analysed according to themes in the research objectives and presented in continuous prose. The results show that the principals’ instructional supervisory practices influence students academic performance in KCSE. Particularly, the results revealed that the principals’ management practices of teachers’ records, the principals’ practice of class visitation and the principals’ management practices of academic progress records influenced students’ academic performance in KCSE in public secondary schools in Mashuru Sub-County. On the other hand, the principals’ practice of implementation of instructional programs did not have a great impact on students’ academic performance in KCSE in public secondary schools in Mashuru Sub-County. The study reccommends that the principals should; follow the prescribed schedule for supervision and have regular meetings with members of staff to discuss students’ academic performance, establish a good organizational culture that embedes all the involved parties. That is, the teachers, students and parents should contribute to the implemention of the corrective measures suggested in the principals’ surpervisory report. This will enable all the stakeholders to work as a team having an understanding that they are all working towards a common goal of improving students’ academic performance in KCSE. The study also recommends that institutions, such as Kenya Education Management Institute, Teachers Service Commission and Kenya Institute of Curriculum Development, which are tasked with the responsibility of conducting in-service training for teachers should evaluate the challenges that principals experience when performing their role of instructional supervision and design trainings that seek to address these challenges. This would aid in improving their effectiveness in performing supervisory role and thereby improve the overall quality of teaching and the academic performance of the students.