Academic Achievement In Secondary Schools Research Articles

Modelling of engine performance and emissions fueled by biodiesel blends

This study investigated the relationship between selected student motivation cultures and academic achievement in secondary schools in Nakuru County, Kenya. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. The target population was comprised of all KCSE 2021 candidates and all principals of secondary schools in the County. The study used an outlier approach and the multistage sampling technique. The sample size consisted of 2214 students and 80 principals of schools. Data was collected using questionnaires and document analysis. Instruments were adapted for use after carrying out a test re-test procedure. Cronbach Alpha Coefficient of above 0.7 was obtained. Validity was ensured with the assistance of the supervisors. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 27 and was analysed using descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages) and inferential statistics (Spearman rank correlations and Regression analysis). Quantitative results were presented in tables and qualitative results in prose. Private schools showed a stronger link between student motivation cultures and academic achievement than public schools. In high-achieving KCSE public and private secondary schools, the Spearman rank correlation analysis indicated a moderate positive correlation for public schools and a strong positive correlation for private schools between student motivation cultures and academic achievement. However, when assessing the relationship between student motivation cultures and student academic achievement in low-performing KCSE public and private secondary schools, the results differ. The study recommends that the school management should consider investing in student motivation cultures that enhance student academic achievement.

Relationship between selected teaching cultures and student academic achievement in secondary schools in Nakuru County, Kenya

The aim of this study was to find out the relationship between selected teaching cultures and academic achievement in the KCSE examination in secondary schools in Nakuru County, Kenya. This study was guided by the theories of educational productivity and organisational culture. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. The target population was comprised of all KCSE 2021 candidates and all principals of secondary schools in the county. The study used an outlier approach and a multistage sampling technique. The sample size consisted of 2214 students and 80 principals of schools. The study found a positive relationship between teaching culture and student academic performance in both low and high-performing Kenyan schools. Low-performing schools show a moderately positive correlation (r = 0.450, p = 0.006), while high-performing schools exhibit a notably strong positive correlation (r = 0.846, p = 0.000). This suggests that the impact of teaching culture on student academic achievement is more pronounced in high-performing schools. In public secondary schools, the correlation is moderately positive (r = 0.458), and in private secondary schools, it's a stronger positive correlation (r = 0.724), with both being statistically significant at the 0.05 level. The study recommends that the school management should consider organising in-service training sessions to equip the teachers with appropriate skills on how to effectively embrace teaching cultures, consider putting stringent measures to ensure the emplacement of student disciplinary cultures and consider investing in student motivation cultures that enhance student academic achievement.

Relationship between selected student motivation cultures and student academic achievement in secondary schools In Nakuru County, Kenya

This study investigated the relationship between selected student motivation cultures and academic achievement in secondary schools in Nakuru County, Kenya. The study adopted the descriptive survey design. The target population was comprised of all KCSE 2021 candidates and all principals of secondary schools in the County. The study used an outlier approach and the multistage sampling technique. The sample size consisted of 2214 students and 80 principals of schools. Data was collected using questionnaires. Instruments were adapted for use after carrying out a test re-test procedure. Cronbach Alpha Coefficient of above 0.7 was obtained. Validity was ensured with the assistance of the supervisors. Data analysis was done using SPSS version 27 and was analysed using descriptive statistics (frequencies and percentages) and inferential statistics (Spearman rank correlations and Regression analysis). Quantitative results were presented in tables and qualitative results in prose. Private schools showed a stronger link between student motivation culture and academic achievement than public schools. In high-achieving KCSE public and private secondary schools, the Spearman rank correlation analysis indicated a moderate positive correlation for public schools and a strong positive correlation for private schools between student motivation culture and academic achievement. However, when assessing the relationship between student motivation culture and student academic achievement in low-performing KCSE public and private secondary schools, the results differ. The study recommends that the school management should consider investing in student motivation cultures that enhance student academic achievement.

