STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT AS INFLUENCED BY TEACHERS’ QUALITY: EVIDENCE FROM SOUTHWEST, NIGERIA

Abstract

Secondary educational system in Nigeria has been experiencing serious backwardness because of poor teachers’ quality (TQ) which consequently leads to low students’ academic achievement (SAA). This study aimed at investigating the relationship between teachers’ quality, and students’ academic achievement in Yewa South Local Government Area (YSLGA) of Ogun State. A cumulative total of 2550 respondents (including 15 subject teachers from the senior secondary and the heads per school in 15 schools covering 10 wards) were selected. The respondents were selected from 15 randomly selected public and private senior secondary schools in YSLGA, Ogun State, Nigeria between 2016 and 2018. Two researcher-designed instruments, namely; Teachers’ Quality Assessment Questionnaire (TQAQ), and Students’ Academic Performance Proforma (SAPP), were used to collect relevant data for the study. The instruments were validated by some experts in Educational Management, Measurement, Evaluation and Statistics. The coefficients of reliability of TQAQ after a two-week test-retest were found to be 0.75. Eighteen research questions and hypotheses were formulated and tested. Means, Weighted means and Percentage were used to answer the research questions raised. Regression analysis was used to test the main hypothesis. In addition, Pearson Product Moment Correlation Statistical Method was used to test the operational hypotheses, all at 0.05 significance level using XLSTAT and SPSS statistical tools. The correlation between TQ and SAA was positively strong (R 2 = 925). At 0.05 level of confidence, the regression analysis showed significant relationship between TQ and SAA (p > 0.001). This finding showed that teachers’ quality especially years of teaching experience strongly influenced students’ academic achievement. The study recommends that school proprietors and the government through the inspectorate division must routinely visit schools to ensure that teachers are qualified and are properly discharging their primary assignment to enhance students’ academic achievement. Article visualizations: