Determinants Of Academic Performance Among Children With Learning Disabilities In Public Primary Schools In Bauchi State, Nigeria

ABSTRACT

The study assessed the Determinants of academic performance among children with learning disabilities in primary schools in Bauchi state, Nigeria. Specifically, the study examined the effects of teachers’ perception, parents’ perception, teachers’ motivation and teachers-parents’ collaboration on the academic performance of children with learning disabilities. The study employed Social Cognitive Theory of Bandura of (1986), descriptive survey design was adopted. The study used purposive sample and simple random sampling techniques with the sample size of 873 teachers and 20 parents. The study used a checklist, profile records, questionnaire and interview schedule to collect data from the respondents. The study used descriptive statistics to analyze the data through the application of Statistical Package for Social Science Research (SPSS) where figures and percentages were presented in the study findings while the qualitative data were analyzed based on the study objective and the result were presented in a form of narrative based. The findings established that most of the teachers perceived children with learning disability as other students though they required special attention while parent perceived it as their teachers fault or childrens lack of concentration in class. The study found out that teachers lack support from stakeholders to uphold the performance of children with learning disabilities. The study also found that if the teacher and parent work together children condition would be improved, the study established lack of contact among parents and the teachers. In conclusion, teachers perceived children with learning disabilities as generic predicament, due to children being lazy or lack the needed motivation to work hard, parents fault for being too busy with their personal issues while the parents blamed teachers for not playing their role as teachers and the government who contributed to such circumstsnces due to inadequate teachers welfare required by the law. The study recommended that teachers need to acquire more training and the government should support them in funding, provision of resources, materials and staff development. The study also recommend for adequate motivation to the teachers required by law, parents should improve their relationships with teachers for the sake of their children and further studies in the area should be undertaken in other Northern states in Nigeria