School Administration Support Systems for Educational Technology Adoption and Students’ Academic Achievement in Secondary Schools in Kenya

Adoption of technology in instruction requires the unconditional support of school administration. Certain mandatory pillars of support services must be in the right place for educational technology adoption by teachers to take place. Studies seem to suggest that technology adoption in schools has been impeded by the lack of support by school administrations. Such bottlenecks include the inability to purchase and maintain the required technology infrastructure, a lack of teacher motivation, the failure of schools to be adaptable to technological trends, and the inability to provide technical services. The purpose of this study was to find out the school administration support systems that enable the adoption of educational technology in secondary schools in Kakamega County, Kenya. A descriptive survey guided the research. From a population of 3305, a sample of 461 teachers, 138 heads of departments, 77 principals, and 67 technicians was obtained using stratified sampling techniques. Data was collected using a questionnaire, observation schedule, and interviews and analysed both qualitatively and quantitatively. Simple linear regression was used to analyse quantitative data. The findings revealed that schools seem not to provide sufficient technological support systems to allow for the adoption of educational technology, thereby negatively influencing academic achievement. Nevertheless, technological support systems had a significant influence on students’ academic achievement (t = 2.040, p < 0.05). Therefore, the study recommends that schools put in place a technological support system that effectively enables the adoption of educational technology.

Influence of Instructional Resources on Pupil Academic Achievement in Public Secondary Schools: A Case of Manga Sub-County Nyamira County, Kenya

The consistent decline in pupils’ academic achievement in public Secondary schools has raised more questions to be answered by education stakeholders. Thus, the purpose of the study was to assess the influence of school resources on pupil academic achievement in Secondary schools: a case of Manga Sub-County Nyamira County, Kenya. It adopted a descriptive survey research design with a target population of 469 comprised of 434 teachers and 33 head teachers. The sample size was 214 comprised of the teachers and head teachers. The researcher collected data using questionnaires. The study also established that instructional resources, physical facilities, and human resources have an influence on a pupil’s academic achievement in Secondary schools. The study recommended that; for effective learning and improved academic performance, the government should ensure that it has provided adequate instruction materials in all schools; the government and school management should ensure that there are enough physical facilities in schools including laboratories, classrooms, dormitories, library, playing fields and dining halls for effective learning and improved academic performance of the learners and that; the school management should ensure that there is effective and efficient management of human resources for the improved academic performance of the learner

EFFECT OF EMOTIONAL INTELLIGENCE ON STUDENTS’ ACADEMIC PERFORMANCE IN PAKISTAN

Abstract
 The aim of the quantitative correlational study was to investigate the association between students’ academic performance and emotional intelligence. In this study, 700 10th graders from 20 high schools in the district of Lahore were randomly selected. By administering the Bar-On (2002) “Emotional Quotient Inventory Short form,” students’ emotional intelligence was assessed, whereas their academic achievement was determined by their results on the ninth-grade final examinations. Techniques for inferential statistical data analysis were used, including Pearson r, the independent sample t-test, and linear regression.According to the study's findings, academic achievement and emotional intelligence are favorably associated. Academic achievement and emotional intelligence mean scores varied across male and female professors. The outcomes also showed that, at the secondary level, learners’ academic performance was significantly impacted by their emotional intelligence. The findings of this study showed that academic achievement in secondary schools is significantly influenced by emotional intelligence. The findings showed that emotional intelligence abilities are necessary for good students to perform well in school.

Influence of Family Structure on Student’s Academic Achievement in Secondary Schools in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State, Nigeria

This study focused on the influence of family structure on the academic achievement of students in secondary schools in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area, Rivers State, Nigeria. Specifically; single parent families and two parent families as well as academic achievement of senior secondary school students were the variables involved in the study. Two hundred and twenty students of the public secondary schools in Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of Rivers State, Nigeria were involved in the study. The Multidimensional Life Satisfaction Scale (MSLSS), which was designed by Suldo and Huebner (2006), was used to gather information from the students and it was conducted in a classroom environment during school period. After collecting information from the students, their scores in Mathematics and English Language (which are compulsory subjects in all secondary schools) of the second term of 2021/2022 academic session were obtained from their class teachers with the permission of the principals of the schools. The scores were then converted to Z-scores in order to ensure their reliability and validity since they were collected from different schools. Results show a significant difference in the academic achievement of students from single parent families and those from two parent families. In other words, the academic achievement of children from two parent families is better than those from single parent families. The implications of the findings were that parental separation should be avoided and religious leaders, counsellors as well as government must engage in enlightening parents about the importance of family structure on the life of children and in ensuring a well-ordered society. Keywords: Family Structure, Academic Achievement, Senior Secondary School, Obio/Akpor, Rivers State

