HEAD TEACHERS’ SELF-EFFICACY ON PUPILS’ ACADEMIC ACHIEVEMENT IN PUBLIC PRIMARY SCHOOLS IN KAKAMEGA COUNTY, KENYA

Abstract

Primary school education serves as a critical foundation for national development in Kenya. Despite substantial investments in headteachers‘ development by the Teachers Service Commission (TSC), public primary schools in Kakamega County have experienced a consistent five-year decline in pupils' academic achievement as measured by Kenya Certificate of Primary Education (KCPE) scores. The purpose of this study was to investigate the effect of head teachers' self-efficacy on pupils' academic achievement in public primary schools in Kakamega County, Kenya. The study objectives were to: determine the effect of headteachers' instructional supervision on pupils' academic achievement; assess the impact of headteachers' classroom management on pupils' academic achievement; evaluate the role of headteachers' leadership on pupils' academic achievement; and investigate the relationship between involvement of parents and pupils' academic achievement. Guided by Bandura's Self Efficacy Theory, the study adopted a descriptive correlational research design employing mixed methods. The target population was 916 headteachers and 12 Sub County Directors of Education (SCDE). A sample of 317 headteachers was selected through stratified and simple random sampling, and 12 SCDE selected purposively totaling to 329. The instruments were piloted on 28 head teachers and 2 SCDE from public primary schools in the neighbouring Bungoma County. Content and construct validity of the instruments were tested prior to the study and the reliability of the instruments was ascertained using the test-retest technique and yielded a threshold correlation coefficient of < 0.70. Permission for data collection was sought from NACOSTI, through the research office, Kisii University. Data was analyzed with the aid of Statistical Package for Social sciences (SPSS) version 27. Qualitative data was transcribed and analyzed thematically. Data was collected using three instruments: questionnaires, interview schedules and document analysis. Ethical consideration was observed through confidentiality of information in many aspects. Pearson and Spearman correlations, simple and multiple linear regression, and thematic analysis were used for data analysis. The study revealed statistically significant positive relationships in the four self-efficacy dimensions and pupils' academic achievement. Parental involvement showed the strongest correlation (r = .622, p < .01), followed by classroom management (r = .591, p < .01), instructional supervision (r = .572, p < .01), and leadership skills (r = .540, p < .01). The multiple regression model explained 52.3% of variance in academic achievement (R² = .523), with parental involvement emerging as the strongest predictor (β = .348, p < .001). The study concludes that headteachers' instructional supervision had a significant effect on pupils' academic achievement, headteachers' classroom management had a significant impact on pupils' academic achievement, headteachers' leadership play a significant role in pupils' academic achievement and parental involvement had a strong positive relationship with pupils' academic achievement. It is hoped that the findings of the study may be of significance for schools in developing training programmes to strengthen classroom management and the Ministry of Education to formulate policies to enhance parental involvement in pupils‘ education. The study recommends that TSC develop training programmes that focus on enhancing headteachers' instructional supervision, schools to develop institution-based training programmes that focus on equipping teachers with classroom management skills, TSC to develop and enhance school based training programmes to strengthen teacher communication skills, motivation and delegation of responsibilities for improved academic achievement and the Ministry of Education develop policies aimed at strengthening parental involvement in pupils' education.