The Impact of Gamified Learning on Student Engagement and Academic Achievement in Secondary Schools

The Impact of Gamified Learning on Student Engagement and Academic Achievement in Secondary Schools

Development and Testing of Performance Scale Application as an Effective Electronic Tool to Enhance Students’ Academic Achievements

Performance scale application (PSA) usage in the classroom is underutilized, despite the rapid progress of mobile phone and e-learning technology. Lack of self-learning, evaluation, satisfaction, and inability to choose appropriate specialties influence students’ academic achievement in secondary school. The objective of this study is to investigate the development and testing of PSA on students’ learning achievement in secondary school. The PSA was developed on the Android mobile operating system using the extra trees regression algorithm to predict student achievement in secondary school. Students in the 11th grade basic specialty were considered. Three specialties were used, namely scientific, literary, and industry. The variables examined include improving evaluation (IME), improving communication (IMC), improving scientific (IMSC), and satisfaction of learning (SOL). The findings demonstrated that the PSA accurately predicted the students’ choice of specialty, IMC, IMSC, SOL, personalized learning (L), distance L, mobile L, self L, and specialty L. The findings also indicated a positive and significant effect of the PSA on students’ learning achievement. This validates that the extra trees regression is an effective tool for the development of PSA. In conclusion, the PSA has efficiently predicted the choice of specialties and academic achievements of students in secondary schools.

Influence of Teacher Characteristics on Physics Students’ Academic Achievement in Secondary Schools in Khana and Gokana Local Government Areas of Rivers State

The study investigated the influence of teacher characteristics on physics students’ achievement in secondary schools in Khana and Gokana local government Area. Five research questions were formulated to guide the study and five hypotheses were tested for the study. The descriptive survey research design was adopted with a population 0f 1887. A sample of 553 was drawn with the aid of Krejcie and Morgan, out of which 20 were principal, 291 khana students, and 242 Gokana students. The instrument titled Influence of Teachers Characteristics on Physics Students Academic Achievement was used to elicit information from the respondents. The questionnaire was coded using 4 point rating scale of Strongly Agreed, Agreed, Disagreed and Strongly Disagreed. The instrument was duly validated by experts, while the Cronbach Alpha method of reliability was employed and it yielded the following indices: cluster one 0.75, cluster two 0.81, cluster three 0.67, cluster four 0.79, and cluster five 0.87.The research questions were answered using means and standard deviation, while the hypotheses were tested using z-test statistics at 0.05 level of significance. The results showed that; Teachers’ qualification promotes academic achievement among physics students; teachers’ attitude do not really influence academic achievement among physics students; teacher’s experience actually influenced academic achievement among physics; teacher’s gender also influences academic achievement among physics students, and that teacher’s age has no significant effect on academic performance of physics students in Khana and Gokana local government area. And recommended that: teachers should be given the opportunity to further their studies in order to increase their knowledge in physics; all teachers are role models and as such, expected to put up the best behaviour in the classroom; experience as usually said, is the best teacher, therefore teachers should explore themselves base on life experiences; every teacher should ad held to the morals operandi of the teaching profession both in dressing and in speech, and that aging is never a barrier in teaching. Meanwhile, both old and young should be given a chance to exhibit their hidden potentials.

Relationship Between Teachers’ Motivation, Attitude and Students’ Academic Achievement in Senior Secondary Schools in Bauchi Metropolis

This study investigated the influence of teachers' motivation and teachers’ attitudes, on students’ academic achievement in secondary schools in Bauchi metropolis in Bauchi state, Nigeria. Correlational research design was used. Teachers’ Motivation Questionnaire (TMQ), and Teachers’ Attitude Questionnaire (TAQ) were adapted and used for the research study. Three hypotheses were tested at 0.05 level of significance. The statistical tools used were Multiple Regression Analysis and Pearson's Product Moment correlation coefficient. The participants in this study were made up of 191 teachers and purposively selected from the population of 382 teachers of English and Civic Education across 26 senior secondary schools in Bauchi metropolis. Multiple regression analysis discovered that there is a significant positive relationship among teachers' motivation, teachers' attitudes and students’ academic achievement (f= +13061, p<0.05), and also shows that 12 percent of variance in student achievement is contributed by teachers' motivation and teacher attitudes scores (R2= +0.122). The results further revealed a significant relationship between the motivation of teachers and students’ academic achievement (r= +0.304, p<0.05), and there is significant relationship between teachers' attitudes and students’ academic achievement (r= +0.243, p<0.05). The study recommends among others that, teachers should be motivated by government and education stakeholders in order to improve teachers’ attitudes toward teaching and students’ academic achievement.

Students’ Perceived Influence of Broken Homes on their Academic Achievement in Secondary Schools in Anambra State, Nigeria

Aims: This study seeks to determine students perceived influence of broken homes on their academic achievement in secondary schools in Anambra State.
 Place and Duration of Study: This study was carried out in Anambra State, Nigeria, conducted between August 2021 and January 2022.
 Methodology: The design for this study is the descriptive survey research design. The sample size of 420 SS II adolescents (male=262, female=158) gotten through multistage sampling procedure where disproportionate stratified sampling techniques was used to select 5 senior secondary schools from the existing 3 local governments in Onitsha education zone. Secondly, the purposive sampling technique was adopted to sample students from broken homes. To achieve this, a questionnaire on broken homes was administered to secondary schools’ students through this, the sample of the study was drawn and it amounted to 420 secondary school II students from broken homes. The instrument for data collection is a 21 – item structured questionnaire titled “Influence of Broken Homes on Academic Achievement Questionnaire (IBAAQ)”. The face and content validation of the instrument was conducted by two experts in the Department of Guidance and Counselling and one from the Department of Measurement and Evaluation. The reliability of the instrument was established using Cronbach Alpha statistics and yielded a reliability statistic of 0.715. The data collected was analysed using Mean, Standard Deviation (Mean±STD) and t-test for independent sample.
 Results: This study revealed that equal number of the items on students’ perceived influence of broken homes on their academic achievement in English language in secondary schools were rated as agreed to as well as disagreed. More so, there is a significant difference in the mean rating of male and female students on the perceived influence of broken homes on their academic achievement in English Language in secondary schools in Anambra state. Majority of the items raised were agreed to by secondary school students in Anambra state, there is no significant difference in the mean rating of students in urban and rural areas on the perceived influence of broken homes on their academic achievement in Mathematics in secondary schools in Anambra state.
 Conclusion: it was concluded that equal number of items raised on students’ perceived influence of broken homes on their academic achievement in English language in secondary schools were rated as agreed to as well as disagreed. This study further concluded to have a significant difference in the mean rating of male and female students on the perceived influence of broken homes on their academic achievement in English Language in secondary schools in Anambra state. On the other hand, there is no significant difference in the mean rating of students in urban and rural areas on the perceived influence of broken homes on their academic achievement in Mathematics in secondary schools in Anambra state.

Students’ interpersonal skills and its association with their academic achievement in secondary school of Pakistan

<span>The educational productivity theory directed that students’ variables affect their performance. Therefore, this descriptive correlational study was designed to examine students’ interpersonal skills and its association with their achievement. There were 3,200 high school students participated in this study, selected from 80 high schools of Punjab through multistage random sampling technique. The Interpersonal Skills Scale (ISS) was adapted from DiPerna and Elliott’s Academic Competence Evaluation Scales-Student form (ACES-Student). ISS demonstrated a good internal consistency (coefficient alphas=0.819 and composite reliability=0.845). The results exhibited that students have a competent level of interpersonal skills. Moreover, a statistically significant difference was found in female and male students’ perceptions about interpersonal skills, while female have more interpersonal skills than male. Furthermore, ANOVA results concluded that administrative division (location) influences students’ perception of interpersonal skills. It is concluded from the correlational analysis that students’ interpersonal skills are indirectly associated with their achievement because a negative weak relationship was found in students’ interpersonal skills and their achievement as r=0.031, p=0.081. It is suggested that teachers may promote interpersonal skills by integrating cooperative and collaborative learning strategies into their classrooms.</span>

Relationship Between School Autonomy and Students’ Academic Achievement in Government Secondary Schools in East Hararghe Zone, Oromia Regional State, Ethiopia

The aim of school autonomy is to improve the education quality by independence and flexibility in managing existing resources. Regardless of this trend, amazingly little is known about how schools use autonomy in practice, and there were many controversies regarding the relationship between school autonomy and students’ academic achievement. Therefore, the purpose of this study was to examine the magnitude of relationship between the areas of school autonomy and students’ academic achievement in the secondary schools in the study area. The study employed adescriptive-correlational survey research design with a mixed methods approach. A total of 522 respondents (secondary school principals n=20, teachers n=347, and zone and district education office experts n=155) were used as samples. The sample schools were selected by stratified random sampling and the respondents were selected by simple random sampling using RAND or RANDBETWEEN function on Microsoft Excel. Closed-ended questionnaires were employed for gathering quantitative data from the respondents, and concurrently telephone interview and document analysiswere conducted to collect the qualitative data. The Pearson correlation and multiple regression statistical tests were used to measure and describe the significance of the association (or relationship) between the variables or sets of scores. Moreover, t-test was also conducted to test the difference between the teachers and experts. Analysis of the results demonstrated that majority of the respondents perceived school autonomy positively. Moreover, even though the flow of improvement was not constant, it seems that there were few improvements in students’ academic achievement as a result of the practices of school autonomy. The findings also show that there were a number of constraining factors of school autonomy in the study area. The overall conclusion drawn from the results of this study was that: granting autonomy to secondary schools may be the best idea for the better performance of educational systems in the study area along with removing the constraining factors such as lack of training, knowledge, directives/guidelines and school facilities, and financial corruption. Furthermore, similar to many of the developed countries, practice of school autonomy in developing countries was also one of the means to improve students’ academic achievement. Therefore, it can be recommended that the national, regional and district education authorities and researchers have to focus on implementation of the school autonomy along with building the capacity of the school leaders.

Academic internal supervision as a correlate of students’ academic achievement of gce(O/L) in secondary schools in Batticaloa district in Sri Lanka

Understanding the impact of academic internal supervision on students’ academic achievement of GCE (O/L) results is important in determining effective and valid performance for secondary schools in Sri Lanka. The study examined the relationship between academic internal supervision and students’ academic achievement in secondary Schools.The objective of this study is to examine the relationship between internal supervision and students’ academic achievement in secondary schools. In this study was a design survey method and ex-post facto was used and directed at the population of secondary students in the Batticaloa district of Eastern Province in Sri Lanka. The population consisted of the principals and teachers in secondary schools in this district. The stratified random sampling techniques were used to select the school and teachers. Thirty (30)schools of 1AB, 1C, and Type 2 schools and 810 teachers were selected from this research area. The research instruments, academic supervision questionnaireformat titled supervision questionnaire; it's to measure the process of supervision with teacher responses about the classroom activities. And G.C.E (O/L) results for a period offive years (2016 - 2020) were used to collect data from the sampled schools. The data analyzed using descriptive statistics and Pearson Product Moment Correlation andhypothesis were tested at 0.05 level of significance.

Teacher’s Variables and Biology Students Academic Achievement in Secondary Schools

Teacher’s Variables and Biology Students Academic Achievement in Secondary Schools

Impact of Teacher Professional Characteristics on Students’ Academic Achievement at Secondary School Level

This research paper investigated the effect of teachers' professional characteristics on students’ academic achievement in secondary schools of district Bannu. The population of the study constituted all public secondary schools of district Bannu. For a collection of data and generalization of results, 600 respondents were taken as a sample. The sample was drawn by using the Stratified Random Sampling technique. For data collection, a self-developed questionnaire was used. For students' academic achievement self-developed Achievement test was used. The data was analyzed by using Linear Regression. The results show those secondary school teachers' professional characteristics such as teacher subject knowledge, teaching prowess, teacher-student relationship, and communication skills are significant predictors of students' academic achievement.

Special health care needs during childhood and academic achievement in secondary school.

Secondary education has lifelong implications for wellbeing. We evaluated associations between the duration and timing of special health care needs (SHCN) across childhood and academic achievement in secondary school. Cohort design. The structured modelling approach was used to evaluate life-course models for associations between the duration and timing of SHCN (measured using a two-item SHCN screener across ages 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 and 10-11 years) and Grade 7 (median age 12.5 years) reading and numeracy achievement. Linear regressions were fitted for each life-course model: four critical period models (each including SHCN exposure in one period), one sensitive period model (including SHCN exposure in all periods) and two strict accumulation models (including the duration of SHCN exposure in linear form then categorical form). Interactions of SHCN with child sex and family socio-economic status (SES) were examined. Of 3734 children, 1845 were female. The number of children with SHCN was 434 (11.7%), 458 (12.9%), 534 (14.7%), 551 (15.4%) at 4-5, 6-7, 8-9 and 10-11 years respectively. For both outcomes, the linear strict accumulation model fitted best, and interactions of SHCN with sex and SES were non-significant. The average decrease in school achievement z score (95% confidence interval) per period of having SHCN was 0.04 (-0.07 to -0.02) for reading and 0.08 (-0.11 to -0.05) for numeracy. A longer duration of SHCN from age 4-11 years has small-sized cumulative associations with poorer Grade 7 reading and numeracy achievement. Each period of SHCN between 4 and 5 and 10-11 years was associated with nearly 0.05 and 0.1 of a standard deviation reduction in Grade 7 reading and numeracy scores respectively, and these associations did not appear to differ across sex or SES. These findings suggest that children with persistent SHCN are at risk of academic deficits and should receive focused interventions.

English

Junior secondary schools’ achievement in Basic Science continues to fall below expectations, despite several interventions by multiple stakeholders. Hence, there is need to research more on gender effects on the delivery of Basic Science curricula content. This study, therefore, examined the effect of gender on Basic Science students’ academic achievement in secondary school. A pre-test, post-test, non-equivalent, control group, quasi experimental research design was adopted. Two intact classes of seventy-two (72) JSS 2 students (30 males and 42 females) were randomly selected from public secondary schools for the study State Nigeria. The selected classes were randomly assigned to experimental and control groups. A 25-item validated instrument titled Basic Science Achievement Test (BSAT) designed by the researchers was used for data collection. The reliability coefficient of the BSAT was 0.81 using Kuder-Richardson’s formula 20 (K-R 20). Data collected were analyzed using Means, Standard deviation and Analysis of covariance (ANCOVA).  The findings of the study revealed that gender (male/female) had no significant effect on students’ achievement in Basic Science and finally, result showed that there was significant interaction effect of treatment and gender on students’ academic performance in Basic Science. Therefore, it was recommended that students should be given equal opportunity and the same level of encouragement irrespective of their level and gender.  Key words: Academic achievement, basic science, gender, secondary school.

Influence of Teacher Motivation on Learner Academic Achievement in Migori County, Kenya

Education is a fundamental human right which promotes acquisition of knowledge and skills for development. Despite efforts by policy makers, administrators, teachers and learners to improve learner achievement, performance remains poor (MOEST, 2012). The purpose of this was to establish the influence of teacher motivation on promoting student’s academic achievement in public secondary school education. The study adopted concurrent triangulation research design. The target population for this study was 184 public secondary schools, 1233 teachers, and 73,385 learners. A sample involving 56 public secondary schools whereby 56 principals, 370 teachers and 398 learners was drawn from target population. Purposive sampling was used to get 56 schools, simple random sampling was used to get 370 teachers and stratified random sampling technique was used to get 398 learners. Data for the study was collected by the use of three different questionnaires and three different interview schedules. Validity of questionnaires was tested during the pilot study in Homa-Bay County which is neighboring Migori County. Split Half reliability test which is a measure of internal consistency was used. All pre-testing procedure for Reliability of instruments was based on reliability coefficient of 0.79 indexes. The data collected was summarized and analysed qualitatively and quantitatively. Inferential statistics was used whereby Correlation, Regression and Chi-square tests were used to gauge influence of teacher motivation on student academic achievement. The research revealed that teacher motivation had no significant influence on learner academic achievement in secondary schools Therefore, the study concluded that administrators should put in place measures to enhance teacher Motivation. In conclusion, institutional managers should design proactive processes that can inculcate positive support for teacher motivation.